The Daily Briefing highlights the news of the day and research that reveals the spirit of the day.
The Daily Briefing is a newsletter sent straight to your inbox every morning that provides biblical insight on today's news.
Top News
6. Deal with U.S. requires Israeli forces to leave Lebanon, Iran says (CBS News)
“President Trump criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of Israel's "minor war" against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Tuesday, voicing frustration that the parallel conflict was complicating his efforts to end the war with Iran.
“Iran's foreign minister said any Israeli forces remaining in southern Lebanon, or any Israeli strikes on the country, would constitute a violation of the U.S.-Iran deal. Israeli officials said Monday that troops would stay in Lebanon, as "Trump's agreement does not bind us."
“A signing ceremony is expected Friday in Switzerland to formalize the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, which should spark a second phase of direct talks on the future of Iran's nuclear program and other contentious issues. A $300 billion private fund designed to trigger investment into Iran is outlined in the U.S.-Iran framework agreement and more than half that sum has already been committed, a source with direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters. The fund is designed to give both sides an economic incentive to conclude a final deal, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not yet been announced as Washington and Tehran prepare to sign on Friday."
Pres. Trump is making Neville Chamberlain look like Winston Churchill, according to Michael Rubin. He writes that “the broad overview suggests that, at best, the deal replicates the worst aspects of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and, at worst, guarantees a future war.”
Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister in the late 1930s, is historically infamous for his policy of appeasement toward Nazi Germany. He signed the Munich Agreement in 1938, declaring it brought "peace for our time," only for Adolf Hitler to break the promise and invade Poland a year later, starting World War II. Churchill, Chamberlain’s successor, fiercely opposed appeasement and warned against the Nazi threat early on, becoming the symbol of strength and resistance against aggression.
“This deal exemplifies both the strengths and the weaknesses of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy,” according to Walter Russell Mead. Writing in the WSJ, he notes: “He is a master of political theater, producing, directing and starring in the greatest and most compelling spectacle of our time. Yet faced with opposition from serious and determined opponents, he often fails to achieve the kind of concrete results that mark the difference between a P.T. Barnum and an Otto von Bismarck.”
Is Pres. Trump like King Asa, winning in the present to the detriment of the future? In 2 Chronicles 16, King Asa of Judah faced a severe military threat from King Baasha of Israel. Terrified, Asa took silver and gold from the treasuries and sent them to Ben-Hadad, the King of Syria, to buy an alliance. While the plan worked in the short term, the prophet Hanani rebuked the king for relying on a foreign adversary instead of God. We don’t know if Pres. Trump is like Asa or Chamberlin, much like we don’t know the details of this agreement, but we do know and can trust in our God.
5. MLB warns players to not deface uniforms in wake of silent Pride Night protest (NBC News)
“Major League Baseball warned players on Tuesday not to deface uniforms in the wake of several members of the San Francisco Giants openly defying their team’s Pride Night event. The Giants held their annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community on Friday at Oracle Park when losing pitcher Landen Roupp and relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker wrote the Bible verse “Gen 9:12-16” on their caps, which featured the “SF” logo in rainbow colors. The Book of Genesis has become favorite citation for opponents of gay rights. Giants reliever Sam Hentges refused to wear the rainbow Giants cap altogether on Friday.
“To be clear, this routine verbal warning not to wear the hat in future games is not disciplinary and had absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message. We respect players’ right to free expression,” according to an MLB statement. “However, writing of any kind, with any message, is prohibited per Major League Baseball’s Uniform Regulations which provides in part that, ‘[a] Player may not write, attach, affix, embroider or otherwise display nicknames or messages on apparel or playing equipment…”
The Boys Are Back in Town… but the town has changed. Support for same-sex marriage peaked in 2022 at 71 percent. But today, that number is down 6 points (76 percent). Similarly, the percentage viewing gay or lesbian relations as morally acceptable, 62 percent, has not been lower since 2016.
One of the more influential documents to support the LGBT agenda was an article written in 1987 for Guide Magazine. Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen detailed the steps necessary to create the desired change: desensitization, inundation, and vilification.
The first step is the desensitization of the American public. Helping the public view homosexuality with indifference instead of emotion will allow room for the agenda to move forward. A cultural manifestation of this was when Ellen DeGeneres came out on her self-titled sitcom in 1997.
With emotion removed from the conversation, you then inundate the airwaves with the issue. This allows the issue to become somewhat normative. This is not a top-down approach to changing the culture, but rather a bottom-up, a groundswell of change. Once Ellen came out, we were then introduced to Will and Grace in 1998.
The final step was the vilification of opponents through the emotional testimonies of victims. Making dissenters “look nasty” and “backwards” created a sense of shame and guilt to characterize those who did not share similar beliefs.
We don’t have to agree with them, but we do have to find ways to live peacefully with them. This call to make peace isn’t contingent upon their actions but our love. Some will question our beliefs, but there should be no question regarding our love and respect. This won’t make us popular, but it will make us faithful. And we’d rather be the latter than the former. (Rom. 12:18, Heb. 12:14, 1 Cor. 6)
4. FBI disrupts plot targeting UFC event at White House with explosive drones (ABC News)
“The FBI disrupted an alleged plot targeting the "UFC Freedom 250" fights at the White House on Sunday that included explosive drones designed to target buildings in the area to spark a mass evacuation, according to authorities. Five people are in custody as of Tuesday morning, authorities said, and one person has been formally charged. The suspects were allegedly in Signal chats discussing preoperational plans, according to court documents, with some of those involved in the plot allegedly traveling to Fredericksburg, Virginia, on June 12 or 13.
"FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials warned in a bulletin earlier this month that the fights were "attractive symbolic targets." There were no credible threats listed in the bulletin at the time. Proper told investigators that members of the group he was communicating with "believed that the United States needed to be torn down so that it could be rebuilt" and that their coordinated attack would help bring about a revolution, according to the complaint. The motives of the would-be attackers have not yet been firmly established. But one of the five plotters whom the FBI arrested provided some clues: “A suspect told investigators the goal of the attack was to target ‘capitalist elites,’ ‘billionaires,’ and politicians who received money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC),” read the New York Post’s summary of Fox’s reporting.”
Most Americans are not Blood Populists, according to Adrienne LaFrance, but the fact that some are isn’t terribly encouraging. Blood populists can be found on both the left and right, being among the 9 percent of Americans who “completely agree” with the necessity of violence in response to political failures.
What are the conditions for political violence to grow? Research has found that conditions that look similar to this present moment facilitate high growth: “highly visible wealth disparity, declining trust in civic institutions, a perceived sense of victimhood, intense partisan estrangement based on identity, rapid demographic change, flourishing conspiracy theories, violent and dehumanizing rhetoric against the “other,” and a belief among those who flirt with violence that they can get away with it.”
Tertullian famously noted that Christ, in disarming Peter, disarmed each of us. Peter wanted not only to win the argument but also to end the person. While he wanted to temporarily rescue Jesus, the Son of God wanted to gloriously redeem this world. In this instance, a growing number of people want to win a political argument at all costs – including violent ones. But when you resort to violence, we all lose. (Lk. 22)
Cultural News
3. NY ranked second-worst in the US for package theft, as porch pirates snatch $1.2B in deliveries (SafeWise)
“Porch pirates swiped more than $1.2 billion worth of deliveries from New York households – making the Empire State second-worst in the US for package theft in 2025, a study shows. Of an estimated 104.3 million unattended packages stolen from homes, apartment buildings and mailrooms nationwide last year, New York recorded 7,828,212 snatchings, resulting in about $1.29 billion in losses, according to SafeWise’s 2025 US Package Theft Report.
“California led the shocking report as the worst state for package heists, with doorstep crooks pilfering a whopping $1.54 billion worth of deliveries in 2025 across 11,824,411 hits, the study showed.
“But it's not all bad news. For the first time since we started tracking and reporting on package theft, the number of estimated incidents dropped year over year, from 120 million in 2023 to just over 104 million in 2024–2025. That's a 13% decline, indicating that prevention and deterrence may be having an impact.”
Steal My Sunshine... and my Amazon package, LEN! A recent survey found that 36 percent of people in the US have been victims of package theft. Some 56 percent know someone who has had a package stolen. And the average value of stolen items has increased to nearly $200.
It is easier to steal $20 from a faceless neighbor than from a local business, according to Dan Ariely in his great book entitled The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty. “We are all very good at rationalizing our actions so that they are in line with our selfish motives.” He concludes: “This result suggests that cheating is not driven by concerns about standing out. Rather, it shows that our sense of our own morality is connected to the amount of cheating we feel comfortable with. Essentially, we cheat up to the level that allows us to retain our self-image as reasonably honest individuals.”
Stealing a package seems small, a tiny indiscretion that doesn’t warrant a second thought. Yet in that moment, we aren’t just taking a package but robbing God of his glory and someone of their due. With theft, we take more than something; we take the life of someone (Prov. 1:19).
News You Can Use
2. Dancing Alabama man dubbed 'America's Favorite Grocer'
Watch it here. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God." (1 Cor. 10:31)
1. He is definitely out…. This gets funnier everytime I watch it. If you don’t see it the first time, watch it again.
Watch it here. “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.” (Rom. 12:17)
