Important Takeaways:
- In a press release, True Value said it will continue day-to-day operations of selling hardware and other homeware tools to its 4,500 independently operated locations during the Chapter 11 process, which includes a $153 million stalking horse bid from rival company Do it Best.
- True Value said its stores will remain open, because they are not part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
- In bankruptcy court filings, True Value said it faces a significant cash crunch as the housing market stalled and consumers have become far more picky about discretionary purchases like hardware. Bigger rivals like Home Depot and Lowe’s have also been in a yearslong slump since the pandemic boom, but they remain in a significantly stronger financial situation than True Value.
- Still, a number of other chains have voiced similar problems that also tipped them into bankruptcy, including Big Lots and LL Flooring.
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Important Takeaways:
- The truth is that although we like to claim that ours is a Christian nation, that is no longer demonstrably true. An argument can be made that we were founded upon Christian principles and once aspired to Christian ideals (albeit imperfectly throughout our national history). But that is no longer the case.
- When our president makes the unfettered slaughter of unborn children a central theme of his administration, undermines God’s natural order relative to man and woman, upends the God-established covenant of marriage, and celebrates deviancy at every turn—with widespread approval within our culture—such a claim mocks God.
- I say this with a broken heart.
- Does that mean that we should not advocate for our nation? Of course not! John MacArthur says, “Complete noninvolvement would be contrary to what God’s Word says about doing good in society.” Wherever Christians live, they should be dedicated to the betterment of their family, their community, and their country. That is also a biblical mandate (Galatians 6:10, Titus 3:1-2)
- Our Responsibility
- The most dramatic example of tough faith in the midst of a pagan society—and the responsibility that the people of God bear—is given to us by Jeremiah. The “weeping prophet” was forced to witness the devastation of his beloved homeland and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. He had faithfully warned the people of Judah that they were doomed if they did not return to the LORD (3:12-14), repenting and putting away their detestable things (4:1-2), and circumcising themselves by “[removing] the foreskins of [their] heart” (4:4).
- Our first responsibility is to sound a clear warning to our wayward nation. “God will not be mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). Many have been deceived into believing that flaunting wickedness has no repercussions—in this life or the next. Even in the Church, some Christians have bought into the lie that God is no longer holy and righteously indignant. They have turned the mercy of God into an unspoken or insinuated license to sin.
- We must take up the message of John the Baptist: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near!” (Matthew 3:2). Whether God’s wrath is kindled against individual nations, or the Rapture occurs and the world descends into unrestrained godlessness, or individual sinners step into eternity and fall into the hands of an angry God, this is our urgent message.
- Second, while we are living in a pagan land, we can harken to the same words of encouragement God offered the exiles living in Babylon through the prophet Jeremiah:
- Jeremiah 29:5-7 KJV – “Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”
- In other words, live! And while you are living and raising your own family, seek the welfare of the society in which you live.
- Billy Graham said, “I also urge you to vote for another reason. I believe it is a God-given responsibility. Understand the issues… know where the candidates stand on them… ask God to guide you—and then vote. Beyond that, however, pray for our nation and its leaders—not just the President, but all who’ve been entrusted with public office.”
- Frankly, that does not mean that Christians can only vote and pray for Christian candidates. Obviously, if the choice is between a convictional Christian and a pagan, I will vote for a Christian every time. But, if the contest is between two whose faith in Christ is unclear or obviously lacking, I will support the candidate who will best respect Christians as they serve the Lord and who most closely follows Christian principles. And, I recognize that despite carefully produced campaign propaganda to the contrary, no candidate—Christian or otherwise—is perfect.
- The stakes in 2024 are higher than they’ve ever been. I suspect that if the Lord tarries for another four years, the stakes in 2028 will be even higher. Unless America collectively turns back to God, we will stay on the precipice—or find ourselves suddenly in total freefall as we cross God’s red line.
- One of our greatest responsibilities is to advocate today for the kind of nation we want our children and grandchildren to live and thrive in tomorrow—free to worship the Lord and serve Him with all their heart and soul and mind.
- Let’s not go wobbly.
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Important Takeaways:
- A majority of Protestant pastors are blaming a poor economy for their struggling bottom lines after experiencing double-digit declines to zero improvement in financial offerings from churchgoers over the last year, data from a new study released by Lifeway Research show — but the sentiment is divided along political lines.
- “National trends of a favorable stock market along with unfavorable inflation and interest can influence a local congregation’s finances, but so do more local factors that contribute to economic problems or prosperity in the church’s community,” Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said in a statement on the study. “In general, pastors have turned a little more negative in describing economic forces impacting their church this year.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Walgreens said on Tuesday it would shut 1,200 stores over the next three years as new CEO Tim Wentworth plots a turnaround at the struggling pharmacy chain operator hit by sluggish consumer spending and low drug reimbursement rates.
- The company also narrowly beat Wall Street’s lowered estimates for fourth-quarter adjusted profit, and forecast fiscal-year earnings that were mostly in-line with expectations.
- News of the closures means that by 2027 one in seven Walgreens will have closed its doors. Around 500 of the stores scheduled for the chop will shutters over the next year, although their locations have not yet been revealed.
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Important Takeaways:
- South Korea’s foreign ministry called the Russian ambassador to the carpet Monday over North Korea’s alleged deployments of troops to join the Russian military in its war against Ukraine.
- The use of North Korean troops in the Ukraine conflict is a violation of the U.N. charter and General Assembly resolutions and threatens South Korea’s security, the ministry said in a statement.
- “We condemn North Korea’s illegal military cooperation, including its dispatch of troops to Russia, in the strongest terms,” Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun told Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev, the ministry said. “We will respond jointly with the international community by mobilizing all available means against acts that threaten our core security interests.”
- South Korea’s intelligence service said on Friday that North Korea had shipped 1,500 special forces to train at Russian military bases in the Far East. The troops would likely be deployed to fight in Ukraine, the spy agency said.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also accused North Korea of sending 10,000 troops to Russia.
- Zinoviev countered that Russian cooperation with North Korea was in line with international law, and was not directed against South Korea, according to a Facebook post from the Russian embassy.
- Reports that Russia will deploy North Korean troops in its war with Ukraine are unconfirmed. The Kremlin earlier denied them.
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Important Takeaways:
- A California utility shut off power in 12 counties in the northern part of the state as a major “diablo wind” — notorious in autumn for its hot, dry gusts — spiked the risk of power lines sparking a wildfire.
- About 13,000 customers woke up without electricity Friday after Pacific Gas and Electric shut off power.
- The “diablo wind” is forecast to cause sustained winds reaching 35 mph (56 kph) in many areas, with possible gusts topping 65 mph (104 kph) along mountaintops, according to the National Weather Service.
- The strong winds are expected to last through part of the weekend.
- A total of about 20,000 customers could lose power temporarily in the next couple of days, PG&E said in a statement Thursday.
- “This could end up being the most significant wind event for this year so far,” said meteorologist Brayden Murdock with the service’s Bay Area office. “We want to tell people to be cautious.”
- During a diablo wind, common in the fall, the air is so dry that relative humidity levels plunge, drying out vegetation and making it ready to burn.
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Important Takeaways:
- Accused shooter Colt Gray, 14, was formally charged with 55 counts in connection with the shooting that killed four people and injured nine others, and his father, Colin Gray, was indicted on 29 counts by a grand jury in Barrow County, Georgia.
- The teenager faces charges including four counts of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, aggravated assault and cruelty to children over the Sept. 4 shooting some 50 miles northeast of Atlanta.
- His 54-year-old father faces charges including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, as well as reckless conduct.
- The shooting killed 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo and teachers Christina Irimie and Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall.
- The father and son are due to appear for arraignment at Barrow County Superior Court on Nov. 21, when they’re expected to each formally enter a plea.
- Colt Gray is being charged as an adult, but he is being held in a juvenile detention center. He faces life in prison if convicted.
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Important Takeaways:
- The Biden-Harris administration boasted Thursday that $74 billion in student loans had been forgiven for government and public service employees.
- The administration announced an additional $4.5 million in student debt was being canceled using the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, bringing the total to over one million teachers, firefighters, police officers, nurses and other government workers to have debts forgiven since the Biden-Harris administration began, according to a White House press release.
- The national debt has increased by over $7 trillion since the Biden-Harris administration took office, exceeding $35 trillion for the first time ever in July.
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Important Takeaways:
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had “settled the score with him,” but stressed that “the task before us [Israel] is not yet complete.”
- Netanyahu said Israel’s focus was on securing the return of the roughly 100 hostages still in Gaza, taken during Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack last year, of whom a third are believed to be dead.
- “This is an important moment in the war,” Netanyahu said to the families of the hostages, according to the Reuters news agency. “We will continue full force until the return home of all your loved ones, who are our loved ones, too. This is our supreme obligation. This is my supreme obligation.”
- President Biden said Sinwar’s death after almost two decades of Hamas rule in Gaza was good news, “for Israel, for the United States, and for the world.” Along with other senior U.S. officials, he indicated that it should bring new hope for a cease-fire in the year-long war.
- But Hamas did not mention any renewed push for a cease-fire agreement with Israel after the killing of its leader.
- Deputy Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya confirmed Sinwar’s death Friday in a televised speech, and said the group would continue on the same path it’s been on. Al-Hayya said Hamas would not release the remaining hostages without a cease-fire deal and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
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Important Takeaways:
- The killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the attack that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip, marked a major triumph for Israel. But Israeli leaders are also seeking to lock in strategic gains that go beyond military victories – to reshape the regional landscape in Israel’s favor and shield its borders from any future attacks, sources familiar with their thinking say.
- By intensifying its military operations against Hezbollah and Hamas, Israel wants to ensure that its enemies and their chief patron, Iran, don’t regroup and threaten Israeli citizens again, according to Western diplomats, Lebanese and Israeli officials, and other regional sources.
- It is also planning a response to a ballistic-missile barrage carried out by Iran on Oct. 1, its second direct attack on Israel in six months.
- Israel informed several Arab states last year that it also wanted to carve out a buffer zone on the Palestinian side of Gaza’s border. But it remains unclear how deep Israel would like it to be or how it would be enforced after the war ends.
- Israel has said it will not agree to a permanent ceasefire without guarantees that whoever runs postwar Gaza will be able to prevent the corridor from being used to smuggle weapons and supplies to Hamas.
- Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last week the response would be “lethal, precise, and, above all, unexpected”, although he has also said Israel was not looking to open new fronts.
- Iran has warned repeatedly that it will not hesitate to take military action again if Israel retaliates.
- For now, Netanyahu appears determined to redraw the map around Israel in his favor by purging its enemies from its borders.
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