Welcome back to High on Christ! Sixteen centuries ago, a Christian city in the Egyptian desert went silent. This week, archaeologists brought it back into the light.

Here is what the world is up to.

The Bullets

  • Back to the brink: After Iran attacked three ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. hit more than 80 Iranian targets in return, Iran fired back at American bases in Bahrain and Kuwait, and oil prices jumped about 5%.

  • The cost of following Jesus: International Christian Concern released its 2026 Global Persecution Index, profiling how believers are pressured, jailed, and killed across more than 20 countries, from Nigeria to India to Russia.

  • Never count out Argentina: The defending champs pulled off a stunning comeback over Egypt, roaring back from two goals down in the final minutes to reach the World Cup quarterfinals.

  • Nuclear power, in orbit: SpaceX launched what's billed as the first nuclear-powered commercial satellite, a tritium-powered CubeSat that can run around the clock, far from the reach of the sun.

The Church Under the Sand

Archaeologists in Egypt just uncovered a whole Christian city under the desert.
A whole city? How old?
Around 1,600 years. Fourth and fifth centuries, back when Egypt was part of the Christian Byzantine Empire.
What did they actually find?
Streets, houses, watchtowers, and a big basilica church right in the center of town.
So faith was literally the center of the place.
Looks like it. They also found about 200 "ostraca," everyday notes scratched onto broken pottery, in Coptic and Greek.
Like what kind of notes?
Grocery lists, receipts, letters. Regular people, regular lives, all Christian.
That's kind of moving, honestly.
It is. A reminder the church has been quietly outliving empires for a very long time.

Read more here.

Spiritual Perspective

Empires rose and fell over that little desert church, and yet the faith it held is still ours this morning. "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18), sometimes evidenced by nothing grander than a 1,600-year-old grocery list.

Bible Trivia!

Who was thrown into the lions' den?

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Inspiring Quote

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Christianity has died many times and risen again, for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave.

- G.K. Chesterton

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