The whole world was eagerly watching President Donald Trump brief reporters about key updates on the war in Iran Monday when he revealed which head of state called former President Joe Biden "mentally retarded."

During the high-stakes briefing, the president reaffirmed his Iran ultimatum and ripped into American allies for refraining from assisting the United States in the war. Trump criticized allies like Australia, Japan, and South Korea before going on a brief tangent about which world leader criticized Biden's mental acuity.

'I don't care about critics.'

"We have 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect us from Kim Jong Un, who I get along with very well, as you know," Trump said. "Do you notice, he's said very nice things about me."

"He used to call Joe Biden a mentally retarded person, OK? So don't tell me about your stuff," Trump said to a reporter who suggested critics are calling for him to be psychologically evaluated. "Joe Biden, he said, 'He's a mentally retarded person.' He was so nasty to Joe Biden. It was terrible."

Earlier in the briefing, a reporter pressed Trump about his Truth Social post on Easter Sunday calling the Iranians "crazy bastards" and signing off with, "Praise be to Allah."

"What is your response to critics who say that it is your mental health that should perhaps be examined as this war continues?" the reporter asked.

"I don't care about critics," Trump interrupted.

"I haven't heard that," Trump added. "But if that's the case, you're going to have to have more people like me."

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Wes Huff: Why the historical evidence demands that we take Jesus’ resurrection seriously

Yesterday, Christians across the globe celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.

Nonbelievers and skeptics reject this central claim, believing the bodily resurrection to be impossible or made up.

But the evidence for Christ’s supernatural arising from the dead goes well beyond the millions of people who celebrate it as the cornerstone of their faith. Historical evidence paints a compelling picture.

On this episode of “Relatable,” Allie Beth Stuckey speaks with Christian apologist Wes Huff about the strongest reasons to believe Jesus really rose from the dead.

Huff begins with the reliability of the Gospel accounts.

“It seems that the gospel authors get the details right — the small details, things like geography and name correlation and even plant life in some instances,” he notes, “and so if they get the small details right, I don't think it's that big of a leap to say that they get the big details right.”

He argues that the Gospels rest on early eyewitness testimony. The disciples were either "deceived," “deceivers,” or “telling the truth.” Given the evidence, Huff believes they were telling the truth because what they experienced radically transformed them.

“When you start to stack up the evidence of what's going on, I don't think they were deceivers. I don't think they were deceived. And I do think that everything points to their life radically changing in a powerful way because they encountered their rabbi getting murdered and then rising from the dead,” he tells Allie.

The disciples were so profoundly transformed by what they had experienced, in fact, that they returned boldly to Jerusalem — the very city where Jesus was crucified — to proclaim the gospel, fully aware of the deadly risks they faced. Even after the martyrdom of Stephen served as a “warning shot,” they went back to “ground zero” and kept preaching.

“Jesus truly died. That's a historical fact. … And then he appears to his disciples alive again. That's a historical question: Dead, buried ... seen alive. What do we do with that? How do we answer that historically? And I think there needs to be given an account for the disciples’ actions afterwards. They saw something, and it completely, radically changed their world,” says Huff.

He then addresses the “swoon theory” skeptics, who argue that Jesus was placed in the tomb badly wounded but not actually dead.

“If there's one thing that the Romans were really good at. It was crucifixion — and making sure that people suffer and die,” Allie says.

“Every Roman guard, centurion, soldier who was responsible for Jesus' death would have been on the hook if he did not die, and their lives would have been forfeit," Huff agrees.

To hear more, watch the video above.

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This Easter, remember the cost of discipleship

For many people across the U.S., Easter Sunday means pastel-colored clothes, jelly beans, Cadbury eggs, or marshmallow Peeps. But Easter is far more than a cultural tradition or seasonal celebration. It is a declaration that should actually shape the way we live and has the power to transform lives: He is risen!

That truth, echoed by believers all around the world every Easter Sunday, is the foundation of a faith that calls us not to a life of comfort, but to a life of commitment.

To follow Christ is not only to receive the hope of eternal life, but to carry that hope into the world around us.

Too often, we treat Christianity as a system designed to make life easier, provide emotional reassurance, or help us get something from God. Scripture makes it clear, and believers throughout history have experienced, that true Christianity costs us something. It calls for surrender, obedience, and a willingness to follow Christ even when the path is difficult.

It’s natural to gravitate toward a version of Christianity that prioritizes comfort over sacrificial living. But in truth, persecution and hardships are not only possible but an expected outcome for a life of wholehearted devotion to following Christ.

Jesus Christ, our example, willingly left the comfort of heaven's glory to enter a broken world and dwell among us. He lived among the very people He created, walking dusty roads, experiencing hunger and fatigue, facing rejection and temptation, enduring suffering — all ultimately to make the Father known.

Throughout His ministry, He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and performed miracles — yet He never wanted people to follow Him merely for those “simple” benefits.

During Jesus’ ministry on earth, massive crowds followed Him simply for the possibility of free bread. They wanted miracles and meals. But He wanted them to look past all of that and see that the true gift was Himself. “I am the bread of life,” He told them. “Believe in me!”

Only a few individuals would see past their own desires and take the step to say, “I believe, and I will follow you no matter what.” As a result, they would be forever changed and go on to change the world.

Bernard Jaubert/UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

This is the truth of the Christian life: Following Christ requires us to embrace discomfort, sacrifice, and even suffering. The Bible does not hide this reality, but Easter reframes that suffering in light of something greater.

The cross is not the end of the story.

On that first Easter morning, everything changed. Jesus’ resurrection was not only a victory over death, but a promise that suffering does not have the final word. Sin, brokenness, and the grave were defeated. Because of this, even while withstanding hardship, believers can live with an unshakable hope rooted in the promise of eternity.

As we read in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.”

And this hope is not meant to be kept to ourselves.

Years ago, a friend of mine who was overseas asked a shop owner, “Excuse me, sir, do you know Jesus Christ?” The man turned around and said, “We’ve got Pepsi, we’ve got Coke, but we don’t have Jesus Christ.” He had never heard the name of Jesus, so he thought Jesus Christ was a new soft drink.

As someone who grew up in different cultures, I’ve seen firsthand the harsh truth that many people around the world still haven’t heard the gospel.

Here in Texas where I live now — in the heart of the Bible Belt — it can seem like there is a church on every corner. On the other hand, I have gone more than 300 miles in some countries without passing a single church. As ambassadors for Christ, we still have so much work to do.

After all, even in places like Texas, we have neighbors, co-workers, and friends who may recognize the name of Jesus but do not really understand what His death and resurrection are all about.

For many, Easter remains a holiday without meaning, a tradition without truth.

This is where the calling of every believer becomes both a responsibility and a privilege.

Urupong/Getty Images

To follow Christ is not only to receive the hope of eternal life, but to carry that hope into the world around us. It is to reflect His love and choose to live so that others are drawn to the reality of who He is.

That calling may be uncomfortable, to require us to step outside our routines, and even to risk rejection, but it is also one of the greatest privileges we are given: to bring light into a suffering world.

Easter is a time to remember Christ’s sacrifice and His victory over sin, Satan, and death. He poured out His life so that we might partake of Him and be made like Him. That process requires obedience, faithfulness, and self-denial.

But for all who trust Him and choose to live for Him as an act of worship, He will fill them with His presence. He will refresh, replenish, and empower us to bring His healing presence into the world around us.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearReligion and made available via RealClearWire.

Thug points gun at Burger King drive-thru worker on Easter Sunday; allegedly threatens to kill him, calls him racial slur

It's bad enough that a disgruntled Ohio Burger King customer pointed a gun at an employee on Easter Sunday and allegedly threatened to kill him and called him a racial slur.

But things actually escalated at the Willowick restaurant's drive-thru when the employee told the guy he was being charged less money than he thought he had to pay.

What are the details?

The suspect can be seen in surveillance video exiting his car, pulling out a gun, and pointing it at the drive-through window, WOIO-TV reported.

The station also said it spoke exclusively with suspect's target — 38-year-old Burger King employee Howard Vernon.

“To know that somebody would do something like that just because I’m trying to give you a better deal and just to flip out like that? Yes, I mean it is scary,” Vernon told WOIO.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

“I was taking this guy’s order, and he ordered like two sausage, egg, and cheese croissants and a sausage biscuit and [a] hash brown," Vernon recounted to the station. "The order came up to $8 ... and he was like, 'My order can’t be right; it should be like $11,' and I’m, like, trying to explain to him that we had a promotion going on, and, like, 'It’s cheaper.'"

Apparently, the lower price really set the guy off.

"He started cussing and getting all loud, and I was, like, 'I don’t know what to tell you; I don’t know why you wanna pay more money,'" Vernon noted to WOIO.

Vernon added to the station that the customer sped off but pulled back up a minute later while Vernon was helping another customer — and this time, the customer pointed a gun at him. Vernon also told WOIO the suspect threatened to kill him and called him a racial slur.

“The whole time I was just like, 'Well, if you gonna do it, do it ... I’m not about to run. You don’t scare me or anything like that; just do what you gotta do,' and he just kept blurting out racial slurs," Vernon noted to the station, adding that he was concerned when the suspect was pointing a gun with his arm on top of an older woman's car at the drive-thru.

"He could’ve gave her a heart attack ...” Vernon told WOIO.

The station said the incident took place around 9 a.m. at the Burger King on Vine Street and that the suspect — who police are still looking for — was driving a gray Honda and was wearing a gray sweatshirt and a hat. Those who recognize the suspect are urged to contact police, the station added.

“At the end of the day, it was about some bread and sausage sandwiches at 9 o’clock in the morning on Easter, and you’re that mad that you’d put a gun in somebody’s face?" Vernon told WOIO. "After I thought about it afterward, it was, like, kind of had me shook up a little bit ... it’s crazy ... what if he did shoot me and kill me and, you know, I have 10 kids. I would have been leaving all my kids ... I don't know why people are so angry out here at 9 o'clock in the morning."

The station said Vernon hasn't been back to work at the Burger King since the incident but plans to return.

‘I’m trying to give you a better deal’: Gun pulled on Willowick Burger King employee youtu.be

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Easter Sunday looters take whatever they want from San Fran Walgreens with no resistance; cops arrive 4 hours later

A group of looters did not take the day off Easter Sunday and were caught on video taking whatever they pleased from a Walgreens store in San Francisco. As usual, no resistance was offered.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Adding a little twist to what's become a commonplace crime in the city is that a producer from local TV news station KPIX recorded the mass shoplifting on his cellphone while he was out with his girlfriend, KPIX-TV reported.

"It was just like an ambush, basically," the producer, who didn't want to be named, told the station in regard to the afternoon ransacking inside the store on 9th and Market Streets. "It took me about three seconds to pull my phone out, ... and they just had no care at all."

Video caught at least seven individuals wearing hoodies and masks grabbing items off shelves and carrying away bags of merchandise, KPIX said.

The producer added to the station that the looters were "taking what they pleased with no regard for the law or those around them — [a] real-life smash and grab."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

He signaled how such crimes are no longer a surprise, saying in a kind of shoulder-shrugging tone that "it's San Francisco" before adding to KPIX that he's "kind of immune to it at this point."

The producer also told the station that store employees "did nothing" in the face of the looting — but that they're likely trained to exercise that response: "They're also probably immune to it. They're used to smash-and-grabs."

Oh, and while the crime happened around 4:30 p.m., KPIX said police didn't arrive until after 8:30 p.m. Police said the store was closed when they got there, and no one was present to report the incident, the station added.

KPIX said it wasn't clear why police responded some four hours later, and the station said it requested clarification from police and Walgreens about the response to the incident.

'You can grab and go as you please'

Sal, a vendor who regularly delivers to the Walgreens and other places, told KPIX he sees looting like this all the time: "They think it's a free-[for]-all. You can grab and go as you please."

Dina Miller has been living in the neighborhood for over a decade and shops at the Walgreens location almost daily on her way home, the station said — and she's just sad: "We don't really have any places to go shop anymore. Everything is closing down. … Walgreens are closing down all over the place, too."

Local security guard Eric Beverly who works nearby acknowledged to KPIX that rampant theft in the area had led to store closures: "It is a very difficult situation. A lot of bankruptcies, a lot of stores are foreclosing and taking precautions as far as marketing because of the theft here. It's very serious."

Matt Dorsey, a city supervisor, lives a few blocks from the Walgreens and shops there, the station said. After viewing cellphone video of the looting, he told KPIX police shortages are part of the problem, too.

"If we had a fully staffed police department, we could have a robbery unit that was doing more enforcement around places where retail theft plays out, holding more people accountable, and doing more to go after the fencing operations ... that make this lucrative," Dorsey noted to the station.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Anything else?

San Francisco indeed has seen an increase in crime for a number of years — and it just seems to get more and more brazen.

Even the city's far-left mayor, London Breed — who jumped on the "defund the police" bandwagon in 2020 after the death of George Floyd — made headlines for a speech she gave a year later in which she called out "bulls**t" crime "that has destroyed our city."

In February, outspoken NBA legend Charles Barkley shined a spotlight on San Francisco's "homeless crooks" during a live broadcast of the league's All-Star Game. As you might guess, his woke co-hosts pushed back with a vengeance.

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Easter Sunday drag queen event-goers mock Christ, Mary in San Francisco: 'I’m rewriting history so that Jesus never existed'

Participants in an annual Easter Sunday drag queen event in San Francisco mocked Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and a number of values many Christians and conservatives share.

What are the details?

Readers of Blaze News should recall the antics of notorious drag group the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Well, the Sisters have been putting on the Easter event in San Francisco for decades, and this year a crowd of about 10,000 gathered in Dolores Park for the 45th annual "party," according to SFist.

Finalists for the "Hunky Jesus 2024" costume contest included Disco Ball Jesus, Golden Shower Jesus, Trailer Trash Jesus, and the eventual winner, Jesus Ken, who dressed up in a a Barbie toy box with his arms outstretched on a makeshift cross.

One drag queen, Sister Roma, asked, ”Is it wrong that I’m attracted to Trailer Trash Jesus?” SFist reported.

Biden's Faith Fiasco: Easter Sunday Hijacked by Trans Visibility Day | 4/1/24

Trailer full of hundreds of Bibles intentionally set on fire in front of Tennessee church on Easter Sunday

Law enforcement officials are investigating a "suspicious" incident on Easter Sunday in front of a Tennessee church, where a trailer full of hundreds of Bibles was intentionally set on fire.

Around 6 a.m. on Easter Sunday, the security cameras at the Global Vision Church reportedly caught a man dropping off a trailer in the middle of the intersection, blocking the entrance to the church.

A man reportedly then set hundreds of Bibles on fire in front of the church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.

The church's pastor, Greg Locke, said in a statement on Facebook: "There was a lady that had driven through the night to get to our church and she was in the parking lot and was able to get the police officers here quickly, but it was quite the scene to wake up to on my first morning back from Israel."

The Mt. Juliet Police Department and Fire Department responded to the trailer fire and extinguished the blaze. The Bible fire caused temporary road closures.

There were no injuries from the trailer fire, and the church property did not incur any damage.

Easter Sunday services at the Global Vision Church were not interrupted.

Locke told the Tennessean, "It did not, nor will it stop us. It was cleaned up in time for people to drive into the parking lot. We had a full house and a marvelous service."

The Wilson County Sheriff's Office noted that the trailer fire was "suspicious" and done "intentionally." Police did not provide a motive for the Bible burning or if the church was the intended target.

Police said no other specific details could be provided at this time in an effort to "uphold the integrity of the ongoing investigation," but updates would be shared at "the appropriate juncture."

Locke declared, "It was 100 percent directed at (Global Vision Bible Church). It blocked the entrance to our campus and the fact that it was an entire load of Bibles is rather conclusive proof that is was most assuredly directed at us."

Locke told WKRN-TV, "It was strange because he [the suspect] had his blinkers on and he scotched the wheels and everything. He was very meticulous, so he had to be very courageous to do what he did. We’ve had people do things to our building, we’ve been vandalized a number of times, hence why we have to have security, but never 200 Bibles being burned. That’s a pretty rebellious statement towards the church."

The pastor proclaimed, "If you think Christianity is not under attack more than ever before in the United States of America, you have not been paying attention."

“What people think many times is going to stop us, really just encourages us, in a weird way, to know that we’re doing what’s right,” Locke stated.

Police are urging anyone with information or footage of the incident to contact the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office at 615-444-1459.

Last week, Locke appeared on "The Steve Deace Show" airing on BlazeTV to have a discussion about faith.

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Trailer of Bibles burned on Easter Sunday in Wilson County www.youtube.com

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