The World and Everything in It: October 6, 2023

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like us. I'm Christen McKey from Midlothian, Virginia. And my family is greeting you from a Virginia State Park today where we can often be found camping and blogging from my website Virginia is for campers dot com. We are big fans of WORLD in our house as well as at the Men's Ministry, Noble Warriors where I work. Enjoy today's program.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning! Today on Culture Friday, we’ll talk about whether evangelical nondenominational churches are going the way of the mainline.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And we’ll talk about what’s going in Rome, too, with Pope Francis muddying the waters. John Stonestreet will be along in just a few minutes for Culture Friday.

Also today Disney Entertainment turns 100 this month. WORLD Arts and Culture Editor Collin Garbarino considers the highs and the lows. And Ask the Editor, WORLD Radio interns have questions on honoring Christ in their journalism.

BROWN: It’s Friday, October 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: Border wall » The U.S.-Mexico border wall is about to get a little bit longer.

In a stunning reversal, the Biden administration announced that it’s clearing the way to build additional sections of wall.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas:

MAYORKAS: There is no more fundamental responsibility of any government than to safeguard its homeland and its people. We all share that principle, and we all work together to fulfill that responsibility.

Roughly 20 more miles of border wall will go up near McAllen, Texas.

Many on the left are criticizing the move. But President Biden said the construction funds are from a 2019 appropriations bill, and his hands were tied.

BIDEN: The money was appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get them to reappropriate it, to redirect that money. They didn’t. They wouldn’t. And in the meantime, there’s nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated. I can’t stop that.

Mayorkas says the administration is waiving more than two-dozen federal laws, including environmental regulations, to resume construction on the border.

The secretary said, “There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers” despite President Biden’s response to this question on Thursday:

REPORTER: Do you believe the border wall works? 

BIDEN: No.

While campaigning for president in 2020, Biden promised not to build another foot of border wall.

But border traffic has soared to record levels since then with agents reporting more than six million migrant encounters since Biden took office in 2021.

SOUND: [Motorcade]

Blinken border » And in Mexico City, a motorcade, including Secretary of State Tony Blinken rolled into Mexico’s Foreign Ministry.

Blinken and other U.S. officials met with leaders from Mexico, Panama, and Colombia to discuss how to keep migrants from showing up at the border in the first place.

BLINKEN: The challenges we face are in many ways historic in nature, and we have to make sure that our progress not only keeps up with the challenges but actually gets ahead of them.

Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador has stressed his belief that the U.S. should spend more to improve the quality of life in Latin America.

That’s a point the Biden administration also emphasizes.

BLINKEN: When they can put food on the table for their kids. When they can build a future at home, that’s exactly what they’ll choose to do.

But the left-wing Mexican president also blasted the Biden administration’s move to allow more border wall construction.

NYC Mayor Adams in Mexico » New York City Mayor Eric Adams is also traveling through Latin America for much the same reason hoping to find answers to a migrant crisis in his city.

He’s also urging migrants to stop coming to New York.

ADAMS: I say to those who are pursuing the American dream, it should not turn into a nightmare.

His city has put many thousands of migrants up in hotel rooms. And the state of New York has granted work permits to nearly a half-million migrants … many of whom crossed the border illegally.

Adams is trying to spread the message that his city is now at a breaking point, spending $10 million dollars a day to house migrants.

Jordan campaigns for speaker » Back in Washington, GOP Congressman Jim Jordan is speaking out about the border crisis, as he campaigns to become the next speaker of the House.

JORDAN: The very first thing I would focus on is one sentence: No money can be used to process or release into this country any new migrants. You have to change the equation. You have to stop what’s going on there in Texas and across our country.

He also sounded off on an increasingly contentious topic among Republicans continued support for Ukraine.

Jordan said “until you can tell me the goal, I don’t think we should continue to send money there, particularly when we have the problems we have on our border.

Ukraine aid » Meantime, at a gathering in southern Spain, nearly 50 European leaders declared that they stand by Ukraine, even as cracks have appeared in Western resolve.

Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte:

RUTTE: This is about our common values. This is about our common security. And we cannot accept in 2022, 2023 invading another nation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made the same point, telling leaders that his military is on the front lines … defending the borders of Europe itself.

ZELENSKYY: Every Russian drone shot down in Ukraine, every Russian tank destroyed in Ukraine, will not strike anyone else in Europe.

French President Emmanuel Macron noted that President Biden has assured allies that Washington remains committed to the cause. But he said regardless, Europe has to be —quote— “totally committed, because this is in our immediate neighborhood.

Russian strike » As Zelenskyy looked to firm up support from European leaders, Moscow’s forces carried out one of its deadliest attacks since the start of the war. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHR: Russian missiles struck a cafe and grocery store … killing more than 50 people, including a six-year-old boy.

Rescue workers have been sifting through piles of shattered brick and twisted steel … to recover the remains of the victims.

ZELENSKYY: [Speaking Ukrainian]

Zelenskyy called it a terrorist act and another deliberate attack on civilians.

Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said he has no doubt that Russia intentionally “carried out the attack during lunchtime, to ensure a maximum number of casualties.”

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, 100 years of Disney animation from a mouse to toy box, and everything in between.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST:  It’s the 6th day of October 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, the president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint Podcast. John, good morning.

JOHN STONESTREET: Good morning.

EICHER: In the current issue, WORLD reports:

“Nearly a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, church leaders face intensifying pressure to adopt current cultural language and messages about sexuality and gender. More pastors are capitulating, nudging evangelicalism down the same road that has gutted mainline Protestantism.”

Mary Jackson reports on this trend among so-called non denominational churches … and of course a major thread in her reporting is a controversial conference at North Point Community Church in Atlanta. It’s the “Unconditional” conference that caused such a stir.

It’s such a well-reported and important piece … Mary has done strong work on this … as she did on the Revoice movement that has roiled the Presbyterian Church in America. I could read the entire piece and it’d consume all our time … we talked about this on the program yesterday … and if the listener hasn’t read the piece yet, I’ll once again place a link to it in our program transcript.

I just want to mention a couple of points from the piece we didn’t discuss yesterday.

Evangelical support of same-sex marriage is on the rise. Among white evangelical Protestants, it rose from 11 percent in 2004 to 29 percent in 2019, according to a Pew survey. It also found that 4 in 10 of those who attend religious services once a week now favor same-sex marriage.

The story quotes church historian Thomas Kidd … who says: “Now, the realm of the possible changes within the broad and very poorly defined evangelical sphere. It suggests the traditional Biblical view of marriage and sexuality is no longer a defining principle of the evangelical movement.”

John, are you concerned evangelicalism is going the way of mainline Protestantism?

STONESTREET: I don't know if evangelicalism is going the way of mainline Protestantism. If it is, this is just another chapter in that drift, not the start of it. I think specifically, what Andy Stanley has done is very similar to a historic mistake of mainline Protestantism, which is at some level arguing—and he's made this in other places before—that you can separate theology from pastoral practice and pastoral care. And I think that's the fundamental mistake.

But first, our theology has to be grounded in that which does not change. And our practice has to be grounded as well as possible into a sound theological approach to all of these issues. I think North Point and Stanley have weighed in on an area that most churches haven't, which is how do you actually help parents who are in this situation? What does it actually look like to keep relationships with your kids? And I think there was an attempt to kind of thread that needle and offer a third space or a quiet space or a third way (I forget exactly how the description said). And I think that in and of itself is going to be really influential.

Now look, I think there have been a lot of headlines about evangelical pastors from otherwise conservative denominations or churches who have become affirming. Almost all of those stories were overblown by media looking for that sort of devolution. This is a big deal. I mean, Andy Stanley founded and pastors what is one of the largest churches in America. The voices that he chose were universally affirming voices, maybe with an exception or two. My friend, Alan Schliemann from the organization Stand to Reason attended the North Point conference, and asked a lot of questions. And he recorded an interview about what he saw with Sean McDowell. And he said something really interesting. He said, if I were planning an event to try to kind of smuggle in and shift the church's allegiances on these matters, this is the kind of conference that I would do.

But this has been a historically repeated mistake going all the way back to Friedrich Schleiermacher who attempted to separate the good of Christianity from the truthfulness of Christian claims about Jesus and about the miraculous and about the supernatural. This is theological liberalism in the 20th century—trying to separate the fact that while Jesus really wasn't the Son of God, he really didn't die for our sins, substitutionary atonement really isn't a thing, he's really just a good example. And so it's how we practice that really matters.That was the fumble of theological liberalism in the 20th century, until it became—as J. Gresham Machen famously put it—a different faith, a different worldview. That this wasn't just another form of Christianity, it was another religion altogether. So this is a repeated mistake.

And that is, I think blatantly what Andy Stanley said he was trying to do is separate theology from practice. And for this conference, it was pastoral practice, but he said this in different ways at different times. And I just don't think those two things can be unhitched and stay Christian for very long.

BROWN:  John, this week Pope Francis is meeting behind closed doors in the Vatican City. The topics under discussion: the elevation of women in ministry, priest celibacy and marriage and more support for LGBT Catholics.

Conservative Catholics have warned the outcome of the three-week gathering could trigger a split. What do you think and are you expecting immediate changes?

STONESTREET: Well, there have been numerous times when people have predicted a split in the Roman Catholic Church and have almost always been wrong. Not always been wrong—there's been a handful of times—but they've been so few and far between. This is the thing about a historic, hierarchical church body like this. These are like ocean liners turning around.

You know, I thought the best take on this was from a Roman Catholic thinker—someone who's more known for his political takes but serious about his faith—Roger Severino. He used to work for the Heritage Foundation and also health and human services under President Trump. And here's how he described it. He says, as is typical with Pope Francis (this is on Twitter/X), he acknowledges objective morality, and doesn't change any church teaching, but uses ambiguous language about wholly unspecified hypotheticals that people who clearly want to change Church teaching will seize upon to confuse multitudes. And I thought, you know, that's exactly right. Because if you look at the overall quote, in context, Francis actually endorsed, here's what the Church teaches. And here's what the Church has always taught. And it wasn't, you know, in a sense, unlike pastor Andy Stanley on Sunday morning, kind of saying, here are the three fundamentals of Christian morality with sexuality. And then there's all this lack of clarity around it, when clarity is possible.

And there is just something to that. What's the line? “When it's misty in the pulpit, it's foggy in the pew.” And somebody else said, “and it's stormy in the culture.” And I think that that's probably right. I think that there is a cultural responsibility that church leaders of all stripes have…when things are muddy, clarity is a wonderful gift. And it's the sort of clarity I think that the Bible gives and that church teaching and historically has done. Otherwise it does become something that can be seized upon to confuse multitudes—as Roger Severino put it. That to me was the most helpful take on what happened with Pope Francis.

BROWN: John as you know, attacks on Alliance Defending Freedom is nothing new, especially with its work on the overturning of Roe. But a recent article, published by the liberal news media source, The New Yorker, paints a particularly unflattering picture. And I’m quoting here, “ADF resembles a cultural war personal injury firm.”

The article also cites leaked recordings of ADF meetings and pages of internal documents.

You often talk about Christians having a theology of getting fired. How would you characterize something like this?

STONESTREET: I think something that Kristin Wagner—the CEO of ADF—has said a number of times, and I'm kind of paraphrasing her here, but it resembles a cultural war, a personal injury firm. That's because there's a lot of personal injury happening.

The second thing that came to mind is I've read The New Yorker piece. In fact, it was sent to me by two or three people who said, you know, this isn't that bad. And I actually kind of agreed, I mean, it was unflattering—if you accepted all of the assumptions of The New Yorker—that to even be involved in this would be bad, right?

If you start with the assumption that this should never exist, then yeah, it was unflattering. Other than that, I don't think ADF has anything to be ashamed of. There was nothing there that should have surprised anyone that's been following along for any lengthy period of time.

To your point about how this fits into the theology of getting fired…I think it's quite simple: we are moving into a new age, and we have moved in in many ways. We're not dealing with eye rolls anymore. We're dealing with intentional misrepresentations and attacks. And that's just a different place. I think parents who send their kids to college need to know that it's one thing to believe that God created the world when everybody else agrees. It's another thing when you go to college, and nobody else agrees, it's a completely different thing to go to college. And if you say marriage is between a man and a woman, you're considered to be a fascist Nazi pig who hates women, even though we can't define women. Which is why anytime somebody who's supposed to be on the wrong side of these issues, says, you know, I saw the light now, I'm affirming of whatever, in any sort of way, whether it's clearly stating that or ambiguously stating that, like Pope Francis, then it's such a big news story, because it's kind of an apology on behalf of all Christianity for being Christian.

So this is the sort of thing we can expect in the days ahead. And I actually wrote to a good friend who's in leadership at ADF, and I said ”congratulations” when the piece came out, I was like, “You've earned this.” That actually says something. Or as my high school basketball coach used to say, “dogs don't bark at cars that ain't moving,” which I always thought was super profound. And every time I say it out loud, people are like, what does that mean? Basically, ADF is moving and the dogs are barking. That says something about their effectiveness.

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

STONESTREET: You bet. Thanks a lot.

NICK EICHER, HOST: The Ontario Provincial Police posted a video to social media this week with a warning, telling motorists in the Greater Toronto Area of an accident on the roadway.

OPP: Aurora OPP members are currently on the scene of a tractor trailer rollover.

That tractor trailer emptied its contents across three lanes of Highway 400, turning it into a giant hors d'oeuvre tray:

OPP: As you can see celery has been sprayed all over the highway. Clean up crews are working to ensure the safety of motorists.

No greater threat to the roadway safety than crunchy celery, I guess. No one was injured, but the cleanup was a big job. It took nearly five hours to get it done.

I have to wonder about the hourly rate for the work. And you knew it was coming to this, but I think the workers are going to demand a higher celery now.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Maybe ranch dressing will keep them happy.

EICHER: It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHR, HOST: Today is Friday, October 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. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: a big anniversary for the entertainment industry.

This month the Walt Disney Company celebrates its 100th birthday. Here’s Arts and Culture editor Collin Garbarino with a look at the legacy of Disney animation.

MUSIC: [Intro to “When You Wish Upon a Star”]

COLLIN GARBARINO: No other name is as closely associated with animation as Walt Disney. In October of 1923, Walt and his brother Roy founded Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in Los Angeles. This small group of animators working on short films would grow into a global entertainment empire. After some fits and starts working on short cartoons for other studios, Disney had a breakthrough with a lovable new character, Mickey Mouse.

AUDIO: [Mickey Mouse whistling in Steamboat Willie]

Steamboat Willie wasn’t Disney’s first cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse, but it was the first with its own soundtrack. Mickey and Steamboat Willie became hits. And Disney’s Silly Symphonies became popular fixtures in cinema houses.

But Walt wasn’t satisfied with short musical cartoons. In the mid 1930s, Disney took a big risk, starting work on a feature length animated film.

SNOW WHITE: [singing] Some day my prince will come. Some day we’ll meet again.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs debuted in 1937.

Snow White in technicolor was a technological breakthrough. Disney’s animators had to invent many techniques that would become standard animation practice for decades. Snow White has a brief 83-minute runtime, but it cost 1.5 million dollars to make. That was a lot of money in the 1930s. If the movie had flopped, it would have ruined the studio. The movie ended up making more than $8 million in its first run, becoming the highest grossing film up to that time.

For the next three decades, Walt Disney Productions released a new animated feature almost every year. Disney’s most beloved films come from this era—movies like Dumbo, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Sleeping Beauty.

AURORA: [singing] I know you. I walked with you once upon a dream. I know you. The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam.

Those early Disney movies are full of optimism, maybe even naivety. But they reflect the optimistic culture of postwar America. There’s nothing cynical in these stories about the importance of love and family. Disney’s catalog from this era has aged well and can bear repeated viewings.

Walt Disney died in 1966, and the last movie he touched was The Jungle Book, another classic. But Walt’s absence was immediately felt. The quality of Disney movies worsened in the 70s and 80s. Compared to The Jungle Book, it’s hard to think of Disney’s next animated feature The Aristocats as anything but a disappointment.

Robin Hood and Winnie the Pooh have their charms, but I can’t say much good about The Rescuers, The Black Cauldron, or Oliver and Company. The films from this era feel dated compared to the timeless storytelling of the earlier era. The malaise America felt in the aftermath of the cultural upheaval of the late 60s seems to have crept into these films.

But just when most people thought Disney had run its course, the animation studio roared back with 1989’s The Little Mermaid.

ARIEL: Look at this stuff. Isn’t it neat? Wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete?

I saw it in the theater, and I was stunned by how good it was. And believe me, it’s hard to stun a teenage boy with a musical love story. The Little Mermaid launched Disney’s renaissance. In quick succession, we got Beauty and the Beast in 1991, Aladdin in 1992, and The Lion King in 1994. Six songs and a goofy sidekick became Disney’s formula for blockbuster success. The Lion King still holds the box office record for a traditionally animated movie.

But these films weren’t a return to Disney’s golden age. The movies of the renaissance are more complicated including a touch of cynicism and individualism. The storylines push that “follow your heart” mantra to the max, not tempering it with obligations to family and community. We get a lot of rebellious teens who are discontent with their lives. And they risk disaster without thinking about anyone but themselves.

After The Lion King, Disney’s newfound formula for success became a rut that led to lackluster films. Does anyone really like Pocahontas or The Hunchback of Notre Dame? It turns out six songs and a goofy sidekick won’t cut it. Movies need compelling stories, but many films from this era substitute messaging for story.

At the same time Disney foundered, a new animation studio focusing first and foremost on storytelling burst on the scene.

MUSIC: [“You’ve Got a Friend in Me”]

In 1995, Pixar’s Toy Story boasted impressive computer animation, but it was the story of friendship that captivated audiences. Disney continued to make hyper-individualistic films laced with progressive social piety, all of them lackluster. Disney released 16 films in the 15 years after Toy Story came out. Most people would be hard pressed to name one of them.

Pixar, on the other hand, had hit after hit.

Since Walt Disney Animation couldn’t beat Pixar, the Walt Disney Company decided to buy Pixar in 2006.

John Lasseter, Pixar’s chief, became the head of Disney’s animation as well, and Pixar’s culture started to rub off on Disney’s stodgy animation studio. Disney’s storytelling became centered on character and heartfelt relationships, rather than gimmicks and tired formulas. The movies improved dramatically. Everyone knows how big Frozen became. But Tangled, Big Hero 6, and Moana are all fabulous too.

MAUI: [singing] What can I say except, “You’re welcome!” for the tides, the sun, the sky.

But this revival in storytelling proved short-lived. Five years ago, Lasseter left under a cloud, and rather than Pixar rejuvenating Disney, the Disney culture has sucked the life out of Pixar. With the exception of the delightful Encanto, all of Disney’s and Pixar’s animated movies over the last few years have been duds.

At 100 years old, Disney animation once again looks like a spent force chasing ephemeral cultural fads rather than offering timeless stories about the most important things in life. Walt Disney might have been a visionary, but I can’t imagine this current malaise was what he envisioned.

I’m Collin Garbarino.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, October 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. Over the last few months we’ve had the opportunity to work with five talented podcast interns from this year’s WJI class. We asked them if they had any questions for our editor. They did. Here’s WORLD Executive Producer Paul Butler with a few responses.

PAUL BUTLER: Truly the most rewarding part of my job is overseeing the WORLD Radio interns each summer and fall. I meet with them at least once a week to talk about their work and journalism in general. They frequently have great questions:

ALEX CARMENATY: Hello there. This is Alex Carminati from Long Island, New York. What verse would best summarize the work WORLD does?

There are a few passages I’ll mention. First of all, our program name is inspired by Psalm 24:1 and Acts 17:23-24. Both declare that the “earth is the LORD’s and everything in it.” That drives our coverage and reminds us of our mission.

Second, our reporters strive to understand the world so that they can leave a record of God’s work in it. So I think Psalm 102:18 is appropriate as well.

Psalm 102:18 (ESV), “Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.”

We pray that our work has staying power so that those who come after us will marvel at God’s work today and praise Him for it.

Finally, most Christian journalists I know point to the gospel writer of Luke. His account is an orderly narrative of the life of Christ so that those who read the book would have confidence in what they’ve been taught. We feel that’s our calling as well…

AIDAN JOHNSTON: I'm WORLD intern Aidan Johnston from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Something I've noticed over the course of the internship is how easy it is to become numb to tragedy when taking in so much news. When I'm fact checking the death toll of a disaster, those lives can just become numbers to me. How do you deal with confronting the Brokenness of the world on a daily basis?

Romans 12:15 encourages us to “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” As we tell the stories of brokenness in our world, we must not be untouched by the sorrow caused by sin.

I think of Bonnie Pritchett’s reporting trips after tornadoes and hurricanes, or Kim Henderson’s coverage of a small town where 8 people were murdered by one man. Both of these women walked alongside deeply hurting people. What I appreciate about both of them is their cheeks were often streaked with tears as they held people’s hands, and listened to their stories—and told them to us.

In Matthew chapter nine Jesus saw the weary multitudes and He was moved with compassion for they were like sheep without a shepherd. We follow His example. We must of course be factual, and accurate, and tell the most compelling stories we can. If we are untouched, we are not able to tell the whole truth.

I also think of how Luke describes Mary’s response to all she witnessed at Jesus’s birth. She kept all those things in her heart and pondered them. She literally “preserved” what she’d seen…so that she wouldn’t forget. We mustn’t run to the next controversy, tragedy, or crisis without preserving the previous story and pondering what God is doing.

One more thing, I remember listening to a traffic report a number of years ago on WMBI-FM—a Christian radio station in Chicago. There had been a terrible accident that killed a motorist. The announcer ended her update with an encouragement to pray for those affected. That’s stuck with me. When we cover difficult things and meet broken people, we ought to be moved to pray for them…that God would comfort, redeem, restore, and reign down His justice.

CALEB WELDE: Hi, my name is Caleb Welde and I'm in Boone, North Carolina. My question is, what are some specific strategies used by world journalists to retain joy when reporting on chronically difficult topics?

Over the last forty years of WORLD’s journalistic enterprise, times have changed, yet much has remained the same. Corrupt politicians, unfaithful leaders, bad government policies, border disputes and wars, deadly weather, broken families. All proof that our world awaits resurrection and consummation.

While we wait, how do we tell these stories and still remain hopeful and full of joy? First of all, joy is a fruit of the Spirit. We can not do this work in our own strength. We throw ourselves upon God’s grace and mercy, drink deep of His word, and seek to acknowledge Him in all we do. God has given us His Spirit, and joy follows as we rely on Him.

We must also seek out evidence of how God is at work, highlight uplifting and encouraging stories—not just the fallenness of mankind. Look for it. It’s there to be found.

The pro-life beat is one of the most difficult beats to cover at WORLD. So much bad news. So I asked Leah Savas your question. She said she meditates on the holiness of God. And constantly reminds herself that He’s not caught by surprise by any of it. Then she added how important it is to connect with family and a body of believers—where you can see and celebrate God’s goodness and be reminded of His blessings.

My thanks to Alex Carmenaty, Aidan Johnston, and Caleb Welde for their service to WORLD as interns, and for their questions. That’s this month’s Ask the Editor, 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:

Mary Reichard, Jenny Rough, David Bahnsen, Emma Perley, Bonnie Pritchett, Emily Whitten, Onize Ohikere, Leah Savas, Janie B Cheaney, Jenny Lind Schmitt, Cal Thomas, John Stonestreet, and Collin Garbarino.

And a new voice this week: WORLD Opinions contributor John Shelton.

Thanks also to our breaking news team: Kent Covington, Lynde Langdon, Steve Kloosterman, Travis Kircher, Lauren Canterberry, Christina Grube, and Josh Schumacher.

And, breaking news interns Tobin Jacobson, Johanna Huebscher, and Alex Carmanaty.

And thanks to the guys who stay up late to get the program to you early: Johnny Franklin and Carl Peetz.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Our producer is Harrison Watters. Our production team includes Kristen Flavin, Benj Eicher, and Bekah McCallum. Anna Johansen Brown is features editor, and Paul Butler is executive producer.

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 says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” –Isaiah chapter 26 verses 3 and 4.

Be sure and worship the Rock of Ages with your brothers and sisters in Christ, in church this weekend. And Lord willing, we’ll meet you right back here on Monday.

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.