The Pour Over Today - Monday, March 6, 2023

Episode Date: March 6, 2023

Today, we’re talking about a Nobel Peace Prize winner jailed, a squeeze at Amazon, the seeds of the 2024 election season, and other top news for Monday, March 6th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Sponsored by When God Seems Gone: Finding Hope When Nothing Makes Sense

Today we're talking about a Nobel Peace Prize winner jailed, a squeeze at Amazon, the seeds of the 2024 election season, and other top news for Monday, March 6th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Here's the quote of the day, He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I shall not be greatly shaken. Psalm 62, verse 2. Let's get started with some espresso shots.

A 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly trying to overthrow the Belarusian government. Alice Bialyatsky, founder of human rights organization Vyazna, was among thousands detained for protesting Belarus' national election results in 2020. This week, Bialyatsky and two other Vyazna employees were found guilty of financing demonstrations with smuggled foreign funds, charges they deny. The case is viewed as political retribution for Vyazna's democratic reform advocacy that won Bialyatsky the Peace Prize alongside activist groups from Ukraine and Russia. Speaking of, Russia's foreign minister and U.S. Secretary of State Blinken had

a surprise talk at the G20 conference last week. Hopefully it went better than the Russian foreign minister's G20 panel. The audience openly laughed at him when he said Russia was attacked and was defending itself against Ukraine, the aggressor. There's nothing like the peace of God which transcends understanding. Pray for the peace of God to reign in the parts of the world where there is no peace. Philippians 4 verse 7 says, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Jesus. Amazon is only partially shipping the $2.5 billion headquarter development that Arlington, Virginia ordered. You may remember Amazon announced plans to build HQ2 back in 2017.

Cities across North America fought for its attention in a 14-month bidding war, complete with some wild offers and stunts like offering to rename their city Amazon. Well, phase one of Amazon's HQ2, called Metropolitan Park, is scheduled to open in June with 8,000 employees, but the second, larger phase, called Penn Place, is delayed in transit. Penn Place includes three 22-story office buildings, over 100,000 square feet of retail space, and a 350-foot-tall tower called the Helix. All that seems less urgent following Amazon's recent decision to lay off 18,000 people and close an office building in HQ1 in Seattle. Here's a verse to consider when you're wondering if your home improvement project, or billion-dollar office building,

will ever be done. The end of a matter is better than its beginning. A patient spirit is better than a proud spirit. Ecclesiastes 7 verse 8 It's beginning to look a lot like 2024. This weekend, the annual Conservative Political Action Conference made clear who it's supporting for president. Former President Trump won a straw poll with 62% of the votes. Florida Governor DeSantis came in second with 20%. Most Republican Congress members and governors, including DeSantis, skipped the event. In his keynote address, Trump, who is currently under investigation for handling of classified documents and alleged 2020 election tampering, promised to remain in the White House race even if indicted. On the Democratic side, Marianne Williamson, once Oprah's spiritual advisor, has launched her longshot campaign.

Whether President Biden will seek a second term remains the donkey in the room. He's repeatedly said he'll run, but qualifies the promise by saying he's a respecter of fate. Polls show his party wants a fresh face. We shouldn't allow the success or failure of a political party to consume our thoughts, emotions, or hope for the future. Regardless of circumstance, our mission remains the same. Love God and love others. Jesus says in Matthew 22, verse 37-39,

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. This episode is sponsored by When God Seems God. Finding hope when nothing makes sense. What do you do when it feels like God isn't there? When the state of the world, our own suffering, or the struggles of those we know suggest that God is absent? When you've experienced soul-crushing silence from heaven despite your fervent supplications? One thing

you should do is get a copy of When God Seems God, Finding Hope When Nothing Makes Sense. Adam Mabry uses the book of Habakkuk, as well as his own personal experience of deep suffering, to examine the art of lament, helping Christians cry out to God from a place of faith and hope. There are very practical suggestions for keeping your faith in darkness. Our listeners get 25% off with code TPO. Find a link in our show notes. In other brews, here's a rapid round of updates. Walgreens announced it will not sell abortion medication in 20 states,

including a few where abortion is legal, after those states' Republican attorneys general threatened legal action. Medication abortions account for over half the abortions in the country. The decision is being simultaneously celebrated and condemned by pro-life and pro-choice advocates, respectively. The day after the jury returned its guilty verdict, Alex Murdaugh was sentenced two consecutive life sentences without parole for murdering his wife and son.

Prosecutors previously agreed not to seek the death penalty, but the court noted the crimes may have merited such a punishment. Murdaugh's attorneys said they'll appeal in the next 10 days. There's snow placed like Yosemite right now. The national park hasn't been opened since February 25th and announced it's closed indefinitely after massive snowfall in the Sierra Nevada dumped as much as 15 feet of snow on the park. Rangers are working to restore critical services, but won't reopen until it's safe for visitors. Nearly 60 years after being nominated, Colonel Paris Davis, one of Special Forces' first black officers, has been awarded the Medal of Honor by President Biden. Before his paperwork was lost twice, Davis was nominated for his Vietnam War efforts

in 1965. He refused to leave fellow soldiers behind, despite being wounded in order to retreat. Turkish soccer teams Basiktas and Antalya Spor paused 4 minutes 17 seconds into their match last week to let fans flood the pitch with stuffed toys for children affected by last month's earthquake that struck at 4.17 a.mam and killed nearly 50,000 people. Some fans also began chanting in protest of their government's insufficient disaster response. That's all we have for today. Thanks so much for listening. If you're listening on the Apple Podcasts app, give us a 5-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. We appreciate your support and hope you have a great day. We'll see you on Wednesday.