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Words at the Well

Phil Wickham Preaches to His Own Soul on “This Is Our God”

Music Blog - "This Is Our God" Phil Wickham Masthead (Feb. 1)

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — Eyes were locked on the Carolina skies Saturday as a suspected Chinese spy balloon ended its weeklong traverse over the U.S. when it drifted over the Atlantic Ocean and was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-china-antony-blinken-51e49202f2a0a50541cde059934c4cfb">shot down</a> by a fighter jet.In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a crowd lining the beach boardwalk cheered as a missile from an F-22 fighter struck the balloon. It quickly deflated and plummeted to the ocean.“That's my Air Force right there, buddy!" a person exclaims just after the missile's impact, in a video taken by tourist Angela Mosley.Mosley said she came out of a store and saw four fighters circling, then saw the balloon. “One of the fighter jets gets going fast and gets closer to it, and then a boom and we knew it was gone.”Mosley said no boats appeared to be in the water beneath the balloon as the wreckage fell, but several aircraft arrived soon after. U.S. officials tried to time the operation so they could <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-china-antony-blinken-51e49202f2a0a50541cde059934c4cfb?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_01">recover as much debris as possible</a> before it sinks.The maneuverable balloon had become a major flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing, and President Joe Biden faced pressure from Republicans in Congress to shoot it down. The administration waited until the balloon — about the size of three school buses — was over water because of risks to people on the ground from falling debris.China said it was a weather research vessel blown off course, a claim rejected by U.S. officials who said the craft had been over areas of Montana where nuclear missiles are siloed.As the balloon came over Myrtle Beach, software consultant Haley Walsh said she saw it floating in the clear blue sky. Walsh said she felt and heard a boom and ran outside where she saw the balloon tumbling down."I knew it was going over South Carolina, they were predicting it, but I didn't think it would go directly over," she said.In Surfside Beach, South Carolina, photographer Travis Huffstetler set up on the roof of a condo to capture images of the balloon and said the beach was packed with people looking skyward and taking pictures and videos.He got still shots of the balloon before and after its destruction, but missed the strike itself because he was on the phone.“Aw, man, I just missed it,” he says at the outset of a video he posted to social media.Huffstetler said the plummeting balloon and debris looked like “confetti falling.”The balloon had entered the U.S. air defense zone north of Alaska's Aleutian Islands on Jan. 28, crossed into Canadian airspace two days later and then back into the U.S. over northern Idaho on Tuesday, U.S. defense and military officials said. It was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chinese-surveillance-balloon-united-states-montana-47248b0ef2b085620fcd866c105054be">acknowledged by government</a> officials Thursday, a day after commercial flights were temporarily halted at the airport in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-montana-state-government-china-2a539a80a4a8473f102bd4ed66496d19">Billings, Montana, where</a> people on the ground saw the balloon seemingly loitering high above the city.Scattered sightings continued as it passed over the nation's heartland — above Missouri and the Kansas City area Friday, North Carolina on Saturday morning and finally over the South Carolina coast.In York County, South Carolina the county sheriff’s office advised against anyone trying to take out the balloon on their own.“Don’t try to shoot it!!,” the sheriff’s office tweeted Saturday as the balloon passed over the region at an altitude of about 60,000 feet (18,600 meters). “Your rifle rounds WILL NOT reach it. Be responsible. What goes up will come down, including your bullets.”The fascination with the balloon that swept the nation also spawned false rumors that it had been shot down earlier in its journey.An unverified video out of Billings claimed a “massive explosion” over the city Friday evening, two days after the balloon had passed over. The video was aired by Fox News, and Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said in an interview with Tucker Carlson that he was “monitoring the situation.”It was viewed millions of times and local officials had to bat down speculation that a Chinese balloon had been shot down. The city of Billings issued a statement that declared “there have not been any explosions in, around, or across #Montana.”Another video purported to show the balloon brought down in North Carolina Friday afternoon — about the same time people reported seeing it above Missouri.Software engineer and storm chaser Brian Branch captured photographs of the balloon high above western North Carolina hours before it was taken out. He could see a payload hanging from the round, white orb and watched it for more than an hour before it drifted into the path of the sun.“I let it just pass on by. If it was spinning, if it was a tornado, I would have chased it,” he said.___James Pollard is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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This photo provided by Jason Sellers shows U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft shooting down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023. 

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The debris landed in 47 feet of water, It was not immediately clear how long the recovery would take. The Navy is taking the lead, supported by the Coast Guard.

Eyes On The Sky As Chinese Balloon Shot Down Over Atlantic

When it comes to telling others about the offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ, there are evangelists, pastors, and missionaries to far away countries. But how do you reach a people group that has what might be considered an unusual affinity? Geeks(podcast &amp; videos further below)First off, let’s define the word: “A geek is merely a person who is very much – I won’t say obsessed – but very much in tune with what we call ‘Geek Culture’ – things involving comic books, video games, anime, and movies and fantasy books,” explains Dallas Mora, who along with his wife, Celeste, lead the Christian outreach <a href="https://geekdevotions.com/">Geek Devotions.&nbsp;</a>An insult?These days the term geek is not necessarily viewed as a put-down says Celeste. “Geeks are beginning to own the word geek and they’re going, ‘Yeah. I’m a geek. I like this, this, and this.”If you don’t ‘speak geek’ – and don’t understand what is so important in their lives and socializing, trying to tell them about Jesus can be like speaking a foreign language. Celeste explains there are “multiple geek sub-languages” depending on personal areas of interest. And “we speak many forms of geek,” adding “we’re called to love people, so that’s what we do.” Besides conventions, the Moras are also active on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/GeekDevotions">YouTube</a>.&nbsp;Over-the-top Christian tacticsDallas shares an event that helped shape their outreach ministry. Years back, they were in line at a con (convention), just talking to people, when a street preacher approached with his verbal guns blazing. He “was just there yelling and screaming at them, shouting at them, saying, ‘You’re going to hell.’” Dallas says the response from geeks was like “Yeah, we know.” But then those in line looked at Dallas and Celeste. “They knew that I was a pastor on-staff at a church. They knew that we’re believers. And they’re like ‘Are you going to yell at us, too?’ I was like, ‘no…(chuckling) would it help?’”&nbsp;Once inside the show, “it was a great time” checking out the exhibits, “but what we saw were people who were hurting – and nobody who knew Christ, who was out there, was willing to come in and just love people where they’re at the way Jesus loved people where they were at.”Where are they at?Dallas and Celeste want you to know that people in the geek world - not unlike many people - often have issues with isolation and depression, but in different circumstances. It's sometimes almost like social persecution.&nbsp;Put-downsPeople critically ask a geek culture person, “‘Why are you into these cartoons? Why into this?’ And it’s something that they’ve grown attached to. It’s almost, I don’t want to say escapism, but there’s been some coping mechanisms developed by being part of these different geek realms to help in dealing with trauma and deal with stress and anxiety. But because society looks down upon these things, because they’re ‘childish’ or whatnot, they feel even more isolated.” And Dallas says many he meets believe “people in the church don’t care” because of pre-conceived notions about them.<figure class="image"><img src="https://emfservices.azureedge.net/news/41720.jpg" alt="Celeste Mora getting involved"><figcaption>[Photo Credit: Geek Devotions] Celeste Mora getting involved</figcaption></figure>Share Jesus where God has placed you&nbsp;For anyone who believes in Christ, Dallas believes there’s always a local mission field: your circle of associates and friends. “Speak to the culture that you’re in. People everywhere need to know about Christ. There are people everywhere who are hurting, who feel abandoned,” and Dallas reminds us, “You have this precious thing called Christ, salvation…and they just need somebody to speak their own (cultural) language – presented in a way that they understand – and allow the Holy Spirit to draw them to salvation.” And Celeste added a very soft, but heartfelt “yes” after that comment.&nbsp;There are many challenges - and there are hopes and dreams Dallas and Celeste have for their unique ministry based in Shreveport, Louisiana. Hear about that in our complete interview podcast just below:<figure class="media"><oembed url="https://soundcloud.com/emf-public-affairs-audio/geek-devotions-we-speak-geek-and-share-jesus-with-isolated-people?si=19414a75ec244e919eb3ddaa530d544f&amp;utm_source=clipboard&amp;utm_medium=text&amp;utm_campaign=social_sharing"></oembed></figure><figure class="media"><oembed url="https://youtu.be/CqT172VkCAs"></oembed></figure><figure class="media"><oembed url="https://youtu.be/cUNUymwBoWw"></oembed></figure><figure class="image"><img src="https://emfservices.azureedge.net/news/41719.jpg" alt="Pastor Dallas Mora at show"><figcaption>[Photo Credit: Geek Devotions] Pastor Dallas Mora at show</figcaption></figure>

geek-devotions-we-speak-geek-and-share-jesus-with-isolated-people-podcast

Dallas & Celeste: “We’re called to love people, so that’s what we do.”  

Many comic, anime, and game enthusiasts believe “people in the church don’t care” because of pre-conceived notions about them.

Geek Devotions: We Speak ‘Geek’ And Share Jesus With Isolated People (+podcast) 

BOSTON (AP) — The Arctic air that descended on the Northeast on Saturday brought dangerously cold sub-zero temperatures and wind chills to the region, including a record-setting wind chill of minus 108 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 78 C) on the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.Temperatures got so low that authorities in Massachusetts took the unusual step of keeping the South Station transit hub open overnight so the homeless had a safe place to sleep. Several cities in the Northeast set or tied record low temperatures for the date, while the high winds brought down a tree branch on a car in western Massachusetts killing an infant.“I can’t remember it being this cold, not since 2015,” said Gin Koo, 36, wrapped up in three shirts and a down jacket, as well as a hat and a hood, as he walked his Boston terrier, Bee, in Boston on Saturday morning. Even Bee, wrapped in a doggie coat, shivered. “I wouldn’t go out if I didn’t have to.”Paul Butler, 45, who has been homeless since he was evicted in December 2021, took shelter in South Station.“This is the coldest I ever, ever remember, and I worked the door at a bunch of clubs for 15 years,” said the former Marine.The Arctic air reached the region just as a rapid cyclogenesis developed over Labrador and Newfoundland, churning up powerful winds, meteorologist Donald Dumont at the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine, said Friday, explaining the temperature plunge.A cyclogenesis refers to an intensification of a cyclone or low-pressure storm system.The Mount Washington Observatory at the peak of the Northeast’s highest mountain, famous for its extreme weather conditions, also recorded an actual temperature of minus 47 (minus 44 C), tying an observatory record set in 1934 and a wind gust of 127 mph (204 kmh).Across the rest of the region, wind chills — the combined effect of wind and cold air on exposed skin — dropped to as low as minus 45 to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 43 to minus 45 C), the National Weather Service reported.The current method to measure wind chill has been used since 2001.In Southwick, Massachusetts on Friday the winds brought a tree branch down on a vehicle driven by a 23-year-old Winsted, Connecticut woman, according to the Hampden district attorney's office. The driver was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, but the infant died, authorities said.Boston's Pine Street Inn, the largest provider of homeless services in New England, ramped up outreach to those on the streets, doubling the number of vehicles that could transport people to shelters and opening their lobby to provide extra space.“On a night like last night, the biggest concern is the people who have compromised judgment,” President and CEO Lyndia Downie said Saturday of people who have substance use disorder or mental illness. “On these cold nights, they are not thinking at 100% of their capacity. Those are the people we are most worried about.”The emergency room at Massachusetts General Hospital treated several people for hypothermia overnight and a couple were admitted for frostbite.“The reason that people unfortunately end up with severe frostbite in most cases is just because they don’t have anywhere warm and safe to go,” said Dr. Ali Raja, deputy chair of the emergency department.Boston; Providence, Rhode Island; Hartford, Connecticut; Worcester, Massachusetts; Albany, New York; and Glens Falls, New York set or matched record low temperatures for Feb. 4, according to the National Weather Service.The cold curtailed some traditional winter activities. Organizers of an annual ice castle attraction in North Woodstock, New Hampshire shortened the evening visitor schedule for Saturday night.Erin Trotta of Massachusetts, who had already booked a visit still planned to go, but was taking extra steps to stay warm.“We are prepared to take on the polar vortex ice castles. ... Snow pants, thick winter coats, hand and foot warmers, face masks, the kind where only your eyes are exposed, and good gloves and winter boots. Plan to drink some hot cocoa to keep warm."In New York’s Adirondack Mountains, Old Forge recorded a temperature early Saturday of minus 36 degrees (minus 38 C) degrees. Temperatures plunged into the negative teens in dozens of other cities and towns.Mackenzie Glasser, owner of Ozzie’s Coffee Bar in Old Forge, said frigid temperatures are just part of living in the Adirondacks.“I even had customers for the first hour that I was open, and I wasn’t expecting that at 7 a.m. So I don’t think it’s keeping too many people away,” she said.The good news is that the cold air is expected to move out of much of the region by Sunday, when temperatures could rise to the 40s.Michael Hill in Albany, New York and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire contributed to this story.

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Frost clings to the hair of Joyce Love as she looks at arctic sea smoke on the coast of South Portland, Maine, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023. The morning temperature was about -10 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The good news is that the cold air is expected to move out of much of the region by Sunday

Mount Washington Wind Chill Hits Minus-108, Snapping U.S. Record

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"I knew this could happen, but you just don't think your kid is going to do something like this..."

"I don't really find it funny yet," said Keith Stonehouse, whose son Mason ordered a string of deliveries on his dad's phone.

Michigan Boy, 6, Orders $1,000 In Food From Grubhub On Dad's Phone

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The Austin, Texas, electric vehicle company bumped up the price of the Model Y Long Range version by about 2% to $54,990 

Tesla has raised prices on its Model Y in the U.S., apparently due to rising demand and changes in U.S. government rules that make more versions of the small SUV eligible for tax credits.

Tesla Model Y Eligible For $7,500 Electric-Vehicle Tax Credit

The Philadelphia Eagles’ decision to draft Jalen Hurts in 2020 came with as much hand-wringing as intrigue regarding how to use the talented Heisman Trophy finalist. The Eagles already had quarterback Carson Wentz locked into a $128 million contract. They certainly had more pressing needs at the time on all sides of the ball.Three seasons later, there’s no doubt in Philly that drafting Hurts was the right call.<blockquote>"I've just matured and realized that God is everything," Hurts says, "and He's worthy of praise. You have to put Him at the center of everything that you do. That's what I believe. All my spiritual wisdom -- all of my wisdom as a whole -- comes from Him, in some way, shape or form, whether that be passed down from my father, my mother, my grandmother. I just think, in all the things that we experience in life -- good, bad or indifferent -- you have to keep Him in the center. - CBS News</blockquote>Hurts would win any Philly most-popular athlete poll these days —- well, it is football season — and the third-year quarterback has the Eagles just one win away from only their second Super Bowl victory in franchise history.Turns out, the Eagles were built on the strength of a QB still on his paltry rookie deal. He’s a finalist for AP NFL MVP, Offensive Player of the year and tied a franchise record with 33 total touchdowns.At just 24, Hurts has a Super Bowl -- and super riches -- ahead. He’s due for a new contract that will pay him in the neighborhood of $50 million a season, one that could rival the mammoth 10-year contract given to Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes that has choked the team’s salary cap. The Chiefs have been creative in finding ways to remain at an elite level despite Mahomes’ salary. The Eagles will have to do the same.General manager Howie Roseman has been masterful of late at making all the right moves in drafts, trades and smart contracts. If the Eagles are to remain contenders for the same window the Chiefs have smashed open with Mahomes, Roseman will have to be just as adept at working the salary cap and finding gems in the draft.The future can wait until Feb. 13. On deck, the Super Bowl.“We want to go out there and play to our standard,” Hurts said. “That doesn’t change, regardless of the magnitude of the game.”The Eagles offseason is already off to an astounding start. Roseman swung a 2022 draft-weekend deal with New Orleans that involved all draft picks -- notably, the Eagles would get the Saints’ first-round pick in 2023. Hey, the Saints were supposed to be pretty good and a pick in the 20s would have been fine. Instead, the Saints sank (though they did beat the Eagles) and Philadelphia has the No. 10 pick of the draft. Not bad for a team in the Super Bowl. The Eagles can only hope they can land a star player that could keep them championship contenders for another decade.Odds are, though, this time they won’t stun anyone and pick a quarterback.OFFENSEDid someone say steal? Roseman outmaneuvered the Titans during the 2022 draft when he engineered a deal to get wide receiver A.J. Brown.Upset with his contract in Tennessee, the Eagles sent two draft picks to the Titans for Brown and immediately gave him a $100 million, four-year deal with $57 million guaranteed. Brown was worth the price and his playmaking ability has only brought out the best in Hurts' playmaking. The two are close friends and their chemistry is evident on the field.He had 155 yards receiving in his Eagles debut and kept on rolling all the way to 88 catches for 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns in the regular season. He topped Mike Quick’s 1,409 yards in 1983 for the Eagles’ single-season high.Across the field, DeVonta Smith put up similar bold numbers. Smith, a first-round pick in the 2021 draft, finished his second NFL season with 95 catches, which are the most by a wide receiver in team history.Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson have anchored the offensive line for a decade. Miles Sanders was a second-round pick who had 1,269 yards rushing this season and 11 touchdowns. Dallas Goedert has blossomed into one of the top tight ends in the league and made the offense one of the more dynamic in the league.DEFENSEDid someone say steal, Part II? Haason Reddick signed a $45 million, three-year contract, that included $30 million guaranteed. It turned in one of the greatest season performances in team history. He had 16 sacks and 3½ more in the playoffs to pace the Eagles. Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox are 10-plus-year veterans who helped the Eagles win their first Super Bowl.SPECIAL TEAMSJake Elliott, a fifth-round pick in 2017, has kept a low profile this season as Philadelphia’s fourth-down aggressiveness has kept him from putting up big field goal numbers. Elliott has at least been automatic on extra points, missing only one this season. It seems almost laughable that it’s worth noting, but Dallas kicker Brett Maher has missed five extra points in the postseason.The Eagles this week activated the 21-day practice window for punter Arryn Siposs to return from injured reserve. Siposs had been sidelined since mid-December with an ankle injury. The Eagles have since used veteran Brett Kern. Siposs could be activated for the Super Bowl ahead of Kern. &nbsp;(AP)___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

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Philadelphia Eagles' Jalen Hurts speaks during a news conference.

"All my spiritual wisdom — all of my wisdom as a whole — comes from Him." 

Super Bowl-Bound QB Jalen Hurts Says, "God Is Everything And He's Worthy Of Praise"

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David's favorite thing is learning, but he also plays sports and the piano. He's working on his black belt in the martial arts.

David Balogun wants to be an astrophysicist.

9-Year-Old Boy Celebrates Graduation From High School

U.S. agriculture officials on Friday proposed new nutrition standards for school meals, including the first limits on added sugars, with a focus on sweetened foods such as cereals, yogurt, flavored milk and breakfast pastries.The plan announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack also seeks to significantly decrease sodium in the meals served to the nation’s schoolkids by 2029, while making the rules for foods made with whole grains more flexible.The goal is to improve nutrition and align with U.S. dietary guidelines in the program that serves breakfast to more than 15 million children and lunch to nearly 30 million children every day, Vilsack said.“School meals happen to be the meals with the highest nutritional value of any meal that children can get outside the home,” Vilsack said in an interview.The first limits on added sugars would be required in the 2025-2026 school year, starting with high-sugar foods such as sweetened cereals, yogurts and flavored milks.Under the plan, for instance, an 8-ounce container of chocolate milk could contain no more than 10 grams of sugar. Some popular flavored milks now contain twice that amount. The plan also limits sugary grain desserts, such as muffins or doughnuts, to no more than twice a week at breakfast.By the fall of 2027, added sugars in school meals would be limited to less than 10% of the total calories per week for breakfasts and lunches.The proposal also would reduce sodium in school meals by 30% by the fall of 2029. They would gradually be reduced to align with federal guidelines, which recommend Americans aged 14 and older limit sodium to about 2,300 milligrams a day, with less for younger children.Levels would drop, for instance, from an average of about 1,280 milligrams of sodium allowed now per lunch for kids in grades 9 to 12 to about 935 milligrams. For comparison, a typical turkey sandwich with mustard and cheese might contain 1,500 milligrams of sodium.Health experts say cutting back on sugar and salt can help decrease the risk of disease in kids, including obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and other problems that often continue into adulthood.The plan, detailed in a 280-page document, drew mixed reactions. Katie Wilson, executive director of the Urban School Food Alliance, said the changes are “necessary to help America’s children lead healthier lives.”But Diane Pratt-Heavner, spokeswoman for the School Nutrition Association, a trade group, said school meals are already healthier than they were a decade ago and that increased regulations are a burden, especially for small and rural school districts.“School meal programs are at a breaking point,” she said. “These programs are simply not equipped to meet additional rules.”Vilsack emphasized that the plan phases changes in over the next six years to allow schools and food manufacturers time to adjust to the new standards. He said in a press conference Friday that the USDA will also fund grants of up to $150,000 to help small and rural schools make the changes.“Our hope is that many school districts and food providers accelerate the timeline on their own,” he said.Courtney Gaine, president of the Sugar Association, said the proposal ignores the “many functional roles” sugar plays in food beyond sweetness and encourages the use of sugar substitutes, which have not been fully studied in children. Sugar substitutes are allowed under the new standards, Vilsack said.As part of the plan, agriculture officials are seeking feedback about a proposal that would continue to require that 80% of all grains offered in a week must be whole grains. But it would allow schools to serve non-whole grain foods, such as white-flour tortillas, one day a week to vary their menus.Another option suggests serving unflavored nonfat and lowfat milk to the youngest children and reserving chocolate and other flavored milks for high school kids.A 60-day public comment period on the plan opens Feb. 7.Shiriki Kumanyika, a community health expert at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health said if they’re done right some of the changes will be hard for kids to notice: “They’ll see things that they like to eat, but those foods will be healthier,” she said.___This story has been corrected to fix the spelling the president of the Sugar Association. It is Courtney Gaine, not Courtney Gaines.___AP Videojournalist Shelby Lum and AP Science Writer Maddie Burakoff contributed to this report.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Second-grade students select their meals during lunch break in the cafeteria at an elementary school in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“School meals happen to be the meals with the highest nutritional value of any meal that children can get outside the home.”

New Nutrition Standards, More Whole Grains Less Sweetened Foods In School Meals

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Children in California won't have to get the coronavirus vaccine to attend schools, state public health officials confirmed Friday, ending one of the last major restrictions of the pandemic in the nation's most populous state.Gov. Gavin Newsom first announced the policy in 2021, saying it would eventually apply to all of California's 6.7 million public and private schoolchildren.But since then, the crisis first caused by a mysterious virus in late 2019 has mostly receded from public consciousness. COVID-19 is still widespread, but the availability of multiple vaccines has lessened the viruses' effects for many — offering relief to what had been an overwhelmed public health system.Nearly all of the pandemic restrictions put in place by Newsom have been lifted, and he won't be able to issue any new ones after Feb. 28 when the state's coronavirus emergency declaration officially ends.One of the last remaining questions was what would happen to the state's vaccine mandate for schoolchildren, a policy that came from the California Department of Public Health and was not impacted by the lifting of the emergency declaration.Friday, the Department of Public Health confirmed it was backing off its original plan.“CDPH is not currently exploring emergency rulemaking to add COVID-19 to the list of required school vaccinations, but we continue to strongly recommend COVID-19 immunization for students and staff to keep everyone safer in the classroom,” the department said in a statement. “Any changes to required K-12 immunizations are properly addressed through the legislative process.”The announcement was welcome news for Jonathan Zachreson, a father of three who lives in Roseville. Zachreson founded the group Reopen California Schools to oppose many of the state's coronavirus policies. His activism led to him being elected to the Roseville City School District board in November.“This is long overdue. ... A lot of families have been stressed from this decision and worried about it for quite some time," he said. “I wish CDPH would make a bigger statement publicly or Newsom would make a public statement ... to let families know and school districts know that this is no longer going to be an issue for them.”Representatives for Newsom did not respond to an email requesting comment.California has had lots of influence over the country's pandemic policies. It was the first state to issue a statewide stay-at-home order — and other states were swift to follow.But most states did not follow California's lead when it came to the vaccine mandate for public schools. Officials in Louisiana announced a similar mandate, but later backed off. Schools in the District of Columbia plan to require the COVID-19 vaccine starting in the fall.Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, a former member of the state Assembly who challenged Newsom in a failed recall attempt in 2021 over his pandemic policies, published a blog post declaring: “We won. To Gavin Newsom: You lost.”Kevin Gordon, a lobbyist representing most of the state's school districts, said he did not think the policy change was the result of political pressure by Republicans, but instead a reflection of the virus's slowing transmission rates.“The public's appetite for these kinds of mandates is definitely not what it used to be,” he said. “If you started to now impose a heavy mandate when the amount of transmission is significantly lower than it was statewide, a one-size-fits-all solution doesn't work right now.”

california-wont-require-covid-19-vaccine-to-attend-schools-long-overdue

 Johnny Thai, 11, receives the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a pediatric vaccine clinic for children ages 5 to 11 set up at Willard Intermediate School in Santa Ana, Calif.

Nearly all of the pandemic restrictions put in place by Newsom have been lifted,

California Won't Require Covid-19 Vaccine To Attend Schools.. Long Overdue?

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No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:39 (NLT)

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