The World and Everything in It: January 6, 2023

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning!

A harrowing moment on a football field in an instant drives millions to prayer.

NICK EICHER, HOST: We’ll talk about that and the legacy of Pope Emeritus Benedict the 16th. That’s ahead on Culture Friday.

Plus WORLD Arts and Media Editor Collin Garbarino previews upcoming attractions for 2023.

And this month’s Ask the Editor: remembering the good news, not just the bad.

BROWN: It’s Friday, January 6th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

BROWN: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Biden border actions » Speaking from the White House, President Biden announced new rules Thursday aimed at curbing a record surge of migrants at the southern border.

BIDEN: The actions we’re announcing today will make things better but will not fix the border problem completely. There’s more that has to be done.

He said the United States will immediately begin turning away people from several countries who cross the border illegally.

BIDEN: If you’re trying to leave Cuba, Nicaragua, or Haiti or have agreed to begin a journey to America, do not, do not just show up at the border. Stay where you are and apply legally from there.

He said the United States will accept 30,000 people per month from those Nations and Venezuela for two years. But he added that those who cross illegally will not be eligible.

The president also announced that he will visit the southern border on Sunday for the first time since assuming office.

House speaker » The House of Representatives is still without a speaker. Republican debate over who will wield the gavel stretches into a fourth day today.

When the speaker election votes were counted again on Thursday …

AUDIO: The honorable Kevin McCarthy of the state of California has received 200.

That was 18 votes shy of what the Republican leader needed to become speaker.

That was just one of several speakership votes. The House has now voted more than 10 times without electing a speaker.

It’s the first time that’s happened in more than 160 years.

Putin calls for ceasefire » Vladimir Putin is calling for a temporary cease-fire this weekend in Ukraine. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Putin claimed Thursday that he ordered his armed forces to observe a unilateral, 36-hour cease-fire in Ukraine this weekend. He says that’s in honor of the Eastern Orthodox Christmas holiday, which is celebrated on Jan. 7th.

Putin called on Ukraine to participate in the ceasefire, but Kyiv says the Kremlin is merely trying to buy time as it regroups from losses.

Most people in Ukraine celebrate Christmas on December 25th. And on Christmas Eve, Russian shelling killed 11 Ukrainian civilians.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Ukraine aid » Meantime, Western allies are moving to more heavily arm Ukraine.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said for the first time Washington is sending several dozen Bradley armored fighting vehicles, which closely resemble tanks …

RYDER: That will be able to carry mechanized infantry into battle and again, afford protection on the battlefield under combat conditions.

That’s part of another nearly $3 billion in US military aid.

Germany will supply armored personnel carriers and a Patriot missile battery. And France will send AMX-10 armored combat vehicles often referred to as a tank killer.

Pope funeral » Tens of thousands of people paid tribute to Benedict XVI at a rare requiem Mass Thursday.

Bells tolled and the crowd applauded as pallbearers emerged from St. Peter’s Basilica and placed Benedict’s simple cypress coffin before the altar in the square outside.

Pope Francis led the ceremony. It was the first time in modern history that a sitting pontiff presided over the funeral of the previous pope.

FRANCIS: [Latin]

It is rare for a pope to retire from office as Benedict did a decade earlier.

CVS, Walgreens to sell abortion pill » The nation's two largest pharmacy chains plan to begin selling abortion drugs.

After the Biden administration approved new FDA rules to allow retail sales of the drugs, CVS and Walgreens reportedly plan to carry the abortion pills.

Pro-life groups are calling on the pharmacy giants to reconsider ahead of possible organized boycotts of the chains.

SC strikes down heartbeat law » Meanwhile, the South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday struck down that state’s pro-life heartbeat law. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The decision comes nearly two years after Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed the measure into law. It protected unborn babies as soon as they have a detectable heartbeat—with some exceptions.

Pro-abortion activists immediately sued over the law.

Justice Kaye Hearn wrote in the majority opinion that the law violates privacy protections in the state constitution.

Republican state House Speaker G. Murrell Smith, Jr., responded saying the justices "followed the path of … Roe v. Wade by creating a constitutional right to an abortion where none exists."

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Hamlin » Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin woke up Thursday from a medically induced coma after what doctors called “remarkable improvement” in his condition.

Dr. Timothy Pritts with University of Cincinnati Medical Center said Hamlin has started communicating in writing.

PRITTS: He expressed surprise that he had not been with the world for two days. And, you know, we talked to him about all of the support that’s been given really across the country for him and his family during this time.

Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during a game Monday night.

Doctors say he still has a ways to go, but they’re optimistic.

I'm Kent Covington. Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet.

Plus, a preview of what movies are coming to a theater near you this year.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s the 6th day of January, 2023.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. It’s Culture Friday!

Joining us now is John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint podcast.

Morning, John.

JOHN STONESTREET, GUEST: Good morning.

EICHER: John, yesterday was the funeral for Pope Emeritus Benedict the 16th. His was certainly a life of consequence and I think, even as Protestants, we can certainly appreciate Benedict.

Here’s what WORLD Opinions editor Albert Mohler wrote yesterday:

The most important years of Benedict’s influence came long before he was Benedict. In the years when he was known as Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, Cardinal of the church and Prefect of the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith. In that role Ratzinger reinvigorated and lent massive intellectual credibility to the conservative resurgence that dared to defy theological liberalism and, most specifically, Marxist-infused liberation theology.

The most significant question that remains is whether Benedict, mostly in his years before the papacy, changed the doctrinal direction of his church or will be seen as a temporary (but formidable) obstruction to an inevitable progressive victory within Catholicism.

How do you see it: Did Benedict change directions or was he just a temporary stop?

STONESTREET: Oh, that's a great question. I don't think there's any way to sufficiently predict this. I mean, I do think that one of the great legacies of Benedict will be the fact that he emboldened so many others, to be proudly stalwart on the issues that matter, the doctrinal issues that matter, and the public implications of those doctrinal positions. That you didn't need to really apologize for holding on to this faith and the substance of the faith in terms of the supernatural elements, the elements that are based on a vision of what it means to be human, that so much of the rest of the church had been attracted by. So I think that's going to be the long term thing that we look back at and say, you know, Benedict really, was not just an important voice in and of himself. The number of people inspired by him and the influence that he had. I know I'm among many that wished his papacy—even as someone not a part of the Roman Catholic Church—I'm one of many that wish his papacy had lasted longer because of what the church needed, in terms of that sort of reinvigoration around things that are true and good and the clarity on some of these moral issues that Ratzinger had. And so I wished his papacy had lasted longer, and I think his influence would have been even more dramatic.

BROWN: As you know, as everyone knows, it seems, there was a scary moment on a pro football field in Cincinnati this week. What led up to it wasn’t anything you’d hadn’t seen before, nothing especially remarkable: hard hit, players go to the ground, they get back up.

But then after getting back on his feet, Damar Hamlin collapsed to the ground.

Such a sad story.

But what followed was extraordinary.

AUDIO: [Montage]

Lots of praying around the country for Hamlin. WORLD sports correspondent Ray Hacke called it a nationwide virtual prayer meeting.

John, Nick, you are my brothers in Christ and we know the power of prayer. Here’s what strikes me, people who don’t profess Christ but still pray and yet deny the existence of the One they are praying to. How do you respond to all this?

STONESTREET: Well, I think the verdict's out on whether there is such a thing as atheist. There are these moments where we realize as individuals and as cultures, maybe personally and collectively, that we hope that there's something outside of ourselves to which we can appeal. I was struck by that, in particular, watching some of the coverage of this horrific event with Damar Hamlin, and former players talking about this and one in particular is a wonderful analyst for the NFL on ESPN, just really saying, Look, you and I are struggling about what to say about this event. No one else who was on that field had any sense that this was going to happen. No one had prepared for this. There was absolutely no preparation. We don't know what to say right now. We don't know what to do. And then I saw a video. And I tell you it was really incredible. I didn't see it live. But the next morning on Tuesday, another former player and ESPN football analyst, Dan Orlovsky, he didn't know what to do, either. And so he did what a lot of people do when they don't know what to do. And that is he prayed. And I don't know if you saw this, but it was absolutely stunning. He said—and I'm quoting here—maybe this is not the right thing to do, but it's on my heart that I want to pray for Damar Hamlin. I'm going to do it out loud. I'm going to close my eyes. I'm going to bow my head. And I'm just going to pray for him. And then he did. And the other two hosts bowed their heads, the shot from the camera was pulled back. I mean, what a remarkable moment on ESPN. One network that especially given its ABC influences hasn't necessarily been favorable to faith and that sort of stuff doesn't belong here. The other co-host was saying amen along with him. And there is that thing about faith and about prayer. And that is we may not know what we believe in, but we've reached that point, we've all reached that point, or we will reach that point where we don't know where else to reach. We don't know what else to do. And thank God, there's people like Dan Orlovsky—and forgive me if I'm mispronouncing his name, I probably should know—but thank God, there's somebody like him who's willing to go, I'm just going to step up and point other people in that direction. He actually followed that prayer on Twitter with a couple other statements, which pointed to the fact this wasn't the first time he had done that. He had been taught where to look. And who knows how many people prayed for the Damar Hamlin at that moment, who knows how many people were just given a glimpse that there's something else. Maybe some people didn't know you could talk to God like that. And he just did it. And maybe I could do it too. I just thought it was a remarkable moment. And it is interesting here that Damar Hamlin who by all indications lived a remarkable life, incredible athlete, also very charitable person of faith, as I understand it, and his life now is pointing other people, even in the midst of this situation. So I guess that's my response is that there comes that moment where you have nowhere else to look. And thank God that there are people who point us to here's where you can look, and that is to God.

BROWN: It’s not lost on me that just last year, a high school football coach who wanted to pray on the field, had to take his fight to the highest court in the land. Is this an example of the culture trying to dictate when it is appropriate to pray?

STONESTREET: Oh, of course, yeah. I mean, it's an inherent secularism. It's an inherent vision that when you're talking about something like prayer or you're talking about the existence of God, you're not talking about reality, you're talking about preference, or you're talking about a personal private selection maybe for personal meaning. And so in other words, it's not just an attempt to dictate when it's appropriate to pray, it's an attempt to define what prayer is, and that it's a purely internally referential, psychological sort of thing, not an actual conversation with the Creator of the universe. But that's when secularism, it's moments like these when secularism shows how it's just too small of a worldview. Because you're not going to keep people from praying on national television at a moment like this, when both teams kneeled down and prayed, and where person after person after person after person talked about prayer. And we've seen that anytime a natural disaster is covered. We see that in so many different ways. And not just kind of traditional or formalistic expressions of faith, but the inherent like, I don't know what else to do. And I need to look outside of myself and that's really what was happening. And look, even if Coach Kennedy had lost his case, and he didn't, by the way, let's remember he won it. Praise God. But it's not like his school was keeping prayer out of classrooms. Somebody said, as long as there are hard tests and pop quizzes, there's going to be prayer in schools.

BROWN: John Stonestreet is president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint podcast. Thanks, John!

STONESTREET: Thank you both.

NICK EICHER, HOST: If you know Pastor John Piper, you know he preaches with a certain enthusiasm.

PIPER: God is God!

Now listen as his Apple Watch responds … 

PIPER: You know what? My phone is telling me that I fell down.

He was preaching an advent sermon at South Cities Church in Lakeville, Minnesota, waving his arms about and gesturing insistently, as is his style, when he found himself just seconds away from an automatic call to 911.

Now, if you have an Apple Watch you know about this feature. If it thinks you’ve taken a fall, you have a few seconds to respond or it’s going to assume you’re incapacitated and summon help.

PIPER: I'm okay. I did not fall down. Did you hear it? This has happened twice in my life. I'm preaching and they think I fall down. I'm not falling down. I'm standing up. I'm preaching.

Preaching maybe on the fall of mankind?!

But I do hope this gets the attention of Apple developers. They need a special setting in the next software update: Piper Mode!

AUDIO: Good grief, Apple!

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, January 6th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Up next on The World and Everything in It: new movies of the new year. 

Here’s arts and media editor Collin Garbarino to tell us about what’s coming in 2023 to a theater near you.

GRACE: Come on, Annie. Let’s go to the movies!

ANNIE: Let’s go see the stars!

GRACE: [singing] Cowboy heroes, cops, and robbers. Glamour and strife—bigger than life!

COLLIN GARBARINO: A big part of my job is reviewing movies, so you could probably guess that I like watching them. But one thing I like more than watching movies is watching movies in the theater. So I’m excited that 2023 is looking to be a pretty good year for theatrical release, with more and bigger options than last year.

For more than a decade, superheroes have dominated the box office, and for better or worse that trend isn’t going to change this year.

MUSIC: [“The Avengers” by Alan Silvestri]

I counted at least 10 new superhero movies slated for release in 2023. That means—barring any last minute delays—this year will tie the record for most superhero films in a year. Superhero movies are the most popular genre right now, but will 2023 be an embarrassment of riches or is Hollywood just flooding the market to make a quick buck?

Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe launches next month with the third Ant-Man movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

JANET: Wait, wait a minute. You’re sending a signal down to the Quantum Realm? Turn it off, now!

In the spring and summer, we’ll get Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and a Captain Marvel sequel. I usually like the Ant-Man and Guardians movies, so I’m expecting these to be worthwhile—though I’m worried because Ant-Man appears to be moving away from the heist genre that made the first two installments so much fun. The first Captain Marvel movie on the other hand was almost unwatchable, but maybe this sequel won’t be so atrocious. The studio hired a new directing and writing team.

In addition to these three new movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is expected to get six new series on Disney+. These movies and shows need to be better than the lackluster stuff we got in Phase Four. Otherwise even the most die-hard fan will start to succumb to franchise fatigue.

MUSIC: [“The Batman” by Michael Giacchino]

DC Studios, home of Batman and Superman, is releasing four films this year as part of its DC Extended Universe. Shazam 2, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman 2. You can safely skip these four movies. They are the flotsam and jetsam of a franchise that’s dead in the water. Toward the end of last year, Warner Bros. Discovery hired James Gunn—the guy who created Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel—to lead DC Studios. Gunn’s cleaning house. No more Henry Cavill as Superman, no Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. It sounds like he’s scrapping the entire DC Universe and starting over fresh. Maybe some of those iconic heroes will finally get the movies they deserve, but it won’t happen this year.

The superhero film I'm most looking forward to is the animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

MILES: My name is Miles Morales. I’m the one and only Spider-Man, at least that’s what I thought.

It’s the sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, one of the best superhero films ever made. The original had groundbreaking animation coupled with spirited storytelling. I’m hoping Sony doesn’t mess this one up.

If you’re not interested in superheroes, 2023 still has a lot to offer, but the biggest movies are still franchise films. We’re getting a third Creed movie, which could be considered a ninth Rocky movie. We’re also getting a tenth Fast and Furious movie, a seventh Mission: Impossible movie, a fifth Indiana Jones movie, a third Agatha Christie movie starring Kenneth Branagh, and a second Dune movie.

Adults looking for something different might check out Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer—a biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.

OPPENHEIMER: I don’t know if we can be trusted with such a weapon. But we have no choice.

Christopher Nolan gave us the Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, and Dunkirk. He’s an inventive filmmaker, and he claims to have used real explosives rather than computer-generated effects to create his depictions of the nuclear tests.

For the kids, 2023 will offer plenty of new features, but I’m not optimistic about most of them. Disney and Pixar have been in a drought lately, and I don’t expect them to turn things around this year. The Super Mario Bros. Movie looks somewhat promising for fans of the Nintendo franchise.

CROWD: Mario, Mario, Mario

MARIO: All right. Let’s-a go.

My daughter’s most excited about the prospect of a Trolls 3 coming at the end of the year. I’m also keeping my eye on Harold and the Purple Crayon, starring Zach Levi and Zooey Deschanel. It’s based on the classic children’s book of the same name, and it could turn out to be an unconventional favorite.

But perhaps the movie that’s piqued my curiosity the most is Jesus Revolution which comes out next month.

REPORTER: These people are hippies. Rebels against old-fashioned authority.

MRS. SMITH: I think these kids need help.

PASTOR SMITH: What they need is a bath.

DAUGHTER: You’re passing judgment on people you know nothing about, and maybe that’s why your church is so empty.

PASTOR SMITH: When God walks in here bringing me a hippie, I’ll ask him what it’s all about because I do not understand.

The movie depicts the Jesus Movement of the early 1970s and stars Kelsey Grammer as Pastor Chuck Smith, the founder of Calvary Chapel, and Jonathan Roumie as Charismatic hippie preacher Lonnie Frisbee. We’ll see how well the filmmakers balance Christian message with historical accuracy and entertainment value.

Not everyone will be excited by all the superheroes and sequels this year, but I hope you find something appealing to watch at the movies.

GRACE: Sitting in the darkness. What a world to see. Let’s go to the movies, Annie. Wait and see!

I’m Collin Garbarino.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, January 6th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Coming up next, this month’s Ask the Editor. Here’s WORLD Radio Executive Producer Paul Butler.

PAUL BUTLER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Last week during Culture Friday, we reviewed some of the most significant cultural stories of 2022—and there were a lot of troubling stories in the list. Afterward, we got this email from Cary, a listener in Wichita, Kansas:

Dear friends at WORLD,

Our family loves what you do! Thank you for your insightful journalism. I particularly appreciate the Culture Friday perspective.

But on December 30th your list of headlines was both true of 2022 and unbalanced. There were also headline-able stories of faithfulness, marriage, adoption, salvation, rescue, and the salt and light of God’s people in culture.

You normally do such a good job bringing perspective. Stay the course.

Cary, thanks for your note.

A number of years ago I bought a minivan for $2 from a family member. He told me that there was an issue with the engine that meant it might only last 1000 miles, or it might make it 100,000. There was no real way to be sure. Knowing that at any moment I might be stuck on the side of the road, I paid very close attention to every engine stutter or knock. I frequently checked the fluids, did all the necessary maintenance right on schedule, and heeded every dashboard warning light seriously.

I think our cultural moment is a lot like that engine. Anytime it is out of alignment with our Biblical worldview we notice. Drag queen story hours, mass shootings, and rising drug overdoses are like a bright orange flashing check engine light. Based on experience with our adversary—we know how even little deviations from truth can lead to much larger problems down the road.

So we talk about the broken things here—a lot. Not because we think the sky is falling, rather when we know where it’s starting to fall apart, we can be vigilant to stand against wickedness and evil in our world.

Having said that, what I love about your letter is the encouragement to not lose sight of the victories. And while we may not have mentioned many of those in our end of year list, we try to do it week in and week out on the program.

So Cary—in light of your encouragement—let me go ahead and review some of the positive stories and victories we heard about last year: the rise of new hymns for French congregations. How God used BBQ and the church to bring healing to Uvalde and hope to the French Quarter during Mardi Gras. We met robots that assist people with disabilities. We were encouraged to enjoy nature—but more importantly, its Creator. We met Christians learning to love their neighbors through conversation, foster care, and education reform. We heard of the growth… of the pro-life movement in Europe, homeschooling and Christian education, and reform movements within mainline denominations. We spent a lot of time covering the reversal of Roe v. Wade, and highlighted policy victories and pro-life grassroots expansion. We featured a handful of nonprofits in our Hope Awards for Effective Compassion—helping repair families or reach troubled kids. And we met so many faithful Christians being salt and light, and the hands and feet of Christ in Ukraine, Burundi, Australia, Mexico, and so many other places around the world.

God is at work. And Cary, thanks for the reminder to make sure we celebrate what He is doing.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, we ended up getting more than 100,000 miles out of that vehicle. We had many happy memories as a family associated with that van—even a couple alongside the edge of the road.

I’m Paul Butler.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Well, it’s time to say thanks to the team members who helped put the program together this week: Jenny Rough, David Bahnsen, Emily Whitten, Whitney Williams, Onize Ohikere, Kim Henderson, Joel Belz, Addie Offereins, Caleb Bailey, Cal Thomas, John Stonestreet, and Collin Garbarino.

Thanks also to our breaking news team: Kent Covington, Lynde Langdon, Steve Kloosterman, Josh Schumacher, Lauren Canterberry, Mary Muncy, and Anna Mandin.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Plus, the guys who stay up late to get the program to you early: Johnny Franklin and Carl Peetz. Our producer is Kristen Flavin with production assistance from Lillian Hamman, and Benj Eicher.

Paul Butler is our Executive Producer.

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

The Bible describes the third day of creation, “The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12 ESV)

Go now in grace and peace.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning!

A harrowing moment on a football field in an instant drives millions to prayer.

NICK EICHER, HOST: We’ll talk about that and the legacy of Pope Emeritus Benedict the 16th. That’s ahead on Culture Friday.

Plus WORLD Arts and Media Editor Collin Garbarino previews upcoming attractions for 2023.

And this month’s Ask the Editor: remembering the good news, not just the bad.

BROWN: It’s Friday, January 6th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

BROWN: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: 

I'm Kent Covington. Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet.

Plus, a preview of what movies are coming to a theater near you this year.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s the 6th day of January, 2023.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. It’s Culture Friday!

Joining us now is John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint podcast.

Morning, John.

JOHN STONESTREET, GUEST: Good morning.

EICHER: John, yesterday was the funeral for Pope Emeritus Benedict the 16th. His was certainly a life of consequence and I think, even as Protestants, we can certainly appreciate Benedict.

Here’s what WORLD Opinions editor Albert Mohler wrote yesterday:

The most important years of Benedict’s influence came long before he was Benedict. In the years when he was known as Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, Cardinal of the church and Prefect of the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith. In that role Ratzinger reinvigorated and lent massive intellectual credibility to the conservative resurgence that dared to defy theological liberalism and, most specifically, Marxist-infused liberation theology.

The most significant question that remains is whether Benedict, mostly in his years before the papacy, changed the doctrinal direction of his church or will be seen as a temporary (but formidable) obstruction to an inevitable progressive victory within Catholicism.

How do you see it: Did Benedict change directions or was he just a temporary stop?

STONESTREET: Oh, that’s a great question. I don’t think there’s any way to sufficiently predict this. I think that one of the great legacies of Benedict will be the fact that he emboldened so many others to be proudly stalwart on the doctrinal issues that matter, and on the public implications of those doctrinal positions. He advocated for a refusal to apologize for holding onto the faith and the substance of the faith in terms of the supernatural elements and the elements that are based on a vision of what it means to be human that so much of the rest of the church had been attracted by.

I think that’s going to be the long-term thing that we look back at. Benedict really was not just an important voice in and of himself. The number of people inspired by him and the influence that he had is immense. I know I’m among many that wished his papacy—even as someone not a part of the Roman Catholic Church—had lasted longer because the church needed that sort of reinvigoration around things that are true and good, and it needed the clarity on some of these moral issues that Ratzinger had. And so I wished his papacy had had lasted longer, because I think his influence would have been even more dramatic.

BROWN: As you know, as everyone knows, it seems, there was a scary moment on a pro football field in Cincinnati this week. What led up to it wasn’t anything you’d hadn’t seen before, nothing especially remarkable: hard hit, players go to the ground, they get back up.

But then after getting back on his feet, Damar Hamlin collapsed to the ground.

Such a sad story.

But what followed was extraordinary.

AUDIO: [Montage]

Lots of praying around the country for Hamlin. WORLD sports correspondent Ray Hacke called it a nationwide virtual prayer meeting.

John, Nick, you are my brothers in Christ and we know the power of prayer. Here’s what strikes me, people who don’t profess Christ but still pray and yet deny the existence of the One they are praying to. How do you respond to all this?

STONESTREET: I think the verdict’s out on whether there is such a thing as atheist. There are these moments where we realize as individuals and as cultures—personally and collectively—that we hope that there’s something outside of ourselves to which we can appeal. I was struck by that in particular while I was watching the coverage of this horrific event with Damar Hamlin. I didn’t see it live. But the next morning on Tuesday, another former player and ESPN football analyst, Dan Orlovsky, he didn’t know what to do any more than I did. And so he did what a lot of people do when they don’t know what to do: He prayed. And I don’t know if you saw this, but it was absolutely stunning. He said (and I’m quoting here,) “Maybe this is not the right thing to do, but it’s on my heart that I want to pray for Damar Hamlin. I’m going to do it out loud. I’m going to close my eyes. I’m going to bow my head. And I’m just going to pray for him.” And then he did. And the other two hosts bowed their heads; the shot from the camera was pulled back.

I mean, what a remarkable moment on ESPN. One network that (given its ABC influences) hasn’t necessarily been favorable to faith. The other co-host was saying amen along with him. And there is that thing about faith and about prayer.

We may not know what we believe in, but we’ve reached that point, we’ve all reached that point, or we will reach that point where we don’t know where else to reach. We don’t know what else to do. And thank God there’s people like Dan Orlovsky—and forgive me if I’m mispronouncing his name, I probably should know—who are willing to just step up and point other people in that direction. He actually followed that prayer on Twitter with a couple other statements, which pointed to the fact this wasn’t the first time he had done that. He had been taught where to look. And who knows how many people prayed for Damar Hamlin at that moment? Who knows how many people were just given a glimpse that there’s something else? Maybe some people didn’t know you could talk to God like that. And he just did it. And maybe I could do it too. I just thought it was a remarkable moment.

And it is interesting here that Damar Hamlin—who by all indications has lived a remarkable life—is an incredible athlete and also a very charitable person of faith as I understand it, and his life now is pointing other people to Christ even in the midst of this situation. So I guess that’s my response: There comes that moment where you have nowhere else to look. And thank God that there are people who point us to Him.

BROWN: It’s not lost on me that just last year, a high school football coach who wanted to pray on the field, had to take his fight to the highest court in the land. Is this an example of the culture trying to dictate when it is appropriate to pray?

STONESTREET: Oh, of course, yeah. I mean, it’s an inherent secularism. It’s an inherent vision that when you’re talking about something like prayer or you’re talking about the existence of God, you’re not talking about reality. You’re talking about preference, or you’re talking about a personal private selection, maybe for personal meaning. And so in other words, it’s not just an attempt to dictate when it’s appropriate to pray, it’s an attempt to define what prayer is, and that it’s a purely internally referential, psychological sort of thing, not an actual conversation with the Creator of the universe.

But it’s moments like these when secularism shows how it’s just too small of a worldview. Because you’re not going to keep people from praying on national television at a moment like this, when both teams kneeled down and prayed, where person after person after person after person talked about prayer. And we’ve seen that anytime a natural disaster is covered. We see that in so many different ways. And not just kind of traditional or formalistic expressions of faith, but the inherent like, “I don’t know what else to do and I need to look outside of myself.” And look, even if Coach Kennedy had lost his case (and he didn’t, by the way, let’s remember: Praise God) it’s not like his school was keeping prayer out of classrooms. Somebody once said, “as long as there are tests and pop quizzes, there’s going to be prayer in schools.”

BROWN: John Stonestreet is president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint podcast. Thanks, John!

STONESTREET: Thank you both.

NICK EICHER, HOST: If you know Pastor John Piper, you know he preaches with a certain enthusiasm.

PIPER: God is God!

Now listen as his Apple Watch responds … 

PIPER: You know what? My phone is telling me that I fell down.

He was preaching an advent sermon at South Cities Church in Lakeville, Minnesota, waving his arms about and gesturing insistently, as is his style, when he found himself just seconds away from an automatic call to 911.

Now, if you have an Apple Watch you know about this feature. If it thinks you’ve taken a fall, you have a few seconds to respond or it’s going to assume you’re incapacitated and summon help.

PIPER: I'm okay. I did not fall down. Did you hear it? This has happened twice in my life. I'm preaching and they think I fall down. I'm not falling down. I'm standing up. I'm preaching.

Preaching maybe on the fall of mankind?!

But I do hope this gets the attention of Apple developers. They need a special setting in the next software update: Piper Mode!

AUDIO: Good grief, Apple!

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, January 6th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Up next on The World and Everything in It: new movies of the new year. 

Here’s arts and media editor Collin Garbarino to tell us about what’s coming in 2023 to a theater near you.

GRACE: Come on, Annie. Let’s go to the movies!

ANNIE: Let’s go see the stars!

GRACE: [singing] Cowboy heroes, cops, and robbers. Glamour and strife—bigger than life!

COLLIN GARBARINO: A big part of my job is reviewing movies, so you could probably guess that I like watching them. But one thing I like more than watching movies is watching movies in the theater. So I’m excited that 2023 is looking to be a pretty good year for theatrical release, with more and bigger options than last year.

For more than a decade, superheroes have dominated the box office, and for better or worse that trend isn’t going to change this year.

MUSIC: [“The Avengers” by Alan Silvestri]

I counted at least 10 new superhero movies slated for release in 2023. That means—barring any last minute delays—this year will tie the record for most superhero films in a year. Superhero movies are the most popular genre right now, but will 2023 be an embarrassment of riches or is Hollywood just flooding the market to make a quick buck?

Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe launches next month with the third Ant-Man movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

JANET: Wait, wait a minute. You’re sending a signal down to the Quantum Realm? Turn it off, now!

In the spring and summer, we’ll get Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and a Captain Marvel sequel. I usually like the Ant-Man and Guardians movies, so I’m expecting these to be worthwhile—though I’m worried because Ant-Man appears to be moving away from the heist genre that made the first two installments so much fun. The first Captain Marvel movie on the other hand was almost unwatchable, but maybe this sequel won’t be so atrocious. The studio hired a new directing and writing team.

In addition to these three new movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is expected to get six new series on Disney+. These movies and shows need to be better than the lackluster stuff we got in Phase Four. Otherwise even the most die-hard fan will start to succumb to franchise fatigue.

MUSIC: [“The Batman” by Michael Giacchino]

DC Studios, home of Batman and Superman, is releasing four films this year as part of its DC Extended Universe. Shazam 2, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman 2. You can safely skip these four movies. They are the flotsam and jetsam of a franchise that’s dead in the water. Toward the end of last year, Warner Bros. Discovery hired James Gunn—the guy who created Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel—to lead DC Studios. Gunn’s cleaning house. No more Henry Cavill as Superman, no Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. It sounds like he’s scrapping the entire DC Universe and starting over fresh. Maybe some of those iconic heroes will finally get the movies they deserve, but it won’t happen this year.

The superhero film I'm most looking forward to is the animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

MILES: My name is Miles Morales. I’m the one and only Spider-Man, at least that’s what I thought.

It’s the sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, one of the best superhero films ever made. The original had groundbreaking animation coupled with spirited storytelling. I’m hoping Sony doesn’t mess this one up.

If you’re not interested in superheroes, 2023 still has a lot to offer, but the biggest movies are still franchise films. We’re getting a third Creed movie, which could be considered a ninth Rocky movie. We’re also getting a tenth Fast and Furious movie, a seventh Mission: Impossible movie, a fifth Indiana Jones movie, a third Agatha Christie movie starring Kenneth Branagh, and a second Dune movie.

Adults looking for something different might check out Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer—a biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.

OPPENHEIMER: I don’t know if we can be trusted with such a weapon. But we have no choice.

Christopher Nolan gave us the Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, and Dunkirk. He’s an inventive filmmaker, and he claims to have used real explosives rather than computer-generated effects to create his depictions of the nuclear tests.

For the kids, 2023 will offer plenty of new features, but I’m not optimistic about most of them. Disney and Pixar have been in a drought lately, and I don’t expect them to turn things around this year. The Super Mario Bros. Movie looks somewhat promising for fans of the Nintendo franchise.

CROWD: Mario, Mario, Mario

MARIO: All right. Let’s-a go.

My daughter’s most excited about the prospect of a Trolls 3 coming at the end of the year. I’m also keeping my eye on Harold and the Purple Crayon, starring Zach Levi and Zooey Deschanel. It’s based on the classic children’s book of the same name, and it could turn out to be an unconventional favorite.

But perhaps the movie that’s piqued my curiosity the most is Jesus Revolution which comes out next month.

REPORTER: These people are hippies. Rebels against old-fashioned authority.

MRS. SMITH: I think these kids need help.

PASTOR SMITH: What they need is a bath.

DAUGHTER: You’re passing judgment on people you know nothing about, and maybe that’s why your church is so empty.

PASTOR SMITH: When God walks in here bringing me a hippie, I’ll ask him what it’s all about because I do not understand.

The movie depicts the Jesus Movement of the early 1970s and stars Kelsey Grammer as Pastor Chuck Smith, the founder of Calvary Chapel, and Jonathan Roumie as Charismatic hippie preacher Lonnie Frisbee. We’ll see how well the filmmakers balance Christian message with historical accuracy and entertainment value.

Not everyone will be excited by all the superheroes and sequels this year, but I hope you find something appealing to watch at the movies.

GRACE: Sitting in the darkness. What a world to see. Let’s go to the movies, Annie. Wait and see!

I’m Collin Garbarino.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, January 6th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Coming up next, this month’s Ask the Editor. Here’s WORLD Radio Executive Producer Paul Butler.

PAUL BUTLER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Last week during Culture Friday, we reviewed some of the most significant cultural stories of 2022—and there were a lot of troubling stories in the list. Afterward, we got this email from Cary, a listener in Wichita, Kansas:

Dear friends at WORLD,

Our family loves what you do! Thank you for your insightful journalism. I particularly appreciate the Culture Friday perspective.

But on December 30th your list of headlines was both true of 2022 and unbalanced. There were also headline-able stories of faithfulness, marriage, adoption, salvation, rescue, and the salt and light of God’s people in culture.

You normally do such a good job bringing perspective. Stay the course.

Cary, thanks for your note.

A number of years ago I bought a minivan for $2 from a family member. He told me that there was an issue with the engine that meant it might only last 1000 miles, or it might make it 100,000. There was no real way to be sure. Knowing that at any moment I might be stuck on the side of the road, I paid very close attention to every engine stutter or knock. I frequently checked the fluids, did all the necessary maintenance right on schedule, and heeded every dashboard warning light seriously.

I think our cultural moment is a lot like that engine. Anytime it is out of alignment with our Biblical worldview we notice. Drag queen story hours, mass shootings, and rising drug overdoses are like a bright orange flashing check engine light. Based on experience with our adversary—we know how even little deviations from truth can lead to much larger problems down the road.

So we talk about the broken things here—a lot. Not because we think the sky is falling, rather when we know where it’s starting to fall apart, we can be vigilant to stand against wickedness and evil in our world.

Having said that, what I love about your letter is the encouragement to not lose sight of the victories. And while we may not have mentioned many of those in our end of year list, we try to do it week in and week out on the program.

So Cary—in light of your encouragement—let me go ahead and review some of the positive stories and victories we heard about last year: the rise of new hymns for French congregations. How God used BBQ and the church to bring healing to Uvalde and hope to the French Quarter during Mardi Gras. We met robots that assist people with disabilities. We were encouraged to enjoy nature—but more importantly, its Creator. We met Christians learning to love their neighbors through conversation, foster care, and education reform. We heard of the growth… of the pro-life movement in Europe, homeschooling and Christian education, and reform movements within mainline denominations. We spent a lot of time covering the reversal of Roe v. Wade, and highlighted policy victories and pro-life grassroots expansion. We featured a handful of nonprofits in our Hope Awards for Effective Compassion—helping repair families or reach troubled kids. And we met so many faithful Christians being salt and light, and the hands and feet of Christ in Ukraine, Burundi, Australia, Mexico, and so many other places around the world.

God is at work. And Cary, thanks for the reminder to make sure we celebrate what He is doing.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, we ended up getting more than 100,000 miles out of that vehicle. We had many happy memories as a family associated with that van—even a couple alongside the edge of the road.

I’m Paul Butler.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Well, it’s time to say thanks to the team members who helped put the program together this week: Jenny Rough, David Bahnsen, Emily Whitten, Whitney Williams, Onize Ohikere, Kim Henderson, Joel Belz, Addie Offereins, Caleb Bailey, Cal Thomas, John Stonestreet, and Collin Garbarino.

Thanks also to our breaking news team: Kent Covington, Lynde Langdon, Steve Kloosterman, Josh Schumacher, Lauren Canterberry, Mary Muncy, and Anna Mandin.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Plus, the guys who stay up late to get the program to you early: Johnny Franklin and Carl Peetz. Our producer is Kristen Flavin with production assistance from Lillian Hamman, and Benj Eicher.

Paul Butler is our Executive Producer.

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

The Bible describes the third day of creation, “The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12 ESV)

Go now in grace and peace.

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