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.

We would be very grateful if you could make a donation of $100, $50, $25, or $10 today towards our work producing these Friday Fives and fighting for your values on the public square!

1. vote: here’s your ivoterguide

We’re excited to share with you the release of our partnered 2024 general election’s iVoterGuide! As in years past, we have partnered with iVoterGuide to rate candidates for North Carolina elections from a Biblical pro-values worldview.

With the start of early voting soon approaching on October 17th, and with the deadline for county boards to send absentee ballots on September 24th, we hope this digital voters’ guide will save you time and help make it easier for you to make informed pro-values decisions on your ballot.

To check out the iVoterGuide and lookup your ballot, click here.

In addition to the iVoterGuide, our NC Values Voter Toolkit includes a number of pro-voter tools designed to save you time and equip you to vote wisely.

2. north state journal: WCPSS paid $379k to senator’s equity training company

“Three years after North State Journal reported on a professional development course called “Intro to Critical Race Theory“ being offered to teachers in Wake County Public Schools, the organization behind that training continues to receive funds from the district.

Public records requests show Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) invoices and payments to The Equity Collaborative (TEC) totaling more than $379,500 between 2019 and July 2024.

TEC was founded and is run by sitting North Carolina General Assembly Sen. Graig Meyer (D-Orange).

According to its website, TEC’s ‘equity-centered professional learning and coaching’ includes defining ‘what is equity’ as well as ‘exploring implicit bias,’ ‘understanding systemic oppression and privilege’ and ‘developing your approach for anti-racism.'”

Read more: https://nsjonline.com/article/2024/09/wcpss-paid-379k-to-senators-equity-training-company/

3. carolina journal: ‘outraged’ teen drops out of wake county public high school, citing disturbing reading assignment

“A teenage girl slammed the Wake County Public School System during a board meeting on Tuesday and announced her departure from the school district after she was forced to read graphic sexual material in her English class.

During a Tuesday Wake County Board of Education meeting, a 10th-grade student recounted her move to North Carolina just three months ago. She enrolled in Athens Drive Magnet High School and told the board that she was very excited about the opportunity, until last Friday when her teacher assigned the class to read a story independently.

‘There was a part in this story that made me feel very uncomfortable, and I looked around and saw the same expression on other students’ faces,’ she said, reading the story aloud.”

Read more: https://www.carolinajournal.com/outraged-teen-drops-out-of-wake-county-public-high-school-citing-disturbing-reading-assignment/

4. watch: the 1916 project

The 1916 Project is a documentary that exposes the hidden history of the secular moral revolution, and the architects of our current culture of death: Planned Parenthood.

We wanted to invite you to check out a screening of the film here. You can also inquire about signing up your church or group to host a screening here.

Read more: https://the1916project.com

5. carolina journal: trump, harris tied in new carolina journal poll of likely voters in north carolina

“Wth the general election less than seven weeks away, a new poll of likely voters in North Carolina shows Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris are virtually tied. Trump commands 45.6% of the vote, while Harris is close behind with 45.3%, according to the latest Carolina Journal poll. The survey also indicates that 6% of the electorate remains undecided.

The gap has narrowed since August, when Trump was up three percentage points over Harris.”

Read more: https://www.carolinajournal.com/trump-harris-tied-in-new-nc-poll-of-likely-voters/

weekly prayer: officials

LORD, you also have instructed us to pray for our governing officials, and we come to you in the spirit of this petition. We pray for our state government and its executive, legislative, and judicial servants. May they indeed be servants unto the people, and govern in a manner that protects liberty and virtue. In the same spirit, we pray for public servants across our local governments. May they all heed your mandate in Romans 13:4 to be in positions of authority as “God’s servant” and for the “good” of the public. They govern in what we confess are difficult times. May they plead with you to give them wisdom, and may your grace to govern wisely be poured out on them.

Protect us from the oppression and loss of freedoms that other countries have experienced, and help us to value and preserve freedom, which we know comes only from You.

“I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt.  I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free.” Acts 7:34

Amen