Gareth Southgate is aiming to chip away at the historic tournament failings that have perennially undermined England’s chances, and Sunday’s 1-0 win over Croatia at Wembley Stadium is another notable step along that path.

The 50-year-old is steeped in Three Lions history, standing prominently in the lineage of biannual disappointment dating back to 1966. As a player, he missed the decisive penalty in England’s Euro ’96 defeat against Germany before reshaping his place in the national consciousness as manager of a progressive team for the past five years.

Read it all.

Live piece from Wembley after #eng 1-0 #cro. England win their opening match at a Euros for the first time. Southgate takes another step forward in chipping away and England’s historic tournament failings – and does so his way: https://t.co/9q8WJ49Jk3

— James Olley (@JamesOlley) June 13, 2021

The Evangelical Statement of Faith

We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the infallible, authoritative Word of God.
We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Today's pick: Nicolas Poussin: Seven sacraments: baptism https://t.co/dKwHGSTotG pic.twitter.com/Uph40nJAwi

— Art and the Bible (@artbible) June 13, 2021

In the two years since Southern Baptists gathered as a convention, tensions around racial and political issues escalated. But just a couple weeks before their upcoming annual meeting in Nashville, another topic has taken center stage, as new documentation alleges high-ranking leaders in the denomination resisted its efforts to address abuse.

Some Southern Baptists are calling for an investigation of the Executive Committee (EC) after a series of leaked material has suggested that its leaders—one of whom is the conservative pick in the current race for SBC president—worked to hamper efforts to hear from victims in their own terms and to investigate churches with credible claims of cover-up.

“What those docs did kind of reoriented and shifted what the conversations and priorities were going to be going into the convention this year,” said Tennessee pastor Grant Gaines, who along with North Carolina pastor Ronnie Parrott announced plans to make a motion at the June 15–16 meeting calling for a third-party investigation into the EC.

Read it all.

I wanted to summarize the issues at stake at the upcoming SBC annual meeting. Turns out, they're not easy to summarize.

Will new revelations released online change people's minds or further entrench them into opposing camps?

Read more at @CTmagazine: https://t.co/PaCKdoFmdn

— kate shellnutt (@kateshellnutt) June 11, 2021

Au-delà du 19…

Novak Djokovic est le 6️⃣e joueur de l’ère Open à remonter un handicap de 2 sets à 0 pour s’imposer en finale de Grand Chelem.

Les chiffres qui ont marqué le Jour 15 📝👇#RolandGarros

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 13, 2021

He warned against defining God purely through abstract definitions — the usual listing of His attributes, e.g. omnipotent, omniscient, all-loving, etc. He was concerned that if this was the primary way we understood God, we risk making God an exhibit in a museum, and the attributes His labels. But God is no static abstraction. He is alive and acts in history. I thank my Pentecostal and charismatic friends for reminding me of God’s presence and power, but the lesson was first drilled into my heart by a German theologian in a Canadian seminary.

A number of implications arise from this understanding of God as a God who acts. One is that we get to know what kind of God He is by His actions. Talking about Jesus, Dr Bockmuehl said Jesus is from above but we know Him from below. In other words, Christ is part of the Trinity, He is from above, but it is His activity in history, His teachings and His actions, that let us know who He is and, therefore, who God is. The supreme act of revelation is of course His death on the Cross and His resurrection. And Israel was always exhorted to remember the Passover and God’s deliverance through the Red Sea. To take God seriously is to take His actions in history seriously.

I am very worried about some of the modern worship music. They either don’t take history seriously, focusing only on the singer’s subjective feelings about God, or they focus only on the personal histories of the composers; what God did in their lives. They are essentially ahistorical and deprive us of the bigger and more accurate picture of God revealed in salvation history and church history. They end up reductionistic and with a much smaller God.

And if our picture of God is smaller and essentially ahistorical, we end up with a weakened faith, not fully confident in what He will do in the present. If Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, we know what kind of God He is and what He will do by meditating on what He has done in the past. So if we are praying for healing, for example, we know we are praying to a God who hears, who is concerned, who cares and who comes down to deliver. We know the verbs. Knowing He is that kind of God means we pray with confidence both in His deliverance and in how and when He delivers.

Read it all.

Soo-Inn Tan–Klaus Bockmuehl and the God of Verbs https://t.co/mb2eUuTtBF #theology #canada #christology #scripture #churchhistory @regentcollege pic.twitter.com/JKlmIYI6fS

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) June 13, 2021

Almighty God, who thyself art love, fill us with the spirit of thy holy love; that our hearts being enkindled by thee, we may for ever love thee, and each other in thee, and all men for thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.

Good morning, happy sunday for all, enjoy a wonderful day 🏵️💐🧡💙🤗 pic.twitter.com/e1bAH4spPb

— Thierry Gauthier (@gauthie74757302) June 13, 2021

Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and wonderful, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended. And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and wonderful are thy deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are thy ways, O King of the ages! Who shall not fear and glorify thy name, O Lord? For thou alone art holy. All nations shall come and worship thee, for thy judgments have been revealed.” After this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, and their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives for ever and ever; and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.

–Revelation 15:1-8

"Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath, we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul."

– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel pic.twitter.com/xb2e22pcWz

— 24-7 Prayer (@247prayer) June 13, 2021

Enjoy it all.

In arguably one of the best matches of his career, top-seeded Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2 to end the King of Clay’s bid for a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title and hand Nadal just his third-ever loss at Roland Garros.

We all know Nadal losing in Paris doesn’t happen often. Along with that 105-3 career record on the Paris clay, Nadal was 26-0 once reaching the semifinals at Roland Garros. But Djokovic is now the only player to beat Nadal twice here.

Read it all.

Novak Djokovic defeats Rafael Nadal to advance to the French Open title match ‼️ pic.twitter.com/JPLsjop0BU

— ESPN (@espn) June 11, 2021

14 pitches–wow. Watch the whole thing.

Almighty God, who didst lead thy pilgrim people of old by fire and cloud: Grant that the ministers of thy Church, following the example of thy servant Enmegahbowh, may lead thy people with fiery zeal and gentle humility. This we ask through Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, now and forever. Amen.

@capokorny Saint Enmegahbowh pic.twitter.com/3zjsO7iDq0

— TLS+ (@reverendstar) January 31, 2014

O God,
the strength of all those who put their trust in you,
mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you both in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Wildflower Sunrise by Ray Green pic.twitter.com/vM0noDvzYq

— ~Andrés G_74~ (@andrespeneke) June 12, 2021

One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” He answered them, “I also will ask you a question; now tell me, Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” So they answered that they did not know whence it was. And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

–Luke 20:1-8

04:30am this morning on a long walk along Cleethorpes beach past the boating lake #loveCleethorpes good time to ‘pond’er pic.twitter.com/WtDbZRYt57

— Katrina Goodhand (@KatrinaGoodhand) June 12, 2021

The Bints, who live in Chagford in Devon, formed a support bubble when their children returned home at the start of the crisis.

Jon Bint said it meant they were in a “unique” position to ring the bells in line with Covid-19 guidance.

He described the family’s experience as a “one-off moment in time”.

Many parishes across the UK fell silent during lockdown as churches were forced to close, and social distancing made it difficult for more than one household to ring the bells.

The family affair began when Mr Bint first met his wife bell-ringing more than 30 years ago.

Over the years they passed on their skills to their two sons Joe and Gabe, and more recently, their daughters Holly and Morwenna.

Read it all.

Covid: Family keeps Chagford bells ringing through pandemic https://t.co/93K13Unsn2

— BBC Health News (@bbchealth) June 10, 2021

“Kazakhstan made a very bold move by being the first country to repatriate large numbers of its nationals,” Chris Harnisch, a Trump State Department official who worked on the issue, said in an interview. “They were not dipping their toe in the water. They went all in.” The Kazakh government repatriated 607 citizens through a program called Operation Zhusan. Most were women (157) and children (413). Thirty-seven adult male fighters faced prosecution upon arrival. Another 32 women and 89 children returned themselves.

The Kazakh government sends women and children to rehabilitation centers, where they undergo a long process to help them reintegrate into society. Some return completely jaded, while others remain committed to ISIS: One woman tried to smuggle the group’s propaganda into Kazakhstan in a child’s toy.

“We are trying to bring them back to normal,” then-Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan Ashikbayev told me earlier this year. “We would like to see them as ordinary people.” This created controversy domestically, but the government held firm.

Read it all.

When ISIS Families Come Home
Kazakhstan’s efforts at rehabilitation and reintegration put Europe to shame: law enforcement can help mitigate risk but “we will not be probably at 100% success and we will definitely be having problems.” https://t.co/KJFmN5N1ft

— Phil Gurski (@borealissaves) June 11, 2021

The Bishop of Gloucester, commented:

“It is shocking that thousands of women each year leave prison without anywhere safe and secure to live or the support they need. “Without safe and supported housing, we cannot expect vulnerable women to turn their lives around.”

“This crisis is entirely preventable but we need urgent well-funded, cross-Govt action to address this issue. I implore the Government to adopt the measures outlined in our letter today to ensure that no vulnerable woman leaves prison to No Fixed Abode.”

Read it all.

🔴Thousands of vulnerable women are being released from prison into homelessness because of Ministry of Justice’s failure to find them appropriate accommodation, say 60 MPs, peers and the Church of England https://t.co/GMYDn2yeQh

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) June 7, 2021

Alumni, faculty, and staff of Wycliffe College were saddened today to learn of the death of Professor Emeritus Dr Richard N. Longenecker. Dr. Longenecker—who made his home in Brantford, ON—died Monday, June 7, 2021. Predeceased by his wife Fran (2016), he was in his 91st year.

Richard Longenecker taught at Wycliffe College for 22 years (1972–1994) and was our Ramsay Armitage Professor of New Testament. He was instrumental in enhancing the academic credibility of the College so that it became a destination for evangelical students seeking to study at the doctoral level. Moreover, his status as an American Baptist layman opened the doors of the College to students beyond the Anglican Church. Professor Alan Hayes writes, “His appointment represents the turning-point for Wycliffe in enlarging its mission from the narrow focus of training people for the Anglican ministry to a more ecumenical and diverse vision for evangelical theological scholarship. He designed a new program (the Master of Religion degree) for students preparing for a diversity of lay and ordained ministries in the wider Church, including advanced research.” Dr Longenecker was also an Associate Alumnus of the College and received Wycliffe’s Doctor of Divinity degree in 1996. We thank God for his life and ministry, and, with many who called him friend and mentor, we pray for his family as they grieve his death.

Read it all.

Saddened to hear of the passing of Prof Richard Longenecker (1930-2021), with whom I was blessed to study at @Wycliffe_UofT . An erudite and careful scholar, a kind and generous person, and a faithful interpreter of Scripture. He will be missed. https://t.co/aEow5bATT3 pic.twitter.com/msOFAGLztO

— Dan Smith (@htimsnad_01) June 8, 2021

It is absolutely right therefore that governments and health services around the world work to protect the citizens of their particular nations. This is a God given responsibility. But Jesus is clear that this cannot be done in isolation. As we care for our own citizens, so we need to look to the good of others. Jesus knows the truth of the now well quoted saying ‘no one is safe until we are all safe’. For those who are blessed with more, as we are in this country, comes therefore greater responsibility. If we are to keep ‘the law and the prophets’, we have to take to heart the command of Jesus to ‘love our neighbours as ourselves’.

This week we pray for the leaders of the world’s largest economies who will be gathering and pray that they will have a wider vision of God’s world beyond national boundaries and a thirst for the common good in which each and every human being of whatever race or creed or nationality is know as precious to God and therefore to us. We pray that such a vision will lead to action for the most vulnerable and for a world in which we can all live life in all its fullness.

May we also pray for the courage that our voice will be heard as we seek justice and that our deeds, however small, may also reflect that justice for which we pray.

Read it all.

Message from Bishop Robert. https://t.co/OtYuyMuCun via @@glosdioc

— Robert Springett (@bptewkesbury) June 8, 2021

Grant, O God, that we may follow the example of thy faithful servant Barnabas, who, seeking not his own renown but the well-being of thy Church, gave generously of his life and substance for the relief of the poor and the spread of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Saint Barnabas healing the sick, 1566 #paoloveronese #veronese pic.twitter.com/h7Djqs24xM

— Paolo Veronese (@ArtistVeronese) June 7, 2021

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who hast taught us by love to serve one another: Give us eyes of compassion for human suffering and need wherever it is found, and especially for that which lies nearest to our own doors; save us from neglecting life’s opportunities; and grant that while we have time we may do good to all men, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Morning !#morning #sunrise pic.twitter.com/l3DGstq2cj

— Sandro (@RomainSandro) June 11, 2021

And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.”

And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people sought to destroy him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people hung upon his words.

–Luke 19:41-48

Seaside Poppies by Marie Egner
good morning pic.twitter.com/QcYRh7VI35

— marysia (@marysia_cc) June 11, 2021

Listen to it all and if you want the lyrics they are available if you click the link underneath the video on Youtube.

“We continue to engage with Shell on the implications and how accelerating its plans will enable the company to meet the requirements of the CA100+ Net Zero Company Benchmark by 2023. It also underlines the importance that we must all work to decarbonise the real economy to reshape energy demand and ensure all companies – energy companies and all their customers in shipping, aviation, transport, road haulage, power generation and elsewhere are aligning to net zero.”

Read it all.

Shell to speed up energy transition plan after Dutch court ruling https://t.co/LAcwPirvmV

— FT Energy (@ftenergy) June 9, 2021

And so we have come on to a crisis point. Some think it is a turning point. The Spectator last week published its Americano podcast with the intriguing title “Is the sexual counterrevolution coming?”. https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/is-the-sexual-counterrevolution-coming-

It is a revealing and fascinating listen (although wrong in some respects as regards Christianity and Calvinism). Along with some articles published a couple of years earlier it points to a world where sexual freedom has led to sexual fear and to a new secular puritanism. Every word is to be scrutinized, safe spaces established, ‘women-only’ carriages on trains’ etc. In an era that is obsessed with sex (was it ever different?) and where we have such sexual freedom, the irony is that many are concluding that it’s better not to have sex at all. We live in a world where Fifty Shades of Grey is feted as feminist erotica, even though it glorifies male dominance and violence, while a man putting his hand on a woman’s knee is an evil sign of the patriarchy. Our answer to misogyny (hatred of women) is apparently misandry (hatred of men). Put those two together and you end up with misanthropy (hatred of human beings). In the age of humanism we are heading towards a society that likes the idea of humanity; it’s just humans it can’t stand.

There are some Christians who think that this backlash is a good thing and that it might herald better days ahead. I’m not convinced. I think that we live in a confused, hurting and increasingly irrational culture, where the gods of money, power and sex still reign. I don’t believe that a return to a perceived golden age of Victorian morality is either possible or desirable. What we really need is to go back even further – to the 1st century Greco-Roman Pagan world.

In a sense we are already there. Unlike the myth sold us by the false apostles of the new sexual revolution, this was not a time of sexual bliss but one of confusion, abuse, slavery, sexual diseases, infanticide and abortion, immorality, and the rich and powerful ruling over and using the poor and weak. In other words instead of our society progressing we have regressed to the Greco/Roman/Pagan past. We have gone back to the future.

So it’s simple. Christians should do in the 21st century, what it did in the 1st: preach the Gospel, care for the poor, avoid all sexual immorality, live in a community of love and fellowship and keep ourselves from being tainted by the world.

Read it all.

Welcome to the Sexual Counter-Reformation https://t.co/8jQzSVSzdh pic.twitter.com/5W5ATrEN9x

— David Robertson (@theweeflea) November 8, 2017

With coronavirus restrictions still in place in much of Canada, many families have taken up going out together for evening strolls. On Sunday, however, a pleasant walk became the scene of a deadly attack by a motorist who used his truck to kill four members of a family in London, Ontario, and injure a boy who is now an orphan. They were targeted, the police said, because of their Muslim faith.

Along with grieving, the deaths have prompted anger and demands for government action against bigotry and violence toward Muslims.

“Even after this, there are still people saying that Islamophobia doesn’t exist,” said Mohamed Salih, a member of London’s City Council. “The challenge and a reality we must face is that far too often in our city, there is Islamophobia. It’s something we’ve known for far too long.”

On Tuesday night, the province of Ontario temporarily lifted pandemic rules banning large gatherings to allow thousands of people to gather for a memorial outside the London Muslim Mosque to remember the Afzaal-Salman family. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended.

Read it all.

“There’s racism and there’s hate directed toward the Muslim community from all angles.” On Tuesday, thousands gathered in London, Ontario, for a vigil to remember the Azfaal-Salman family, four of whom were killed in a truck attack days earlier. https://t.co/BB16NG1IwM

— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) June 9, 2021

Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu has launched the “Yes, We Can!” fundraising campaign at All Saints’ Cathedral, Kampala to save the church from debts.

The “Yes, We Can!” fundraising campaign aims to raise 1,000,000 “Love Gifts” of Shs 60,000 each to clear the construction loans on Church House.

Last week, Mugalu called upon Ugandans to participate towards the contribution of the church house debt.

Church of Uganda is currently in crisis talks following reports that its multi-billion Church House building on Kampala Road is at risk of being auctioned over Shs 48 billion unpaid debt.

Read it all.

Archbishop Kaziimba launches “Yes, We Can!” fundraising campaign to clear church debts#NilePostNews #NBSUpdates

More details: https://t.co/H4ur5vN0zV

— Nile Post (@nilepostnews) June 7, 2021

A new Anglican Communion Science Commission (ACSC) is being formed to “resource the whole Anglican Communion for courageous and confident spiritual leadership in issues involving science.”

The ACSC will be co-chaired by the Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba and the Bishop of Oxford, Stephen Croft.

The ACSC will formally launch at the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England, in July and August next year, and will hold its first conference shortly afterwards.

Read it all.

Scientists and theologians join forces for new Anglican Communion Science Commission https://t.co/FCZ0lJBaEQ

— St. John's Church (@StJohnsLondon) May 27, 2021

Pour out upon us, O Lord, that same Spirit by which thy deacon Ephrem rejoiced to proclaim in sacred song the mysteries of faith; and so gladden our hearts that we, like him, may be devoted to thee alone; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

9th JUNE: ST EPHREM, DEACON AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

-thread-
1. Born about 306 in Nisibis, Turkey, St Ephrem was ordained deacon and given charge of a school of theology which later moved to Edessa. He lived an ascetic life;he taught, preached, and wrote extensively. #StEphrem pic.twitter.com/mR334KEU84

— Douay Rheims (@DouayRheims1) June 9, 2021

O God, we know and believe in the love thou bearest towards us. May we, by dwelling in that love, dwell in thee, and thou in us. We would learn to love and to serve him whom we have not seen, by loving and serving our brethren whom we have seen; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Around now. One year ago. I've been much lazier this year for early morning wake ups. 3am to catch a solistice sunrise. Need to get back on it 🧙‍♂️ #glastonburytor #somerset #solsticesunrise pic.twitter.com/KWiV27X0EU

— Edward Allistone (@EAllistone) June 10, 2021