The Pour Over Today - Decline in Violent Crime, Escalation in Lebanon, CA Bans Plastic Bags, & More | 09.25.24

Episode Date: September 25, 2024

Today we’re talking about the FBI reporting violent crime is on the decline; the budding war in Lebanon; California’s new law banning plastic grocery bags; and other top news for Wednesday, September 25th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over Today. Please support our TPO sponsors! Cru: give.cru.org/tpo Upside: https://links.thepourover.org/Upside Every Woman's Bible: everywomansbible.com Life Application Study Bible: https://links.thepourover.org/LASB_Podcast The Bible Study: https://links.thepourover.org/TheBibleStudy Politics for People Who Hate Politics: https://links.thepourover.org/PoliticsForPeopleWhoHatePolitics Keola Fit: https://links.thepourover.org/KeolaFit_Pod Compelled Podcast: https://links.thepourover.org/Compelled Dwell Differently: https://links.thepourover.org/DwellDifferently Nothing Left Unsaid Podcast: https://linktr.ee/tgnlu CCCU: https://www.mycccu.com/tpobonus Courage for Life Study Bibles: links.thepourover.org/CFL_Podcast_0901

Hey TPO listeners, it's Jason Woodruff, founder of The Poor Over. Before we get into today's news, we wanted to celebrate. This podcast just passed 5 million downloads. Thank you so much for being a listener and taking part in our vision to help Christians have a spiritually healthy relationship with the news. To mark the milestone, we are giving away $505 Chick-fil-A gift cards. Simply leave a review, take a screenshot, and email it to news at theporeover.org. Honestly, you will probably win because $500 is a lot

of chicken gift cards. Thank you so much for being a supporter in this contentious election season. Today, we're talking about the FBI reporting violent crime is on the decline, the budding war in Lebanon, California's new law banning plastic grocery bags, and other top news for Wednesday, September 25th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with the poor over today. Here's the quote of the day, If you believe what you like in the Gospels and reject what you don't like, it is not

the Gospel you believe, but yourself. St. Augustine. Let's get started with some espresso shots. The FBI's annual crime report card came out Monday. Violent crime in the U.S. dropped between 2022 and 2023, with rape down 9.4% and murder and non-negligent manslaughter down 11.6%, the largest one-year decline ever recorded. Preliminary 2024 numbers show the decline continuing. Still, prosecutors won't be without work anytime soon.

Data from the same timeframe showed an increase in car theft up 12.6% and shoplifting up 15%. Prosecutors in former President Trump's second attempted assassination case are also staying busy. A federal judge ruled would-be assassin Ryan Ruth be held without bail following newly submitted evidence including a list of expected whereabouts to stalk Trump and a handwritten letter penned months ago in which Ruth preemptively admitted to a failed assassination attempt, offering $150,000 for someone to complete the job.

Christian's radical love shines in our violent world when we love even those who hate and hurt us. Loving your enemies demonstrates that we belong to our Father, who loved his enemies so much that he allowed them to kill his son so that he can be close to them. Matthew 5, 44-46 says, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For He causes His Son to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don't even the tax collectors do the same?

Monday marked the deadliest day of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in decades. Missiles targeting Hezbollah weapons hidden in residential areas of southern Lebanon killed more than 550 people, including dozens of women and children. Ahead of the barrage, Israel reportedly sent warnings through phone calls, texts, and hack radio stations, urging people to evacuate. The IDF struck 300 Hezbollah targets and said, "...every house that we strike contains weapons, intended to kill Israeli citizens." Then, yesterday, Israel killed a senior Hezbollah commander in an airstrike on Beirut. Israel faces continuing fire from Hezbollah, but interceptions have kept damage comparatively

minor. Hezbollah says it's targeting Israeli military facilities. The UN said it's extremely alarmed by escalations and the Pentagon is adding to the 40,000 American troops already present in the Middle East. While mourning with victims and praying for our enemies, Christians have hope in the face of a violent world. The servant of God, who himself did no violence, has been afflicted by his Father on our behalf so that we can live in his peaceful presence forever. Isaiah 53, four and five says,

"'Yet he himself bore our sickness, and he carried our pains. But we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities. Punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.

Katy Perry's plastic bags won't be drifting through the California wind much longer. Governor Newsom signed a new law banning all plastic grocery bags by 2026, requiring shoppers to bring reusables or embrace paper. It follows the state's 2014 law banning single-use plastic bags, which inadvertently led to golden staters using more plastic waste. Grocers switched to thicker plastic bags, which weren't effectively reduced, reused, or recycled. It's part of a larger war on plastic.

California is suing ExxonMobil, saying it falsely promoted all plastic as recyclable, when in fact the vast majority cannot be. The lawsuit demands the oil giant pay for the plastic pollution-inflicted harm on California. Exxon says three fingers are pointing back at California officials who've known about the state's ineffective recycling programs for decades but are now seeking to blame others. Here's a verse to consider while thinking about the best way to balance the health of the earth and the needs of humanity. Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground

and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. He took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. Genesis 2, 7, 15. Ever get stuck wondering how to study a Bible passage? The Courage for Life study Bibles for women and for men have 1,464 Bible studies. That's a Bible study on every page of Bible text. In the accurate New Living Translation, these Bibles offer a pathway to transformation as you grow in your understanding of God and of your role in His story.

While the Courage for Life Study Bibles for women and for men have unique aspects, they have a lot of similar content too, so they're easy to use in small groups, couples devotionals, Sunday school classes, and more. Courage for Life Study Bibles provide a discipleship pathway never before seen in a Bible. Plus, you'll get access to the Filament Bible app to dive even deeper. Just scan the page number to open a world of resources, including over 25,000 additional study notes, hundreds of videos, and a full audio Bible. Start discovering the Courage for Life Study Bible at the link in today's show notes.

In other brews, here's a rapid round of updates. Boeing hoped to strike a deal with Strikers on Monday, making 32,000 picketing machinists their best and final offer, which included a 30% pay increase over four years and a making 32,000 picketing machinists their best and final offer, which included a 30% pay increase over four years and a $6,000 signing bonus. Lead union negotiators say the offer won't fly, sticking to their demands for a 40% pay increase and the restoration of a performance bonus. government's bonus. Shutdown likely averted. Congressional leadership has agreed on a three-month stopgap bill to avoid a pre-election government shutdown. House Speaker Johnson said that the bare-bones

legislation, which includes additional funding for the Secret Service, is not the solution any of us prefer, but it's the most prudent path forward. A final vote is expected this week. The UN General Assembly is meeting in New York this week, under the shadow of global conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine, and Sudan. In his final speech before the body, President Biden warned that the world is at an inflection point, reaffirmed support for warring allies, and pushed for global standards for the use of

AI. Shhh, your car may be listening. The U.S. Commerce Department has proposed a ban on Chinese and Russian tech in connected and autonomous vehicles, calling it an issue of national security. Uncle Sam is worried about the exposure of citizens' personal info, thanks to cars' microphones, cameras, GPS, etc., and the extreme possibility of adversarial control of autonomous vehicles. An abducted 6-year-old boy has been found safe 73 years later.

Luis Armando Albino was taken while playing in a park with his brother in 1951 and identified after an online DNA test taken by his niece turned up a match. Albino, a retired firefighter and Vietnam veteran, reunited with his brother Roger shortly before Roger's passing last month. And that's all we have for today. Thanks so much for listening. If you're listening on the Apple Podcast app, give us a 5-star rating and drop a review. If you're listening on Spotify, give us a follow and hit the notification bell to never miss a new episode. We appreciate your support and hope you have a great day. We'll see you on Friday.