Good morning,

We all know the parable about building on a rock rather than sand, but is our safety in the rock... Or the One who made the rock? I'll explain myself below.

Here is the Texas Minute for Friday, July 21, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

7 Republicans Vote Against Rehiring Pilots Fired For Refusing COVID Vax

• An amendment to the FAA reauthorization legislation that would have protected the employment of airline pilots objecting to the COVID vax was defeated by the U.S. House. Among those voting against it were seven Texas Republicans, reports Brandon Waltens. 
    

• Those include U.S. Reps. Jodey Arrington, John Carter, Monica De La Cruz, Jake Ellzey, Tony Gonzales, Michael McCaul, and Randy Weber.
       

• D.C. sources say members were pressured by airline group lobbyists to vote against the amendment, arguing that the decision over rehiring those pilots should be left up to the individual airlines. Those same airlines received $25 billion in taxpayer funds as part of the CARES Act bailout during the height of COVID. That legislation was justified, in part, to keep airline workers employed.

UT Sponsors LGBT Event with Drag Queen Story Hour

• As higher education comes under scrutiny for its hiring practices, admissions processes, and teachings, the University of Texas at Austin’s Division of Diversity and Community Engagement has allocated $5,000 in taxpayer funds to the annual Austin Pride celebration next month. Sydnie Henry has the details.
     
• The theme of this year’s event is “Keep Austin Queer’d,” with the organizers advertising the event as a way to fight against child protection laws.
      
• The Austin Community College District (another taxpayer-funded institution) is also sponsoring the event, as well as grocery giant H-E-B.

Austin Council Proposes Reserve Police Force

• The Austin City Council is considering an ordinance that will add a reserve police force to the Austin Police Department. Matthew DeLaCruz reports that if the ordinance is passed, the reserve force will consist of up to 75 officers appointed by the Austin chief of police.

       
• The proposal comes after Mayor Kirk Watson attempted to end the Texas Department of Public Safety and Austin Police Department partnership last week.
      
• On top of the public safety issues, Adam Cahn reports Austin taxpayers now face the prospect of an unprecedented $5.5 billion municipal budget. That represents a 10 percent increase from last year’s record and an increase of $1 billion from just two years ago.

Biden Pushes ‘Transgender’ Therapies in Military Mental Health Services

• As mental health crises continue to impact the U.S. military, the Department of Defense does not just include traditional resources like counseling, but also “gender affirming” hormone therapy and voice feminization “training.” Valerie Muñoz reports the Pentagon has spent millions of dollars on transgender procedures.
      
• As of 2021, nearly 2,000 military personnel have been diagnosed and treated for “gender dysphoria” and the Pentagon spent $15 million “treating” them, including $11.5 million for psychotherapy and $3.1 million for surgeries.

📺 WATCH: The Headline

• On this week's edition of The Headline with Brandon Waltens, former Orange County GOP Chairman David Covey explains why Republicans in Speaker Dade Phelan’s district are growing so frustrated that they issued a censure. Also on the show, Brady Gray of the Texas Family Project talks about the growing number of LGBT programs in Texas’ taxpayer-funded universities.
      
• You can watch The Headline on the Apple TV or Roku apps, on an iOS or Android phone, or on the Texas Scorecard YouTube channel.

Friday Reflection:
Rock of Ages

One of the most photographed places in the world is the view of Jerusalem’s old city, taken from the vantage point of the Mount of Olives. Dominating that view today is the golden Dome of the Rock, a Muslim shrine. It hasn’t always been there.

On a recent trip to Israel, I was confronted with a fascinating fact that is as obvious—when heard—as that Dome is in any photograph.

While the Dome of the Rock is a Muslim shrine, it was actually built in the form of an early Christian church—octagonal in shape. It was built on the site of the Second Temple of Israel, which itself was constructed on the foundation of the First Temple built by King Solomon.

That land, as we read in the Old Testament’s book of 2 Samuel, was purchased by Solomon’s father, David, from Araunah, a Jebusite. The land was the top of a hill known as Mount Moriah, where sometime around 2,000 years before the birth of Jesus—and 1,000 years before David’s reign—Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his son Isaac.

Of course, God did not want Isaac to be sacrificed—but He did want to test the faith of Abraham.

That rock became the foundation of the First Temple and the seat of the Holy of Holies—the place of the Ark of the Covenant. That rock remained even as the First Temple lay in ruins. When the Second Temple went up, the rock was there. When the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by fire in A.D. 70 during the Jewish Revolt, the rock was unmoved.

Even when the pagan Roman Emperor Hadrian set a temple honoring Jupiter on the site, the rock was still there. And, yes, when Jupiter was kicked off Mount Moriah and the early Muslims built their shrine after the pattern of the Christian churches of the day… the rock was still there.

Whatever structure rests on that rock in the future, it has served as a sturdy foundation. Because while the things made by man are destined to fade with time, those things made—and sanctified—by God are made to last until He is done with them.

And scripture tells us that, yes, even that rock on Mount Moriah will not last for eternity.

The surest foundation is found not in nature or monuments, but in Christ alone. As the old hymn goes, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.”

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