Welcome back to High on Christ! Picture 15 million people flooding one city for a single funeral. It's happening right now, and the backstory is even wilder than the crowd.
Here is what the world is up to.
The Bullets
Love over power, literally: Two daredevils snuck to the top of the Empire State Building, unfurled a banner reading "when the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace," got engaged, and then got arrested.
Fewer people even trying: June hiring slowed and about 720,000 people dropped out of the workforce entirely, pushing the share of Americans working or looking for work to a five-year low.
Second thoughts on a buzzword: A Church of England report is urging bishops to retire the phrase "Christian nationalism", arguing it has become more of a political insult than a useful description.
Too hot for a fairytale: Amid a NYC heat wave, Mayor Mamdani asked everyone to set ACs to 78, cue jokes about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's reported wedding at Madison Square Garden, which turns out to have no thermostat anyway.
The Funeral That Stopped a Nation
Read more here.
Spiritual Perspective
When a man who caused such suffering is gone, it's tempting to celebrate. But Scripture pulls us somewhere harder: "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live" (Ezekiel 33:11, ESV). The better prayer this week is for Iran itself, its weary people, its growing underground church, and a peace no strike or succession can manufacture.
Bible Trivia!
Inspiring Quote
There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: "Mine!"
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