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Dear Jack,

Welcome to the Friday Five! Every Friday we share our top five articles, stories, and quotes for you to read and share with your friends and church families.

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** 1. Joseph Backholm for WORLD OPINIONS: Harming children to meet the desires of adults
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“Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer recently signed a law that supporters call a “modernization” of parentage law. But it’s far from a technical change. In reality, it makes it easier for adults to get legal rights to other people's children. While sexual revolutionaries redefined marriage more than a decade ago, the task of redefining parenthood is ongoing.

In the good old days, becoming a parent involved having a child. Adoption law covered situations in which unfortunate circumstances required parental rights to be transferred to someone other than the biological mother or father. But the old ways are frustrating to those in relationships that cannot produce children but still desire to have children. So, the new parenting framework represented in this bill creates five new ways to transfer parental rights while discarding all the safeguards of adoption.”

Read more: [link removed]

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** 2. Politics for Happy People Episode 26 - Trust But Verify: Can accountability fix voting and budget problems?
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Ashley and Joseph break down the latest debate surrounding the SAVE Act, asking whether requiring proof of citizenship and voter ID is simply common sense or an unnecessary burden. They also dive into North Carolina's razor-thin election margins and discuss why they believe election integrity matters, even when fraud is difficult to prove. Then they unpack State Auditor Dave Boliek's investigation into controversial spending in the Town of Cary, including luxury hotel stays, taxpayer-funded books, and six-figure video projects, raising bigger questions about stewardship, accountability, and the proper role of public servants.

Watch the full episode here: [link removed]

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** 3. FOX NEWS: Hawley sends criminal referral of 'left-wing dark-money' group over mailed abortion drugs
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“A Republican senator says that a left-wing abortion group claiming to be a "public health information campaign" is actually operating as the referral hub for shipping abortion pills ([link removed]) into states where they're banned, in a criminal referral obtained by Fox News Digital.

In a letter sent Thursday to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Sen. Josh Hawley alleges asked the Justice Department ([link removed]) to open a criminal investigation into Plan C, saying the group connects women with abortion-pill manufacturers, foreign clinics and online vendors that ship the drugs into states where they are restricted by law.

"At the center of the effort is an entity called Plan C," Hawley wrote, describing the group as a "left-wing dark-money operation" that serves as the "referral and logistics hub" for distributing abortion drugs into states that prohibit them. He said the group's activities warrant a federal criminal investigation.”

Watch more: [link removed]

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** 4. CAROLINA JOURNAL: Budd presses Congress for more Helene recovery aid
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“On Tuesday, US Sen. Ted Budd, R-NC, testified at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing ([link removed]) about how the need for additional disaster relief funding would benefit western North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Helene almost two years ago.

Helene caused an estimated $60 billion in damage in the state.

The hearing was held to review President Donald Trump’s supplemental funding request made in June.

He remarked that Congress approved billions of dollars in disaster supplemental funding in December 2024, three months after the storm struck, and the North Carolina General Assembly’s $2.4 billion in state appropriations and redirecting more than $2 billion from state agencies for reconstruction.”

Read more: [link removed]

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** 5. WORLD: Extreme messaging: Democratic socialists ride radical political positions to victory
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“Francesca Hong, a Wisconsin state representative now running for governor, frequently talks about her background in the restaurant industry. She announced her campaign in a video filmed in the kitchen of the restaurant where she first started working 15 years ago. In the video, she wore an apron and a red bandanna reminiscent of Rosie the Riveter.

On June 29, Hong sat down for an interview with Hasan Piker, host of a popular streaming show on Twitch. “What does a governor who has stood in a dish pit at 1 a.m. understand about working people in the state that a career politician fundamentally does not?” Piker asked her.

That softball question gave Hong an opening to lean into the main message of her campaign. “We understand their pain,” she replied. “I think that a lot of people are in pain right now, and politicians are not honestly acknowledging that.”

Many political candidates tout their humble roots and promise to take on the status quo. But Hong is a self-professed democratic socialist and has been endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). She’s part of a wave of DSA-backed candidates running for office on this year’s Democratic ticket. Several have already successfully unseated incumbent Democrats in primary elections.”

Read more: [link removed]

Three 9th grade students at Mount Pleasant High School in Cabarrus County, NC are speaking out on behalf of their friend.

Their friend encountered a biological male in the girls’ bathroom at Mount Pleasant. That experience, compounded by the lack of support she received from the adults in charge, has left her emotionally scarred.

Now, these students are asking lawmakers to do what their school officials will not: to protect their friend—and all girls—in female private spaces at school.
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** Weekly Prayer: Family
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LORD, we cry out to you as Father. You are a model of the love, mercy, and authority of the perfect parent. We thank you for modeling for us what every parent should strive for, and for creating this wonderful institution called family.

LORD, we thank you for creating us with a basic nature designed to not be alone. You made us to desire the intimacy of relationships, and it is here where we experience joys indescribable: the joys of marriage, the joys of having children; the joys of seeing our children have children. What a blessing and mercy you gave us in the family! In it we find our first teachers, our first guardians, and our first authorities.

LORD, we recognize how deeply you love your children, and how deeply it pains you when they go astray. Alongside our adoration and thanksgiving, we pray in confession—as individuals and as members of larger communities—over any sins we may have committed that undermine your beloved institution. Forgive us when we endanger your institution through selfishness and arrogance. Forgive our communities and nation for attempting to redefine some of the most basic and deepest parts of being human—being made male and female, having lifelong marriage vows and responsibilities, and having parental rights over educating one’s children.

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:12-17)

Amen

Sincerely,

Tami & Team

NC Values

Disclaimer: Paid for by the NC Values Coalition. Not paid for by any candidate or any candidate’s committee. Financial information about NC Values Coalition and a copy of its #SL006654 license are available from the State Solicitation Licensing Branch at (919) 807-2214 (tel:(919) 807-2214) . The license is not an endorsement by the State. Donations to NC Values Coalition and NC Values Coalition PAC are not tax-deductible.

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