The Daily Article

Last Friday, Mayah Zamora of Uvalde, Texas walked out of University Hospital sixty-six days after she was shot in three limbs during the Robb Elementary School shooting on May 24. In The Daily Article for August 8, 2022, Dr. Jim Denison also discusses an Israeli-Palestinian truce, China expanding military exercises around Taiwan, and the polio virus spreading in New York City, noting that each story illustrates the power of persistence—a trait lacking in our culture but necessary to the Christian faith.

Author: Dr. Jim Denison

Narrator: Chris Elkins

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August 6 is National Mustard Day, and French's, the mustard company, has unveiled a mustard donut. Another company has created the world's only hot-air balloon restaurant. These stories illustrate the entrepreneurial spirit that drives so much innovation and progress in human society. But the successful results of human ingenuity tempt us to depend more fully on human ingenuity than we should.

Author: Dr. Jim Denison

Narrator: Chris Elkins

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Yesterday, a Russian judge sentenced US women’s basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for bringing marijuana into Russia with criminal intent. However, this outcome was expected to clear the way for negotiations over her release. In The Daily Article for August 5, 2022, Dr. Jim Denison considers how surprising the news—and our lives—can be, then turns to look at our motivations as Christians for following God. For more on the kind of faith that positions us to experience God’s abundance, please see Dr. Jim Denison’s article, “Mustard donuts and a hot-air balloon restaurant.”

Vin Scully died on August 2 at the age of ninety-four. He called games for the Los Angeles Dodgers for sixty-seven seasons. Many consider him the greatest baseball announcer of all time. However, it was Vin Scully’s faith that we should especially remember with gratitude today. 

Author: Dr. Jim Denison

Narrator: Chris Elkins

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On Tuesday, Kansas voters rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed the Republican-controlled legislature to tighten restrictions on abortion or ban the procedure outright. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has signed into law a measure establishing abortion as a constitutional right in his state. When the Dobbs decision was handed down in June overturning Roe v. Wade, like many who responded to the decision, I noted that the battle would now move to the states. And so it has. However, I did not see one major development. Jim Denison's latest article, “The life, faith, and death of Vin Scully and our longing for God.”

Author: Dr. Jim Denison

Narrator: Chris Elkins

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When a notorious terrorist leader like Ayman al-Zawahiri is killed, those of us in the West rejoice. We see his death as avenging in part those who were murdered as a result of his radical ideology and strategic leadership. And we hope it sends a signal to other jihadists that they cannot win, that they will be confronted and defeated by our united resolve to defend our people and our democracy. However, al-Zawahiri’s supporters see his death in exactly the opposite way.

Author: Dr. Jim Denison

Narrator: Chris Elkins

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US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan late yesterday. In The Daily Article for August 3, 2022, Dr. Jim Denison focuses on her stated reasons for going, including China’s “crackdown against Hong Kong’s political freedoms,” its “campaign to erase the Tibetan people’s culture,” and its “genocide against Muslim Uyghurs.” Why are China’s leaders acting in such a brutally oppressive manner? Why is this issue relevant to every American and especially every American Christian? See my latest website article, “Was al-Zawahiri a terrorist or a martyr?”.  For more on the conflict between China and Taiwan, read Mark Legg’s article. For more on the recent rise in tensions with China, read Ryan Denison’s article.

One of the most foundational ways we are culturally conditioned to self-advancement is self-reliance. This existentialistic worldview pervades everything we do today. For instance, people are choosing where to live based in large part on whether that specific community shares their personal values. Of all the challenges radical self-reliance presents, none is more systemic and foundational than the spiritual. Dr. Jim Denison considers how King David fought against his own self-reliance in Psalm 35.

Author: Dr. Jim Denison

Narrator: Chris Elkins

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President Joe Biden announced from the White House on August 1 that a US missile launched from a drone in Afghanistan had killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Who was al-Zawahiri? Why is his death so significant? What can we now expect in the continuing battle against jihadist terrorism? How should we respond to this news biblically? For more on responding to radical Islam, see Dr. Ryan Denison’s “Should we fear radical Islam?”

Author: Dr. Jim Denison

Narrator: Chris Elkins

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Deshaun Watson was baptized in the Jordan River in 2019. However, he’s making headlines today after a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy in the wake of engaging in sexually coercive and lewd behavior with more than two dozen women from 2019–2021. In The Daily Article for August 2, 2022, Dr. Jim Denison considers why notable public Christians have experienced moral failures and how a relationship with Jesus compares to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. For more on today’s theme, please see my latest website article, “Organized retail crime and the peril of self-reliance.”

Author: Dr. Jim Denison

Narrator: Chris Elkins

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