Gaby Botha

[Pastor Rich Bitterman @w_bitterman]

He took a rainbow stitched onto a San Francisco Giants cap and placed beside it the first Word God ever spoke over that sign. Genesis 9:11-16.

That was enough for the league to warn them to not write a Bible verse on the pride hat again. A covenant became an offense.

MLB could point to the uniform rule and maybe the rule was clear enough. Still, everyone knew the ink was not the real scandal. The scandal was Genesis.

A verse from the first book of the Bible appeared beside a rainbow and suddenly the old story came walking into the modern room. God had spoken first..that was the wound. Before it was claimed by a movement, it was placed there by mercy.

Landen Roupp said there was no hate in it. He said the rainbow is a symbol of God’s covenant and as a believer he wanted to stand firm. Good!

There are times when standing firm looks less like shouting from a platform and more like refusing to vanish under a hat. Writing the verse in ink was small a small thing. The witness was not.

I admire him. He could have worn the cap and said nothing, carried his convictions quietly back to the clubhouse. Instead, he wrote Genesis 9 beside the rainbow. It was not a spectacle. It was a confession.

To understand why, we have to leave the ballpark and walk back into the soaked world of Genesis 9. God speaks as the world was still wet with judgment when God blessed Noah.

He gave Noah’s family the earth. He sent them out to fill it and placed a holy fence around human life and said, in effect, “Do not treat people like animals. They bear My image.”

Every person carries that mark. The baby in the womb and the old man in the nursing home. The angry critic online and the confused soul wrapped in a flag. Every one of them lives beneath the hand of the God who made them.

Christian courage can never be cruel because every person bears God’s image. Mercy still hangs over this world and sinners still have time to come home.

Then God lifted His sign into the clouds.“ I have set my bow in the cloud,” He says, “and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth” (Genesis 9:13).

The word is bow. That is easy to miss because we have turned the rainbow into greeting-card weather with soft colors after rain. Scripture’s bow is often a weapon. It belongs in the hand of a warrior. Scripture’s bow is often a weapon, bent with judgment, strung with arrows, aimed by wrath.

In Genesis 9, God hangs the bow in the clouds with no arrow in it.

Look at that again. The bow is there, but the string is quiet. The storm has spent itself. Sunlight breaks through the wet air. Color bends across the sky and creation receives a sermon without a single human word. God remembers. He keeps His promise. The world deserves judgment, yet mercy still hangs over our heads. The rainbow is a sermon.

Long before flags, merchandise, corporate campaigns, political speeches, or team uniforms, God placed the rainbow above a guilty world and made it preach patience.

That is why Genesis 9 belongs in this conversation. Christians do not need cruelty to speak clearly. Sneering never strengthens truth. When believers say the rainbow belongs to God, we are saying more than “our symbol came first.” We are saying the world is still being held together by the promise of a holy God who gives sinners time to repent.

The rainbow is beautiful because mercy is beautiful.

It also warns because mercy delayed carries a clock inside it. Peter tells us the Lord is patient and calls sinners to repentance. The same God who set His bow in the clouds has appointed a day when every mouth will close and every knee will bow.

That makes the cross shine brighter. At Calvary, judgment did not stay in the distance. It landed as the arrow we deserved struck the Son of God. Christ stood beneath the wrath sinners earned and mercy flowed from His wounds. Genesis 9 gives us the empty bow in the clouds. Golgotha gives us the Savior on the tree.

So yes, be thankful for these players. Be thankful for men who can stand beneath public pressure and say, with open eyes and a steady voice, “I belong to Christ.”

Christians should learn from that. Stand firm when the culture demands your silence. Hold your ground when conviction is called hatred. Do it with tenderness, clean hands, tears for the lost, love for your neighbor and your Bible open.

A rainbow appeared on a baseball cap and a few men remembered the God who set it in the sky.

That is enough reason to be grateful. The rainbow is still preaching and let the church stand firm under it.

[Andrew Wilson @AJWTheology]

Christmas: Christ with us.
Good Friday: Christ for us.
Easter: Christ before us.
Ascension: Christ over us.
Pentecost: Christ in us.

Happy Pentecost Sunday!

[challies @challies]

"The dilution of understanding of worship is a direct result of the dilution of theology in the church." (Jared Wilson)

[John Piper @JohnPiper]

I have heard it said, “God didn’t die for frogs. He died for humans, implying we were worth the sacrifice.” This turns grace on its head. We are less deserving than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not have to die for frogs. They aren’t bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it.

[Melissa the Hopeful🏠Homemaker @BiblicalBeauty]

Powerful and personal reflections from Francis Schaeffer on prayer, suffering, and the sovereignty of God during his battle with cancer in 1981:

"God is not a dispensing machine. God is a personal God, and I must allow Him to answer my prayers in the light of His wisdom instead of my limitedness."

Franky Schaeffer: "And that's not a cop-out?"

Schaeffer: "Not at all. It's rooted in the heart of all things and that is, He's infinite; I'm finite. I'll tell you something, nothing could terrify me more, and I'm being very serious, nothing could terrify me more than that I could ask for anything today and get it, because I don't know enough."

Franky: "Including, for your own health?"

Schaeffer: "Oh, absolutely. Just as much as for anything."

Franky: "Are you willing to say that as a person who, ok, let's face it, has cancer that's serious enough so it could be killing you?"

Schaeffer: "Yeah, of course...

If I could wave a wand or push a button and get rid of it, in one sense, of course I'd do it. Who wants cancer? Let's not kid ourselves. It's no pleasure to live with this thing on top my head all the time...

But on the other hand, more profoundly, I think I can honestly say sitting here that I would rather trust God's wisdom than mine."

[Shane Pruitt @shane_pruitt78]

When your opinions contradict the Bible, it's not the Bible that needs to change.

[Shane Pruitt @shane_pruitt78]

Tears, Holy Spirit goosebumps, crowds, & prolonged worship services alone are not evidence of true Revival.

Revival is evident when God's people get serious about knowing Him & making Him known.

When the church repents, obeys, & walks in holiness… cities & nations are changed!

[Shane Pruitt @shane_pruitt78]

Stop looking for the perfect church.

Instead, go worship the perfect God with a congregation of flawed people who need grace just as much as you do.

[Tony Reinke @TonyReinke]

C.S. Lewis: “If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God, it will make in the end no difference what you have chosen instead. Those are hard words to take. Will it really make no difference whether it was women or patriotism, cocaine or art, whisky or a seat in the Cabinet, money or science? Well, surely no difference that matters. We shall have missed the end for which we are formed and rejected the only thing that satisfies. Does it matter to a man dying in a desert by which choice of route he missed the only well?”

[The Best @TheBestqueenx]

A colossal 30-meter wave caught by surfer Mason Hyce Barnes in Nazaré, Portugal!

[GARY PLAYER @garyplayer]

It is truly a blessing to live in an era where we can witness greatness in sport from anywhere in the world. That was not always the case earlier in my life, and it makes moments like I just witnessed even more meaningful.

Watching Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Australian Open just now was a powerful reminder of why he stands as the greatest tennis player the game has ever known. He is now pursuing his 25th major championship, an achievement that speaks not only to talent, but to discipline, resilience and an unwavering commitment to excellence. I only wish everyone could view such performances with both appreciation and understanding, recognising greatness with fairness and respect.

The Australian crowds were magnificent just as they always were for me, and Novak’s pursuit of what would be his 11th Australian Open title carries special significance. History shows that the very greatest champions often face adversity late in their careers, yet it is precisely this adversity that defines them.

Across all sports, true superstars share one defining trait: longevity. We have seen it time and again with Jack Nicklaus winning the Masters at 46, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan after this car accient, Tom Brady, Muhammad Ali, Michael Phelps, LeBron James and others. These athletes return to the summit not by chance, but because they possess something rare. Longevity, in my view, is one of the most underrated attributes in sport. Just as a great engine allows a BMW to endure, a great inner drive allows champions to last.

I was deeply moved watching Novak. His journey began under extraordinary hardship, growing up amid conflict surrounding his childhood. To rise from that environment to this level of global excellence is nothing short of remarkable. What he has achieved is admirable beyond words.

Novak now faces a monumental challenge in the final, but his legacy is already secure. Across all sports and all generations, only a handful of athletes possess what can only be described as “it.” That quality cannot be defined, measured or explained, but you know it when you see it.

Novak Djokovic has IT. GP

[Joel Pollak @joelpollak]

South Africa is expelling an Israeli diplomat because he dared to work w/local African royalty, not the ANC-run provincial government, to offer help with water management (where Israel leads the world). Helping South Africa has little upside, big downside. https://t.co/8Xh3UUIip2

[Embassy of Israel SA @IsraelinSA]

From the @sajewishreport:

“Israel’s offer to assist the Eastern Cape with water, healthcare, and agriculture expertise…was flatly condemned by provincial Premier Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane as soon as he heard about it.”

“….Mabuyane has accused Israeli embassy officials and AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Zwelibanzi Dalindyebo of breaching diplomatic protocol.”

“@DavidSaranga, who is familiar with the AbaThembu king, who recently visited Israel, met him and about 50 traditional leaders to make the offer. When asked what he wanted in return, he said, “The only thing we need is your friendship.” 

Read more: https://t.co/Hd1mXTnI16

[Joshua Meservey @JMeservey]

On the left, a South African government spokesman claiming that SA's ICJ case against Israel is "in defence of humanity." On the right, South Africa's abstention vote on Friday on a UN resolution condemning Iran's slaughter of civilians.

[Embassy of Israel SA @IsraelinSA]

Health experts from Israel will assist hospitals in the Eastern Cape 🇮🇱🇮🇱🇿🇦

Israeli delegation visiting Mthatha General Hospital and Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital discussing potential cooperation with Sheba Medical Center - Israel’s largest and most prestigious hospital.

[Embassy of Israel SA @IsraelinSA]

King Dalindyebo:

“My relationship with Israel is simple. I am a Christian; Israel is the home of Christ, the home of Christians."

“Besides, it was the Israelis that came to me, extending an olive branch during our desperate time when we suffered from floods [in June 2025].”

“I asked for no assistance. They saw from their hearts that they need to give us help and from that help, they are now extending to give us more help.”

[Embassy of Israel SA @IsraelinSA]

Israel is bringing water to the Eastern Cape 🇮🇱🇿🇦

Following King Dalindyebo’s visit to Israel, Ambassador @DavidSaranga from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs met in Mthatha with dozens of traditional leaders to promote access to clean drinking water in remote villages.

Ambassador Saranga was accompanied by a representative of @InnovationAfric, a non-profit organization delivering solar-powered clean water to remote communities across Sub-Saharan Africa.

[Gaby Botha @GabyBotha]

https://t.co/86WmBuvN5A

[The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee]

Top Jobs Safe From Artificial Intelligence

[Gaby Botha @GabyBotha]

@TheKiffness And I saw your humility and service before Him yesterday.