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SPORTS

Fly, Eagles, Fly

The Philadelphia Eagles are going to Disney World after winning Super Bowl LIX (that’s 59 for non-Romans). 

Tell me about the game.

It was a blowout. 

The Eagles dominated from kickoff to Gatorade dump, ending the Kansas City Chiefs’ three-peat hopes in a 40-22 victory. It’s the Eagles’ second Lombardi Trophy in seven years. 

QB Jalen Hurts won his first Super Bowl MVP (and his first Super Bowl). Running back SaQuads Saquon Barkley celebrated his 28th birthday with 97 yards; 57 were on the ground, earning him a single-season record total of 2,504 rushing yards in his first year with the Eagles. Meanwhile, rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean celebrated his 22nd birthday with a pick-six. 

Enough football. How were the commercials?

Star-studded.

Post Malone learned you can’t actually drink beer in a beer ad; singer Seal was… a seal, Harry and Sally reunited over lunch in a Hellman’s Mayo commercial, and there were not one but two instances of flying celebrity facial hair. 

Several ads took on the rise of AI, with companies like Google and Salesforce announcing new AI-driven features. Google’s originally slated, cheesy ad had to be re-cut after its AI program, Gemini, inaccurately claimed that Gouda accounts for half of the world’s cheese consumption.

You can (re)watch the best commercials here.

What else?

Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar winner (and New Orleans native) Jon Batiste gave a jazzy performance of the national anthem. Then, at halftime, Kendrick Lamar performed with guest appearances from SZA, Serena Williams, and Uncle Sam(uel L. Jackson). 

Caesars Superdome attendees ranged from Taylor Swift to Paul McCartney to President Trump, who became the U.S.’s first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl. 

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CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
Whether you watched the Super Bowl, the Puppy Bowl, or maybe curled up with a good book last night, we can agree that God’s call on our lives today is to live in a manner that reflects His undeserved love, displayed on the cross. Pray that you will do that today. 

“Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received.” 
Ephesians 4:1 (CSB) (read full passage)

U.S. NEWS

Halted

Some Trump administration initiatives have hit judicial roadblocks.

On Friday, a federal judge temporarily blocked efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), pausing plans to recall nearly all agency workers abroad and put 2,200 employees on paid administrative leave. Another hearing is set for Wednesday. 

Early Saturday, a different federal judge blocked the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing Treasury payment systems over security concerns. Officials who gained access since January 20 must delete any downloaded records.

While those efforts slowed, others began.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a new policy limiting “indirect” costs on medical grants (which cover things like equipment, personnel, accounting, etc.) to 15%. Universities warn it could upend medical research; the NIH called it “vital” to prioritize funding for “direct scientific research.”

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Verse to consider when it feels like you take one step forward, three steps back… “A person’s heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps.” 
Proverbs 16:9 (CSB) (read full passage)

FROM OUR PARTNERS

Lacking Daily Food

Somalia is caught in the crosshairs of natural disasters, global conflicts, widespread poverty, and disease outbreaks.   

East Africa is coming off its worst drought in 40 years, which has left tens of millions of people without access to clean water, killed millions of livestock, and decimated crops. They became very reliant on imported food, and 90% of Somalia’s wheat came from Russia and Ukraine… which stopped coming.

Now, two in five children in Somalia suffer from acute malnutrition, and a cholera outbreak is spreading in some areas. The food shortage, coupled with humanitarian aid being focused on Europe and the Middle East, has been the perfect storm and led to an alarming increase in child malnutrition. 

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BE DOERS
We’re asking the TPO Community to join us in partnering with World Concern to help get emergency nutrition packs (a peanut paste fortified with nutrients), water, and hygiene products to those with the most need. 

Every $12 feeds a child for a month. We’re matching the first $3,000; just give through this link.

“If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,’ but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?”
James 2:15-16

Uncle Sam added an unspectacular 143,000 jobs in January. Frigid weather and the L.A. wildfires slowed hiring, but healthcare (44,000), retail (34,000), and government sectors (32,000) all saw gains. Wages rose a better-than-expected 4.1% year-over-year, and unemployment dropped to 4%, an eight-month low. With the economy holding steady, a Fed rate cut isn’t likely anytime soon.
 

The wreckage of a missing passenger plane in Alaska was found Friday. The small, single-engine aircraft was found on ocean ice in the Bering Sea after a 24-hour search. It was flying in poor weather from Unalakleet to Nome—two small cities inaccessible by land—when it rapidly lost altitude; the cause is not yet known. All ten onboard are presumed dead.
 

Hamas exchanged three hostages for 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday. The pale, gaunt hostages were compelled to thank their captors during the handover—a move Hamas said confirms the Palestinian “people and their resistance have the upper hand”; Israel said their “serious condition” won’t “go unaddressed.” The released prisoners included wartime captives from the Strip, plus pre-wartime, life-sentenced terrorists.
 

President Trump has levied financial sanctions and visa restrictions against officials from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for “targeting America and our close ally Israel”; the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israeli PM Netanyahu last fall. Nearly 80 countries released a joint statement disapproving of the sanctions, saying they “threaten to erode the international rule of law.”
 

Joysticks went still around the world on Friday when a major PlayStation Network outage locked gamers out of online services, stores, and apps. Sony confirmed that some services were offline and apologized “for the inconvenience” but didn’t explain the outage. Systems were back online by Saturday night.

WHIPPED CREAM ON TOP

A beautiful, icy adventure…

Who We’re Putting Out of Work
Fraudsters, with Incogni*

“You have a USPS package that cannot be delivered.” Sound familiar? Last year alone, scammers swindled 2.6 million people, according to the FTC. Fraudsters are getting sneakier, but you can make their job harder with Incogni. 

Incogni removes your personal info (name, SSN, shopping habits, medical data––you name it) from shady data brokers to reduce scams, identity theft, and fraud. 

Put scammers out of work with Incogni. The Pour Over readers get 55% off annual plans with coupon code POUROVER.

What We’re Drinking
LMNT*

I’m really, really trying to avoid the mid-afternoon crash. Recently, I read an article by LMNT founder Robb Wolf on the best way to caffeinate. One of his suggestions was to… gulp… wait for an hour after waking up.

So, I’ve been trying it. Instead of coffee first thing, I drink LMNT (my current favorite is Raspberry Salt) to give me a replenishing boost after a dehydrating slumber…. And I’m actually noticing a difference! I feel confident with LMNT’s science-backed electrolyte ratio and zero-sugar formula added to my daily routine.

Join my experiment! TPO readers get eight single-serve packs free with any purchase, and make sure to try LMNT Sparkling—16 ounces of sparkling, refreshing electrolyte water.

Kathleen Wadkins | Head of Content