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The World and Everything In It
7.1.25 The Supreme Court on judicial injunctions, stopping a potential mass shooter, and finding healing through helping
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- [00:06]
Mary Reichert
Good morning. Today that Supreme Court ruling on birthright citizenship. The dueling opinions revealed how divided the justices are on the role of judging.
- [00:15]
Nick Eicher
Already we see this exchange getting circulated all over social media.
- [00:20]
Kent Covington
That's ahead on a special Tuesday edition of Legal Docket. Also today, the church members who stopped a potential mass shooting as every person.
- [00:29]
Jay Trombley
That got put in exactly the right spot. We were put there to stop this evil man.
- [00:35]
Kent Covington
And a shared grief brought two families together in unexpected ways.
- [00:47]
Mary Reichert
It's Tuesday, July 1st. This is the world and everything in it from listener supported World Radio. I'm Mary Reichert.
- [00:54]
Kent Covington
And I'm Nick Eicher. Good morning.
- [00:58]
Mary Reichert
Now news. Here's Kent Covington.
- [01:01]
Ilya Shapiro
Lawmakers debated on the Senate floor through the night and into the early hours of this morning as Republicans pressed to pass President Trump's so called one big beautiful bill. Democrats argued that the bill only benefits the wealthy and that it will cut benefits to many Americans. Senator ADAM schiff no, it does nothing.
- [01:18]
Kent Covington
To make it easier for your kids or mine to buy a house, pay their rent, buy groceries, afford their medicine, or fill up the car for a family vacation. Instead, it throws more coal in the.
- [01:31]
Nick Eicher
Engine, barreling down a track to nowhere.
- [01:34]
Ilya Shapiro
Republicans, though, said their Democratic colleagues were not telling the truth about the bill. Senator MIKE crapo this bill does not.
- [01:41]
Kent Covington
Take Medicaid away from children or the elderly or any recipient the program was originally designed to help. It increases eligibility to home and community based services.
- [01:54]
Ilya Shapiro
He said the legislation would only cut waste, fraud and abuse from Medicaid while creating new opportunities for all Americans. The Senate is not the final stop for this legislation, even though the House already passed it. Changes to the bill in the Senate means the House would have to take action on it again before it can head to President Trump's desk. Iran says it has no plans to open new diplomatic talks with the United States. President Trump last week said U.S. and Iranian officials would likely meet this week, but Tehran says there will be no talks until Washington guarantees no further US Military strikes while talks are ongoing. Foreign Minister Majid Tahravanchi told the BBC we have not agreed to any date. We have not agreed to the modality.
- [02:40]
Mary Reichert
Right now we are seeking an answer to this question. Are we going to see a repetition of, of an act of aggression while we are engaging in dialogue?
- [02:53]
Ilya Shapiro
The US Government felt Iran was stonewalling and trying to buy time during negotiations before last month's US Airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. And the Trump administration does not believe Tehran is in a position now to dictate terms. CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Iran's nuclear program's.
- [03:10]
Kent Covington
Been severely damaged and it's going to take years, not months, for Iran to try and rebuild those nuclear nuclear facilities, even if they try.
- [03:20]
Ilya Shapiro
But the White House indicated that indirect talks with Iran are ongoing through back channels. President Trump will reportedly host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office again next week as the president pushes for a ceasefire in Gaza. White House press secretary Caroline this has.
- [03:37]
Nick Eicher
Been a priority for the president since.
- [03:39]
Kent Covington
He took office to end this brutal war in Gaza. It is because of this president that humanitarian aid is being brought into the region.
- [03:47]
Ilya Shapiro
Israeli government spokesman David Mentzer says his country has never been the obstacle to peace in Gaza. The obstacle lies with Hamas, but we are working through various means to overcome it. But, he said after Israel's recent military campaign in Iran, Hamas may be further weakened. The Iranian government has long funded and supported the terror group with the success of Operation Rising lion in partnership with our American allies, many opportunities have opened.
- [04:16]
Daniel Darling
Up now following this victory.
- [04:18]
Ilya Shapiro
The Associated Press reports that Netanyahu will meet with Trump on Monday. It would be the prime minister's third visit since Trump returned to the White House in January. And President Trump is hoping a more stable Syria will bring more stability to the Middle East. He signed an executive order on Monday ending US Sanctions against the country. Caroline Levitt told reporters at the White House.
- [04:40]
Kent Covington
This is again an action that the president promised and shocked the world with in Saudi Arabia because he's committed to.
- [04:46]
Ilya Shapiro
Supporting a Syria that is stable and.
- [04:48]
Kent Covington
Unified and at peace with itself and its neighbors.
- [04:52]
Ilya Shapiro
Trump met with Syria's interim leader Ahmed Al Shirra in Saudi Arabia in May and told him that he would lift the sanctions and explore normalizing relations in a major policy shift that came at the urging of the United Arab Emirates months after deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad was driven from power in Idaho. Investigators say the suspect who fatally shot firefighters battling a blaze in the northern part of the state opened fire on them after they asked him to move his vehicle. But Koothenau County Sheriff Bob Norris says that does not mean it was an impulsive act.
- [05:24]
Kent Covington
We do believe that the, that the suspect started the fire and we do believe that it was an ambush and it was intentional.
- [05:34]
Ilya Shapiro
The 20 year old suspect opened fire with a high powered rifle. The firefighters took cover behind fire trucks, but two were killed and a third was wounded during a barrage of gunfire over several hours. The gunman apparently took his own life before law enforcement found him. I'm Ken Covington and straight ahead on a special Tuesday edition of Legal Docket. Dueling opinions at the Supreme Court revealed how divided justices are on the role of judging. This is the world and everything in it.
- [06:22]
Mary Reichert
It's the world and everything in it for this first day of July 2025. We're so glad you've joined us today. Good morning. I'm Mary Reichert.
- [06:30]
Kent Covington
And I'm Nick Eicher. Time now for Legal Docket. And today we continue our analysis of Supreme Court opinions from the final week of the term. Those final, final week opinions often do come with high drama, and few more so than Trump v. Casa. That's the so called birthright citizenship case. But headlines aside, it wasn't really about birthright citizenship, even though it did stem from that. President Trump issued an executive order aimed at denying automatic citizenship to children born on US Soil to illegal immigrants.
- [07:03]
Mary Reichert
The question presented was procedural, not constitutional. But it's rather a consequential procedural question. Can a single federal district judge block a government policy nationwide, even for people who never sued over it? That kind of court order is known as a universal injunction. And the Supreme Court, in a six to three opinion written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, said a single federal judge cannot do such a thing. I called up Lyle Weinberger, law professor at George Mason University and a former law clerk to Justice Neil Gorsuch.
- [07:36]
Nick Eicher
The bottom line of the majority opinion is that universal injunctions are not okay, and the court embraced a appropriately modest view of the judicial role. The majority opinion is an admirably clear explanation of the historical view of the judiciary's role, which is resolving disputes between individual parties. And it is a rebuke to those courts that have gone beyond that role and have been willing to offer what people have called universal relief, relief or remedies for people who are not part of the case. And that historically is just not what courts have done.
- [08:14]
Kent Covington
Justice Clarence Thomas made that very point during oral argument back in May. So we survived until the 1960s without universal injunction. Supporters of this decision see it as a return to first principles, Constitution 101. Judges are supposed to interpret the law and apply the law to the parties before them. It's not their job to write nationwide policy. That's up to the other two branches.
- [08:42]
Nick Eicher
This is a case that requires them to talk at a really fundamental level about what they think they are doing. And so the sharpest disagreement comes between Justice Barrett's majority opinion and Justice Jackson's dissent.
- [08:57]
Kent Covington
And that dissent was fiery. Justice Ketanji Brown. Jackson called the majority opinion an existential threat to the rule of law. She broke with tradition and skipped the collegial customary I respectfully dissent. Instead, she used the sign off with deep disillusionment.
- [09:17]
Mary Reichert
Justice Barrett, with her five colleagues endorsing it, didn't let the matter go unanswered. She zeroed in on the contradiction at the heart of Jackson's argument and delivered a pointed rejoinder. Justice Jackson decries an imperial executive while embracing an imperial judiciary. It was a sharp line, and Lyle Weinberger says it's already doing what sharp lines tend to cut through the noise.
- [09:42]
Nick Eicher
It is a strongly worded disagreement, and that line about an imperial executive doesn't justify an imperial judiciary. That is going to be a memorable encapsulation of this disagreement that I think is going to be understandable not just to readers of this opinion, but but also to a broader public which is only going to hear this in excerpt form. And already we see this exchange getting circulated all over social media and many people who are not going to click to read almost 120 pages of PDF opinions are going to see these lines.
- [10:20]
Mary Reichert
I also called up Ilya Shapiro, a constitutional scholar at the Manhattan Institute. He sees the court's ruling as a long overdue course correction.
- [10:29]
Lyle Weinberger
Finally, they've given it basically by saying that nationwide or universal injunctions generally go beyond federal court authority, that they courts have to tailor their rulings to the parties before them. Courts look at cases and controversies, and they don't just get kind of derivative authority to control parties who are not before them.
- [10:51]
Mary Reichert
During oral argument, some justices offered a possible way to streamline disputes like this one, class actions. If challengers sue as a class, then relief could be broader without violating judicial limits. Shapiro says it'll have to be a work in progress.
- [11:06]
Lyle Weinberger
The Supreme Court does have nationwide or universal jurisdiction, but also we will see skirmishes in the lower court over class certification. If you have class actions, that certainly binds much more broadly than just the specific individuals before you, as well as skirmishes over third party standing. That is, if states, as some states are involved in this birthright citizenship litigation, can they block policies just for that state? Would we end up with a patchwork, whether for birthright citizenship or say, for rules of entry for travel restrictions? Can there be a different rule if you're flying into, say, Atlanta International Airport vs JFK vs LAX? Those are going to be the battles.
- [11:52]
Kent Covington
Going forward, and that might just spur Congress into action. As US Solicitor General John Sauer said at oral argument, this year alone, 35 universal injunctions were issued by just five judicial districts. Some say this type of forum Shopping is way out of hand. Law professor Weinberger has seen how the Court operates from the inside. He says the real story is how the Justices manage to disagree, but then come back together.
- [12:21]
Nick Eicher
Even as we read the really strident and strong disagreements that are expressed in this set of opinions, it's still the case that these Justices, they've done this before, and then they go away for a summer and then they come back and they're working together with the same group of nine people again and again and again. And this is one of the reasons that the Supreme Court as an institution has long had this practice of taking summers off, because there is this sense that the Court is doing hard work under a lot of public scrutiny, under certain degrees of time pressure. This particular case happened under great time pressure because it went on a super expedited schedule. And yet you have to find ways to disagree because these are Justices with very different views of the law and of the Constitution and of how to understand its words.
- [13:14]
Ronald Amen
And.
- [13:14]
Nick Eicher
And then they have to find ways to come together and work with these same people all over again. And that's not an easy thing to do.
- [13:22]
Mary Reichert
I'd wondered why Justice Barrett was assigned to write the majority opinion. I asked Shapiro about that.
- [13:28]
Lyle Weinberger
It could be that Justice Barrett, when she was a professor, was into civil procedure, so knows this area of law very well with respect to injunctions and the authority of district courts. It could be that he saw that she could keep all her colleagues in line, perhaps even more than the Chief himself could. I don't know. There would be a lot of speculation about that. But it does play in nicely. It kind of ties a nice bow in terms of all of the criticism that she has gotten from the President's allies the last few months. That between this and her writing in the Scrometti case, really takes a wind out of those criticisms.
- [14:09]
Kent Covington
The bottom line going forward, the merits of each presidential executive order will still need to be tested in court, but it won't get shot down just because a single federal judge says so.
- [14:20]
Mary Reichert
All right, one more ruling to cover for today, Riley v. Bondi. This one's also related to immigration. It went five to four, with Justice Gorsuch joining the liberals in dissent. It clarifies a key timing rule in immigration cases. Pierre Reilly overstayed his tourist visa in the 1990s. Years later, he was convicted on drug and firearms charges and landed himself in prison. He got an early release during the pandemic, and when he walked out, immigration agents were waiting to deport him to Jamaica.
- [14:50]
Kent Covington
Riley asked not to be sent back saying a drug lord there had threatened to kill him, but the Board of Immigration Appeals turned him down. He tried to appeal that, but the the government said he was too late. The question was, when does the clock start running on time for appeal? The majority cut him a little bit of slack, saying the rule isn't so strict just because it's a claim processing rule and not a mandatory jurisdictional rule. It's, in other words, flexible.
- [15:19]
Mary Reichert
Bottom line for Riley is he gets another shot at avoiding Jamaica and the government has to respond. No automatic dismissal over a timing technicality. And that's today's legal docket. More tomorrow from my colleague Jenny Roth. Coming up next on THE WORLD and everything in it. Gunfire at God's House. Now just a quick word of warning. This story deals with scary situations that may be too intense for younger ears. If you're a parent and you have young children nearby, you may want to Fast forward about 10 minutes and come back later. We'll give you a moment to reach for the podcast controls before we continue on.
- [16:10]
Kent Covington
Just two Sundays ago, police say a gunman dressed in tactical gear opened fire outside a Michigan church during that congregation's vacation Bible school program. World reporter Travis Kercher spoke with several members of the congregation about what happened next and how it could have been a lot worse.
- [16:31]
Ronald Amen
June 22 wasn't a typical Sunday morning service at Crosspoint Community Church in Wayne, Michigan. As sound technician Dustin Fiocco explains, it was supposed to be about the children.
- [16:42]
Dustin Fiocco
This was following our vacation Bible school program and instead of doing our regular worship, we had the children up on stage doing some performances and songs and dance and stuff.
- [16:53]
Ronald Amen
63 year old church member Ronald Amen was enjoying the program with his grandchildren.
- [16:58]
Kent Covington
I was sitting midway holding my grandson. My wife and other grandson was next to me.
- [17:06]
Ronald Amen
Meanwhile, one of the church deacons decided to switch up his routine and make breakfast before heading to church, causing him to be late for the service. As he arrived in his F150 pickup truck, he noticed someone driving donuts in the church parking lot. That driver then got out of his vehicle and the deacon knew something was horribly wrong. Jay Trombley serves on the church security detail.
- [17:31]
Jay Trombley
He had some tactical gear on, mostly all camouflage, and he proceeded to put on more tactical gear, some sound protection over his ears, and then grabbed a.
- [17:42]
Ronald Amen
Large rifle, Trombley said. The deacon called out to the man.
- [17:46]
Jay Trombley
You know, hey buddy, what's going on? You need something? And the man looked at him and smirked and walked away and started walking down the sidewalk towards the main lobby entrance.
- [17:57]
Ronald Amen
Trombley said the deacon had mere moments to act before the gunman would be inside the church. So he got back in his truck and barreled toward the man. Trombley said the gunman didn't hear him because he was still wearing ear protection.
- [18:11]
Jay Trombley
And the deacon hit him with his F150 and put the man down.
- [18:16]
Ronald Amen
At that point, Trom says the gunman opened fire.
- [18:20]
Jay Trombley
The man was on the ground, but he shot the deacon's pickup and incapacitated the truck immediately.
- [18:29]
Ronald Amen
Fioko says the sound of the commotion reached the inside of the sanctuary. Audio here from the church's live stream.
- [18:35]
Mary Reichert
And let the kids tell you about the great treats we had this week and have some, too. Thank you. Thank you.
- [18:50]
Dustin Fiocco
We heard what ended up being, I'd say about 10 gunshots, and it sounded just like a jackhammer. I'm up in the sound booth area in the balcony, and I look over to our video guy, and we didn't know what it was.
- [19:03]
Ronald Amen
We thought that's when a woman who had seen what had happened ran into the sound sanctuary to warn the congregation.
- [19:09]
Dustin Fiocco
Everybody began scattering at that time, and instantly, without hearing that somebody had a gun. Seeing everybody scatter, hearing those noises, I instantly knew what it was.
- [19:19]
Ronald Amen
Both Trombley and Aman are members of the church's security team and carry firearms. Aman said he handed his grandson off and started heading toward the sound of gunfire. Meanwhile, calls flooded into the 911 dispatch center, and from all over town, police began heading to the church.
- [19:38]
Kent Covington
All west units, if you can make Wayne City, 36125 Glenwood.
- [19:43]
Ronald Amen
Audio here, courtesy of Broadcastify.
- [19:45]
Kent Covington
They have an active shooter situation in the parking lot. Mail is continuously shooting.
- [19:50]
Ronald Amen
Fiocco rushed for the nursery where he'd left his wife and newborn baby. But when he arrived, there was no one there.
- [19:57]
Dustin Fiocco
Very much panic moment for me right there. Did not know where they were, did not know where the shots were coming from.
- [20:04]
Ronald Amen
Meanwhile, Aman had joined Trombley in the lobby and saw the gunman outside in full combat uniform with an automatic weapon. Trombley said the shooter was firing on another security team member who had taken shelter behind some air conditioning units.
- [20:20]
Jay Trombley
The gunman fired multiple, multiple, multiple rounds in that man's direction and did damage to a lot of the AC units. A lot of bullet holes scraped down the side the front of our building. I did not know he was shooting at my team member, my good friend who was covered by God's hand behind that AC unit.
- [20:43]
Ronald Amen
But Trembly said the Gunman quickly turned his attention to the church lobby and opened fire on both his and Ammon's position. Aman remembers the windows in front of him chattering before a bullet ripped through his leg, knocking him to the ground.
- [20:58]
Kent Covington
It didn't hurt immediately, so I attempted to get up and I knew I had no leg strength to get up, so I said, something's wrong here. And I looked at it and the bone wasn't straight anymore and there was blood pouring out of it. So I said, well, I'm shot.
- [21:14]
Ronald Amen
Trembli said he quickly checked on Aman, then made his way to a shattered window and opened fire on the gunman.
- [21:20]
Jay Trombley
I do not know how many I fired. I'm thinking in the six to nine range. I know I fired one round. I had a malfunction with my weapon. I cleaned, I cleared it, I fired more rounds. I didn't count.
- [21:35]
Ronald Amen
While all of this was going on, Fiyoko said members of the congregation were running away from the scene as fast as they could.
- [21:42]
Dustin Fiocco
There was a field where everybody was scattering. Some people were running in the woods, some people were hiding behind trees and everybody that I encountered, everybody I kept running past. I asked if they saw what happened to the people in the baby room. Nobody did.
- [21:57]
Ronald Amen
Trombley said special attention was given to those who struggled to get away.
- [22:01]
Jay Trombley
Able bodied men were grabbing the feeble and the elderly that couldn't walk well or quickly and were carrying them.
- [22:10]
Ronald Amen
But the threat was soon over. The gunman died in his exchange of gunfire with Trombley and another security team member. Trombley said he and two others approached the suspect. They seized his rifle as well as a handgun they found on his person. At around this point, Trombley caught sight of the deacon, the one who hit the gunman with his truck.
- [22:31]
Jay Trombley
He was out in the yard praising God for his safety because his pickup was full of boy holes.
- [22:40]
Dustin Fiocco
He.
- [22:43]
Jay Trombley
There was a circle around his windshield of where he'd been looking out of bullet holes. He was covered in glass and God just put his hand down and protected him from being hit from any of that.
- [22:56]
Ronald Amen
Church staff quickly rushed to Amen's aid.
- [22:58]
Kent Covington
One of our people came and they found a tourniquet or a band that they used as a tourniquet and then started packing the wound. They're trying to stop the bleeding by just packing rags and stuff into it. Dispatch from Engine 5.
- [23:16]
Ronald Amen
Trombley estimates it took police just over three minutes to arrive after the first 911 call.
- [23:22]
Kent Covington
Do we have multiple patients or a single patient? Sir, we cannot Confirm exactly how many are wounded. We do have one. CPR in progress for sure. And then we had another party with a possible shooting to the leg.
- [23:34]
Ronald Amen
The church security team members handed over their firearms and were interviewed separately. Meanwhile, Fiocco was still in a nearby field, but he was about to celebrate a reunion.
- [23:45]
Dustin Fiocco
At that 15 minute point of being out there, me and somebody from our church began praying together and not even kidding. The minute, the second she said amen, heard somebody call out from the distance, is that your wife and son?
- [23:58]
Ronald Amen
It was them resting near a creek, alive and unharmed.
- [24:03]
Dustin Fiocco
I keep saying that I hugged my wife tighter than I've ever hugged her.
- [24:06]
Ronald Amen
In the days that followed. All three men gave glory to God for the fact that no one from their congregation died that day. Jay Trombley says he believes God specifically orchestrated the deacon's change in routine.
- [24:18]
Jay Trombley
If the deacon had not put that man down and he made it in that sanctuary, in that lobby, I wouldn't be having this conversation with you, sir. My firepower that I carried would not have sustained me against him.
- [24:33]
Ronald Amen
At the same time, he says he's having to cope with the heavy burden of shooting a man.
- [24:38]
Jay Trombley
I hate the fact that I took a life. But we, as a safety team and as the deacon and as every person that God put in exactly the right spot, we were put there to stop this evil man.
- [24:58]
Ronald Amen
And at times he's overcome with emotion when he thinks about how he had the opportunity to give back to the congregation, he calls his family.
- [25:06]
Jay Trombley
It's such an honor to be able to defend them. That God put his trust in me. That God put his trust in me to take care of them people. That's the first time that thought's come into my head. That's amazing.
- [25:23]
Ronald Amen
For his part, Ronald Amen is still recovering at home from his bullet wound.
- [25:28]
Kent Covington
It hit the tibia and shattered the bone. So they got me to a trauma center. Later that evening, they did surgery on me. I have a steel rod in there now and then it's just right now it's all in a cast and wrapped and all that. So I don't even know what it looks like.
- [25:48]
Ronald Amen
And Dustin Fiocco, he's already been back to the church. He says he's there as often as he can be, spending time with fellow believers and helping out where he can. He calls it therapeutic. He says anyone who has put his or her faith and trust in Jesus Christ has nothing to fear if, you.
- [26:06]
Dustin Fiocco
Know, the worst case scenario happened if the shooter were able to accomplish what he tried to accomplish. We don't even want to think about that. But being saved, we know what's on the other side.
- [26:19]
Ronald Amen
Police have since identified the 31 year old shooter. At this time, investigators have not determined a motive, but Wayne Police Chief Ryan Strong said police do believe he intended to commit a mass shooting. Strong also had high praise for the staff at Crosspoint Community Church.
- [26:35]
Nick Eicher
I'm telling you right now, their actions prevented dozens of people from being murdered today.
- [26:41]
Ronald Amen
Reporting for world I'm Travis Kircher.
- [27:05]
Ilya Shapiro
Additional support comes from Dort University, whose online MBA and MPA programs prepare leaders for lasting impact. Dort University until all is made new.
- [27:19]
Ronald Amen
From the issues Etc Podcast expert guests.
- [27:23]
Kent Covington
Expansive topics extolling christ more@issuesetc.org and from.
- [27:31]
Ilya Shapiro
Ambassadors Impact Network, inviting entrepreneurs with a mission to connect with faith based investors who share their vision.
- [27:40]
Kent Covington
More@ambassadorsimpact.com Today is Tuesday, July 1st. Thank you for turning to World Radio to help start your day. Good morning, I'm Nick Eicher.
- [28:09]
Mary Reichert
And I'm Mary Reichard. Coming next on the World and everything in it, Honoring loved ones after death in 1 Thessalonians the apostle Paul encourages Christians not to grieve as people who have no hope. But while we trust in the promise of the resurrection, grief is always difficult. And when a parent loses a child, the pain can be unbearable.
- [28:31]
Kent Covington
Steve and Angie Lynchard lost their son Jared at age 23. Amid their shock and grief, they began to look for ways to honor his memory and it resulted in an unexpected reunion. World senior writer Emma Frair met the family at their home in Maryland to hear their story.
- [28:50]
Angie Lynchard
Jared Lynchard and Philip Carroll became best friends when they were 10 years old. Their families lived across the street from each other.
- [28:57]
Mary Reichert
Philip would even come to the house before Jared was awake.
- [29:01]
Angie Lynchard
That's Angel Lynchard, Jared's mom. She and her husband Steve are reminiscing with Philip's mom, Mary Ann Carroll, about those carefree days.
- [29:09]
Kent Covington
He would knock on the door and.
- [29:11]
Mary Reichert
I'd say, oh, Jared's still asleep. And then Jared would get up.
- [29:13]
Kent Covington
He's like, no, I'm not Mom.
- [29:15]
Angie Lynchard
Even the boys were inseparable until the Lynchards moved away. After Jared grew up, he struggled with mental health issues, especially during the pandemic. He saw a Christian counselor and eventually joined the Marine Corps. His parents believed his struggles were behind him.
- [29:30]
Kent Covington
Since then, we've learned we kind of.
- [29:32]
Ilya Shapiro
Characterize it as emotional cancer, just like.
- [29:35]
Kent Covington
A liver cancer or any sort of.
- [29:37]
Ilya Shapiro
Other sort of bodily biological cancer.
- [29:40]
Kent Covington
It's an emotional cancer that his emotional immune System just eventually failed him.
- [29:45]
Angie Lynchard
Jared died by suicide in March 2024. His parents grief was beyond words.
- [29:50]
Kent Covington
It was like a nuclear B.O. went off in the family, as you can imagine.
- [29:54]
Angie Lynchard
To help deal with their grief, the lynchards resolved to find ways to honor Jared's memory. They went on two foreign missions trips shortly after his death.
- [30:02]
Kent Covington
I knew that if I didn't do.
- [30:04]
Mary Reichert
Something, I would just cry all day at home and just probably go into a deep, deeper depression than I was already in.
- [30:12]
Angie Lynchard
Around that time, their former neighbor, Mary Ann Carol, showed up at their house to give them a prayer shawl. She had gotten one herself from a friend when her father died.
- [30:20]
Mary Reichert
That was the only thing I could.
- [30:21]
Dustin Fiocco
Think of that I could do to.
- [30:24]
Mary Reichert
Bring them comfort in such a trying time.
- [30:28]
Angie Lynchard
As the two women talked, Angie noticed Marianne looked unwell. She asked her what was going on. Marianne told her she'd been struggling with health issues for several years. Eventually, doctors diagnosed her with a rare liver disease. The only cure was a liver transplant.
- [30:44]
Mary Reichert
And so I had actually started thinking about making sure my beneficiaries were all updated, you know, doing all that stuff with your wills and everything.
- [30:56]
Angie Lynchard
A healthy person can donate a portion of their liver due to the organ's special ability to regenerate itself. But no one in Carol's own family was a match. Angie offered to pray for Marianne. But later, when she saw Marianne's Facebook post asking for a live liver donor, Angie felt God calling her to get tested to see if she was a match.
- [31:16]
Mary Reichert
That stuff that we did on our mission trips was so healing. It felt so good to help other people. I said, I want to keep this going. I'm just going to see.
- [31:26]
Kent Covington
I told Steve, I'm going to see.
- [31:27]
Mary Reichert
If I'm a match.
- [31:29]
Angie Lynchard
She was a match. And doctors at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore performed the surgery on December 3, 2024. They use a new type of robotic surgery, which involves much smaller incisions. This reduces the risk of infection and makes for an easier recovery. Angie says her scars are tiny, like.
- [31:48]
Mary Reichert
A popsicle stick size, you know, just that is how small, or like a steak knife.
- [31:53]
Angie Lynchard
The day after the surgery, hospital staff got Marianne up, and she made her way to Angie's room. They were wearing matching pajamas that Marianne's daughter got them. Steve remembers the joy that filled the hospital room.
- [32:05]
Kent Covington
I remember the general sentiment was just how grateful and thankful they both were from each of their own individual perspectives. You know, Marianne, of course, you know, a chance at, you know, renewed life. And Angie, of course, you know, honoring Jared by the grace of God to have the faith and the courage to.
- [32:25]
Ilya Shapiro
Go through with it.
- [32:27]
Angie Lynchard
Marianne still has some health struggles, but she is feeling much better since the transplant. Angie says her liver grew back within four to six weeks and she is fully recovered. But of course, healing from Jared's loss will be a lifelong process. Paul Touches says that's how it should be. Touches is the pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, and author of several books on grief. He says in our modern era, the grieving process is often cut short.
- [32:53]
Mary Reichert
I think that we live in such.
- [32:54]
Kent Covington
A hurried culture that I fear we.
- [32:57]
Mary Reichert
Are rushing through grief, which is naturally a slow process. I think that God created grief to be a slow process.
- [33:06]
Angie Lynchard
Tao just thinks an act of love like Angie's can be helpful.
- [33:09]
Kent Covington
So I think that acts of remembrance, acts of service, whatever you have to.
- [33:14]
Mary Reichert
Do to make remembrance active rather than.
- [33:17]
Kent Covington
Passive, I think it helps the healing process because it takes the initiative to.
- [33:24]
Mary Reichert
Process the emotions rather than just waiting.
- [33:27]
Kent Covington
Until they show up.
- [33:28]
Angie Lynchard
For their part, the Lynchards help the benefits extend beyond their family because at.
- [33:33]
Kent Covington
The end of the day, we're hoping people not only will get saved through organ transplant or what have you, but hopefully hear this story and consider their eternal perspective as well.
- [33:48]
Angie Lynchard
Reporting for World, I'm Emma Freire in Ellicott City, Maryland.
- [34:17]
Mary Reichert
Today is Tuesday, July 1st. Good morning, this is the world and everything in it from listener supported World Radio. I'm Mary. I'm Gary Reichard.
- [34:25]
Kent Covington
And I'm Nick Eicher. Well, we've had a lot of heavy subject matter today, and in the midst of stories like this, it is important to remember the gifts of joy and laughter. Comedians often help us to see the humor in life. World Opinions contributor Daniel Darling says one humorist he frequently returns to is Nate Bargetzi, an evangelical who's found unexpected success in the mainstream as a clean comedian.
- [34:53]
Daniel Darling
Ladies and gentlemen, Nate Varghese, the comedian from Nashville is having a moment.
- [35:00]
Kent Covington
It's crazy. I'm as. Look, if you're at home, I'm as shocked as you are that I'm here.
- [35:04]
Daniel Darling
So for the last couple of years, Nate Vargazzi has been regularly hosting Saturday Night Live, participating in the hilarious ongoing sketch where he's George Washington crossing the Delaware and musing on American oddities.
- [35:16]
Kent Covington
But fear not meant a hot dog.
- [35:19]
Ronald Amen
Will not be made of dogs.
- [35:22]
Kent Covington
What is it made of, sir? Nobody knows.
- [35:26]
Daniel Darling
Borgozzi was also chosen to host the 2025 Emmy Awards. He fills stadiums around the country for his standup, and his streaming comedy specials are increasingly popular. Esquire says Bargozzi is quite simply the most successful standup comedian working today. What's amazing about the success is, is that the deadpan comic famous for his dry humor is doing all of this while performing clean comedy. He says his approach is to have a show that he could do in front of his parents. He recently told the New York Times that he sees comedy as a calling.
- [35:58]
Kent Covington
My parents, they also became Christian when I was born, and everybody's still Christian, but I got them when they were the most Christian.
- [36:09]
Daniel Darling
Bargazzi grew up as a homeschooled Baptist and is still a committed evangelical churchgoer. He says, God has a path. I'm just here to follow the path. So I just kind of wait and see where the doors open. God opens the doors that need to be open, and you just point me where you want me to go. He adds, I'm grateful to get to be the one that was chosen to be this vessel. Pargotzi's rise shows that there's a market for comedy that doesn't offend families. This kind of entertainment is arguably more difficult. It's easy to insert cuss words and sexual references into a monologue, but it's much harder to observe everyday life and get a laugh out of a broad cross section of the population. His aim, he says, is to make grandmothers laugh. In this endeavor, Borgozzi is subtly countercultural, redeeming humor for humor's sake rather than as a vessel for decadence. This is much more difficult than it seems. Even those of us who believe we have a sense of humor but have a hard time sustaining it over an hour. Comedy writing may be one of the hardest forms of creativity. Jerry Seinfeld said, a laugh is such a pure thing, there's no opinion to it. Almost every other creative field has to suffer the interpretive opinion culture, but not a standup comic. You may not like this guy, but if he's getting laughs, he's going to work. So Nate Borgozzi's secret is not merely that he's safe and clean, but he's actually getting laughs.
- [37:30]
Kent Covington
Hi, my name is Nate Barghetzi. I'm from Tennessee. I. Yeah, I'm also. I'm from the 1900s.
- [37:39]
Ronald Amen
Like, the world is so future now.
- [37:42]
Kent Covington
And I feel in the way of.
- [37:44]
Daniel Darling
It, he's funny enough for people to spend time and money to see him perform. He's funny enough that he doesn't have to resort to the easy rhetorical crutch of vulgarity. For the serious Christian, it's tempting to see entertainment like this as trivial, but to laugh is therapeutic and good for the soul. The wisest man in all the world wrote in Proverbs 17:22 that a cheerful heart is good medicine. Job 8:21 promises that God will fill your heart with laughter. To laugh is not incidental to being human. It is a necessary part of the way God created us. Excellent comedy that avoids cruelty or crassness is a mental palate cleanser, a form of rest from the stresses and difficulties of life. In his essay Laughter, G.K. chesterton observed, Laughter has something in it common with the ancient words of faith and inspiration. It unfreezes pride and unwinds secrecy. It makes people forget themselves in the presence of something greater than themselves. Christianity is a deadly serious mission, but that doesn't mean we have to take ourselves so seriously. Thankfully, Nate Bargazzi believes this and through his unique calling is bearing witness with his gift of humor that should make us smile. I'm Daniel Darling.
- [39:03]
Kent Covington
Tomorrow more on the supreme court, including that 6 to 3 ruling on protecting kids from pornography online, and we'll hear about a religious freedom case in the UK as a priest in the Church of England comes under fire for his views on marriage. That and my. More tomorrow. I'm Nick Iger.
- [39:21]
Mary Reichert
And I'm Mary Reichardt. The world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio. World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates and inspires. The psalmist writes, let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Verse 6 Psalm 150 Go now in grace and peace.
- [39:45]
Daniel Darling
Sam.