But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoeni’cia and Sama’ria, reporting the conversion of the Gentiles, and they gave great joy to all the brethren. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.

–Acts 15:1-4

Thou who sendest forth the light, createst the morning, makest the sun to rise on the good and on the evil: enlighten the blindness of our minds with the knowledge of the truth: lift Thou up the light of thy countenance upon us, that in thy light we may see light, and, at the last, in the light of grace the light of glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Lancelot Andrews (1555–1626)

“There are delicate, difficult issues between our two churches at the moment,” Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, head of the 5.2 million Catholics in England and Wales, told Reuters.

But, Nichols said the offer came after groups of Anglicans repeatedly asked for a response to their request for special provision to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.

“Sometimes people want to say ‘oh, this is the initiative of the pope who is going fishing for Anglicans’. That is not true. He is responding to requests that he has received, and those requests we have to handle sensitively on both sides.”

Read it all.

The Obama administration is considering a range of new measures to boost economic growth, including tax cuts and a new nationwide infrastructure program, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The president’s economic team has met frequently in recent days to list ways to bolster the struggling recovery, according to government officials.

On the list of possible actions: additional tax cuts for small businesses beyond those included in a $30 billion small-business lending bill before the Senate. It’s not clear what those tax breaks would target or how much they might cost in lost revenue to the government.
Journal Community

Also in the mix: a possible payroll tax cut for businesses and individuals, as well as other business tax breaks, according to people familiar with the discussions. Currently, income taxes are scheduled to rise with the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts at the end of this year.

Read it all.

You want me to tell you why God is to be loved and how much. I answer, the reason for loving God is God Himself; and the measure of love due to Him is immeasurable love.

–Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad; and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a large company was added to the Lord.

–Acts 11:22-24

Here is one:

Right after Katrina I tried to go back home and back to normal life but found that i was angry all the time and crying at a drop a hat later I found out that I might have Post traumatic stress from it. I have my good days but there are days when all I want to do is cry

.

Read them all.

I thank you, my heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, your dear son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that you would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into your hands I commend myself, my body and soul and all things. Let they holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen

I am writing to tell you that I wholeheartedly join other religious and civic leaders in calling on all parties involved in the dispute over the planned lower Manhattan Islamic community center and mosque to convert a situation that has sadly become ever more divisive into, as Archbishop Timothy Dolan recently stated, “an opportunity for a civil, rational, loving, respectful discussion.”

The plan to build this center is, without doubt, an emotionally highly-charged issue. But as a nation with tolerance and religious freedom at its very foundation, we must not let our emotions lead us into the error of persecuting or condemning an entire religion for the sins of its most misguided adherents.

The worldwide Islamic community is no more inclined to violence that any other. Within it, however, a struggle is going on ”“ between the majority who seek to follow a moderate, loving religion and the few who would transform it into an intolerant theocracy intent on persecuting anyone, Muslim or otherwise, with whom they disagree.

Read it all.

Read it all.

AFP–Thousands of vehicles were bogged down Monday in a more than 100-kilometre (62-mile) traffic jam leading to Beijing that has lasted nine days and highlights China’s growing road congestion woes.

[The Rev. Steven] Anderson’s journey to the Catholic Church had a few stops along with the way, which explains why he was named a priest with a wife and children.

After graduating from high school, Anderson spent a year at Adrian College before transferring to Oral Roberts University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in biblical literature. He later earned a master’s degree in divinity from Oral Roberts, in Tulsa, Okla.

In 1995, he became a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church, a denomination that began in 1992.

Anderson converted to Catholicism after reading work from some of the earliest writers of the church.

Read it all.

We are committed to ensuring the spiritual, emotional and physical safety of all within this Diocese and all whom we seek to serve in the name of Christ. We are committed to serving the weak and most vulnerable in our midst, those who are oppressed, and the children and youth of our Diocese.

We do not believe that Bishop Bennison has the trust of the clergy and lay leaders necessary for him to be an effective pastor and leader of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, nor that he can regain or rebuild the trust that he has lost or broken.

We believe that it would be in the best interest of the Diocese that Bishop Bennison not resume his exercise of authority here.

Read it carefully and read it all.

According to a much-quoted military maxim there are no atheists in a foxhole when the shelling begins.
But the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is now edging towards official recognition for the needs of non-believers serving in the armed forces by considering the appointment of Humanist chaplains.

Military sources have revealed they are “sympathetic” to the idea of establishing a organisation to represent the interests of non-religious servicemen and women.

Non-believers in the forces, including a senior Scottish officer, hope the move will pave the way for the establishment of Humanist chaplains, who would offer support and consolation to those with no spiritual beliefs.

Read it all.

Most economists believe a dip back into recession ”” as well as an equally debilitating bout of deflation, or broadly falling prices ”” will be avoided. But many have nonetheless warned that the prospects are rising, and say the more probable scenario isn’t much more appealing: a protracted economic malaise with imperceptible growth and stubbornly high joblessness.

“We are mired in a jobless recovery, and the government has run out of ammunition to help out the economy,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at Cal State Channel Islands. “The current situation doesn’t look very good.”

Read it all.

Communion infrastructures have arisen in haphazard ways since 1945. The new ACC Constitution, I fear, is another instance. The lack of in-depth consultation on the constitutional changes stands in sharp contrast with the thoroughgoing processes in the drafting and dissemination of the Anglican Communion Covenant.

The controversy on the new ACC Constitution may well derail the already difficult processes in the adoption of the Anglican Communion Covenant. Churches in the southern continents may well be tempted to look for more radical alternatives for a more permanent solution to recent Anglican disputes.

I ask for the following clarifications….

Read it all.

The ordination of a new… [Episcopal] bishop in Alaska, originally scheduled to take place in a Catholic parish church, has been re-scheduled for a nearby Methodist church””apparently in response to protests from concerned Catholics.

Read it all.

A brief message from the Episcopal diocese of Alaska may be found there.

From Alaska to Patagonia, supporters of same-sex weddings won important legal victories in recent days. And I would bet that ”” despite strong Roman Catholic Church opposition ”” gay marriages will be legal in most countries of the hemisphere sooner than you think.

Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled Aug. 5 that Mexico City’s six-month-old law authorizing same-sex marriage is constitutional, rejecting an appeal from federal prosecutors. Five Mexican states have passed laws allowing same-sex weddings recently, and the Supreme Court ruling is expected to drive several others to do so shortly.

On Aug. 4, a San Francisco federal judge overturned California’s ban on same-sex marriages, drawing celebrations there. The case is likely to end up in the Supreme Court, which would decide if gays have a constitutional right to marry in all U.S. states.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/08/10/98837/commentary-the-economics-of-gay.html#ixzz0wFVortvQ

Read it all.

O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich: Deliver us, we pray thee, from an inordinate love of this world, that, inspired by the devotion of thy servant Clare, we may serve thee with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever.

California City With $800,000 Salaried Manager Cut to Junk Credit Rating by S&P—Read it all.

The Federal Reserve acknowledged on Tuesday that its confidence in the economic recovery had dimmed, and announced that it would use the proceeds from its huge mortgage-bond portfolio to buy long-term Treasury securities.

Saying it would buy relatively modest amounts of government debt, analysts said the Fed signaled that it had no intention to back away from steps that it took, starting in 2007, to prop up the financial and housing markets. While the central bank held off on taking more aggressive steps, like a new, huge round of asset purchases, it left open the possibility that additional easing of monetary policy could take place in the fall if the recovery were to continue to weaken.

The Fed’s new stance marked the completion of a turnabout from a few months ago, when officials were discussing when and how to eventually raise interest rates and gradually shrink the $2.3 trillion balance sheet the Fed amassed through its response to the 2008 financial crisis.

Read it all.

The biggest political change in my lifetime is that Americans no longer assume that their children will have it better than they did. This is a huge break with the past, with assumptions and traditions that shaped us.

The country I was born into was a country that had existed steadily, for almost two centuries, as a nation in which everyone thought””wherever they were from, whatever their circumstances””that their children would have better lives than they did. That was what kept people pulling their boots on in the morning after the first weary pause: My kids will have it better. They’ll be richer or more educated, they’ll have a better job or a better house, they’ll take a step up in terms of rank, class or status. America always claimed to be, and meant to be, a nation that made little of class. But America is human. “The richest family in town,” they said, admiringly. Read Booth Tarkington on turn-of-the-last-century Indiana. It’s all about trying to rise.

Parents now fear something has stopped. They think they lived through the great abundance, a time of historic growth in wealth and material enjoyment. They got it, and they enjoyed it, and their kids did, too: a lot of toys in that age, a lot of Xboxes and iPhones. (Who is the most self-punishing person in America right now? The person who didn’t do well during the abundance.) But they look around, follow the political stories and debates, and deep down they think their children will live in a more limited country, that jobs won’t be made at a great enough pace, that taxes””too many people in the cart, not enough pulling it””will dishearten them, that the effects of 30 years of a low, sad culture will leave the whole country messed up. And then there is the world: nuts with nukes, etc….

When the adults of a great nation feel long-term pessimism, it only makes matters worse when those in authority take actions that reveal their detachment from the concerns””even from the essential nature””of their fellow citizens. And it makes those citizens feel powerless.

Read it all.

(Please note the above title is from the paper edition–KSH).

“Our notion of authorship and originality was born, it flourished, and it may be waning,” …[University of Notre Dame anthropologist, Susan D.] Blum said.

She contends that undergraduates are less interested in cultivating a unique and authentic identity ”” as their 1960s counterparts were ”” than in trying on many different personas, which the Web enables with social networking.

“If you are not so worried about presenting yourself as absolutely unique, then it’s O.K. if you say other people’s words, it’s O.K. if you say things you don’t believe, it’s O.K. if you write papers you couldn’t care less about because they accomplish the task, which is turning something in and getting a grade,” Ms. Blum said, voicing student attitudes. “And it’s O.K. if you put words out there without getting any credit.”

Read it all.

The University of Illinois on Thursday said it had offered a job to an instructor who was fired over a complaint that he engaged in hate speech in his explanation of Catholic church doctrine on homosexuality.

The university also said it will stop allowing the on-campus St. John’s Catholic Newman Center to pay instructors who teach Catholic-related courses and will instead pay those teachers itself — ending a decades-old arrangement that troubled some faculty.

Read the whole thing.

The US will impose new sanctions on North Korea, following the crisis over the sinking of a South Korean warship.

The move was announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a visit to South Korea.

She said the measures would target Pyongyang’s sale and purchase of arms and import of luxury goods, and would help prevent nuclear proliferation.

Read it all.

The bursting of the U.S. housing bubble has left homeowners buried under about $4 trillion of excess mortgage debt, according to Dhaval Joshi, the chief strategist at RAB Capital.

Read it all and take the time to read the longer analysis here.

New cuts may be coming to the Philadelphia Fire Department and they could include rolling closures of firehouses.

What if you stopped by your local firehouse and found the firefighters who would normally be first to answer your call weren’t there at all that day?

It could happen.

The city announced as many as four units each day may be taken out of service in neighborhoods city wide in hopes of saving more than $3.5 million in overtime to ease the city’s budget crunch.

Read it all.

From here:

Like you, I was very disappointed at the outcome of last weekend’s debate at General Synod in York and appalled at the intransigence of some feminist clergy and their supporters. What kind of a church is it that is willing to ignore the leadership of its Archbishops and to renege on a solemn promise given to Parliament about an honoured and permanent place for us?

We now face a most serious situation, made all the worse by the refusal of the Synod to pass the Archbishops’ amendment. Resolutions A & B – which provide the basis in law on which the ordination of women can be opposed – are to be removed. This means that any opposition which might be tolerated will be based on the recognition of supposed prejudice rather than the respect of theological principle. Further, the abolition of the PEVs is proposed, which will leave our constituency in an intolerable position. All we would be allowed under the draft Measure as it now stands is access to a male bishop, whose own beliefs need not coincide with ours. That is sexism writ large.

Despite the dreadful result in York, we owe a debt of gratitude to the Catholic Group in General Synod, along with all those who supported them in the debate. In the coming weeks, a new Synod is to be elected and it is vital we all do all we can to ensure the return of as many orthodox candidates as possible, in order that a Catholic presence on the Synod can be there to continue to represent the interests of Catholic Anglicans throughout this divisive and unnecessary process.

That these are very difficult times for all of us goes without saying; we need, above all, to take time to pray, to consult together and to support one another, as we try to discern our respective ways forward ”“ not just in faith, but also of course in hope and in love.

–(The Rt. Rev.) John Broadhurst, Bishop of Fulham

June’s employment report was disappointing. Though the national unemployment rate fell slightly””it’s now at 9.5% from 9.7% in May””the report reveals deep structural problems that go beyond the number of those who remain without jobs.

Almost half of unemployed Americans have been without a job for over six months. The average duration of unemployment, which hit a post-World War II record many months ago, continues to go up. Last month it clocked in at 35 weeks. Unemployment is particularly severe among the young: A quarter of Americans between 16 and 19 years old in the labor market are without a job.

The longer it takes to understand and address these issues, the more likely the U.S. will get stuck in a protracted low growth/high unemployment trap. In addition to considering the welfare cost of substantial joblessness, policy makers should keep in mind the following four facts….

Read it all.