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. NC VALUES: ⏰ Clock is Ticking in Raleigh

June is the last month the North Carolina General Assembly is expected to meet this session—and that means we have just weeks left to push our most important pro-life, pro-family, and pro-religious freedom bills through the legislative process.

Six of our priority bills made it through the May crossover deadline. Now, they must be heard and passed in the opposite chamber before the end of session. The other two of our bills can be passed, despite not making crossover, by adding the language to another bill. If that doesn’t happen, they risk being shelved for the year. That’s why this month is critical—and why we urgently need your help.

Read more: https://ncvalues.org/clock-is-tick-ing-in-raleigh/

2. WORLD: Humbled Pride: Could it be that Americans are Finally Fed Up with the Sexual Revolution?

“Is Pride having a fall? The relative lack of enthusiasm for this year’s Pride month has a lot of people wondering. There were early signs of trouble even before the holiest month for sexual revolutionaries began. In Boise, Idaho, the ‘Pride Season Kickoff’ event scheduled for June 6 was canceled due to insufficient attendance, despite claims of ‘strong online enthusiasm.’

But it wasn’t just in red states where Pride was being humbled. Seattle Pride was projecting a $350,000 budget deficit due to a decline in corporate sponsorships. This shortfall amounts to nearly a quarter of the organization’s annual operating budget. Executive Director Patti Hearn said their decline in financial commitments by major corporate sponsors is consistent with a broader trend of companies scaling back their support for LGBTQ initiatives.”

Read more: https://wng.org/opinions/humbled-pride-1749173904

3. CAROLINA JOURNAL: Uncertain Forever: The Harmful Impact of HB 612 on Adoption

“It is disturbing that a bill intended to improve our foster care system will result in more babies going into it, but that’s what HB 612 (passed by the NC House and now being considered by the NC Senate) will do if it becomes law. The bill changes adoption law significantly. It increases the risk of failed adoptions for adopting parents, deprives newborns of prompt and permanent adoptive families, creates uncertainty as to whether adoptions are ever really final, and increases the cost to taxpayers of foster care and adoption.”

Read more: https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/uncertain-forever-the-harmful-impact-of-hb-612-on-adoption/

4. DAILY WIRE: Supreme Court Sides With Christian Charity Targeted By Wisconsin

“The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of a Catholic charity that sued Wisconsin after it was mandated to pay certain unemployment taxes while other religious organizations were exempted. In its ruling, the court struck down a decision from the Wisconsin Supreme Court that said the Catholic Charities Bureau had to pay taxes on unemployment compensation. The court said that the interpretation of state tax law by Wisconsin’s Supreme Court violated the First Amendment.”

Read more: https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-sides-with-christian-charity-targeted-by-wisconsin

5. DAILY WIRE: UNC Cans DEI Dean Over Undercover Video: ‘I Love Breaking Rules’

“University of North Carolina Asheville parted ways with administrator Megan Pugh after video surfaced of the now-former Dean of Students bragging about her plans to use her position to promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) despite it being banned.

Corey DeAngelis shared the story in a thread posted to X on Tuesday, beginning with video obtained by an undercover journalist – working with Accuracy In Media —who spoke with Pugh and recorded her in her office.”

Read more: https://www.dailywire.com/news/unc-cans-dei-dean-over-undercover-video-i-love-breaking-rules

WEEKLY PRAYER: Life

LORD, we recognize that you are Sovereign over all creation. We recognize you made man from the dust, and in your mercy, you crowned creation with man and woman made in your image. What a wonder it is that you would bestow upon us this blessing and responsibility!

LORD, may we not take this blessing for granted. We pray that this great responsibility and dignity may motivate us to love You, our neighbors, and our families more. LORD, may we as a culture truly see and believe that children are a blessing from the LORD—born or unborn; able or disabled. All children should have an opportunity to experience the liberty of life. LORD, make us your vehicle to change our culture into one that cherishes and protects life. Keep at the forefront of our minds our responsibilities to respect, cherish, and serve the youngest and oldest in our society.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.’” (Matthew 18:1-6)

Sincerely,

Tami & Team

NC Values