The Pour Over Today - Monday, March 28, 2022

Episode Date: March 28, 2022

Today, we’re talking about President Biden’s visit to Europe, the final four teams left in March Madness, the economy’s end-of-the-month outlook, and other top news for Monday, March 28th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over.Sponsored by TWR (Trans World Radio):https://twr.org/serve Pay What You Want for The Pour Over (and get a Kairos Journal* if you pay annually):https://links.thepourover.org/member_02_04*Kairos Journal:https://store.thepourover.org/products/daily-kairos-prayer-journal

Today, we're talking about President Biden's visit to Europe, the final four teams left in March Madness, the economy's end-of-the-month outlook, and other top news for Monday, March 28th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Here's the verse of the week. I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world.

John 16, 33. Let's get started with some espresso shots. President Biden is making extra sure he's not invited to Putin's 70th birthday party. Biden called the Russian leader a, quote, butcher while meeting with Ukrainian refugees in Poland, and later said Putin, quote, cannot remain in power. The harsh rhetoric, which the White House clarified wasn't a call for a Russian regime change, came as Biden finished his trip to Europe, during which the U.S. committed to sending $1 billion in humanitarian aid and increasing the amount of gas it sells to the EU. Meanwhile, peace in Ukraine seems a little less impossible. On Friday,

the Russian Defense Ministry appeared to scale back its military ambitions, saying its, quote, main goal is to liberate the Donbass, a breakaway region in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine is unwilling to give up any territory, but President Zelensky called for more peace talks. While you likely have no control over the war in Ukraine, you can control how you speak about it. Leave others with no doubt of your love for everyone involved, even for people whose actions you do not support. Luke 6.32 says, if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. The Final Four is set and the clock struck midnight on St. Peter's historic Cinderella run. Kansas, the only one seed remaining, will take on two seed Villanova and two seed Duke will take on in-state rival eight seed UNC. The last time Duke and UNC met, it was Duke's coach

Krasuski's last home game of his career and the unranked UNC upset the Blue Devils. The rivals have never met in a Final Four setting. The women's Final Four games are on Friday and the men's Final Four games are on Saturday. If you've been a bit bummed because your bracket busted, you're not alone. No men's brackets have remained perfect since the second day of the first round and brackets on the women's side lasted longer, but those are all busted too. Here's a verse for lifelong St. Peter's fans to consider after their Elite 8 loss. No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need so that it gives grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4.29

It was a glass-half-empty March as the Consumer Sentiment Index hit its lowest level since August 2011. Just a reminder, low is bad. Volatile oil prices, geopolitical unrest, and rising interest rates have all added to the bitter taste. But the key driver of the pessimism remains that pesky 40-year high inflation. We can see one example of that record high inflation in the average cost of a new mortgage payment. It jumped 28% in the last year. The White House is expected to release its 2023 budget proposal today with the stated goal of trimming $1.3 trillion from the deficit over the next decade. Part of that plan includes the billionaire minimum income tax. This would assess a minimum 20% income tax on every household with

a net worth over $100 million. When money's tight, look for ways to be generous with your time. Consider volunteering at your church or a nonprofit, or even just help a neighbor around the house. Philippians 2, 3, and 4 says, Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not only to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.

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In other brews, we've got a rapid round of updates. Hong Kong condensed the entire pandemic into a month. Strict border measures have meant that the territory of 7.5 million people rarely saw more than 10 cases a day until this month. On February 3rd, they had 142 cases, and on March 3rd, they had 76,991. Since then, cases have dropped 80% and deaths have begun to decline. Senator Joe Manchin, the moderate Democrat from West Virginia, who has derailed many of his party's legislative plans, said he would vote to confirm SCOTUS nominee Katonji Brown Jackson. His support makes her confirmation almost certain, even in the face of growing Republican opposition.

of growing Republican opposition. Representative Jeff Fortenberry, the Republican from Nebraska, announced that he will resign from Congress, saying he could, quote, no longer serve Nebraskans effectively after being convicted of three felonies. These felonies were related to lying to the FBI about an illegal campaign contribution.

Political leaders from both parties urged him to resign. Redonda Vaught, a former nurse, faces three to six years in prison after being convicted of negligent homicide for a fatal medical error. Typically, licensing boards or civil courts, not criminal courts, handle medical errors like these,

and critics say that this, quote, dangerous precedent will make nurses less likely to report errors. Last night was the 94th Oscars. Highlights included Mila kunis paying tribute to her home country of ukraine and the audience signing applause for troy kotzer the first deaf man to win an academy award for acting that's all we have for today thanks so much for listening the pourover is available free but that's made possible by readers who choose to pay for a limited time you can pay

annually and get a daily kairos journal which which is one of our favorite Bible resources included. Find the link to pay what you want in the show notes. We hope you have a great rest of your day and we'll see you back here on Wednesday, March 30th.