Latest / The Gospel Briefing / Pentagon to Livestream Fort Hood Terrorist Execution
Transcript
- The Pentagon will livestream an execution. That's not a sentence I expected to write this morning. But here we are. This is The Gospel Briefing. I'm Charles King. The question for today: when the state carries out justice in public view, what should a Christian actually feel? Here's what we know. The Pentagon confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday that the firing squad execution of convicted Fort Hood terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed on December third. "It will be livestreamed. Details will follow," a War Department official said. Hasan, a former Army major, killed thirteen people and wounded thirty-two others when he opened fire on unarmed soldiers and civilians at Fort Hood on November fifth, two thousand nine. He was convicted in two thousand thirteen and sentenced to death. President Trump approved the firing squad on the recommendation of War Secretary Pete Hegseth. If carried out, this would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961. The first by firing squad since 1945. Christians have disagreed about capital punishment for two thousand years, and we won't settle that this morning. But the livestream is a different question. Justice and spectacle are not the same thing. Romans thirteen says the governing authority "does not bear the sword in vain." It is given gravity. It is not given a camera crew. Deuteronomy nineteen puts the aim of public justice plainly: sober warning, not content. If you want to sit with Romans thirteen today, open it in Bible Copilot and read slowly. Developing story number two. The NFL is urging the Supreme Court to decide who regulates prediction markets. In an amicus brief backing a petition from the New Jersey attorney general, the league argued that sports-related event contracts are not financial "swaps" — they are "sports gambling," and states should regulate them. At least ten states have taken legal action against prediction market platforms. The NFL wants a ruling before the pro football season ends in January, warning of "consumer harm and risk to game integrity." The quiet part: the league is not opposed to betting. It is opposed to betting it cannot shape. Still, the concern about manipulation is real. Proverbs thirteen, verse eleven: "Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it." Scripture is not neutral on how money is made. Pray for wisdom today before you repeat what you have heard. Developing story number three. Hurricane Isaias made landfall overnight along the northern Gulf Coast. A Category two storm at last report, with maximum sustained winds of one hundred five miles per hour, striking from Mississippi through the western Florida Panhandle. Forecasters warned of four to eight inches of rain, up to fifteen in places, plus tornado risk through Saturday. Governors in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia declared states of emergency. Mandatory evacuations were ordered in parts of Okaloosa and Walton counties in Florida. One practice for today: pray by name for first responders working this storm, and if you know someone on the Gulf Coast, call them before noon. This episode is presented by Bible Copilot. Open Bible Copilot and start with the Verse of the Day in Romans. You'll walk through a guided study of what the passage says, what it means, what it teaches about God, and how to apply it. Three questions each day are free. Start at mybiblecopilot dot com slash gospel. That's mybiblecopilot dot com slash gospel, or search Bible Copilot in the App Store. Today's verse is Romans twelve, verse nineteen. "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" Thirteen families have waited seventeen years for an answer at Fort Hood. A storm is tearing across the Gulf. A league is fighting over who gets to profit from a game. Vengeance is not ours. Weather is not ours. Faithfulness is. Thanks for listening to The Gospel Briefing. The Judge of all the earth will do right. Walk into this day with a steady heart. We'll see you Monday.