The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and State High School League (MSHSL) illegally allowed boys to compete on six different girls’ sports teams for years, the Departments of Education (DoEd) and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Wednesday.

The investigation found male students in Minnesota played girls high school Alpine and Nordic skiing, lacrosse, track and field, volleyball and fastpitch softball.

“Minnesota fails to recognize the fundamental biological differences between males and females —differences that justify single-sex teams and are essential to ensuring fair and safe competition for girls and women,” Paula M. Stannard, the Director of HHS’ Office for Civil Rights, wrote of the investigation.

DoEd and HHS will refer the case to the Department of Justice in ten days unless MDE, which oversees MSHSL, instructs all entities under its authority to:

• Comply with Title IX by segregating athletics and private spaces by sex.
• Define “male” and “female” by their true, biological definitions.
• Submit annual certifications to the federal government attesting they comply with Title IX.

MDE and MSHSL, together, must additionally:

• Revise their athletics guidelines to reflect federal, not state, law.

Retrain all employees to enforce Title IX correctly using new, federally approved materials.

Israel Folau was one of the top rugby players in the world when his contract with Rugby Australia was terminated.

His crime? He posted on social media his opposition to same-sex marriage. He later posted that homosexuality was a sin that would lead to hell — listing it with other sins such as drunkenness, adultery, idolatry, lying and stealing.

Israel told those ensnared in sin that Jesus Christ loved them and they should turn from their sin and come to Him.

The termination launched Israel and his wife, Maria, into “one of the most significant free speech and freedom of religion controversies Australia has ever known,” wrote New Zealand reporter Peter Williams.

Most Americans probably haven’t heard of Israel and Maria. But the couple’s response to the vitriol and anger unleashed against them, as they grew in character and in dependence on God, is an inspiring story that’s worth hearing.

The Folau’s spoke out for the first time about the cost of standing for biblical truth in an exclusive interview with Bob McCoskrie, of Family First New Zealand, a pro-life, pro-family organization. The interview has more than 90,000 views on YouTube.

Now I’ll admit that I know next to nothing about rugby. But I was fascinated by their story. While Israel was an internationally known rugby star, Maria was a world-renowned athlete in her own sport, netball (think basketball without running, dribbling or a backboard behind the net).

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed in a recent letter it has launched an investigation into the abortion drug mifepristone and its negative impact on women’s health.

The Abortion Pill

Mifepristone is responsible for the deaths of roughly 7.5 million preborn children since it was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000.

The abortion pill, now the most common method of abortion in the United States, is a two-drug regimen administered to kill a woman’s preborn child. The first drug, mifepristone, blocks the essential pregnancy hormone progesterone, cutting off blood supply and nutrients to the preborn baby. The second drug, misoprostol, causes the woman to go into labor and expel her now dead child.

Earlier this year, Focus on the Family aired an interview with Dr. Bill Lile and Robyn Chambers, Vice President of Advocacy for Children at Focus on the Family, on the dangers the abortion pill poses to women.

The REMS Requirements

In 2000, when the FDA first approved mifepristone, it placed a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) designation on the drug. The FDA reserves this designation for only the most dangerous drugs.

As a part of the REMS designation, the agency instituted an “in-person dispensing requirement,” requiring mifepristone be dispensed only in a medical setting.

Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr., a pastor, apologist, evangelist and fierce advocate for home education, died suddenly last Thursday. He was 56.

The beloved teacher and preacher had previously undergone quadruple bypass surgery in 2021 after suffering from heart failure. Although in fragile health, he’s maintained a full ministry schedule, including serving as founding president of Founders Seminary in Florida.

Throughout his four-decade ministry, Dr. Baucham stressed the importance of the family, especially the value of a happy marriage and the critical role fathers play in the home. He once observed:

“The greatest source of security our children have in this world is a God-honoring, Christ-centered marriage between their parents.”

Although his ministry focus was broad, Voddie was a mentor to many men, challenging males to lean into the calling God has placed on their lives. Over the years he often pointed out that the top prayer request of Christian mothers was to have fathers step up and spiritually lead the family.

“I boil it down to the four Ps,” he once told Warren Smith. “Priest, prophet, provider, protector. [He should be] the spiritual leader, the one who is the priest or intercessor for his family; the one who’s the prophet, the one who’s the instructor in his family; the provider, the one who sees that his family has what they need; and the protector, the one who puts himself between his family and anyone or anything that would do them harm.”