I wrote about this fear on my blog, and while the response was mostly positive, some liberals called me paranoid, or expressed doubt about why any teacher would nix the particular texts I listed. I guarantee you that these people do not work in higher education, or if they do they are at least two decades removed from the job search. The academic job market is brutal. Teachers who are not tenured or tenure-track faculty members have no right to due process before being dismissed, and there’s a mile-long line of applicants eager to take their place. And as writer and academic Freddie DeBoer writes, they don’t even have to be formally fired ”” they can just not get rehired. In this type of environment, boat-rocking isn’t just dangerous, it’s suicidal, and so teachers limit their lessons to things they know won’t upset anybody.

This shift in student-teacher dynamic placed many of the traditional goals of higher education ”” such as having students challenge their beliefs ”” off limits. While I used to pride myself on getting students to question themselves and engage with difficult concepts and texts, I now hesitate. What if this hurts my evaluations and I don’t get tenure? How many complaints will it take before chairs and administrators begin to worry that I’m not giving our customers ”” er, students, pardon me ”” the positive experience they’re paying for? Ten? Half a dozen? Two or three?

This phenomenon has been widely discussed as of late, mostly as a means of deriding political, economic, or cultural forces writers don’t much care for. Commentators on the left and right have recently criticized the sensitivity and paranoia of today’s college students. They worry about the stifling of free speech, the implementation of unenforceable conduct codes, and a general hostility against opinions and viewpoints that could cause students so much as a hint of discomfort.

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The Rev. J. Russell Kendrick strides through the construction area at Trinity Episcopal Church in Mobile, where only a few months ago, clergy and laity delegates from across the Central Gulf Coast elected him bishop. An architect before he answered God’s call, Kendrick is dressed in a black clergy shirt, a priest’s collar — and blue jeans.

“I’ll be the first homegrown bishop,” says the Fort Walton Beach native who will be ordained and consecrated Saturday, July 25. “I think that’s significant.”

Kendrick, 54, has his own term for the solemn ceremony in which other bishops lay hands on him and current Bishop Philip Duncan gives him the crozier, a staff that signals the transition of office. “I’m … saying I’m going to be ‘bishopized,'” Kendrick says.

Years ago, Kendrick was working as an architect in the family business and volunteering with youth at his hometown parish, Saint Simons By-The-Sea, when he answered God’s call to become a priest. Having earned a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in business from Auburn University, he added a Master of Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1996. He has served as rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Cahaba Heights in Birmingham since 2007.

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O gracious God, we remember before thee this day thy servant and apostle James, first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the Name of Jesus Christ; and we pray that thou wilt pour out upon the leaders of thy Church that spirit of self-denying service by which alone they may have true authority among thy people; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Fortify us, O God, with the courage which cometh only from thee; that in the midst of all our perils and perplexities we may find that peace which only thou canst give; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

He went away from there and came to his own country; and his disciples followed him. And on the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief.

–Mark 6:1-6

Tim Stafford spoke with Guinness about making the gospel appealing in a secularizing culture.
What made you decide to write about apologetics at this time?

Clearly we’re at a stage in Western history where we need the church to be persuasive. Public life has grown more secular. Private worlds have become more diverse, and we have a mounting hostility against us. If ever Christians at large and evangelicals in particular needed to be persuasive with people who are not open, it’s now. So I thought it was the time to write.

Fool’s Talk is the fruit of many decades of thinking. I owe a huge debt to C. S. Lewis, from whom I came to faith; to Francis Schaeffer, who introduced me to the discipline of apologetics; and to Peter Berger, the sociologist, who has probably shaped my mind more than any other living person. My approach is a mixture of the three of them.

At the beginning of your book you refer to this as “the grand age of apologetics.” That will surprise some people. What do you mean by it?

The phrase is not mine. I read it in a sociology article, and it surprised me at first. In the age of the Internet, everyone is presenting their daily me. Think of Facebook. People are selling themselves, defending themselves, presenting themselves, arguing for themselves, whatever. In that sense this is the age of apologetics. When I read that, I realized that we Christians have had this in our DNA for 2,000 years. But are we prepared for this extraordinary new age?

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“We are very quick to criticise street preachers”, says British street preacher who faces a retrial at the end of July.
After having been found guilty of violating Section 5 of the Public Order Act earlier this year, UK street preacher Mike Overd faces a retrial on Friday 31st July.

Cleared of all charges in his first court appearance in 2012, the Taunton-based ex-paratrooper and his legal representatives at Christian Concern are confident that they will get another not guilty verdict at the end of the month.

Section 5 of the British Public Order Act has to do with offences related to causing harassment, alarm or distress by using threatening, abusive or insulting words and/ or behaviour.

We took some time to catch up with Overd to find out more about his trial and his message.

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By Lucinda Borkett-Jones Christian Today Features Editor Published 23 March 2015
A Christian street preacher was today found guilty of using “threatening” language by quoting the Bible when speaking about homosexuality on the streets of Taunton in June last year.

Former paratrooper Mike Overd was convicted under section 5 of the Public Order Act, which concerns causing harassment, alarm or distress by using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour.

The judge at Bristol Crown Court told him that he should not have used the particular verse in the Bible ”“ Leviticus 20:13 ”“ because it uses the word “abomination”. The judge suggested that there were other verses he could have chosen if he wanted to talk about what the Bible says about homosexuality.

Libby Towell, spokesperson for the Christian Legal Centre, who represented Overd, said: “The judge is effectively censoring the Bible and saying that certain verses aren’t fit for public consumption.”

Overd was given a fine of £200, and told to pay £1,200 in costs and compensation. This included a sum for the emotional harm caused to the homosexual man, who is also a Christian, to whom he was speaking when he quoted Leviticus.

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…word about Seales’ software reached the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). They already had the Ein Gedi scroll scanned with a micro-CT machine but couldn’t make sense of the information. Could Seales help? A meeting was arranged in the U.S., and over lunch, he was handed a hard drive containing terabytes of raw data. Though in much better condition than the Roman scrolls, the Hebrew parchment offered its own challenges. Made of animal skin instead of plant-based papyrus, it had bubbled and blistered over the years. New programming tricks that corrected for those imperfections in the data would be needed.

“This is probably a simpler problem than the Herculaneum scrolls, which are really the worst-case scenario in the field,” says Vito Mocella of the Italian National Research Council, who heads the Italian team that ultimately found a way to read letters on the Roman scrolls using an enhanced scanning technique and a powerful particle accelerator. “But even if it’s simpler, it’s still not so easy.”

Luckily for Seales, the Hebrews added metal to their inks, which showed up clearly as bright white spots in the CT data. As his software virtually unwound a single layer from the middle of the scroll, text revealed itself: “The LORD summoned Moses and spoke to him,” it began. Israeli translators identified the words as the first verse of Leviticus, the book of laws.

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A Church of England rector who went on the run as he was convicted of pocketing thousands of pounds of fees from funerals and weddings is now feared to have skipped the country, police have revealed.

Interpol is now assisting in the search for the Rev Simon Reynolds, the Rector of Farnham in Surrey amid signs that he has made his way to continental Europe.

South Yorkshire Police made the disclosure as the Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Rev Tony Robinson, made a personal plea to the cleric to hand himself in, amid fears for his safety.

“Never forget we are praying for you,” the bishop, who has known Mr Reynold for several years, told him.

The 49-year-old, who previously helped oversee music and worship at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, walked out of Sheffield Crown Court – where he was on trial for theft from his former Yorkshire parish – during the lunch break on Thursday and did not return.

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Luke 1:46-55 and Luke 2:29-32

The latest attempt to change the law on assisted dying, which is to be debated by MPs in a Second Reading in September, has faced opposition from critics from the Church of England and elsewhere.

The Private Member’s Bill, if passed, would enable terminally ill adults who are “voluntary, clear, settled, and informed” to end their life with medically supervised assistance.

In a blog post, “Caring for the vulnerable in a compassionate society”, published on the Church of England website on Wednesday, the Revd Dr Brendan McCarthy, the Church’s national adviser on medical ethics, said that the Assisted Dying Bill “has the potential to damage both the well-being of individuals and the nature and shape of our society”.

“Every person’s life is of immeasurable value and ought to be affirmed, respected and cherished by society . . . even when some people no longer view their own lives as being of any further value. . .

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The Anglican Church in Trinidad and Tobago continues to face declining numbers both in members and clergy, Rev Canon Steve West has said.

West was at the time addressing a packed congregation at the ordination ceremony of 15 persons to the Diaconate (the Holy Order of Deacon, at the Cathedral of the Trinity Cathedral, Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, on Wednesday.

“The Anglican Church and the dioceses of Trinidad and Tobago is facing a dwindling membership: we have many people who say they are Anglicans but on Sunday morning they are not worshipping in church with us, and we have a severe shortage of clergy. We have parishes without parish priests,” West said.

Some of the interventions in response to declining membership have included a supplementary ministry programme, a diocesan strategic plan and in more recent times the capacity building project and capacity building report. Other solutions include an annual bible convention, youths interacting with the bishop and Lenten and advent caravans and diocesan bible study.

“This is a memorable and historical day in the dioceses of Trinidad and Tobago. Never before have we had an ordination of 15 persons. Never before has the church given such a bold response to the crisis of the shortage of clergy. Never before has a Bishop taken such a bold step to accept the ministry of 15 persons of varied backgrounds who together have over 250 years of ministry in the church.

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Abortion critics have long warned that the problem is not only the obvious ”” what abortion does to the fetus ”” but also what it does to us. It’s the same kind of desensitization that has occurred in the Netherlands with another mass exercise in life termination: assisted suicide. It began as a way to prevent the suffering of the terminally ill. It has now become so widespread and wanton that one-fifth of all Dutch assisted-suicide patients are euthanized without their explicit consent.

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1966 issue of Time ”” "remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop" http://t.co/qQNHYAXtSE $AMZN pic.twitter.com/Tmplu9KIdd

— The Art of LinkedIn (@ArtOfLinkedIn) July 23, 2015

Holy Father, who hast nourished and strengthened thy Church by the writings of thy servant Thomas a Kempis: Grant that we may learn from him to know what we ought to know, to love what we ought to love, to praise what highly pleaseth thee, and always to seek to know and follow thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Blot out, we humbly beseech Thee, O Lord, our past transgression; forgive our negligence and ignorance; help us to amend our mistakes and to repair our misunderstanding; and so uplift our hearts in new love and dedication, that we may be unburdened from the grief and shame of past faithlessness, and go forth to serve Thee with renewed courage and devotion; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And all the assembly kept silence; and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brethren, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, as it is written,

”˜After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will set it up,
that the rest of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who has made these things known from of old.’

Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from unchastity and from what is strangled and from blood. For from early generations Moses has had in every city those who preach him, for he is read every sabbath in the synagogues.”

–Acts 15:12-21

The Tallis theme is ‘Why fum’th in fight’ which is the fourth piece played here; words based on Psalm 2 in ‘Nine Psalm Tunes for Archbishop Parker’s Psalter by Thomas Tallis’.

We have just published a collection of experiences from across the Diocese.

This publication, Buildings on Sure Foundations, tells stories of how buildings that lay locked and empty have been reopened through a commitment of time, money and energy from those who longed to see them filled by new worshipping communities.

It also records simple things: an open door, a new way of using a space, a new welcome to the community.

“I was glad when they said to me, ”˜let us go to the house of the Lord!’”
Psalm 122:1

We hope to recount all these in more detail through Capital Vision 2020: the tale of one hundred new and renewed worshipping communities, and church buildings opened up to the communities around them; stories of possibilities in new and old places.

London’s churches are as varied and colourful as London’s communities. They are places where different strands come together, both temporal and eternal: places of quiet and prayer in a busy city; places of history and beauty; places of celebration and mourning; places of splendid ceremony and ministering to the poor.

Churches are also places where international visitors of all faiths and none can connect with God.

They are buildings on sure foundations, built with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone.

Read it all and you can read Buildings on Sure Foundations [pdf]

In Nairobi on Monday, members of the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya called upon Obama to refrain from discussing the gay agenda, reports CNSNews.com.

“It is important for us as Kenyans to know that the U.S. is not God,” evangelical Bishop Mark Kariuki was quoted by local media as saying.

Kariuki added that Obama should not use the visit to “talk about the gay issue.”

Irungu Kangata, a lawmaker in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) party, said, “We are telling Mr. Obama when he comes to Kenya this month and he tries to bring the abortion agenda, the gay agenda, we shall tell him to shut up and go home.”
….
Kenyan religious leaders have been warning the United States for several years about the harmful influence of the militant LGBT agenda on culture and society. In 2013, Kenyan Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi and president of the Kenyan Episcopal Conference, joined other African leaders in open dismissal of Obama’s calls for acceptance of same-sex marriage when the American president visited Africa at that time.

“Those people who have already ruined their society”¦let them not become our teachers to tell us where to go,” said Njue in response to Obama’s statements promoting same-sex marriage. “I think we need to act according to our own traditions and our faiths.”

Similarly, Ruto rebuked Obama for promoting same-sex marriage in Africa during his visit. Speaking at a Catholic Church, Ruto said, “Those who believe in other things, that is their business”¦We believe in God.”

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Monday that Obama would not avoid the topic of the gay agenda during his visit.

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When Frances “Rita” Eby died in January 2014 at age 96, her daughter knew where she would inter her mother’s cremated remains ”“ she would bury them in the rose garden at St. James the Great Episcopal Church in Newport Beach.

“Her church was so close to her heart,” said Eby’s daughter, Trish Norman.

Eby, Norman and St. James had a history. Eby was a congregant and volunteer at the church for 60 years. And Norman, 75, was confirmed at the church and attended Sunday school there.

So last month, when the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles shuttered the church on Via Lido as part of a plan to sell the property, Norman was concerned about what would become of the remains of her mother and 11 others buried in the rose garden.

Norman was further disturbed when she heard that the land could be sold to a developer to build luxury townhouses, a sale that might raise $15 million for the diocese.

“Who does that? You wouldn’t go into Pacific View and build townhomes there,” she said, referring to a local cemetery.

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President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the gay marriage offer by the United States of America, stating that sodomy is against the law of Nigeria and abhorrent to our culture.

The spokesperson of the president, Femi Adesina said that the issue of gay marriage was discussed during Buhari meeting in the US but he rejected the offer.

“The issue of gay marriage came up here yesterday. PMB was point blank. Sodomy is against the law in Nigeria, and abhorrent to our culture,” he posted on his Twitter handle.

Recalled that Nigerians have expressed fear that Obama might pressurized Buhari to sanction gay marriage in Nigeria in order to get the support of the United States.

Civil Society Organisations, also urged Buhari not to listen to the US government on issues of Gay rights, so as to protect the laws and values of Nigeria.

Read it all and there is another report from the Daily Trust in Abuja here

The Bishop of the Diocese of Evo, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Rt. Rev. Innocent Ordu, has restated that the Church of Nigeria condemns same sex marriage, homosexuality and lesbianism.

He also said the Church of Nigeria has an “impaired relationship” with churches in Western countries that have lent their support to same sex marriage and other vices condemned by the bible.

Ordu spoke in Port Harcourt yesterday at a press briefing to herald the third session of the third synod of the diocese scheduled for July 29 to August 2 at the Chapel of Grace and Knowledge, Archdeacon Crowther Memorial Girls’ School (ACMGS), Elelenwo.
….
a few years ago, we discovered that some sections of the church, particularly, in the Western world began to toy with some sensitive aspects as regard the spirituality and doctrine of the church; and the Church of Nigeria, you know, took their position on those issues, particularly the issue of human sexuality.

“Even apart from the stand-point of the scripture, on the strength of culture, we are first and foremost Africans, Nigerians and we come from different cultures, traditions. There are certain things that even our cultures abhor. Our firm position on those things is strengthened much more by the position of the scripture that they are evil. So, we cannot on one hand be preaching against other evils of society, of the average community and we are upholding another evil because of a distorted position or understanding of some persons.

“So, the position of the Anglican Church, for instance, on this matter of homosexuality, lesbianism and the rest of them is that it is against scripture and any arm or part of the church worldwide that advocates it, is breaching the provisions and tenets of the scripture and we cannot be in any form of relationship with such an arm of the body of Christ until proper positions are taken or reversed by those who advocate such.

“The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has what we locally here, back home in Nigeria, define as ”˜an impaired relationship’ with any other province, that is a National Church or part of the Anglican world that supports or advocates or champions this evil that the scriptures condemn, which now they said men are free to marry fellow men; women are free to marry fellow women and all that. We are saying God abhors it; please, change your posture on this and come back to the original biblical position of God on these issues; and if you are not ready to do that, we too cannot be in communion with you. That is the position of the church.”

On the fate of the Archbishop of Kaduna, Most Rev. Josiah Idowu-Fearon, who took appointment as Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), Ordu said the archbishop did not consult the primate of the church before taking up the position.

“The position of the Primate is that since a good number of those who are part of the ACC are in support of the gay rights movement and all that, a Nigerian Bishop, knowing the position of the national church here, ought not to accept a position in that body, because doing so will mean that we have all keyed into whatever negative posture these other ones are holding,” he said.

He added that while the church was not happy that the archbishop took up the appointment, he was not aware if he would be sanctioned.

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..Pope Francis, who was born in Argentina, knows how to talk in a language that is not simply a replay of liberation theology. During his trip, which included visits to Ecuador and Paraguay, he repeatedly invoked the idea of a “Patria Grande,” a great Latin American homeland, brought about through greater social, political, and economic unity. Such appeals for unity have been made in the recent past by the likes of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, but they have their origins in the stirring rhetoric of Latin American independence heroes such as José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar.

Notably, Pope Francis was a crucial figure, behind the scenes, in the recent secret diplomatic rapprochement between the United States and Cuba. In May, Cuba’s President Raúl Castro, a lifelong communist, went to the Vatican to see Francis and remarked, “If the Pope continues to speak like this, sooner or later I will start praying again and I will return to the Catholic Church””and I’m not saying this jokingly.” Evo Morales, for his part, said, “For the first time in my life, I feel like I have a Pope””Pope Francis.”

But it is not only the leftists of Latin America who see something in the pontiff. Paraguay’s conservative President, Horacio Cartes, was equally effusive, lauding him for “his direction [that] lights the way and also gives us a grand task: to work together, with sacrifice and perseverance, so that we might have a country that is more equal for all.”…

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Remember the more specific you are, the more the rest of us can enjoy it–why you chose this book, what specifically you like/liked about it, etc.–KSH.

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Almighty God, Lord of the storm and of the calm, the vexed sea and the quiet haven, of day and of night, of life and of death, ”“ grant unto us so to have our hearts stayed upon Thy faithfulness, Thine unchangingness and love, that, whatsoever betide us, however black the cloud or dark the night, with quiet faith trusting in Thee we may look upon Thee with untroubled eye, and walking in lowliness towards Thee, and in lovingness towards one another, abide all storms and troubles of this mortal life, beseeching Thee that they may turn to the soul’s true good. We ask it for Thy mercy’s sake, shown in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High; and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.

–Psalm 50:14-15