Just sharing.

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Doing Deals​

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U.S. delegates are headed to Saudi Arabia for peace talks with Russia.​

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Their goal is to end the war in Ukraine… but President Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s invite must have gotten lost in the mail. Also not on the guest list: any European countries. Not to be sidelined, French President Macron invited European leaders to a summit in Paris today to discuss the war and their new normal with Washington. ​

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Meanwhile, fighting continues. Kyiv said a Russian drone with a high-explosive warhead pierced the protective shell of the Chernobyl nuclear plant early Friday, starting a brief fire. Nuclear experts say radiation levels haven’t increased, and there is “no immediate danger.” Russia denies responsibility.​

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On Saturday, Ukraine rejected a U.S. draft deal trading rare-earth minerals for military aid, saying it didn’t contain sufficient security guarantees. Negotiations continue. ​

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CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
Christians should be committed to praying for world leaders to be wise and to work towards peaceful resolutions while placing our hope in God, not government. ​

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“First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”
1 Timothy 2:1-2 (CSB) (read full passage)​

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“He that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.”

Ecclesiastes 10:9

Oppressors may get their will of poor and needy men as easily as they can split logs of wood, but they had better mind, for it is a dangerous business, and a splinter from a tree has often killed the woodman. Jesus is persecuted in every injured saint, and he is mighty to avenge his beloved ones. Success in treading down the poor and needy is a thing to be trembled at: if there be no danger to persecutors here there will be great danger hereafter.




To cleave wood is a common every-day business, and yet it has its dangers; so then, reader, there are dangers connected with your calling and daily life which it will be well for you to be aware of. We refer not to hazards by flood and field, or by disease and sudden death, but to perils of a spiritual sort. Your occupation may be as humble as log splitting, and yet the devil can tempt you in it. You may be a domestic servant, a farm labourer, or a mechanic, and you may be greatly screened from temptations to the grosser vices, and yet some secret sin may do you damage. Those who dwell at home, and mingle not with the rough world, may yet be endangered by their very seclusion.

Nowhere is he safe who thinks himself so. Pride may enter a poor man's heart; avarice may reign in a cottager's bosom; uncleanness may venture into the quietest home; and anger, and envy, and malice may insinuate themselves into the most rural abode. Even in speaking a few words to a servant we may sin; a little purchase at a shop may be the first link in a chain of temptations; the mere looking out of a window may be the beginning of evil. O Lord, how exposed we are! How shall we be secured! To keep ourselves is work too hard for us: only thou thyself art able to preserve us in such a world of evils. Spread thy wings over us, and we, like little chickens, will cower down beneath thee, and feel ourselves safe!

 

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Flip Landing​

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Delta Flight 4819, from Minneapolis to Toronto, had a traumatic touchdown Monday.​

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Upon landing in windy conditions, the Bombardier CRJ-900 commercial aircraft lost a wing, burst into flame, and flipped upside down (see photos). All 76 passengers and four crew members survived after evacuating through the emergency exit doors; at least 18 people were transported to hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries.​

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It’s not clear what caused the crash. The aircraft was properly maintained and well within its 2-3 decade lifespan. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is leading the investigation, with support from U.S. agencies.​

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It’s been a turbulent few months for commercial aviation. A December crash in South Korea killed 179 people, a January crash in D.C. claimed 67 lives, and a crash in Alaska took 10 lives earlier this month.

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Verse to consider when it feels like the circumstances of life are spinning out of control… “Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be shaken. My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock. My refuge is in God.”
Psalm 62:5–7 (CSB) (read full passage) ​

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Ending Russian Isolation​

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The U.S. and Russia are rebooting their relationship.​

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In the countries’ first official meeting since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov met in Saudi Arabia yesterday. They aimed to lay the groundwork for peace talks in the Russia-Ukraine war that’s claimed more than a million lives by some estimates.​

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Uncle Sam and Mother Russia agreed to pick peace-negotiating teams and restore staffing levels at their embassies, also making plans for “geopolitical and economic cooperation” if the war ends. A summit between Presidents Trump and Putin was discussed but not set.​

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The Trump administration said Tuesday’s talks were “preliminary,” promising Ukraine that it will be able to negotiate with Russia directly. Rubio said, “No one is being sidelined,” but European allies are miffed that they weren’t looped in.​

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ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
As nations fight over temporary borders, followers of Christ rejoice in our eternal inheritance: the entire world made completely new, where we will live and reign with our Savior forever. ​

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“Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5:5 (CSB) (read full passage)​

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