The World and Everything in It: March 26, 2025

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Good morning!

Top intelligence officials answer questions about a group chat discussing military action in Yemen.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also ahead on Washington Wednesday: deporting gang members as alien enemies.

And, WORLD Tour.

Later: Those caught in the middle of immigration policy change.

BEHRENS: The challenge for families that are here now is … they can’t go back. So they’re here, the back door is closed, but they’re not being cared for.

MAST: It’s Wednesday, March 26th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Lindsay Mast.

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

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

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Ukraine ceasefire » Ukraine and Russia have reached a tentative agreement to end the fighting, but only on the water for now. And there is already some confusion surrounding the deal.

ZELENSKYY: [Speaking in Ukrainian}

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that a maritime ceasefire was in effect “immediately.” The White House also announced a ceasefire agreement for the Baltic Sea.

But Russia later said the deal depended on, among other things, the West lifting sanctions on fertilizer and food companies.

Zelenskyy said it’s evidence that “the Russians have already begun to manipulate” ceasefire talks.

Trump election executive order »  President Trump just signed a sweeping executive order aimed at overhauling federal elections.

The order requires proof of citizenship for voter registration lists used in federal elections. And it requires states to only count ballots received by election day.

TRUMP: We gotta straighten out our election. This country is so sick because of the election, the fake elections and the bad elections.

It also calls on federal agencies to work with states on voter lists and threatens to pull funding for states that don't comply. President Trump has repeatedly alleged widespread election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

The order is sure to spark a fresh legal battle in federal courts.

Signal national security chat kerfuffle » President Trump on Tuesday also went to bat for his National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.

He has been under fire since a journalist claimed he was accidentally added to a group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal that included plans for military strikes in Yemen.

Trump says Waltz is a good man who simply made a mistake.

TRUMP: No I don't think he should apologize. I think he is doing his best. It's equipment and technology that's not perfect.

The White House insists no classified information was released.

But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday pointed a finger at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth:

SCHUMER: He does something really damaging to national security, and he blames the reporter who his people sent the information to. What gall. This is the secretary of defense.

Trump officials said they’re investigating how the journalist was added to the group.

Dems split on Schumer » Meantime, there are growing signs of political trouble for Chuck Schumer.

Some Democrats, especially on the hard left, have turned up the heat on the leader over the past couple of weeks, after he reluctantly backed a Republican-led funding bill to avert a government shutdown.

Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Pete Aguilar, dodged a question Tuesday about whether the party still has confidence in Schumer.

AGUILAR: I have confidence in the leadership in the House and Senate. I have confidence in the leadership of Hakeem Jeffries  guiding the House Democratic Caucus. Um, that's our focus. Uh, I'm elected by, by them.

 Some Democrats have raised the idea of new leadership after Schumer voted to break the filibuster on that GOP-led funding bill.

For the first time since that vote, Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with their caucuses on Tuesday.

Homan on Boston ICE raid » U.S. border czar Tom Homan says Immigration and Customs Enforcement — or ICE carried out a multi-day operation in Boston.

Homan said he promised that with or without the help of sanctuary cities, immigration law would be enforced.

HOMAN:  I kept my promise and we arrested 370 people, majority 'em, criminals, and as you said, murderers, child rapists. We seized guns; drug traffickers; gun traffickers.

He arrived last Tuesday kicking off a five day operation that reportedly included multiple agencies: the FBI, ATF, US Marshals, and the DEA.

And Homan added:

HOMAN:  We got a lot of work to do. We're not done. We're going back …

He slammed Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for the city’s so-called sanctuary policies. Boston does not cooperate with immigration enforcement.

Tesla investigation » The head of the FBI says the bureau is cracking down on violence and vandalism against Tesla cars and properties. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Protests aimed at Tesla CEO Elon Musk have boiled over in recent weeks, with criminal acts on the rise. Those have ranged from vandalism, such as spray-painting or “keying” Tesla vehicles to arson.

Multiple suspects face federal charges for firebombing charging stations or dealerships. One defendant allegedly even opened fire on a dealership.

And FBI Director Kash Patel says it is domestic terrorism, plain and simple, that the bureau will bring offenders to justice. The bureau has launched a task force to investigate related crimes.

Many on the political left have expressed anger over Elon Musk’s work with President Trump to audit government spending heading up the Department of Government Efficiency.

Some Democratic lawmakers and governors have publicly backed non-violent Tesla boycotts and protests. But Republican leaders are calling on them to publicly denounce the violence.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead on Washington Wednesday: more on the recent text chain leading to national security concerns. Plus, legal challenges over using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gang members.

This is The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s Wednesday, the 26th of March.

This is WORLD Radio and we’re so glad you’ve joined us today! Good morning, I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

Time now for Washington Wednesday. Today, legal battles over deporting gang members in the United States illegally.

But first, more on that national security group chat. The inclusion of a journalist on the messaging app Signal raises serious national-security questions.

Here’s Washington Bureau reporter Carolina Lumetta.

CAROLINA LUMETTA: Raised voices and hot tempers dominated yesterday’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. Colorado Senator Michael Bennet grilled CIA Director John Ratcliffe and other Trump administration officials.

RATCLIFFE: I don’t know if you use Signal messaging app, Senator, but–

BENNET: I do. I do, not for classified information, not for targeting, not for anything remotely–

RATCLIFFE: Neither do I, senator. Neither do I.

BENNET: Well, that’s what your testimony is today!

RATCLIFFE: It absolutely is not, senator!

On Monday, news outlet The Atlantic dropped a bombshell report. According to editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, top level officials planned out strikes on the Houthis in Yemen over a group chat in Signal, an encrypted but open source messaging app. On March 13, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz accidentally added Goldberg to the group.

Here’s Goldberg on ABC News this week:

GOLDBERG: They're not just talking about, “hey, what time is it? what time should we get dinner tonight or when is that meeting tomorrow?” they're actually talking about substantive issues relating to kinetic action directed against America's enemies.

A National Security Council spokesman confirmed that the text chain was authentic. In addition to Waltz and Ratcliffe, it included 16 other high-ranking officials such as the secretaries of defense and state, the director of national intelligence, the White House chief of staff, and even Vice President J.D. Vance. Goldberg said while he was in the chat, he saw information on weapons systems, timings, and undercover CIA agents.

Here’s Senator Bennet again in yesterday’s hearing:

BENNET: This sloppiness, this incompetence, this disrespect for our intelligence agencies and the personnel who work for them is entirely unacceptable! It's an embarrassment! You need to do better!

Federal law states that classified information may only be shared over secure channels. National security officials have used Signal in the past. It has end-to-end encryption that keeps third parties from accessing chats. The Biden administration allowed staff to download Signal onto government phones but warned that they should not share classified information on it. National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard said the group chat users followed the law.

GABBARD: There was no classified material that was shared in that Signal chat.

WARNER: If there was no classified material, share it with the committee. You can't have it both ways.

But Gabbard would not discuss the content of the chat thread.

Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg did say Waltz, who invited him to the chat, set messages to disappear after a few weeks. If true, that could run afoul of federal record preservation laws, the same ones former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was accused of violating when she deleted emails from a private server.

For his part, Waltz said the Atlantic story distracts from U.S. efforts to stop terrorist attacks on global shipping near the Suez Canal.

WALTZ: So look, this journalist, Mr. President, uh, wants the world talking about more hoaxes uh and this kind of nonsense rather than the freedom uh that you're enabling, and a key part of our sovereignty is open sea lanes and knocking the crap out of terrorists…

So far, most Republican lawmakers who have commented on the matter say that adding the Atlantic editor to the chat was sloppy, but they are less concerned about the existence of the chat. Nevertheless, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that lawmakers will investigate what happened:

THUNE: Obviously, we’re getting to the bottom of what that whole text chain entailed… I suspect the Armed Services committee may want to have some folks testify and have some of those questions answered as well. I think everybody has acknowledged, including the White House, that yeah, mistakes were made. What we want to do is make sure something like that doesn’t happen again.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Carolina Lumetta  in Washington.

EICHER: Turning now to deportations. The Trump administration used the Alien Enemies Act earlier this month to remove about 200 men that the White House says are members of a criminal gang. Tren de Aragua has roots in Venezuela, but the men in question were sent to El Salvador.

MAST: Earlier this week, a federal judge ordered the administration to stop using the Alien Enemies Act to deport anyone else, until the judge can decide if it’s legal.

WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has the story.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: The law invoked to deport gang members has a long history.

GEORGE FISHMAN: The Alien Enemies Act was enacted in 1798 when we feared an invasion by revolutionary France…

George Fishman is a Senior Legal Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies. He says that the Alien Enemies Act enjoyed widespread support when it was created in the 18th Century. And since then it’s also been upheld by the Supreme Court.

The law lets a president quickly detain and deport alien enemies when two requirements have been met: First, another country has declared war on the United States or is invading us. Fishman explains.

FISHMAN: It's always been used in the context of a declared war. This would be the first time it's being used outside of that context.

And second, that declared war or invasion has to be the act of a foreign government. The legal dispute surrounding Trump’s recent use of the act centers on that question.

FISHMAN: Can the acts of a foreign terrorist organization and international criminal cartel be attributed to a foreign government for purposes of triggering the Alien Enemies Act?

That question is up to the courts…but President Trump took steps on day one in office to designate the Tren de Aragua gang as a foreign terrorist organization. The group originated in Venezuela and is known for drug smuggling, human trafficking, and other crimes in the United States. Last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the administration’s actions to deport gang members.

LEAVITT: These are heinous monsters, rapists, murderers, kidnappers, sexual assaulters, predators who have no right to be in this country, and they must be held accountable.

George Fishman says the law might apply if the administration could prove that Venezuela had become what he calls a “mafia state.” That’s where the government is indistinguishable from a criminal organization.

FISHMAN: If the Trump administration can make the case in court that that the Venezuelan government is in fact a mafia state and and and this particular criminal terrorist organization essentially is acting at the behest of the Venezuelan government, then I think the Trump administration can make an excellent case that the alien enemies Act does apply.

Proving that detained individuals are active gang members could be more complicated. Jennifer Koh is a Professor at Pepperdine University. She questions the administration’s claim that all 200 alleged criminals deported were Tren de Aragua members.

JENNIFER JOH: The evidence that has been marshalled in support of that claim is very unclear. But it appears, for example, the government has relied on the existence of tattoos.”

Members of Tren de Aragua often have tattoos of stars, hourglasses, trains, eyes, and crowns. Those might seem innocuous to a casual observer, but they alert law enforcement at home and abroad to the gang member’s affiliations.

Chris Bendinelli runs a tattoo removal ministry in California. WORLD showed him some tattoos linked to Tren de Aragua. He says he’s removed dozens of them—from people who were once gang members but who now want to live a different life.

BENDENELLI: The very first photo has the hourglass... Basically they’re counting the days they get out of prison, that's why a lot of them get it. See that all-seeing eye? They both have it. I’ve removed all these. Not off of these people but I’ve seen these tattoos a million times.”

Bendinelli explains that just because someone has a gang-related tattoo doesn’t mean they’re still a gang member. But with immigration courts overwhelmed by nearly a million cases, verifying the status of a former gang member may not be a high priority for this administration.

BROTHERTON: They want to make good on their promise of deporting 13 million people, I think he estimated at one point.

David Brotherton is a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He explains that the Alien Enemies Act would allow the government to deport illegal immigrants en masse rather than push each individual through a months-long, case-by-case process in the immigration courts.

BROTHERTON: It can take anything from a month to six months to a year before you can process somebody out of the country. And they want to overcome that.

The legal questions about whether Tren de Aragua members are alien enemies and what the process should be for removing them are currently working their way through the court system. And some experts believe the question will ultimately end up before the nation’s high court.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher in Washington, D.C.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: WORLD Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Oduah.

SOUND: [Singing]

ONIZE ODUAH: South Africa diplomat returns home — We start today in South Africa where singing and cheers welcomed the country’s ambassador after his expulsion from the United States.

This month, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Ebrahim Rasool as unwelcome, calling him a race-baiting politician who hates the United States and President Donald Trump. The United States rescinded Rasool’s diplomatic privileges and ordered him to leave.

RASOOL: We still come here and say we must rebuild and we must reset the relationship with America because our relationship with America over 50 years has not always been with the White House, it has sometimes been with Congress and it has always been with the people of the United States of America.

Trump issued an executive order last month that cut funding to South Africa, accusing the government of supporting Hamas and Iran and implementing policies against white South Africans.

AUDIO: [KOREAN] The impeachment request in this case is dismissed.

South Korea impeachment — Over in South Korea, the Constitutional Court has dismissed an ongoing impeachment trial against Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

The court also reinstated him as acting president, an additional role he took on after the former president was suspended and later impeached for declaring martial law back in December.

Lawmakers also attempted to impeach Han over his alleged involvement in the martial law scandal and a disagreement over judicial appointments.

HAN: [KOREAN] For the remainder of my term, I will base all my decisions on the interests of Korean industry and future generations.

Han says here that he will work for the interest of all Koreans.

The Constitutional Court is yet to issue a ruling on the case of the impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol.

If the court upholds his impeachment, South Korea will hold fresh elections within 60 days of the verdict.

SOUND: [Sound of protests]

Turkey protests — And in Turkey, tens of thousands of protesters turned out on Sunday to continue showing support for the detained Istanbul mayor.

Authorities first detained Ekrem Imamoglu on corruption charges last Wednesday, days before his opposition CHP party held its primary to select its presidential candidate. On Monday, the party selected Imamoglu.

A day earlier, Turkish authorities stripped him of his mayoral title. The opposition has called the crackdown a political coup.

Imamoglu’s wife, Dilek, spoke with protesters.

DILEK: [TURKISH] We had a hard day today. For all of us. But what do we say? We will win by resisting.

She called it a hard day, but encouraged them, saying they will win by resisting.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that the demonstrations amount to street terror. Authorities detained more than 1,000 people and tried to block hundreds of accounts on the social media platform X.

Meanwhile, the European Union called on Turkey to respect the protesters.

European Commission spokesman Guillaume Mercier says the country must uphold democratic values.

MERCIER: These rights, the rights of elected officials, as well as the right of peaceful demonstrations, need to be fully respected.

Japan cherry blossoms — We end today in Japan’s capital city of Tokyo, where authorities have officially declared the start of cherry blossom season.

The announcement came after the Japan Meteorological Agency confirmed five blossoms on a tree at Tokyo’s Yasukuni shrine.

French tourist Nathalie Labat witnessed the first blooms.

LABAT: I was happy to see the trees. It's beautiful, really beautiful. I love Tokyo.

Japan’s cherry blossoms usually open in late March to early April, a season that also coincides with the country’s start of a new school and work year.

The flowers usually last for about two weeks.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Oduah in Abuja, Nigeria.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Scientists studying the coast of New Zealand recently released video of one of the ocean’s most unlikely hitchhikers.

They spotted a mako shark just below the surface with a curious, bright-orange blob stuck to its head. So they sent in a couple of cameras for a closer look. And there it was:

AUDIO: “Yeah, it’s an octopus. That’s an octopus! Aww … ”

An octopus—with its tentacles wrapped around the shark’s head like reins on a racehorse.

And makos are the racehorses of the shark world … clocking speeds over 40 miles an hour.

But how in the deep blue sea these two met is a mystery. Makos cruise the open ocean. Maori octopuses stick to the seafloor.

Researchers nicknamed the unlikely duo “the sharktopus.” They have no idea how the meeting happened—no idea how it ended … though I’m guessing badly.

But at least for a few minutes of glory, this cephalopod was living the high-speed life—like a prize-winning jockey with suction cups.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, March 26th.

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

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

Up next, the Trump administration’s sweeping changes to immigration policies have migrants trying to keep up. WORLD’s Emma Eicher brings us the story.

EMMA EICHER: When Missy Berumen arrived on Monday morning at her store, a delivery man was holding a handwritten note that someone had taped to the door.

At first, the man didn’t want to show her what it said.

But then he handed it over.

MISSY BERUMEN: It says, “All illegal aliens, please leave Beechview. We have contacted ICE, Border Patrol.”

Missy didn’t feel fear, only sympathy for the person who wrote the note.

BERUMEN: I mean, it's just, I hope he gets better. You know, he must be going through some stuff.

A Mexican restaurant across the street received the same warning. And someone tacked the notes onto neighborhood houses too.

The Berumens decided to keep the doors of their grocery store—Las Palmas Carniceria—locked for the day, along with the rest of the block.

But the note had nothing to do with it.

On social media, influencers declared February 3rd to be the Day of No Immigrants around the country. Missy and many neighborhood business owners participated. They shut down to show what it would be like if immigrants didn’t have a role in the local economy.

BERUMEN: Las Palmas decided because we just want to support the immigrant community. Let them know we have their backs.

Missy isn’t an illegal immigrant. She’s not an immigrant at all. She does have hispanic heritage from Latin America but she was raised in Indianapolis.

Her community, though, is full of immigrants. And recently, she’s noticed her customers are a little more on edge.

BERUMEN: It’s high, anxiety is high.

Many Americans anticipated shake-ups in immigration policy after President Donald Trump took office. And, as promised, his administration immediately began overhauling the system in response to four years under former president Joe Biden, who allowed millions of illegal immigrants across the border.

His lenient policies also affected the United States Refugee Admissions Program, or USRAP.

Simon Hankinson is a Senior Research Fellow for immigration at the Heritage Foundation.

SIMON HANKINSON: What we’ve seen for the past four years has been a sort of system that utterly bypasses not only the USRAP, but also the legal immigration system. So it's been basically an experiment in what happens if you open the doors and kind of throw the rules out the window, what would be the worst case scenario? And I think we’ve found out.

But Trump’s breakneck pace in correcting border issues leaves consequences for those caught in the middle.

During his first days in office, Trump signed a number of executive orders beyond just immigration. He halted new refugee applications for 90 days. And temporarily ended federal funding for refugee resettlement agencies.

That meant families who had just come to the U.S. under refugee status were stuck.

Daniel Behrens works with refugees at Church of the Ascension in Pittsburgh.

DANIEL BEHRENS: The challenge for the families that are here now is … they can't go back. And that's part of the definition of a refugee, is that you're not able to go back to your home country because of threat of persecution. So they’re here, the door back is closed, but they’re not being cared for.

A few years ago, Behrens was a missionary at the southern Texas border. When he moved to Pittsburgh with his family, he started a volunteer program through the church to help refugees. They partnered with a local refugee resettlement agency—helping them find jobs and permanent housing. Then Trump’s stop work order took effect.

BEHRENS: We’re collaborating to just meet some of the immediate needs, particularly of families that are in temporary housing. There were a lot of families in hotels and Airbnbs, not at all set up to take care of their own situation yet.

Church volunteers helped fill the gap the resettlement agency left behind. But Behrens worries about future implications.

BEHRENS: I'm not naive to think that everyone in the refugee process is a, you know, wonderful Christian leader. But there are some, there are some. And I’m sad that these policy changes are not discriminating between those groups of people. We’re closing the door on brothers and sisters in Christ who are being persecuted and need refuge.

In February, a federal court ordered the Trump administration to reinstate funding and refugee processing. But tens of thousands of refugees remain in limbo and it could take many months to reverse course.

Hankinson says Trump is redirecting funds and manpower to deporting millions of illegals. Deportations which should’ve happened years ago. And, as a result, it leaves USRAP on the chopping block.

HANKINSON: I would think there's not a lot of bandwidth left for the official refugee program, which is very sad, because that's probably where more of the actual genuine cases are.

Margaret Stock is an immigration law expert. She works with refugees in Alaska—including Ukrainians fleeing from their home country. Trump recently said he’s considering revoking their legal status.

MARGARET STOCK: ​​They're not being deported yet, but they're being told that, you know, they're not going to have any status, and they're not gonna be able to work. They’re basically being told that America no longer wants to welcome immigrants and they should go to another country that's more welcoming, and it's hard for them to figure out where they're supposed to go.

Hankinson says Trump’s decision has nothing to do with being anti-immigrant. Ukrainian immigrants were paroled in the country under Biden with a legal status only meant to last up to a year.

HANKINSON: You have legal immigrants, you have legal permanent residents, you have legal non immigrants, and then you have illegal immigrants of various categories. And what Trump is trying to do, and I think succeeding at, is to enforce the law and make sure that only people who are legally entitled to be here are here.

Behrens has seen firsthand how immigration has helped people start new lives. And he hopes to continue to give those who are already here lawfully a proper welcome to America.

BEHRENS: We have to see the real people in the middle of these changes. And changes are needed, the system is very broken. But I hope we can be wise in kind of discerning some of these differences, of different paths of being in the US and yeah, not be driven by fear in what we choose and what we support.

Missy Berumen hopes for the best too, and for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to do their job.

BERUMEN: I hope that they can find a way to make it easier to progress here, you know, to be a citizen, to be a part of the community.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Emma Eicher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Today is Wednesday, March 26. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Lindsay Mast.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Every era has its own seductive lies—ideas that capture the culture, even if they stray from the truth. WORLD commentator Carl Trueman says the antidote isn’t outrage or retreat—but sound, faithful preaching.

CARL TRUEMAN: Recent Pew Research findings on the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod make for somber reading for all confessional Christians. Many like myself may not be Lutheran, but we look to the LCMS as a stronghold of traditional Protestant orthodoxy…

Yet the Pew Research indicates that times might well be set to change. It reports that 54% of members think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Fifty percent say homosexuality should be accepted, down slightly from 10 years ago. Fifty percent now favor same-sex marriage…up slightly over the same time.

The fact that such high proportions of Missouri-Synod Lutherans consistently affirm positions incompatible with historic Christianity is a cause for concern. For the professional doom-sages, it will likely fuel that form of lamentation that seems just a little too self-satisfied that another “once-great Valiant-for-Truth” has proved faithless. For those who have been in ministry, it will confirm what they know only too well: that no-one should assume that the orthodoxy of the pulpit and the office-bearers will naturally permeate the pew.

A better response than gleeful lamentation is to read such surveys as pointing to the key ecclesiastical challenges of our day and building pastoral strategies that address them. The church has always faced problems as the wider culture catechizes her people in its own values. When I became a Christian 40 years ago old-style liberalism that questioned the supernatural was the major foe—undermining biblical accounts of miracles and the deity of Christ. It was important to focus in Christian preaching and catechesis on clarifying and reinforcing the vital connection between the historicity of the resurrection and the gospel.

Today, the issue is different. It presents itself as a new morality. Hence, questions about the legitimacy of homosexuality and the desirability of gay marriage are now central. And underlying these overtly moral challenges lurks the question of anthropology: What is man? That question can be recast as “What is man for?”—something that reveals the connection with matters of sex, marriage, and abortion.

This means that ministers, elders, and all with responsibility for teaching the whole counsel of God need to think about how to teach their people a sound anthropology. It is not surprising that a world whose gospel is that of personal happiness has shaped the minds of a rising generation of Christians to see aspects of the sexual revolution as acceptable. The sexual revolution has always sold itself as delivering such happiness and portrayed its opponents as kill-joys. The only way to combat this is to set forth a robust anthropology. One that challenges the values of the sexual revolution at the deepest level and that makes it clear to Christians that there is a necessary connection between the gospel and the meaning of man.

In practical terms, there should be a threefold strategy here. Preaching and catechesis need to bring out that necessary connection again and again and again. Only by constant affirmation of that point will people begin to understand. Worship too plays its role, raising hearts and minds above the earthly sphere to the things that are above. When the beauty of Christ is set forth in the worship service, the tawdry fake beauties of modern society will pale in comparison. And we need to embody in our daily lives what true, biblical anthropology looks like: beautiful marriages, deep friendships, homes marked by hospitality. That is the way to shape the Christian imagination in a way that will draw Christian people away from the lies of this present age.

I’m Carl Trueman.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: Hundreds of American families were just steps away from adopting children from China when the country closed its doors last year. We have an update. And, we’ll meet a Ukrainian touring dance group using ballet to deal with the ravages of war. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

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 Bible records: “[that] when [the apostles] had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’  And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” —Acts 1:9

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.