The World and Everything in It: October 18, 2022

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

The midterm election of course will determine control of the U.S. Senate. Today, Georgia is on our mind.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also in a surprise move, President Biden changes the rules for migrants from Venezuela. We’ll talk about that with an advocate for those migrants.

Plus writing worship songs we mortals can actually sing.

And God’s grace in the middle of a big mess.

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, October 18th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

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

REICHARD: Now news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Ukraine » In Ukraine on Monday, police pulled out their sidearms and fired into the clouds above Kyiv, but the Russian suicide drone they were aiming at still found its mark.

AUDIO: [Kyiv attack]

It was one of many drones packed with explosives that struck Ukraine’s capital, setting buildings on fire and largely collapsing an apartment building, killing four people.

It was Moscow’s second barrage of explosive attacks on Kyiv in as many weeks.

The assault sowed fear and frayed nerves as blasts rocked the city. But one Kyiv resident said it hasn’t stopped people from living their lives.

AUDIO: I think people just carry on as normal as much as they can. The missile on Monday, one of them hit just up the road there, but in the park here, there’s people buying coffees. You can sit and drink a coffee in the park.

Ukraine has become grimly accustomed to attacks nearly eight months into the Russian invasion.

Iran sanctions » Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says it’s time to hit Iran with more sanctions for supplying drones and other weapons to Russia.

KULEBA: [Ukrainian]

And US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel warned on Monday …

PATEL: Anyone doing business with Iran that could have any link to the flow of arms from Iran to Russia should be very careful.

He said Washington won’t hesitate to hit perpetrators with sanctions or other penalties.

Meantime, the European Union announced sanctions against Iran over the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody and for violence against peaceful protests. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on Tehran…

BORRELL: To release those detained and to allow normal internet services and flow of information.

The EU levied sanctions against 11 people and four entities in Iran.

Readiness for conflict with China » Members of the House Armed Services Committee are warning that the United States needs to step up preparations for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

GOP Congressman Michael Waltz:

WALTZ: We face a very real chance of Taiwan becoming the next Ukraine within the next 5 to 10 years.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping continues to vow that he’ll bring the island under his government’s control … by force if necessary. And President Biden has repeatedly suggested that the United States would defend Taiwan.

Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton said Monday that the stakes are incredibly high.

MOULTON: We don't have a plan to fight this war through the Taiwan people the way we’re fighting the Ukraine war though Ukraine. That means that Americans are going to die if Xi invades Taiwan.

Moulton said the United States doesn’t have the specific weapons systems and alliances in place yet that would be needed to counter China’s military.

DeSantis to resume migrant flights » Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to continue flights sending migrants to Democrat-led cities. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: A spokesperson for the Republican governor said the flights will resume as soon things calm down a bit in the wake of Hurricane Ian.

Prior to the storm, two charter flights were scheduled to fly migrants to Delaware and Illinois earlier this month. But officials postponed the flights due to the hurricane.

Democrats expressed outrage when the state of Florida flew 50 migrants last month to the Massachusetts resort island of Martha’s Vineyard where former President Obama owns a mansion.

Florida lawmakers have authorized $12 million dollars in funds to relocate migrants from the U.S. southern border to sanctuary cities and states.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Students returning to school after Hurricane Ian » Meantime, roughly three weeks after Hurricane Ian slammed Florida’s southwest coast, many students in the area's largest school district are back in class.

Christopher Bernier is superintendent of the Lee County School District. He told parents …

BERNIER: This may seem like it’s still too soon. We understand. We promise to be sensitive in our reopening, and we will be.

Lee County reopened 28 schools yesterday and today. Another 32 have been cleared to reopen soon. The district has almost 120 schools in total.

Bannon » The Justice Department is pushing for a harsh sentence for former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: In July, a federal jury found Bannon guilty in July of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House Jan. 6th committee.

And prosecutors are now arguing for a hefty sentence, saying he “pursued a bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt,” and still hasn’t provided the information demanded of him.

They want Bannon to serve six months in prison and pay a $200,000 fine.

The Justice Department push comes shortly after the committee voted last week to subpoena former President Trump himself.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher. 

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: the Biden administration’s new rules for migrants from Venezuela.

Plus, singable worship songs.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday, the 18th of October, 2022.

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

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. First up: the very close Senate race in Georgia.

Incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock finally debated with Republican candidate Herschel Walker in Savannah for the campaign’s only debate before the election.

Two moderators asked hard hitting questions last Friday night. They discussed the candidates’ stances on abortion, the 2020 election, and scandals involving Warnock’s church and Walker’s personal life.

REICHARD: WORLD’s Washington correspondent Carolina Lumetta was there, and she joins us today to talk about what she learned in Savannah. Carolina, welcome.

CAROLINA LUMETTA, REPORTER: Hi Mary, thanks for having me.

REICHARD: It’s a busy midterm elections cycle. What makes the Georgia race so significant?

LUMETTA: It's one of these key states that's going to determine control of the Senate next year. Right now it's a 50-50 chamber and the Democrats stand to lose some seats. So it's essential for them to try to keep Georgia from flipping. Another interesting thing here is the political identity of the state. They've had a lot of recent Democratic wins, but there's still a pretty deep Republican base. Now, Georgia voters do not register with a party, which makes determining overall affiliation kind of difficult. I can say though, that the state has shifted from strongly democratic to almost evenly divided. In 2020, now President Joe Biden won the state by a margin of only 0.2%. One rally speaker I heard over the weekend insisted that the state is actually Republican. But a democratic canvasser told me that she moved to Savannah specifically because it is a blue liberal city in a state that's going the same way.

REICHARD: Let’s talk about these candidates in more detail. What strengths and what weaknesses do each of these men have that voters in Georgia need to consider?

LUMETTA: So on paper, both candidates are Christian black men and they’re courting similar demographics with the vote. Now, Warnock made history for being the first black senator from the state after he won a special election last year. So he's got some pretty strong name recognition. He's a committed Democrat, runs on a pretty liberal platform, and he's a pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was the same church that Martin Luther King Jr. preached at. And his opponents point out that he votes the same way that President Biden would.

Now, Walker is running on the fact that he is not a politician. He made his name for being a football star. He's now running as a family values guy. The twist here is that he wasn’t actually really involved in many of his kids’ lives. There were at least three who were born out of wedlock and he didn’t admit to their existence until the campaign. There have also been some domestic violence allegations and some new allegations about paying for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. Now, he is a pro-life candidate, but his base likes this. They say he has moved past his mistakes, he is repenting of them and they trust him to be their next senator.

Here's Sarah Laine Moneymaker who I spoke to at a pre-debate rally in Savannah.

MONEYMAKER: He is running as a conservative, he is running as pro life. He is supporting the Constitution. And we're going to hold him accountable to make sure that when he's elected, he is going to continue to honor those promises. There are very few candidates that I trust. And I trust people until they prove that they are not trustworthy. Herschel Walker has not done anything to abuse my trust.

Now, others said that they actually respect Walker even more for his checkered past. Here's Ben Adams, a Savannah resident who helps out with the County Republican Party.

ADAMS: ...Because he didn't run away from it. He didn't shy from it. He stood up as a man. And all I can do is respect the man standing tall as a man and owning up to his mistakes in his past.

Well, then I asked Adams about his view of Senator Warnock. Here's what he had to say about that candidate.

ADAMS: He's a pastor that lies. He's a pastor that does not stand on the values that is God in Christ. You cannot tell me that you're. So he believes in pro choice, whatever that is, as a pastor, but I know in my raisings that God loves all His children. And he does not push the death of children especially. And now you're running for an office, and you have a guy who has a checkered past who's had mistakes, who's owned up on them, and went to get help and you're tearing them down and you're using those past mistakes, to help further your political career as a pastor, that's wrong.

Now, Mary, Adams touched on a few key things about Warnock's platform. He is a very strong proponent of abortion. He said it's a necessary medical service and at the debate on Friday he said there's no space for the government in a room with a patient and her doctor. Now, Walker rebutted that there's a baby in the room, too. But he also softened his stance on abortion, saying that he would allow for exceptions for rape and incest. The other scandal here that Warnock is struggling with is that the ministry arm of his church—Ebenezer Baptist Church-has been accused of evicting tenants during the pandemic for outstanding balances as low as $30. Now, he refused to answer questions about this during the debate

REICHARD: Polls show Warnock with a slight lead, but the race is still very much a tossup. What issues are Georgia voters you spoke with talking about?

LUMETTA: So, voters in both parties are still mostly concerned about what are called the kitchen table issues, mainly the economy, how much do groceries cost, how much does it cost to fill up the tank. Now, Warnock is also struggling to get out the vote among apathetic liberal-leaning voters. So Democratic canvassers that I talked to are working hard to get people just to register. They say it's down to a numbers game and they're really hoping that Warnock's position as an incumbent will help. Now Walker has strong support from the conservative Republican base. He also has former President Donald Trump's endorsement. But this might not be enough to win those same voters who are still on the fence.

I talked to some people on the streets in Savannah, who also just don't plan on voting because they said it doesn't really matter. They don't trust most politicians. They see both as having lied. And so they're not planning on heading to the polls in November.

Now other voters like Commander James Putney, he's a chaplain for the Chatham County Veterans Council. And he told me that he's simply praying for both candidates. He received a phone call from the Georgia branch of the Republican National Committee, and they asked him to open a pre-debate rally on Friday with a prayer for Herschel Walker. Now, Putney described himself as 100% Democrat, and he plans to vote for Warnock. Here's what he had to say.

PUTNEY: I'm not a Walker fan. He was okay with me for football. You know, I mean, when that's when I stopped there. But I'm a Warnock fan. And I won’t even say fan. I'm just for Warnock in this case.

So why am I here? Because the Scripture said the Earth is Lord’s and the fullness thereof. And all that dwells within. God don't care if you're Republican or Democrat. There ain't but one God and he said pray for everybody. The earth belongs to him. So should I not pray for Walker? Is he not a child of God?

REICHARD: Carolina Lumetta writes for WORLD and focuses on political coverage for the weekly newsletter, called The Stew. Carolina, thank you.

LUMETTA: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: immigration.

More than 2 million migrants have come to the U.S.-Mexico border in the past year—without prior permission to cross. Some of them showed up at official border crossings asking for asylum. Others crossed the border illegally.

NICK EICHER, HOST: More than 150,000 of those migrants came all the way from Venezuela, a distance of about 3,000 miles. To deal with them, President Biden has turned to a pandemic-era rule called Title 42. President Trump used that very same provision to speed up the deportation process after COVID-19 hit.

REICHARD: It’s a surprise to many that Biden appears to be picking up where Trump left off.

Joining us now to talk more about the situation for Venezuelans at the southern border is Danilo Zak. He’s the assistant vice president for policy and advocacy for the National Immigration Forum.

EICHER: Good morning, Danilo.

DANILO ZAK, GUEST: Good morning.

EICHER: Danilo, we’ve all heard the situation at the border called a crisis, and the numbers certainly bear that out. How do Venezuelan migrants fit into the picture, and why do you suppose the Biden administration is focusing on them now?

ZAK: Yeah, well, listen we’ve seen high numbers of migrants encountered at the border for some time now. But beneath those overall high-encounter numbers, the changing demographics and nationalities of arriving migrants really do have a major impact on what we actually see at the border and what we need to respond to. And while in years past, it may have been normal to see about a thousand Venezuelans arrive a month at the border. In August, the most recent month we have clear data for, over 25,000 encounters of Venezuelans were reported. And in addition to that, while we were rapidly expelling many other migrants under a policy called Title 42, Venezuelans have largely been exempt from that policy and allowed to enter immigration court proceedings here in the U.S., pursue their asylum claims.

EICHER: The Biden administration also announced a program at the same time to accept some Venezuelans on humanitarian parole on this condition: that they apply remotely and come to the United States by air, not by land through Mexico. Danilo, here’s my question: do you think this will eliminate the idea of the “attractive nuisance” that prompts Venezuelans and others to risk their lives making the journey on foot?

ZAK: Yeah, the program has been quite limited as it's been initially described. Of course, there's the initial cap of 24,000. Over 25,000 a month are arriving at the border, so we're not dealing with all the numbers, first of all, but also it's likely to be a different population. I mean, as you said, this program is designed for people who can afford plane tickets to the U.S. It's for people who have direct ties to the U.S. It could just be a different population that's trying to reach our border by foot than would be sort of eligible or able to access this new parole program.

EICHER: It seems like a bit of a surprise that the Biden administration would use Title 42, given its use by the Trump administration. Can you explain how Title 42 works and maybe venture a guess as to why the Biden administration is applying it to this situation?

ZAK: Yeah, of course. Title 42 is a pandemic-era authority that was first implemented under the Trump administration and it's been used to rapidly expel arriving migrants to Mexico or to their home countries without first providing them the opportunity to seek humanitarian protection or asylum. It's really immediate and rapid expulsion upon arrival. And the policy has really been used to supersede existing federal immigration law at the border, which occurs under Title 8. And it really relies entirely on this public health rationale that we can't provide effective processing or access to asylum to migrants for fear they will contribute to the spread of COVID-19 while going through that processing. The policy is still in place due to a court order. But the administration seems to have made clear that it does not support the use of Title 42. So this expansion is concerning, and does seem to be a bit hypocritical as well.

EICHER: Before we let you go—and we just have a few minutes remaining here—I do want to ask a bit about Title 42, a temporary measure. What happens when that goes away?

ZAK: Long term, I think we're going to be able to rely on our existing immigration law, which is really designed to handle migrants arriving. Title 42, while it's been in place, we've seen a real increase in recidivism or repeat crossing because migrants returned under Title 42 happens very quickly. They're able to just go back to Mexico and then immediately try to cross again into the U.S. There have been reports of migrants crossing 10, 20, even 30 times in a short period because of what Title 42 allows them to do. Title 8, the more traditional immigration processing, doesn't allow for repeat crossing. It carries additional penalties for repeat crossing, it allows people to pursue asylum claims when they really deserve them.

EICHER: Danilo Zak, of the National Immigration Forum. Thanks so much for joining us today.

ZAK: Thank you so much for having me.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Star Wars fans will no doubt remember the moment in the Empire Strikes Back when Han Solo was frozen in carbonite.

CLIP: Did he survive?
Yes, he’s alive and in perfect hibernation.

Well, a California bakery recently recreated that iconic Hollywood scene.

Catherine Pervan and daughter Hannalee are the owners of One House Bakery in San Francisco.

They used dough to make an image of Harrison Ford in a work of art they dubbed “Pan Solo.” They created the masterpiece for the town of Benicia’s 15th annual Scarecrow Contest.

The bakery has previously found fame for dough sculptures of other sci-fi and Star Wars characters, including “baby Yoda” from the Mandalorian series. But of course they called it “Baby Dough-da.”

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, October 18th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICAHRD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Part 2 of our look at modern worship music, behind-the-scenes.

Recently, we introduced you to two songwriters who create modern hymns that are rich in theology.

EICHER: WORLD senior writer Kim Henderson also talked to musicians who’ve noticed changes in the more technical aspects of music we sing in church. Here’s her report.

MUSIC: [SING!]

KIM HENDERSON, SENIOR WRITER: At the recent Getty worship music conference in Nashville, the main stage was the main attraction.

But at 8 o’clock on Wednesday morning, a crowd of coffee-toting music enthusiasts made it to a breakout session on the third floor. Maybe they were drawn by the curious session title: Silencing the Congregation.

MUSIC: [SING!]

That’s Nathan Burggraff. He led the session. Burggraff teaches music theory at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. You could say he’s in the business of training tomorrow’s worship leaders. He’s also served in churches himself.

BURGGRAFF: So I've had first-hand experience in dealing with choosing songs for congregational singing, thinking through what's going to work well for singing in churches.

And when he teaches, he gives his students tips.

BURGGRAFF: Pointers on ways that we can choose songs, choose keys for songs, adapt certain songs, so that it works well for congregational participation.

Congregational participation. Maybe you’ve never thought about the relationship between music theory and how much a congregation participates in the singing during church services. But Nathan Burggraff sure has.

For the past five years, he’s been immersed in an unusual research project.

BURGGRAFF: Just taking songs that we're currently singing in American evangelical churches and looking at some of the changes that have happened to them . . .

Burgraff has studied 476 of the most popular songs sung by evangelical churches during the past three decades. He has Excel spreadsheets analyzing their harmonic progression, melodic ranges, even the number of beat displacements in the melody. It’s tedious work, but the study is revealing. Burggraff says he has proof about what he calls a growing “congregational silence.”

BURGGRAFF: Just the idea that we're writing songs for a solo singer, not necessarily for a group to participate with.

Burggraff zoned in on 130 worship songs written after the year 2000.

BURGGRAFF: …the voice type that was for that solo, so it may not work for an entire congregation to sing.

MUSIC: [CHRIS TOMLIN SONG]

BURGGRAFF: If we take songs by Chris Tomlin, for instance, and we try to sing them in the key that Chris Tomlin sings on his album, we're going to sing them in a key that is way too high for the average congregant.

Burggraff isn’t the only one noticing the problem. Matt Merker is director of creative resources and training for Getty Music. He’s seeing—or rather hearing—the same thing.

MERKER: Many modern songs sound great when they have a full band and a full rhythm section. But if you strip away the musical accompaniment, it can be difficult for the average layperson to sing along without the rhythmic background that comes from the band, and if the song is pitched in a key that's too high . . .

So sometimes an unwillingness to sing in a church service may not be a heart issue. Still, we’re commanded to sing.

MERKER: Scripture tells us in Ephesians 5:19 that we are to be addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. There's a role for every person in the church to be singing. It's part of our ministry.

So what makes a song singable?

AUDIO: [SING!]

Burggraff showed a series of slides at his session. Audience members were eager to ask questions.

BURGRAFF: If you look at the New Harvard Dictionary of Music, they show various voice types . . . and if we take all of those voice categories, and we put them in the same octave, we have what I call a voice range overlap, that is roughly an octave and a third. And so it's about B flat 3, up an octave to the D 5 . . .

And whatever voice type you are, you should be able to sing comfortably in that voice range overlap.

MUSIC: [CITY ALIGHT]

Some contemporary Christian groups, like CityAlight, write specifically with congregational singing in mind.

And some music publishing companies offer a congregation-friendly version of their songs. But there’s the issue of instruments.

BURGGRAFF: If you're working with guitar-lead instrumentation, you might choose keys that work well for guitar. If you have an orchestra in your church, and you use those same keys . . . they're going to end up reading a much more difficult key. . .

Burggraff says today’s worship leaders need to be aware of the challenges.

BURGRAFF: It's a matter of looking at a song, being able to read the music, and being able to identify ways that we can lower the key, we can normalize the rhythm, we can adapt it for communal singing, and that does take just some basic music knowledge.

And extra work, but it’s important work. Congregational silence shouldn’t be an option.

MUSIC: [CITY ALIGHT]

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kim Henderson in Nashville, Tennessee.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, October 18th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Most Christian parents know this challenge: It’s Sunday morning, you need to get kids up, fed, cleaned-up, dressed, and through the church doors on time with a smile. Here’s WORLD commentator Whitney Williams on finding God’s grace in the chaos.

WHITNEY WILLIAMS, COMMENTATOR: Sunday morning, 7:30 a.m. Youngest son reports a tummy ache. “Oh, I’m sorry, baby,” I say on our way out the door, stroking his face and offering him some water. “Time to go!” I holler through the house toward the other two kids. We’ve got plans, you see: Drive by two homes that just hit the market, hit up Sonic Drive-In for my husband’s weekly Route 44 unsweet tea and junior breakfast burrito, and head on to church.

“Y’all get buckled up,” I say, but instead, the aforementioned son drops to the floor of our minivan and gets ready to let his breakfast go. I grab him by his armpits and slide him on his stomach toward the open van door just in time.

“Guess we’re not going to church,” my husband comments as he watches the scene unfold.

All dressed up and ready to go, our family of five slogs back inside to watch church online.

But over the next hour, as we wait for the service to begin, a miraculous healing seems to take place. Our sickly son is now playing, smiling, eating … “This kid’s fine,” my husband and I decide. No fever. No other symptoms. Must have been a fluke. “Load up, everyone. We can still make it!”

Let he who is without a parenting misjudgment cast the first stone.

On the way again, I think about what a gift it is to gather together each week with our church family of 13 years. We’re not a perfect group—even our pastors would admit to that—but maybe that’s what makes a great church: Authenticity, humility, love, and commitment to Christ and his bride in sin sickness and in health. Some of these Sunday morning mercies, I decide in the church parking lot, just can’t be transmitted through a screen.

As my husband puts the van in park, I reach back to pat my little guy’s knee. “You still feel OK, baby?” “Yeah,” he answers.

I grab his hand and we head across the parking lot. “Yep. He’s fine. We’re fine. Everything’s fine,” I think to myself. But just as we reach the outdoor welcome table, something comes over him and it becomes clear to me that he is not fine. That we are not fine.

No trash can in sight, the restroom light years away, I watch, helpless, as my little boy lets it go right there on the church’s front porch.

“Doesn’t exactly leave the best first impression for visitors,” I joke with the welcome team as I rinse the concrete with a pitcher full of water I borrowed from the coffee bar.

But maybe our mess on the front steps of the church sends exactly the right message to visitors, I thought, as we made our way back home to watch the service online: “Welcome to church: A place for the sick.”

I’m Whitney Williams.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: We examine President Biden’s border and immigration policies on Washington Wednesday.

Plus: World Tour.

And, a family that makes movies.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

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 wrote to the Philippians: I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Ph 1:6 ESV)

Go now in grace and peace.

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