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A Prayer for the Feast Day of Francis of Assisi

Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant unto thy people grace to renounce gladly the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may for love of thee delight in thy whole creation with perfectness of joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for Today from Frank Colquhoun

Almighty God, who art the author of all spiritual gifts: Bestow upon thy Church in this our day the grace of knowledge, to apprehend the fullness of divine truth, and of utterance to declare that truth to others; that the testimony of Christ may be confirmed among us, and in everything we may be enriched in him, even thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Scripture Readings

Of old thou didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They will perish, but thou dost endure; they will all wear out like a garment. Thou changest them like raiment, and they pass away; but thou art the same, and thy years have no end.

–Psalm 102:25-27

Posted in Theology: Scripture

(Church Times) Barbara Brown Taylor on how to make your sermons come alive

Show, don’t tell

This is one of the first things any writing instructor tells her students. There you are trying to be Ernest Hemingway with your short, spare prose. “The woman is tired,” you write, going straight for the bottom line, but why should your readers believe you? You have told them something you apparently know about the woman, but you have not given them a chance to make up their own minds. You have kept the details entirely to yourself, so that their only choice is whether to believe you or not. Jesus is Lord. God is love. The gospel is true.

“Show them,” your teacher says. “Don’t tell them the woman is tired. Show them how tired she is.” This is much harder. Finding a way to help people see takes more time than telling them what you see. How do you know the woman is tired? What is it about her gait, her posture, her face, her breath that says “tired” to you? If you can find the right words, you may be able to help people name their own tiredness on their way to seeing just how tired this woman is.

“The woman looked as if she had been moving rocks all day, as if everything she had touched since the moment she got up had been heavy, hard, and grey.”

Read it all.

Posted in Language, Parish Ministry, Preaching / Homiletics, Theology: Scripture, Uncategorized

(Economist) The year that shattered the Middle East

Ever since Hamas’s slaughter of Israelis on October 7th 2023, violence has been spreading. One year on, the Middle East is an inch away from an all-out war between Israel and Iran. Israel’s skilful decapitation of Hizbullah, a Lebanese militia backed by Iran, prompted the Islamic Republic to rain missiles on Israel on October 1st. Israel may retaliate, perhaps striking Iran’s industrial, military or nuclear facilities, hoping to end once and for all the threat it poses to the Jewish state.

Iran is certainly a menace, and use of force against it by Israel or America would be both lawful and, if carefully calibrated, wise. But the idea that a single decisive attack on Iran could transform the Middle East is a fantasy. As our special section explains, containing the Iranian regime requires sustained deterrence and diplomacy. In the long run, Israel’s security also depends on ending its oppression of the Palestinians.

Iran’s latest direct attack on Israel consisted of 180 ballistic missiles. Unlike an earlier strike in April, this time Iran gave little warning. But as before, most of the projectiles were intercepted. The salvo was a response to the humiliation of its proxy, Hizbullah, which until two weeks ago was the most feared militia in the region. No one should shed tears for a terrorist outfit that has helped turn Lebanon into a failed state. For the past year Hizbullah has bombarded Israel, forcing the evacuation of civilians in its northern belt. Israel’s counter-attack, unlike its invasion of Gaza, was long-planned. It has made devastating use of intelligence, technology and air power, killing the militia’s leaders, including its chief, Hassan Nasrallah, maiming its fighters with exploding pagers and destroying perhaps half of its 120,000 or more missiles and rockets.

Read it all.

Posted in Foreign Relations, Globalization, Iran, Israel, Middle East, Military / Armed Forces

(CNBC) The East and Gulf coast ports strike could be a no-win situation for the Biden administration

President Joe Biden and his administration are sticking to their position of not invoking the Taft-Hartley Act to force International Longshoremen’s Association dock workers back on the job at East and Gulf coast ports where a strike is hitting day two on Wednesday, a political decision that reflects the power of unions one month out from an election but risks losing some progress on what is the No. 1 issue for many voters: the economy.

Rhetoric from Cabinet secretaries, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, has become sharper in recent days, pointing the finger at the ports ownership and ocean carriers. But right now, there is no sign of any progress bringing the ILA and port owners back to the table for a new round of negotiations, according to CNBC sources. And there remains a big risk on the other side of the political decision-making: wage increases that are a win for workers but ultimately ripple through the economy in the form of higher prices, both domestically and around the world.

Much of the focus about the economic impact of the ports strike to date has been focused on the direct hit to the economy from the massive trade shutdown, and the ways in which supply chain congestion and delays can result in higher prices being passed along to consumers, which will become a bigger factor the longer a strike persists. But maritime and business experts are also warning about the risk of persistent wage inflation making its way into supply chain prices that the Federal Reserve has recently been successful in taming.

Read it all.

Posted in * Economics, Politics, Economy, Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market, President Joe Biden

A good Reminder for John Mott’s Feast Day–Mobilizing a Generation for Missions

Posted in Church History, Education, Missions, Seminary / Theological Education, Teens / Youth, Young Adults

A Prayer for the Feast Day of John Mott

O God, the shepherd of all, we offer thanks for the lifelong commitment of thy servant John Raleigh Mott to the Christian nurture of students in many parts of the world; and we pray that, after his example, we may strive for the weaving together of all peoples in friendship, fellowship and cooperation, and while life lasts be evangelists for Jesus Christ, in whom alone is our peace; and who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for Today from Daily Prayer

Give us grace, O God our Father, to keep this day and always the new commandment and the great commandment and all the commandments, by loving thee with all our mind and soul and strength, and one another for thy sake; in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Daily Prayer, Eric Milner-White and G. W. Briggs, eds. (London: Penguin Books 1959 edition of the 1941 original)

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Bible Readings

On a sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath?” And Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” And he said to them, “The Son of man is lord of the sabbath.” On another sabbath, when he entered the synagogue and taught, a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” And he looked around on them all, and said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

–Luke 6:1-11

Posted in Theology: Scripture

(Inews) Anna Richardson’s angry, honest film lays bare the relentless cruelty of dementia

Earlier this year, full-time carer Mary hid all the knives in her home. Her husband Richard, nine years after his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s aged 55, had become angry and unpredictable. For the first time, Mary, a former fashion designer, was scared of him. Over the course of two quick weeks, it became apparent that it was no longer safe for her to live in the same house and in August, she made the heartbreaking decision to move him into a care home.

Mary and Richard’s story was one of several told in Channel 4’s hour-long documentary Anna Richardson: Love, Loss & Dementia. Best known for her work presenting headline-grabbing shows on provocative subjects like Naked Attraction and The Sex Education Show, Richardson wanted to shine a light on what she views as another taboo topic: dementia. “We are not talking about the fact that it’s a crisis,” she said of the disease which brutally entered her life with her father’s diagnosis of vascular dementia.

Formerly a leading figure in the Church of England, 83-year-old Jim now lives semi-independently in an assisted living facility. The film opened with Richardson receiving an alert while on holiday – Jim had suffered yet another fall. Aware that he is still in the relatively early stages of symptoms – he knows who she is and retains his sense of humour (pretending to row a boat as Richardson pushed his wheelchair around his hometown) – she acknowledged what is to come: “Either one day, he will have a catastrophic stroke. Or he will just get incrementally worse.”

Read it all.

Posted in Aging / the Elderly, Health & Medicine, Movies & Television

(Bloomberg) American Dams Weren’t Built for Today’s Climate-Charged Rain and Floods

As flooding hammered Appalachia in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, residents became intimately familiar with a new norm in the US’s post-storm script: dams at imminent risk of failing.

Officials last week said multiple dams were on the brink, including Tennessee’s Nolichucky Dam and North Carolina’s Walters and Lake Lure dams. People in nearby communities were ordered to evacuate.

Ultimately, the dams held. But the close calls highlighted the stress on the nation’s dams, many of which are more than half a century old and none of which were designed for the higher levels of precipitation brought on by climate change.

Read it all.

Posted in Climate Change, Weather, Ecology, Energy, Natural Resources, Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc.

(NYT) Is the long-feared “wider war” in the Middle East here?

The long-feared “wider war” in the Middle East is here.

For the last 360 days, since the images of the slaughter of about 1,200 people in Israel last Oct. 7 flashed around the world, President Biden has warned at every turn against allowing a terrorist attack by Hamas to spread into a conflict with Iran’s other proxy force, Hezbollah, and ultimately with Iran itself.

Now, after Israel assassinated the Hezbollah chief, Hassan Nasrallah, and began a ground invasion of Lebanon, and after Iran retaliated on Tuesday by launching nearly 200 missiles at Israel, it has turned into one of the region’s most dangerous moments since the Arab-Israeli War of 1967.

The main questions now are how much the conflict might intensify, and whether the United States’ own forces will get more directly involved.

Read it all.

Posted in * Economics, Politics, Economy, Foreign Relations, Globalization, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Military / Armed Forces

(Reuters) The fentanyl funnel: How narcos sneak deadly chemicals through the U.S.

The illicit fentanyl that kills tens of thousands of Americans a year is largely produced from Chinese chemicals cooked up in clandestine Mexican laboratories, according to U.S. authorities. This requires drug traffickers to transport the necessary chemicals halfway around the world. But cartels have found a clever way to smuggle these chemicals from China to Mexico – by first importing them into the United States.

Master carton shipping has become an indispensable way for delivery companies to move vast quantities of merchandise around the world quickly. It’s legal, it’s practical, and in the era of e-commerce, it’s key to our everyday lives, whether we realize it or not.

Still, the practice makes it a snap for traffickers to sneak fentanyl chemicals into the country, hidden in small boxes packed inside other boxes. On top of that, a little-known U.S. trade regulation has made this smuggling easier still.

The de minimis rule exempts low-value parcels from taxes, duties and stringent customs reporting rules. It’s meant to keep U.S. Customs and Border Protection from wasting time and effort when the cost of collecting tariffs on cheap imports exceeds the revenue gained.

Read it all.

Posted in America/U.S.A., China, Drugs/Drug Addiction, Globalization, Mexico

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Saint Remigius

O God, who by the teaching of thy faithful servant and bishop Remigius didst turn the nation of the Franks from vain idolatry to the worship of thee, the true and living God, in the fullness of the catholic faith; Grant that we who glory in the name of Christian may show forth our faith in worthy deeds; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for Today from Frank Colquhoun

O Lord Christ, Son of David, born for us in lowly state at Bethlehem, and now exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on high: Grant us grace to think worthily of thee both in thy humility and in thy glory; that we may ascribe to thee the honour that is thy due, now and for evermore.

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Bible Readings

After this he went out, and saw a tax collector, named Levi, sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he left everything, and rose and followed him.

And Levi made him a great feast in his house; and there was a large company of tax collectors and others sitting at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” He told them a parable also: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it upon an old garment; if he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new; for he says, ‘The old is good.’”

–Luke 5:27-39

Posted in Theology: Scripture

(Local Paper) 45,000 dockworkers are now on strike at 36 US ports, including South Carolina’s

For the first time in nearly 50 years, dockworkers at ports along the East and Gulf coasts have gone on strike.

Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 1 — the minute their six-year labor contracts expired — with three local Charleston union affiliates picketing outside S.C. State Ports Authority terminals for better wages, job security and “respect.”

Nearly 20 people stood along Morrison Drive in Charleston, across from the SPA’s Columbus Street Terminal, holding high signs that read “No work without a fair contract” and “Automation hurts families: ILA stands for job protection.”

Randy Campbell, a union vice president, said that members of his local ILA 1771, and two others, 1422 and 1422A, will remain outside of the Wando Welch, North Charleston and Columbus Street terminals until negotiations are done.

Read it all.

Posted in * South Carolina, Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market

(Washington Post) As floods recede after Helene, anguished families wait for answers

The last time they talked, Guadalupe Hernandez said her baby sister, Monica, sent her videos and photos of rising waters surrounding her as she huddled with co-workers on the back of semi truck.

Monica Hernandez, 45, was working at Impact Plastics, near the Nolichucky River, when Hurricane Helene sent a murky rush of floodwater through their small eastern Tennessee town Friday, Guadalupe, 50, said. Hang on, Guadalupe said she reassured Monica, the family was calling 911. Just let them know when she was safe, she told her.

Monica was among five Impact Plastics employees and one contractor reported missing after Helene tore through town.

It was the start of a period of agonizing limbo for Guadalupe and the families of other missing employees, who said they struggled to get information from local officials.

Read it all.

Posted in Children, Death / Burial / Funerals, Marriage & Family, Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc.

(C of E) Black History Month marked in cathedrals and churches

Black composers, musicians and singers are to be celebrated as part of a series of events, from exhibitions and lectures to services and study days, marking Black History Month in Cathedrals and churches across the country.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is to preside at a Eucharist at Southwark Cathedral marking Black History Month in the Diocese of Southwark.

The service will hear music by St Saviour’s and St Olave’s School Gospel Choir and the Nigerian Chaplaincy Worship Team with the sermon preached by the Dean of Gloucester, Andrew Zihni. A panel discussion will be held afterwards on the theme ‘music at the heart of change.’

The day aims to ‘acknowledge the profound positive impact music has had on the black community, and the power of music to transform worship and enhance witness, to bring hope, and provide a space of healing, restoration and justice’, Southwark Cathedral said.

Read it all.

Posted in Church History, Church of England, England / UK, Parish Ministry, Race/Race Relations, Religion & Culture

(CT) Widespread Helene Misery Stretches Christian Relief Groups

Devastating hundreds of miles from the Florida Gulf Coast to Georgia to the mountains of North Carolina, Hurricane Helene has created a complicated equation for Christian organizations that are on the frontline of disaster response.

“In my more than 20 years of disaster experience, I can’t think of a time when such a large area was at risk,” Jeff Jellets, the disaster coordinator for The Salvation Army’s work in the South, said in a statement.

Samaritan’s Purse chief operating officer Edward Graham told CT that the organization had to call in equipment and volunteers from its Canadian arm for its hurricane response and even had to adjust some of its overseas work. Just for this disaster, Samaritan’s Purse is operating in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Read it all.

Posted in America/U.S.A., Charities/Non-Profit Organizations, Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc., Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture, Stewardship

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Therese of Lisieux

O Gracious Father, who didst call thy servant Therese to a life of fervent prayer; Give unto us the spirit of prayer and zeal for the ministry of the Gospel, that the love of Christ may be known throughout all the world; through the same, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for Today from Charles Kingsley

Take from us, O Lord God, all pride and vanity, all boasting and self-assertion, and give us the true courage that shows itself in gentleness; the true wisdom that shows itself in simplicity; and the true power that shows itself in modesty; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Bible Readings

Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel; for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or kindness, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds and murder follows murder. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air; and even the fish of the sea are taken away. Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. You shall stumble by day, the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity. And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways, and requite them for their deeds. They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the harlot, but not multiply; because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish harlotry.

–Hosea 4:1-10

Posted in Theology: Scripture

(CT) Widespread Helene Misery Stretches Christian Relief Groups

D

evastating hundreds of miles from the Florida Gulf Coast to Georgia to the mountains of North Carolina, Hurricane Helene has created a complicated equation for Christian organizations that are on the frontline of disaster response.

“In my more than 20 years of disaster experience, I can’t think of a time when such a large area was at risk,” Jeff Jellets, the disaster coordinator for The Salvation Army’s work in the South, said in a statement.

Samaritan’s Purse chief operating officer Edward Graham told CT that the organization had to call in equipment and volunteers from its Canadian arm for its hurricane response and even had to adjust some of its overseas work. Just for this disaster, Samaritan’s Purse is operating in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Read it all.

Posted in Charities/Non-Profit Organizations, Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc., Stewardship

Kendall Harmon’s Sunday sermon–Are we sure we know what the Gospel of Jesus Christ actually is (Ephesians 2:1-10)?

You may listen directly here:

Or you may download it there

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * By Kendall, * South Carolina, Ethics / Moral Theology, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Preaching / Homiletics, Sermons & Teachings

(BBC) New Bishop of Exeter confirmed at palace ceremony

The new Bishop of Exeter has been confirmed by the Archbishop of Canterbury at a ceremony in London.

Earlier in the year, it was announced the Right Reverend Mike Harrison would take on the role – he was previously the Bishop of Dunwich in Suffolk.

On Wednesday, Dr Harrison attended a ceremony at Lambeth Palace.

He said the “service marks a significant moment in that transition, and I am looking forward greatly to joining with sisters and brothers in the Diocese of Exeter…”

Read it all.

Posted in --Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture

(TGC) Lessons from Mark Dever’s 30 Years at Capitol Hill Baptist Church

“When I came to CHBC,” Dever explained, “I was very clear with them that I was happy for every aspect of my public ministry to fail, if necessary, except for the preaching of God’s Word.” The hyperbole was intentional. Dever wanted the church to understand the primacy of the preached Word in the congregation’s life.

“Preaching is central to the pastoral ministry,” Dever explained at the congregational Q&A in 1993. “A lot of churches in America don’t think that. I think they’re wrong.”

Dever began by preaching expositionally through Mark’s Gospel. From his time studying the Puritans, Dever realized that in a “Christian culture,” the way you preach evangelistically to self-conscious Christians who may not be converted is by constantly repeating the same truth in sermons: This is what a Christian is like. The Gospels provided the perfect lens to do so through Jesus’s words.

Read it all.

Posted in America/U.S.A., Baptists, Church History, Evangelicals, History, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Preaching / Homiletics, Religion & Culture, Urban/City Life and Issues

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Saint Michael and All Angels

O everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the ministries of angels and men in a wonderful order: Mercifully grant that, as thy holy angels always serve and worship thee in heaven, so by thy appointment they may help and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Posted in Church Year / Liturgical Seasons, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for Today from the ACNA Prayerbook

O merciful Lord, grant to your faithful people pardon and peace, that we may be cleansed from all our sins and serve you with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer