A South Carolina pastor emulated a core teaching of Christianity when he forgave a teenager accused of setting fire to his church's vans. Earlier this month, South Carolina police arrested 18-year-old Brandon Thomas Greene for allegedly torching two Ford Transit church vans in the parking lot at Philadelphia Baptist Church in Pauline, South Carolina. 'I told him that the church loved him because Christ loved us, and then, long story short, I got to share the gospel with him.' He was taken into custody on July 5 and charged with two counts of arson. To be sure, losing the church vans was an inconvenience for Philadelphia Baptist Church. Congregants were planning to use the vans to transport a youth team to a missions event in Kentucky. The departure date was the day after the vans were torched. However, instead of responding with anger, Philadelphia Baptist Church pastor Kiah Graves visited Greene in jail and extended him forgiveness. "'Brandon, we forgive you because we've been forgiven of our sins, but we want to know if you understand that,'" Graves recounted to WYFF-TV of the message he delivered to Greene in jail. But that's not all. Not only did Graves extend forgiveness, but he also shared the gospel with Greene. "It was an amazing moment. We hugged each other. I told him that the church loved him because Christ loved us, and then, long story short, I got to share the gospel with him," Graves told WYFF. "He gave his life to Christ in there, repented of his sins, and wants to be baptized," he explained. "But none of that would have happened, I don't think, if everybody wasn't on the same page of, 'Yes, let's catch him, let's make sure we get that squared away, but also don't leave him by himself.'" Forgiveness is core to Jesus' teachings. Not only did Jesus emphasize the importance of forgiveness in his Sermon on the Mount, but he repeatedly told parables about the requirement of forgiveness. Famously, Jesus even told his disciple Peter that forgiveness should be never-ending.As this situation demonstrates, forgiven people forgive — and receiving the grace of forgiveness contains a transforming power."Forgiveness and a hope of redemption for other people, offering second chances, is a way that Spartanburg could be known as one of the best places on Earth to live," Graves told WYFF. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Socialist Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York excoriated Democrats for leaking anonymous comments to derail the Biden campaign while not admitting they want to jettison Vice President Kamala Harris as well. Ocasio-Cortez made the comments in a video she posted to her social media account on Thursday. "I'm gonna say what a lot of these folks aren't saying. I'm just gonna say it," said Ocasio-Cortez. "If you think that there is consensus among the people who want Joe Biden to leave, that they will support Kamala, Vice President Harris, you would be mistaken. And I'm gonna say that because if they're gonna come out and say all their little things on background, off the record, but they're not gonna be fully honest, I'm gonna be honest for them," she continued. "I'm in these rooms. I see what they say in conversations," Ocasio-Cortez added. "A lot of them are not just interested in removing the president. They are interested in removing the full ticket." She floated a conspiracy theory that Republicans were plotting to steal the election through the Supreme Court.She went to call out those Democrats who didn't admit in public that they wanted to get rid of Harris on the ticket as well. "That's bulls***! If you have an opinion, say it with your chest, and say it in public!" she added. She admitted in the hour-long video posted to Instagram that Biden's performance at the debate against Trump was terrible, but she floated a conspiracy theory that Republicans were plotting to steal the election through the Supreme Court. "I want to put all my cards out on the table because I don't know what's going to happen," she added earlier in the video. Ocasio-Cortez had previously defended Biden and said the issue of his candidacy was settled because he had come out and decided that he was staying in the race. "I have spoken with him extensively, he made clear then, and he has made clear since, that he's in this race. The matter is closed," she said at the time. “Joe Biden is our nominee. He is not leaving this race. He is in this race and I support him," she added. Despite her defense, the pressure against Biden had only increased after former President Donald Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally. The complete video was posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Las Vegas Raiders star wide receiver Davante Adams said he'd happily play with Tom Brady even if he were 58 years old.It was widely speculated that NFL legend Tom Brady would play his last season with the Raiders to coincide with their move from Oakland to Las Vegas, which included a brand-new mega stadium. However, Brady retired as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Although, much of the rumors seemed to culminate in Brady becoming a minority owner of the Raiders instead.The team is currently struggling to find a solid quarterback, prompting podcast host and former NFL player Shannon Sharpe to ask Adams if he would play with Brady should he unretire.'I don't know if they're going to let me.'In fact, Sharpe barely got the words out before Adams started to answer."Tom Brady ... would you want — how old's Brady?" Sharpe began."Hell, yes," Adams interrupted. "Damn, you didn't even let me finish the question!" Sharpe came back."I know exactly [what you were going to say]. I knew when you said 'Tom Brady' I knew what you said," Adams continued. The 31-year-old wide receiver said he knew exactly what Sharpe was about to ask, adding that he has to "talk about how old [Brady] is.""I don't care, I don't care!" he said on the "Club Shay Shay" podcast."Would you take Tom at 47 or 48?" Sharpe continued.Adams clarified that even a 58-year-old Brady would still be one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL."He's getting older, but I mean he's still got to be able to throw it better than half these dudes in the league."The last time Brady seriously talked about a possible return to the NFL was in April 2024, when he said on the "DeepCut with VicBlends" podcast that he "wasn't opposed" to a Michael Jordan-style comeback."Let's say one day there's a situation, right? Maybe it's a [San Francisco] 49ers, maybe, you know, heading to the playoffs. Offense is great ..." the host described."Patriots, could be Raiders, could be ... never know," Brady interrupted."God forbid somebody goes down," the host continued. "Would you pick up that phone?""I'm not opposed to it," Brady said at the time. "I don't know if they're going to let me if I become an owner of an NFL team. I don't know, I'm always going to be in good shape, always be able to throw the ball, so to come in for a little bit like MJ coming back? I don't know if they'd let me, but I wouldn't be opposed to it," Brady concluded.Adams went on to tell Sharpe that his team's offense was one that was "fit for a Tom Brady" due to it being an "offense that you have to have extremely high-level execution to be able to make it work."Adams was also asked if he felt pressure to live up to the idea that Raiders players are troublemakers on and off the field.In a hilarious response, Adams said that while he wants to people to "fear" him when they're playing against him, "You don't want them to fear that you're about to shoot them or rob them!""Nothing like that! We can't be getting too out of control with it," he laughed.Brady has consistently stayed in headlines since his retirement, particularly with his massively successful Netflix roast. However, after garnering over 14 million views in the first week of airing, Brady later revealed that the impact the roast jokes had on his children was too much for him to consider participating in such an event ever again.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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From potentially being canceled to launching in 2025, the upcoming iPhone SE 4 looks like it could be a massive success. According to Weibo leaker Fixed Focus Digital (via MacRumors), this model could use the "exactly the same" backplate manufacturing process as the upcoming iPhone 16. This could mean many things, including a proper camera upgrade with a second ultra-wide lens and several other features unavailable on the current iPhone SE 3, such as Night Mode and even Spatial Video recording, which is expected for all the upcoming models. This leak comes as a surprise, as previous reports suggested the iPhone SE 4 would be a modified iPhone 14: It would have the same 6.1-inch OLED display, Face ID, and aluminum and glass finish, but instead of two lenses, it was expected to feature one main 48MP lens. While we'll have to wait for Apple to officially announce its plans for the next-gen iPhone SE, the cheaper model seems too good to be true, even though it won't feature a Dynamic Island. Since Apple usually uses the best processor on its cheapest model (which means it could potentially get the unannounced A18 chip), it's also rumored to get USB-C and an Action Button. As a customer, buying an iPhone 16 might not make that much sense since both phones would be so similar, but one would be significantly cheaper. Fortunately, it won't be much longer before we learn more about the iPhone 16, as its release is expected in just two months. The iPhone SE 4 could also get a release date in spring, around March or April. Apple announced the iPhone SE 3 in March 2022. At the time, analysts had high hopes that it could turn a billion Android users into switchers thanks to its addition of 5G. However, that didn't happen. It seems we're setting our expectations too high for Apple's cheapest iPhone again. Don't Miss: This iPhone SE 4 specs leak seems too good to be true The post iPhone SE 4 rumored to have the same rear panel as the iPhone 16 appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals Best Echo Dot deals for July 2024 Stunning Yaber T2 Outdoor Projector has a massive Prime Day discount Exclusive Prime Day deal: Get an ultra-compact GEEKOM A5 Mini PC for only $339 Today’s deals: Galaxy Z Flip 6 & Fold 6 offers, $30 Blink Video Doorbell, $25 Amazon Echo Buds, more