The Gospel Briefing — Mon, Apr 20, 2026: A Louisiana Tragedy & a Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

This is The Gospel Briefing. I'm Charles King. Today... a father in Louisiana does the unthinkable to his own children. Japan braces for a second earthquake that hasn't come yet. And a quiet donor reminds us what it means to give where truth is spoken plainly. Headlines... Heartbeat... Hope. Let's get into it. [TRANSITION] I want to tell you about a family in Louisiana. And I want you to resist the urge to know immediately what to do with this story. On Sunday, in a home outside Baton Rouge, a man shot and killed seven of his own children. Plus an eighth child who was visiting. Three boys. Five girls. Aged three to eleven. Let that sit for a moment. I had to read it twice myself. Officials are still piecing together the how and the why. There will be time for that. Right now there are eight small coffins being prepared in a community that did not wake up expecting any of this. When a story is this dark, the temptation is to reach quickly for a verse. To tidy it up. I want to resist that. Because Scripture itself does not tidy these moments up. The shortest verse in the Bible is two words. Jesus wept. He stood at the grave of a friend He was about to raise... and He still wept. The Son of God did not rush past the horror of death. He sat in it. So if you hear this news and you have no words... you are in good company. Grief is not a failure of faith. It is what love does when it meets evil. Here is what I keep coming back to. Psalm 34:18 says the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Not the brokenhearted who have their theology sorted. Not the ones with a neat explanation. The crushed. The speechless. The ones who can only groan. Pray for that community tonight. Pray for the first responders who will not sleep well for a long time. And pray for the one child who survived. She is going to need the church for the rest of her life. [TRANSITION] Halfway around the world, Japan is holding its breath. On Friday, a magnitude seven point six earthquake struck off the southern coast, triggering a tsunami warning that has since been lifted. But today the Japan Meteorological Agency issued something unusual. A formal warning that a second, larger quake could hit within the next week. They are telling coastal residents to keep go-bags ready. To sleep in clothes they can run in. To know their evacuation route in the dark. Imagine living that way for seven days. Waiting for the ground itself to betray you. There is a phrase in Hebrews chapter twelve that hits differently when you read it against this backdrop. The writer quotes the prophet Haggai and says God will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. And then this line... so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Everything that can be shaken eventually will be. Your job. Your portfolio. The floor under your feet. Japan is being reminded of that in the most literal way possible this week. The rest of us get reminded more gently. A diagnosis. A layoff. A phone call at two in the morning. The question the Christian faith asks is not whether you will be shaken. You will. The question is what remains when the shaking stops. Christ remains. His kingdom remains. The love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord... that remains. Pray for Japan this week. And check your own foundation while you're at it. [TRANSITION] Here at home, a quieter story. But an important one. Christianity Today profiled a woman named Sandra Anderson. The headline caught me. I want to give where the voice of truth is loud. Sandra is one of a growing number of American Christians who say the last several years have left them disoriented. Political tribalism inside the church. Christian nationalism on one flank. A drift from Scripture on the other. Pastors using the pulpit as a campaign stage. Believers who cannot tell anymore where their politics end and their faith begins. Her response was not to quit the church. It was to return to the Word. And to direct her giving toward ministries that still sound like the Bible when they open their mouths. I find that bracing. Not cynical... bracing. Paul told Timothy that a time would come when people would not endure sound doctrine. They would gather teachers to suit their own passions. Second Timothy chapter four. Written two thousand years ago. Describing a dynamic you can watch on any podcast feed this afternoon. Here's the encouraging part. The answer Paul gives Timothy is not panic. It is preach the Word. Be sober-minded. Do the work of an evangelist. Keep going. If you have felt what Sandra feels — that something is off, that the voice of truth has gotten quieter in places it used to be loud — you are not crazy. And you are not alone. Find the church where the Bible is opened and trusted. Support the ministries that sound like Jesus. Keep going. [TRANSITION] A few more items on the radar. A BBC investigation has uncovered a pattern of unusual stock trades occurring just before public announcements from President Trump. The report does not prove insider trading... but the pattern has prompted calls for a congressional review. Proverbs 11:1 — a false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight. Markets require trust. Trust requires honesty at the top. In Lebanon, an Israeli soldier was filmed vandalizing a statue of Jesus. The Israeli military called the act severe. The US ambassador demanded swift consequences. A reminder that how we treat even the image of Christ says something about the state of a soul. Oil prices jumped today after President Trump announced the seizure of an Iranian ship. A senior Iranian official told the BBC that Tehran will never surrender control of the Strait of Hormuz. Pray for peace. Pray for wisdom. Psalm 46 — He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. And in Britain, Jewish families are describing a rising tide of antisemitism. Being spat at. Threatened. In one case, kidnapped. The God of Abraham has not forgotten His people. Neither should we. [TRANSITION] Today's episode is brought to you by Bible Copilot. If any of today's stories made you want to dig deeper into what Scripture actually says — that's exactly what I built Bible Copilot for. It's a Bible study app that uses the same inductive method trusted by pastors and seminary scholars — five study modes that help you observe the text, interpret the original meaning, connect it to theology, and apply it to your life. It's free, no ads, no data collection — you get fifteen questions a day, no account needed. And if you want unlimited access plus guided reading plans, Pro is five bucks a month. Search Bible Copilot in the App Store — link's in the show notes. Today's verse comes from Hebrews chapter twelve, verses twenty-eight and twenty-nine. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Eight children in Louisiana. A nation in Japan waiting for the ground to move. A church in America trying to find its voice again. All of it shakable. All of it temporary. But the kingdom we have been given... cannot be shaken. Thanks for listening to The Gospel Briefing. If today's episode helped you see the news more clearly, share it with one person who needs that same clarity. The headlines will keep coming. So will the grace of God. And I'll meet you back here tomorrow.