The Pour Over Today - Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Episode Date: April 13, 2022

Today we’re talking about an attack on the New York subway, new inflation numbers, Putin’s first comments on the war in over a week, and other top news for Wednesday, April 13th.  Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over.Sponsored by the Christian Standard Bible (CSB):https://csbible.com/Sponsored by Homeschool Subjects  from Teach Them Diligently.  Subscribe to the newsletter with literally ONE CLICK here:  https://sparklp.co/prtn/02400b

Today we're talking about an attack on the New York subway, new inflation numbers, Putin's first comments on the war in over a week, and other top news for Wednesday, April 13th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Here's the quote of the day. If I believe in God and life after death and you do not, and if there is no God, we both lose when we die. However, if there is a God, you still lose and I gain everything. Blaise Pascal

Let's get started with some espresso shots. The Big Apple had a rotten Tuesday. Yesterday morning during rush hour, a man in a worker's vest and gas mask set off smoke grenades in a Brooklyn subway car before opening fire. Ten people were shot and at least 19 others were hospitalized for various injuries, but everyone is expected to recover. Police say the gunman's weapon jammed, which prevented the attack from becoming, quote, significantly worse.

The investigation was slowed by faulty cameras in the subway, but authorities found undetonated smoke grenades, a hatchet, fireworks, gasoline, and keys to a U-Haul at the scene. The keys are believed to belong to 62-year-old Frank James. As of recording, police were offering $50,000 for information leading to his capture. Christians should pursue justice while retaining love for both the victims and the attacker, desiring restoration, not vengeance. Join us in praying for justice, peace, and healing. Job 12.10 says,

The life of every living thing is in his hand, as well as the breath of all humanity. March's inflation numbers are in, and well, they're not great. Across the board, prices were up 8.5% from one year earlier, driven in large part by rising costs of energy and food. This is the highest inflation has been since 1981, but most economists think it's also the peak. Average gas prices in the U.S. have already fallen from their peak of $4.33 last month to $4.11 currently. This is thanks in part to countries releasing strategic oil reserves, and it's also due to China's massive COVID lockdowns, because people in quarantine use less gas. It's also worth mentioning that Russia and Ukraine would love to swap economies with Uncle Sam, inflation and all.

The World Bank expects Ukraine's economy to shrink by 45.1% and Russia's economy to shrink by 11% this year. Rising prices can make anyone anxious, yet difficult times like these give Christians the incredible opportunity to share, rather than hoard, what God has given us, remembering Jesus' command for radical generosity. Luke 6.30 says, Give to everyone who asks you, and from someone who takes your things, don't ask for them back. On Monday, Austrian Chancellor Nehammer became the first Western leader to talk with Putin face-to-face since the war began. He described the event as, quote, unfriendly and tough. It was also unfruitful. One day later, Putin announced peace talks with Ukraine had reached a, quote, dead end and vowed the attack would, quote, continue until its full completion.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is accusing Russian troops of fresh atrocities, including using chemical weapons and killing as many as 20,000 civilians in the port city of Mirupol. President Biden is unimpressed. Yesterday, he called Russia's actions a, quote, genocide, and e-chatted with India's President Modi to request the world's largest democracy publicly condemn Russia or at least refuse to increase purchases of cheap Russian oil. President Modi made no such promises. It's easy to feel helpless in a situation like this, but the Bible promises that prayer is powerful and effective, and it causes things to happen that would not have happened otherwise. James 5.16 says, the prayer of a righteous person is

very powerful in its effect. This podcast is brought to you by the Christian Standard Bible. We're constantly making trade-offs. Do you spend your $3 on a cheesy gordita crunch or the Crunchwrap Supreme? Do you spend your spare two minutes reading another email or writing a thank you note to the pour-over? Tough decisions every day. Trade-offs end with the Christian Standard Bible. The CSB was translated without compromise by over 100 biblically-minded scholars who prove you don't need to choose between accuracy and readability. You can see what we mean. Check out the CSB translation from our link in the show notes. This podcast is brought to you by Teach Them Diligently. A few key takeaways from the pandemic include, number one, it's never stupid to hoard extra

toilet paper. Number two, you are bad at making sourdough bread. Stop trying. And three, if you're home all day with your kids, you need support. Thankfully, there's Teach Them Diligently to help Christian homeschool families thrive together. TTD has recently launched their Homeschool Subjects Newsletter, which provides resources, encouragement, tips and tricks, and everything else you need to homeschool like this as your 14th child or student. Be a thriving homeschool family and subscribe to the Homeschool Subjects Newsletter in one click. Seriously, just one click. Check it out in the show notes. In other brews, we've got a rapid round of updates.

Time to unstable your mask from that 2020 scrapbook. Philadelphia just became the first major city in the U.S. to reinstate its indoor mask mandate after new cases climbed by 50% over 10 days. Cases are rising in more than half of states, though total cases, hospitalizations, and deaths remain near record lows. Look out for a surge in boycott Etsy cross stitches. The small business product platform announced it's raising transaction fees from 5% to 6.5%. This prompted more than 5,000 online shops to close their stores on the platform for a week in protest. President Biden is cracking down on spooky firearms. So-called ghost guns are privately made guns, think a DIY gun assembly kit, that don't carry serial numbers. Biden says requiring serial numbers on unassembled gun parts will make all guns traceable and the streets safer.

But critics say it's illegal and it won't reduce crime. The rankings of the world's busiest airports are in. Atlanta is still number one, and the U.S. dominated the top 10. Leisure destinations like Denver, Orlando, Charlotte, and Las Vegas all saw big jumps from their 2019 rankings, displacing more business-centric cities in China. New York's Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin was arrested on charges of bribery, fraud, and falsification of records related to illegal campaign donations yesterday. The prosecuting attorney called it, quote, a simple story of corruption. Mr. Benjamin denies wrongdoing, but resigned his post. That's all we have for today. Thanks so much for listening. If you're

listening on the Apple Podcast app, give us a five-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. And finally, the simplest way to help us grow is to send this episode to a friend. We hope you have a great rest of your day and we'll see you back here on Friday, April 15th.