As Dr. Jim Denison described in yesterday’s Daily Article, Congress has until the end of today to fund the government, or at least parts of it will shut down starting tomorrow. If it feels like we’ve been here before, well, you’re not wrong. Congress found itself in essentially the same situation six months ago when it kicked the can down the road to today.

That crisis was averted after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer gathered just enough support from his party to help pass the Republican-led continuing resolution (CR), which was supposed to buy leaders from both parties enough time to pass a new budget. That didn’t happen, and if the rhetoric coming out of yesterday’s meeting with President Trump is any indication, Democrats are unlikely to yield again.

But while party divisions continue to dominate the narrative as both sides attempt to shift the blame across the aisle, the simple fact is that neither party has been willing to do what’s necessary to actually pass a budget.

In fact, Congress has only passed all the required appropriations measures to fund the government for a given year four times since 1977, with the most recent instance occurring nearly thirty years ago. And even back in 1996, it took a six-bill omnibus package—a bill that funds multiple areas of the government at once—to get them over the finish line in time.

That’s not how this is supposed to work.

A flawed approach to governance

When Congress adopted the current format in 1974, the idea was to split government funding into multiple bills, under the theory that it would be easier to find common ground when focusing on one area rather than on the budget as a whole. As such, under the current arrangement, the House and Senate are charged with passing twelve spending bills a year—one for each pair of the House and Senate appropriations committees.

Instead, Congress has come to rely on either grouping them through omnibus bills or passing CRs to extend the current funding levels while they continue to negotiate an actual budget. Given that 147 of the 149 appropriations bills signed into law since 2012 were passed through an omnibus bill, this flawed approach to governance has unfortunately become the new normal.

However, the latest saga feels different in a way that could have massive implications for the future of our government.

Why Trump doesn’t seem to fear a shutdown

The last time Congress faced the prospect of a shutdown, neither side appeared overly eager to see large parts of the government shuttered. However, in the six months since, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act provided alternative sources of funding for large parts of the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security—two areas of government that Republicans are typically most concerned about.

In addition, the Office of Management and Budget sent a memo throughout its agency instructing division leaders to “use this opportunity to consider Reduction in Force (RIF) notices for all employees in programs, projects, or activities (PPAs)” that meet three criteria:

1. They are without discretionary funding once the shutdown begins
2. They are not funded by alternative measures like the One Big Beautiful Bill
3. They are not “consistent with the President’s priorities.”

Given that the Trump administration is primarily responsible for determining which workers in the executive branch are essential, the prevailing belief is that Trump could use the shutdown as a means of reducing employment and penalizing parts of the government that his administration deems either superfluous or standing in the way of its agenda.

The prospect of turning that power over to Trump was enough to motivate Schumer and other democrats to vote with Republicans six months ago, and we should know by the end of the day if the same will be true this time. However, it seems unlikely, and the government they’re left with once the shutdown ends could look quite a bit different as a result.

A sin we all commit

One of the primary flaws in our current political system is the degree to which Americans on both sides are tempted to overlook abuses of power when they’re used to advance their preferred agenda. Assigning blame for the current budget situation to Republicans or Democrats is pointless because, on a basic level, both parties govern the same. It may look different based on which priorities they’re pushing, but the path they take to get there has become so well-worn over the last few decades that it’s difficult to see either side straying from it anytime soon.

However, the wrong choice doesn’t become less wrong just because someone else made it first.

Every parent of more than one child has had the delightful experience of breaking up a fight in which one kid used the “she started it” or “he hit me first” excuse to explain away their own bad behavior. That same rationale is no less immature or sinful when utilized by our nation’s leaders than when it comes from the mouth of a child.

But, if we’re being honest with ourselves, we probably don’t have to think all that far back to remember a time when we made the same mistake.

Scripture is clear that another person’s bad choices will never justify our own (2 Corinthians 5:10), and a fundamental part of genuine repentance is owning up to your sin. “I’m sorry, but…” is not the sign of a truly penitent heart, and it’s an insult to God to think he won’t know the difference.

So, are there any areas in your life where you’re tempted to try to blame others for your own mistakes? Are there any sins for which you’ve yet to fully seek God’s forgiveness?

While it can be tempting—and justified—to complain about the state of our politics today, know that Christ cares far more about the state of your heart and the degree to which it is aligned with his own.

Let’s start there.

Quote of the day:

“No constitution for self-government can save a people from voluntarily ending their own reign. ‘A republic, if you can keep it’ wasn’t just a foreboding turn of phrase—it was a statement of historical literacy.” —Sarah Isgur

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Denison Forum

Sunday morning, a gunman rammed his vehicle into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan. He then opened fire on congregants and set the building on fire.

At least four people have died and eight others were injured, one of them in critical condition. Authorities were still combing through debris last night to find additional bodies; up to seven people are possibly still unaccounted for at this writing.

The shooter, armed with what appeared to be an assault rifle, exchanged gunfire with officers at the scene and was killed. The FBI, ATF, and federal officials are investigating.

The suspect who staged the attack has been confirmed to be a former Marine. He served from 2004 to 2008, including deployments to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He earned several awards during his four years of service, including the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered US and Michigan flags at the State Capitol and public buildings across the state to be flown at half-mast in honor of the victims.

The “Gunfighter’s Code” of the Old West

This tragedy illustrates the fact that seemingly anyone in any setting can be a victim of deadly violence, and seemingly anyone from any background can be a perpetrator.

In some ways, our technologically advanced society is mirroring a world previous generations would have recognized.

In The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild, bestselling author Bryan Burrough describes what he calls the “Gunfighter’s Code” of the Old West, which was “all about defending one’s honor, emphasizing pride, courage, and the necessity never to back down from a fight and to avenge every insult, no matter how small.”

But violence was not confined to the Old West, according to Burrough:

In 1842, Abraham Lincoln, then a legislator in Illinois, reluctantly accepted a challenge from an opponent and, upon learning he was a skilled marksman, chose to fight with broadswords; bloodshed was avoided only when seconds talked the men out of it. It’s said the fifth president, James Monroe, once sought to duel the second, the prickly John Adams, until talked out of it by the fourth, James Madison.

And yet, generations beset with the threat of violence were also generations that repeatedly experienced transformational spiritual awakenings.

As I often note, the darker the room, the more powerful the light.

“The ‘Charlie Kirk effect’ is real”

An article by author Chip Kendall in Premiere Christianity is headlined, “The ‘Charlie Kirk effect’ is real. Thousands are coming to faith in Jesus.” He writes:

In the weeks since the shooting, something remarkable has been unfolding: thousands upon thousands of young people are not only exploring Christianity but actually turning up in churches, praying, and professing faith in Jesus Christ. For those of us who sometimes wonder if the gospel still works in a post-Christian, skeptical culture—here is our answer.

According to Kendall, the same is happening in the UK. For example, The Telegraph had an article claiming, “Charlie Kirk’s evangelical uprising is taking root in Britain.”

Then Kendall asks the question I want us to consider today:

Why are so many people coming to faith in the wake of tragedy? Partly, it’s because moments of crisis strip away our illusions of control. When someone so young and influential is gunned down, the fragility of life is laid bare. People are desperate for hope, for answers, for something solid in the chaos.

“When you pass through the waters”

I have often reflected on the fact that America has not seen a “great awakening” in more than 120 years.

Prior movements of the Spirit transformed the culture in dramatic ways. Each was preceded by desperation—immorality, decadence, crime, and threats of war. Each time, Americans turned to God for the help he alone could give. And God kept his promise: “You will seek and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

I am praying today for those devastated by yet another horrific tragedy, asking God to give them his strength, help, and peace. And I am praying that the mounting hopelessness from so many tragedies in recent days would lead Americans to turn to the God of all hope.

The prophet asked in his grief, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). But he pointed to our only source of transforming hope in a fallen world: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lᴏʀᴅ, whose trust is the Lᴏʀᴅ” (v. 7).

This is because our Lord hurts as we hurt, grieves as we grieve, and walks with us through all pain:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior (Isaiah 43:2–3).

And one day, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

As Gilbert M. Beeken famously noted,

“Other men see only a hopeless end, but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope.”

Let us claim and share this hope today, to the glory of God.

Denison Forum

While President Trump’s speech garnered most of the attention at the UN General Assembly, a gathering on Tuesday with Arab and Muslim leaders could turn out to be the most consequential part of this week’s events. Trump even said as much, referring to the negotiation as “my most important meeting,” and a chance “to end something that should have probably never started.”

That something that shouldn’t have started is Israel’s war with Hamas, and the President’s assessment appears to have a better chance of being accurate now than at any point in the conflict’s nearly two years of violence and death.

While most ceasefire negotiations to this point have relied on both Israel and Hamas finding a middle ground that was considered mutually beneficial to both parties, Trump’s current proposal appears to essentially leave Hamas out of the equation. Instead, on Tuesday, he met with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Pakistan.

Notably absent from that list were Hamas, Iran, and Israel, though Trump is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday. Israel is, however, generally aware of what Trump proposed. And, as one Israeli official described, they understand that “There will be bitter pills we’ll have to swallow.”

Specific details of the President’s twenty-one-point plan are, as of this writing, largely unknown. Yet, as Axios reports, some of the general principles are:

• The release of all remaining hostages.
• A permanent ceasefire.
• Gradual Israeli withdrawal from all of the Gaza Strip.
• A post-war plan that includes a governing mechanism in Gaza without Hamas.
• A security force that would include Palestinians but also soldiers from Arab and Muslim countries.
• Funding from Arab and Muslim countries for the new administration in Gaza and for reconstruction of the enclave.
• Some involvement of the Palestinian Authority

In return for their support, Axios writes that Arab leaders will reportedly require that:

• Israel will not annex parts of the West Bank or Gaza.
• Israel will not occupy parts of Gaza.
• Israel will not build settlements in Gaza.
• Israel will stop undermining the status quo at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
• Humanitarian aid to Gaza will immediately increase.

(These lists are quoted directly from Axios’s article.)

Essentially, Muslim nations want Israel out of Gaza and appear more willing than at any point in the last two years to take on the necessary levels of responsibility to ensure Israel can do so safely. But while all of that sounds good, a number of questions remain that could determine the feasibility of Trump’s proposal. And chief among them is whether Gaza would remain part of Israel or become an independent Palestinian nation.

Will Israel accept a two-state solution?

Calls for Israel to accept a two-state solution have been around for decades, but both their frequency and intensity have increased in recent weeks. At the General Assembly, France, the UK, and several other Western powers joined the chorus.

President Trump has, to this point, staunchly opposed the idea, arguing that such a move would be a “reward for Hamas.” The majority of Israelis are similarly against the proposal. However, it’s difficult to see other Muslim nations—and particularly those in the Middle East—accepting so much risk and responsibility unless they were doing so on behalf of an independent Palestine.

Moreover, Trump was unyielding in his belief that Hamas cannot be rewarded for what happened on October 7, but it’s less clear if he would feel the same about a situation where Hamas was no longer in charge. And while accepting a two-state solution would indeed be a “bitter pill,” there are also sound arguments that it could advance the security and prosperity of Israel.

As Faisal J. Abbas describes:

A Palestinian state would give Israel a partner responsible for its own territory, its own governance, and its own security. This means that any terrorist activity originating from Palestinian soil becomes the responsibility of the new government, which will be held accountable under international law.

But while that sounds reasonable, it rests on the assumption that a fledgling Palestine would be capable of enforcing that level of accountability rather than falling back under the control of Hamas or another terrorist influence. And that’s where the nations with whom Trump met on Tuesday—many of whom were part of the first major foreign trip of his current term—would need to step in.

Why Israel needs help

The truth is that Israel will never be able to do what is necessary to restore peace in Gaza without incurring the anger and wrath—at least publicly—of the Muslim world. Muslims everywhere are bound by the concept of Ummah, which holds that all Muslims are part of a collective community. This principle is largely where they get the idea that an attack on Muslims in one area is an attack on Islam as a whole.

As such, when Israel’s attacks on Hamas lead to the death of civilians, the Islamic world is required to condemn them. Yet, if a Muslim nation were charged with putting an end to Hamas and freeing the remaining hostages, that would not violate the principle in the same way as when Israel or a Western nation attempts to do so.

However, Israel’s problem is that they’ve seen little in the Palestinian Authority—the group that runs the West Bank and would be the most likely candidates to lead in a post-war Gaza—to make them believe they would be up to the challenge. Outside help will be needed, and Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the other nations with whom Trump met appear willing to give it.

While there are a number of details that still need to be worked out, if Israel is willing to receive that help—and to do so on terms those nations would find acceptable—it’s possible that this war could end before the second anniversary of the attacks that started it back on October 7, 2023.

And there is an important lesson in that reality that we would all do well to remember today.

Choosing God’s will over your own

One of the most difficult aspects of living out our faith well is laying down our rights when doing so is required to advance God’s kingdom. Israel has every right to defend its borders and continue the war in Gaza until each hostage is returned and Hamas is no longer a threat. But the reality is that continuing to pursue that right will make it more difficult to achieve their desired ends.

In the same way, there are times when pursuing our right to defend our reputation, our honor, or to seek retribution for a wrong done to us will make it much more difficult to maintain our witness and fulfill the role God has called us to play in advancing his kingdom. Jesus spoke to this reality in the Sermon on the Mount when he called us to turn the other cheek, give up your cloak, and go the extra mile (Matthew 5:43–48).

At no point in that teaching does Jesus claim that we do not have the right to pursue retribution. He just calls us to give up that right in order to prioritize our witness instead.

I think he knew that would be hard for us, though, which is perhaps why he followed up that lesson by teaching on the need to love our enemies and the call to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (5:43–48).

You see, Jesus isn’t asking us to do anything more than what he’s already done for us. On the cross, he had every right to command angels to come and rescue him. He chose not to, though, because pursuing God’s purposes was more important.

I don’t know how the situation in Gaza will end or whether Israel will be willing to make the necessary concessions to receive help from its neighbors in bringing about that end. I have more hope that they will than I’ve had for quite some time, but, at least for now, it’s difficult to do more than hope.

However, I do know that there will be times when Christ calls us to concede our rights in order to prioritize his purpose, and making the right choice in those moments will be far easier to do if we’ve already decided that God’s will is more important than our own.

Will you make that choice today?

Quote of the day:

“The weakness of the Church lies not in the lack of Christian arguments but in the lack of Christian lives.” —William Barclay

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Denison Forum