John Paff

"Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have sent you. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (Jeremiah 29:7)

Wilberforce, and people like him, ended the global slave trade that had existed for several thousand years. They didn’t invent it, but they did stop it. I should say almost entirely. There are still remnants of it in some parts of the world.

I've seen a dozen stories piling on about @60Minutes and @bariweiss. Not one included this memo, or even significant excerpts from it. Seems relevant.

Friends- This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die. Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do. I’m blessed with amazing siblings and half-a-dozen buddies that are genuinely brothers. As one of them put it, “Sure, you’re on the clock, but we’re all on the clock.” Death is a wicked thief, and the bastard pursues us all. Still, I’ve got less time than I’d prefer. This is hard for someone wired to work and build, but harder still as a husband and a dad. I can’t begin to describe how great my people are. During the past year, as we’d temporarily stepped back from public life and built new family rhythms, Melissa and I have grown even closer — and that on top of three decades of the best friend a man could ever have. Seven months ago, Corrie was commissioned into the Air Force and she’s off at instrument and multi-engine rounds of flight school. Last week, Alex kicked butt graduating from college a semester early even while teaching gen chem, organic, and physics (she’s a freak). This summer, 14-year-old Breck started learning to drive. (Okay, we’ve been driving off-book for six years — but now we’ve got paper to make it street-legal.) I couldn’t be more grateful to constantly get to bear-hug this motley crew of sinners and saints. There’s not a good time to tell your peeps you’re now marching to the beat of a faster drummer — but the season of advent isn’t the worst. As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what’s to come. Not an abstract hope in fanciful human goodness; not hope in vague hallmark-sappy spirituality; not a bootstrapped hope in our own strength (what foolishness is the evaporating-muscle I once prided myself in). Nope — often we lazily say “hope” when what we mean is “optimism.” To be clear, optimism is great, and it’s absolutely necessary, but it’s insufficient. It’s not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you’re not going to walk them down the aisle. Nor telling your mom and pops they’re gonna bury their son. A well-lived life demands more reality — stiffer stuff. That’s why, during advent, even while still walking in darkness, we shout our hope — often properly with a gravelly voice soldiering through tears. Such is the calling of the pilgrim. Those who know ourselves to need a Physician should dang well look forward to enduring beauty and eventual fulfillment. That is, we hope in a real Deliverer — a rescuing God, born at a real time, in a real place. But the eternal city — with foundations and without cancer — is not yet. Remembering Isaiah’s prophecies of what’s to come doesn’t dull the pain of current sufferings. But it does put it in eternity’s perspective: “When we've been there 10,000 years…We've no less days to sing God's praise.” I’ll have more to say. I’m not going down without a fight. One sub-part of God’s grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more. Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We’re zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I’ve pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape. But for now, as our family faces the reality of treatments, but more importantly as we celebrate Christmas, we wish you peace: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned….For to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9). With great gratitude, and with gravelly-but-hopeful voices, Ben — and the Sasses

Thank you to the university presidents who joined our Questa Board meeting to share insights on student success and regional talent! 💚 🎓 Dr. Einolf – @IndianaTech 🎓 Dr. Garrison – @IUFortWayne 🎓 Dr. Pepper – @HuntingtonU 🎓 Dr. Young – @ManchesterUniv

On a @BBC Newsnight programme from 2022, the edit is a little different from Panorama. Trump is shown as saying: "We're going to walk down to the Capitol. And we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women. And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not gonna have a country anymore." This was followed by a voiceover from presenter Kirsty Wark saying "and fight they did" over footage from the #Capitolriots. #jan6

"We accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech ... this gave the mistaken impression that President #Trump had made a direct call for violent action," #jounalism #bias #trust bbc.com/news/articles/…

Successful campaigns start with research -- whether you're promoting a product, launching a brand, or marketing a region. Rachel Blakeman has the data for northeast Indiana. Appropriately, she was our first podcast guest at Marketing the Midwest. youtube.com/watch?v=KJPfrf…

The @CBSNews app just found a home on my phone. #journalism

Game changer. @CBSNews has hired @bariweiss as editor in chief. @Skydance has acquired @TheFP. npr.org/2025/10/06/nx-… #journalism #media #independence

Why is Kirk’s death so important? This was free speech, the free exercise of religion and a giant public assembly, all at once. The First Amendment trinity — same time, same place. @TheFP @ActonInstitute @roddreher @TPUSA @IssuesEtc @ReligionMag tmattingly.substack.com/p/thinking-abo…

Thank you @tweetmattingly for helping all -- Left or Right -- to think through this tragedy. open.substack.com/pub/tmattingly… #FreeSpeech #CharlieKirk #JoeRogan #CharlieSheen

@charliekirk11 was assassinated today. nytimes.com/live/2025/09/1… @TPUSA

I'm listening to The Midwest Flourish on Podbean, check it out! podbean.com/wlpi/pbblog-xu…

The Iranian regime launched a missile attack on Haifa and struck the Al-Jarina Mosque in the Wadi Nisnas neighborhood. The missile attack injured Muslim clerics who were in the mosque. The Iranian regime is targeting Muslim, Christian, and Jewish civilians, as well as civilian sites. These are war crimes. Noted.

@tweetmattingly BREAKING: The Guardian unearths new evidence that the Pope is Catholic. theguardian.com/world/2025/may…

@SwipeWright @LeorSapir @BriannaWu When people can defeat an argument, they defeat it. When they can't defeat an argument, they try to prevent its being made ... or heard.

What is #Alpha? Come and see. Jeanne and I are hosting Alpha in our home Tuesdays at 6:30, beginning March 4. Soup, songs, and good conversation. Join us! DM or call me for details. See you soon. m.youtube.com/watch?v=S_L10S… @AlphaUSA @alphacourseuk

Our new guest invite is all about real stories of real people who were curious about faith 🙌 You can share these videos on your socials, Alpha Sundays, or send it to someone you want to invite! Register on MyAlpha to access. Link in bio to sign up ⬆️