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Good morning,

Americans currently carry $1.3 trillion in credit card debt. I end the week reflecting on the joy that comes from having an even more massive debt erased from the balance sheets.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, Nov. 7, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

FAA Orders Flight Cuts at Texas Airports As the government shutdown continues, the Federal Aviation Administration has been forced to reduce air traffic nationwide—with Texas among the hardest hit. Brandon Waltens has the story [[link removed]].

Beginning this morning, the FAA is cutting flights by 10 percent at 40 of the nation’s top airports due to staffing shortages among air traffic controllers, many of whom are working without pay because of the Democrat-led shutdown. Of those 40 airports, four are in Texas: Dallas-Fort Worth, Dallas Love, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental, and Houston Hobby.

While the reductions will be concentrated at major hubs, officials warned that travelers at other airports could still face delays or cancellations. Paxton Sues Roblox, Alleges Platform ‘Overrun by Predators’ Targeting Children Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a sweeping lawsuit against the Roblox Corporation [[link removed]], accusing the multi-billion-dollar gaming company of “flagrantly ignoring state and federal online safety laws” and deceiving parents about the dangers of its platform. The suit alleges that Roblox knowingly facilitates sexual exploitation, grooming, and exposure to explicit content among minors.

Roblox boasts more than 80 million daily users, many of them under 13. According to Paxton, the platform allows predators to communicate freely with children under the guise of anonymity. He also accused the site of promoting adult-themed “experiences” such as virtual strip clubs and “Epstein’s Island.”

Roblox did not respond to a request for comment.

"We cannot allow platforms like Roblox to continue operating as digital playgrounds for predators where the well-being of our kids is sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed." – Ken Paxton [[link removed]] ICE Disputes Houston Church’s Story About Detained Priest A dispute is unfolding between the Episcopal Diocese of Texas and federal immigration officials after the detention of a Kenyan priest in Houston. Michael Wilson has the details [[link removed]].

According to Episcopal church officials, Rev. James Eliud Ngahu Mwangi was detained on October 25 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while returning home from work. According to Episcopal Bishop of Texas C. Andrew Doyle, Mwangi is a "legally employed Kenyan clergy member" who recently helped found a Swahili congregation.

ICE disputed those claims, saying that Mwangi entered the United States on a B-1 visa that expired nearly 18 months ago.

Episcopal officials claim the man is employed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. TDCJ has not responded to inquiries. Texas Can Now Enforce Ban on Erotic Drag Shows for Kids Texas’ law prohibiting explicit sexual performances in front of children is enforceable, according to a decision yesterday from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Travis Morgan reports [[link removed]] the case is being sent back to the district court for ongoing litigation.

Passed in 2023, the law regulates sexually oriented performances on public property and in the presence of minors. A federal district court blocked its enforcement before the law could even take effect.

A drag performer and others in the drag industry have claimed the prohibition is a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Someone needs to force these people to explain why they feel the urge to perform in front of children... Mesquite Teacher Jailed for Child Sex Abuse Material Erin Anderson reports [[link removed]] that a teacher in Mesquite Independent School District is in jail for possessing child sexual abuse material. Chad Michael Beery is an Academy Option teacher at Mesquite Academy, an “untraditional” accelerated learning campus for Mesquite ISD middle and high school students.

Beery has worked for Mesquite ISD since 2019 and has been certified to teach math and special education since 2018.OTHER EDUCATION NEWS George Russell McAllister, a welding teacher at Ferris ISD, has been arrested and charged [[link removed]] with possession of child pornography. He has taught there since 2020 but has been a certified teacher since the early 1990s. Without naming McAllister, Ferris ISD's superintendent notified parents [[link removed]] yesterday of the arrest, noting the individual had been terminated and that none of the district's students were involved. This Sunday on REAL TEXANS Sheriff Roy Boyd [[link removed]]

For this Sunday's edition of Real Texans, Sydnie Henry visits with Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd about his time in law enforcement, Operation Lone Star, and what steps Texas needs to take to combat the cartels.

New interviews with REAL TEXANS [[link removed]] every Sunday!

Friday Reflection Forgive Us Our Debts [[link removed]]

by Michael Quinn Sullivan

In the second quarter of 2025, the average household in Texas had $12,800 in credit card debt, the seventh-worst in the nation. In all, Americans currently owe $1.3 trillion in credit card debt. With Christmas approaching, the number will only get bigger.

Debt, like fire, can be an effective tool for those who understand its limits. Everyone else gets burned.

The language of finance permeates Holy Scripture. Many of Jesus’ parables dealt with transactions, trade, and work. While the economic realities of first-century Judea don’t translate neatly to today—and the concept of what we now call “free markets” was only just being articulated by Cicero in the century before Christ—debt has been a financial constant.

We take it on knowingly. In the hyper-consumption culture of the 21st Century, we think nothing of tapping or swiping a card to get what we want without regard to the consequences. And, for all too many of our neighbors, debt is amassed that cannot be repaid.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that debt has long been used as a description of the practical weight of sin. Like mindless taps for those impulsive baubles or the late-night clicks for the impractical gizmos, we accumulate the weight of sin.

Just as debt will eventually crush someone’s financial future, so also does sin darken our eternal future.

In today’s world, when debt is paid, we get a statement that notes the balance has been zeroed out. The lending institution doesn’t care who paid it off. This was no different in Jesus’ time. Throughout the Roman Empire, the Greek word “tetelestai” would be written in accounting ledgers to indicate that a debt had been paid in full.

Stories abound, then and now, of neighbors and family paying off the financial debt of a burdened loved one.

That word tetelestai is what Jesus used on the cross and is rendered to us literally: “It is finished.” Some experienced observers of crucifixions might have wondered at that. It was never a word used by a dying man crushed in defeat. No, everyone within earshot would have known this word in only the context of relief.

This was a triumphant proclamation that the debt of sin had been paid in full.

For all who call on Jesus, that notation of tetelestai is inked in the eternal ledger. Our shackles have been released. The burden has been removed. Let us rejoice in that freedom.

Quote-Unquote

"Our hearts are restless until we rest in God." – Samuel Alito

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