The Pour Over Today - Friday, February 18, 2022

Episode Date: February 18, 2022

Today we’re talking about renewed fears of Russia invading Ukraine, investigations into U.S. politicians, Kanye’s online activity, and other top news for Friday, February 18th. Stay informed, while remaining focused on Christ, with The Pour Over.Sponsored by The Bible Memory Project. Use code TPO for 50%-off your first month, and start (or re-start) memorizing the Bible today:https://links.thepourover.org/33tddMuSee the live Olympic medal count here:https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

Today we're talking about renewed fears of Russia invading Ukraine, investigations into U.S. politicians, Kanye's recent online activity, and other top news for Friday, February 18th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Here's the quote of the day. Therefore, faithful Christian, seek the truth, listen to the truth, learn the truth, love the truth, tell the truth, learn the truth, defend the truth, even to death. Jan Hus. Let's get started with some espresso shots. Forget opening a bakery in the metaverse. If you're looking for job security, start investigating politicians. Special Counsel John Durham, who's tasked with investigating the origins of the Trump Russia probe, recently submitted a court filing that is making waves.

In it, Durham says a tech executive exploited his company's access to White House data as part of a government contract to gather derogatory information about Donald Trump. The former president said the filing proves the Democrats committed treason at the highest level, while a response court filing called that information false, irrelevant, and intended to inflame media coverage. While that investigation into an investigation of former President Trump continues, yesterday a judge ruled that Trump and two of his adult children must testify under oath as part of a different investigation into the Trump Organization. These investigations may be important to the United States of America, but will likely have little impact on the kingdom of God.

This does not mean that we shouldn't care at all, but it means we should care less than people who are not focused on eternity. Colossians 3, 2, and 3 says, Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Earlier this week, President Putin promised Russian troops were beginning to retreat, and yet they keep arriving at the Ukrainian border. While the world anxiously waits for the other Russian shoe to drop, Ukraine is recovering from the largest cyber attack in

its history. Tariya Nuland, a top State Department official, said the Kremlin is most likely to blame for the DDoS attack targeted at Ukrainian defense agencies and banks. At yesterday's UN Security Council meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken laid out Russia's most likely strategy to justify war, which would likely include fabricating a terrorist attack, staging a drone strike, or discovering fake mass graves. That same day, Russia's investigative committee claimed to have found mass graves in the Donbass region of Ukraine. Investors are spooked. The Dow had its worst day of 2022 and dropped 622 points. The threat of a war between major world powers is enough to make anyone anxious. Yet because of Jesus' death and resurrection, we can trust that

our future is secure no matter what happens. Jesus says in John 16, 33, In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world. A year after Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kanye West, things are not easy. Easy spelled with a Z. Kanye, well, just Ye now, has been increasingly vocal about wanting Kim back and disliking her current beau,

SNL cast member Pete Davidson, whom Ye has nicknamed Skeet. This weekend, Ye was busy posting and deleting criticisms of Skeet, and other celebs, and screenshots of text conversations with Kim. The social media flurry had Ye trending higher than the Super Bowl, during the Super Bowl. Fans of Ye's have worried about his account being hacked, and fans of Kim's have worried about his erratic behavior towards her. He does seem to be thinking more about his posts.

Tuesday, he apologized for using all caps, saying that he's learned that some people interpret that as shouting. It's deleted now. A verse to consider when judging the lives of celebrities. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another just as God also forgave you in Christ. Ephesians 4.32. Today's podcast is brought to you by the Bible Memory Project. We know of two methods for memorizing Bible verses, praying for it to happen miraculously and good old-fashioned repetition. The Bible Project is making the second option easier. Every month, they select four verses to memorize and mail you the resources to help,

which include beautifully designed bookmarks and postcards with verses fully laid out and stickers and wristbands with the verses acronym. The acronym is a huge help, but honestly, so is just having the verses selected put in front of you. Use code TPO for 50% off your first month and start or restart memorizing the Bible today. Click the link in our show notes. In other brews, we've got a rapid round of updates. Women's figure skating ended with an unexpected twist. Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian phenom

whose doping scandal has dominated the Olympics, finished in fourth after falling multiple times in her final performance. The Olympic Committee had promised not to hold a medal ceremony if she reached the podium. Check out the live Olympic medal count in the show notes. It's been a bad month for COVID, as in the virus itself has had a bad

30 days. On January 18th, the U.S. was averaging around 800,000 new cases a day and 150,000 hospitalizations. Today, there are fewer than 130,000 cases per day, which is down 83%, and hospitalizations are down by half. The results are in, and San Franciscans voted overwhelmingly, about 75%, in favor of ousting three members of the school board. The recall vote was spurred by parental backlash to slow reopening of in-person learning, efforts to rename the 44 schools, including Abraham Lincoln High School, and attempts to end merit-based admissions at the prestigious Lowell High School.

More than 100 people have died after torrential rains caused mudslides and massive flooding in Brazil. A month's worth of rain fell in just three hours north of Rio de Janeiro, washing away cars and homes. Last month, 24 people died after heavy rain triggered landslides near Sao Paulo, Brazil. Elon Musk put his money where his Twitter thumbs are. An SEC filing shows the world's richest man donated $5.6 billion to unnamed charities a few weeks after challenging the UN World Food Program to describe on his Twitter thread exactly how $6 billion would solve world hunger. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. If you would like to support this podcast, the two easiest ways are to leave us a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify,

or to simply share this podcast with a friend. We hope you have a great weekend and we'll see you back here on Monday.