Welcome back to High on Christ! You know that feeling when you sign a contract, shake hands, and the other guy immediately does the one thing he promised not to? Today's top story has that exact energy.

First, a reminder that we now live on Instagram and Threads too.

Here is what the world is up to.

The Bullets

  • Religious Liberty Win: A Texas justice of the peace was awarded about $640,000 in damages and legal fees after she declined, on Christian conscience grounds, to officiate same-sex weddings, a ruling supporters are calling a major religious freedom precedent.

  • Tax the Billionaires?: A union-backed measure that would slap a one-time 5% tax on Californians worth over $1 billion, to fund health care, food aid, and schools, officially qualified for the state's November ballot.

  • Apple's AI Tax: Apple raised MacBook and iPad prices by 20% or more, blaming an AI-data-center boom that has quadrupled memory costs, and its stock had its worst day in over a year.

  • Google Goes Hollywood: Google is putting roughly $75 million into indie studio A24 to build AI filmmaking tools with DeepMind, its first-ever stake in a movie studio.

So Much for the Truce?

Iran just hit a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Didn't they literally just sign a peace deal with the US?
Days ago. The whole point of it was to reopen that shipping lane.
So this is them testing it already?
Looks that way. A drone clipped the bridge of a Singapore-flagged ship called the Ever Lovely. No casualties, thankfully.
Remind me where the Strait of Hormuz is?
Narrow channel between Iran and Oman. Roughly a fifth of the world's oil sails through it.
Ah. That explains the price jump.
Right, crude ticked up about 2% within hours.
And the deal? Dead?
Not officially. The UN just paused its plan to evacuate stranded ships to recheck safety.
What does Iran actually want here?
Ships to ask its permission to pass, and to hug Iran's coast instead of Oman's. The US route is the opposite.
So one strike, and nobody's sure the truce holds.
That's where it sits. No second attack yet, just everyone holding their breath.

Read more here.

Spiritual Perspective

Peace deals are fragile because they rest on human promises. Jesus told His followers to expect exactly this kind of headline: "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place" (Matthew 24:6, ESV).

It is a reminder that our peace was never anchored in a treaty or a shipping lane, but in the One who said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you" (John 14:27, ESV).

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Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.

- Corrie ten Boom

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