Quote of the day:

 "If thou wouldst rule well, thou must rule for God, and to do that, thou must be ruled by him....Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."

_{- William Penn}

Today’s Headlines

Trillion Dollar Debt Spiral

America's national debt exceeded $33 trillion for the first time on Monday, highlighting concerns about the country's fiscal trajectory. Additionally, Congress is struggling to fund the government past September 30 to avoid a shutdown amid disputes over spending. Some recent spending programs like the Inflation Reduction Act are now expected to cost significantly more than initially projected. Attempts to raise revenue through new taxes have faced delays and pushback. Meanwhile, interest costs are mounting, projected to be over $10 trillion in the next decade. Republicans blame overspending and want cuts, while Democrats fault past Republican tax cuts for the wealthy. The budget deficit for the current fiscal year has already jumped 61% from last year. Treasury Secretary Yellen says interest costs remain manageable, but more fiscal prudence is needed.

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The Remnant's Response

It is almost impossible to understand the size of our debt. So let the Remnant News help.

Counting a dollar a second would take us one minute to count to $60. There are 60 minutes in an hour, so, in one hour, you could count to $3600.

Assuming you were fasting (like a good member of the remnant) and therefore didn't need to stop to eat, and assuming you had fasted the few days before so you didn't need to stop to use the restroom, and assuming you were well rested so you didn't need to sleep the entire day, you could count $86,400 in one day. If you continue not eating, taking bathroom breaks, or sleeping, you could reach a million dollars in 11 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds. (If you're curious, here is the real-world record for counting to a million. FYI, it took three months.) If you kept up the good work in one year, you could count to $31.536M. Not bad.

Now brace yourself.

If you continue at this rate with no breaks, it would take 31 years, 251 days, 7 hours, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds to get to $1 billion. But when we are talking national debt, we need to talk trillions, not Billions, and count to a trillion; it would take 31,709+ years. To count out enough money to pay off our national debt, we would need to do this for almost 100,000 years.

The numbers are so ridiculous that no one seems to care anymore. Which is always the way it is with foolishness and sin. When we "get away" with sinful or foolish behavior for any period of time, we get bolder and bolder in confidence that we will always get away with it (Ecclesiastes 8:11). But growing in confidence is not the same as growing in clarity (Proverbs 29:1). Sooner or later the poverty of being fiscally asleep will find us waking up to a tragic reality (Proverbs 24:33-34). We should not only pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2), we must demand better of them (Proverbs 24:24-25).

One of the reasons we are nonplussed by our nation's financial obligation is because we have been hearing about how out of control it has been, seemingly without any consequence, for decades. This "judgment will never come" attitude is not limited to nations; it is the way of man. Peter reminds us of the mocking that happened in the days of Noah (2 Peter 3:3-7) in an effort to prevent us from making the same mistake. We can all be grateful the Lord is patient toward us (2 Peter 3:9), but we would be wise to respond to that kindness and deal with our besetting sins before they cost us more than we can imagine (2 Corinthians 10:11-12).

Rupert Murdoch Retires

Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old Australian media mogul renowned for his impact on American politics by establishing Fox News, is relinquishing his leadership roles at Fox's parent company and News Corp. 

Fox announced on Thursday that Murdoch will assume the title of chairman emeritus for both firms, effective at upcoming board meetings in November. His son, Lachlan Murdoch, will assume the position of chairman at News Corp. while continuing to serve as Fox Corp.'s chief executive officer.

This comes on the heels of a tough year for Fox, which was forced to pay $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit for coverage related to their claims following the 2020 presidential election. Shortly after, Fox fired their most popular TV personality, Tucker Carlson.

Murdoch's media empire is vast, encompassing Fox News, the Fox broadcast network, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post, each of which has significantly shaped the American media landscape.

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The Remnant's Response:

Few men have had as much impact on broadcast and print media as Rupert Murdoch, which means few men have influenced as many people around the world as much as Rupert Murdoch. If Christians spent as much time in their Bible and listening to God's Word as they have in front of Fox News or reading the Wall Street Journal, we would have a much more biblically literate church than we seemingly do. Todd Wagner often says, "Bible first, Bible most" and that is a truth we should all seek to live by (Psalm 119).

Meanwhile, whether you are watching Fox, reading the Wall Street Journal, listening to a podcast, or even hearing news from a friend, it is necessary to maintain a discerning mind as you process content. Even reading the Remnant Response, we encourage our readers to "examine the Scripture daily to see if these things are so" (Acts 17:11). We link Scripture in the story for a reason - use them!

Everything we consume should be filtered through the Word of God, which alone is "profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). I beg you, along with Charles Spurgeon, to "visit many good books but live in the bible."

Even the most unbiased and careful humans fall short of the perfection of God's tested word (Proverbs 30:5). So whatever your "news" source, purpose to spend more time in Scripture. If you do, like the sons of Issachar, you will succeed at "understanding the times, with the knowledge of what all men should do" (1 Chronicles 12:32).

The remnant shares Martin Luther's passion to get you in God's word, not our newsletter. Both of us gladly say, "Let them destroy my works! I deserve nothing better, for all my wish has been to lead souls to the Bible so that they might afterward neglect my writings. Great God! If we had a knowledge of Scripture, what need would there be of any books of mine?"

Interest Rate

The Federal Reserve held steady interest rates but indicated it expects one more hike before year-end. Markets had anticipated no change to rates at this meeting. The Fed projected rates will peak around 5.1% this year before dropping in 2024. However, rates are expected to remain above neutral levels through 2025. Job gains have slowed but stay strong, and the unemployment rate is low. Some inflation measures have come down from highs but remain well above the Fed's 2% target. Overall, the Fed signaled a more hawkish, higher-for-longer approach to interest rates going forward. Most economists think a recession is likely next year as the cumulative impact of rate hikes slows growth further.

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The Remnant's Response:

If the world placed as much interest in God's Word as it does in the world's interest rates, we would have a far more stable world. While money is not evil, the love of it is (1 Timothy 6:10), and an excellent way to find out how much we love something is to evaluate how much attention we give it (Matthew 6:21). Few things are as valuable as understanding, discernment, and wisdom and we are told they can be ours if we seek them with the same diligence most of us seek "gold" (Proverbs 2:3-4). Financial markets are easy to manipulate by moving interest rates, and our futures are easy to manipulate by changing where we place our interest (Jeremiah 29:13). When our primary interest today is riches, our tomorrow will probably lead to ruin (1 Timothy 6:9). What the Fed does with its decisions is never as important as what we do with ours.

The best investment advice in any market can be found in Proverbs, not Forbes. "How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver" (Proverbs 16:16).

 Other news you should know

🇻🇪 Biden offers temporary protection to 472,000 immigrants.

🛢 Cracker Barrel needs Boomers to come back.

🏈 The Bears are without a defensive coordinator. Can the FBI tell us why?

🤼 WWE Smackdown also “retired” from Fox; they’re headed to NBCUniversal.

✝️ Evangelical Colleges growing faster than ever.

 Remnant Resources: Weekly Picks

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