Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints that lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years and was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

Now there was at Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. In those days she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him entreating him, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter rose and went with them. And when he had come, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping, and showing tunics and other garments which Dorcas made while she was with them. But Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, rise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and lifted her up. Then calling the saints and widows he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner.

–Acts 9:32-43

Tabitha: An Exemplary Disciple (Acts 9:36-42) https://t.co/ey3oHk9kN1 via @MargMowczko [Wolfymoza CC BY-SA 4.0] pic.twitter.com/vFwIUhJhBT

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) July 6, 2021

1. Which of these events actually happened on July 4, 1776?

A) The U.S. declared victory in the Revolutionary War.

B) A group of patriots dressed as Native Americans tossed British tea into the harbor to protest excessive taxes.

C) The Declaration of Independence was finalized.

D) The Constitution was finalized.

E) Paul Revere rode from Boston to Lexington and Concord to warn the patriots that the British would attack by sea….

Check it all out and see how you do.

With a lifting of restrictions, the Southland saw a return of crowds and festivities on the beaches as fireworks lit up the night sky.

Another signal of California’s continuing steps to normality.

Check out photos of #FourthofJuly celebrations athttps://t.co/jbcT5xUuG9

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) July 5, 2021

Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
All, all alike endear’d, grown, ungrown, young or old,
Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,
A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
Chair’d in the adamant of Time.

Read and listen to it all.

What a #july4th picture by @Raylivez!https://t.co/w8Lej7fYwa

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) July 5, 2021

“In Philadelphia, the same day as the British landing on Staten Island, July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress, in a momentous decision, voted to ‘dissolve the connection’ with Great Britain. The news reached New York four days later, on July 6, and at once spontaneous celebrations broke out. ‘The whole choir of our officers … went to a public house to testify our joy at the happy news of Independence. We spent the afternoon merrily,’ recorded Isaac Bangs.”

“A letter from John Hancock to Washington, as well as the complete text of the Declaration, followed two days later:

“‘That our affairs may take a more favorable turn,’ Hancock wrote, ‘the Congress have judged it necessary to dissolve the connection between Great Britain and the American colonies, and to declare them free and independent states; as you will perceive by the enclosed Declaration, which I am directed to transmit to you, and to request you will have it proclaimed at the head of the army in the way you shall think most proper.’ “Many, like Henry Knox, saw at once that with the enemy massing for battle so close at hand and independence at last declared by Congress, the war had entered an entirely new stage. The lines were drawn now as never before, the stakes far higher. ‘The eyes of all America are upon us,’ Knox wrote. ‘As we play our part posterity will bless or curse us.’

“By renouncing their allegiance to the King, the delegates at Philadelphia had committed treason and embarked on a course from which there could be no turning back.

“‘We are in the very midst of a revolution,’ wrote John Adams, ‘the most complete, unexpected and remarkable of any in the history of nations.’

“In a ringing preamble, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the document declared it ‘self-evident’ that ‘all men are created equal,’ and were endowed with the ‘unalienable’ rights of ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ And to this noble end the delegates had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.

“Such courage and high ideals were of little consequence, of course, the Declaration itself being no more than a declaration without military success against the most formidable force on Earth. John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, an eminent member of Congress who opposed the Declaration, had called it a ‘skiff made of paper.’ And as Nathanael Greene had warned, there were never any certainties about the fate of war.

“But from this point on, the citizen-soldiers of Washington’s army were no longer to be fighting only for the defense of their country, or for their rightful liberties as freeborn Englishmen, as they had at Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill and through the long siege at Boston. It was now a proudly proclaimed, all-out war for an independent America, a new America, and thus a new day of freedom and equality.”

—-David McCullough, 1776

Timely read for this #July4th. David McCullough’s 1776 is an excellent account of the events surrounding the start of the American Revolutionary War. pic.twitter.com/eILayBHSaY

— Asher Peck (@theasherpeck) July 4, 2021

In Congress, July 4, 1776.

The UNANIMOUS DECLARATION of the THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.

To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world….

Worthy of much pondering, on this day especially–read it all.

Our editorial board writes, "As we work toward bridging the divides that have become even deeper since the last July 4 … a fresh read of our founding document serves as a powerful reminder of what can and should unite us today."https://t.co/WPnoISRDLK

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) July 4, 2021

“Today we stand on an awful arena, where character which was the growth of centuries was tested and determined by the issues of a single day. We are compassed about by a cloud of witnesses; not alone the shadowy ranks of those who wrestled here, but the greater parties of the action–they for whom these things were done. Forms of thought rise before us, as in an amphitheatre, circle beyond circle, rank above rank; The State, The Union, The People. And these are One. Let us–from the arena, contemplate them–the spiritual spectators.

“There is an aspect in which the question at issue might seem to be of forms, and not of substance. It was, on its face, a question of government. There was a boastful pretence that each State held in its hands the death-warrant of the Nation; that any State had a right, without show of justification outside of its own caprice, to violate the covenants of the constitution, to break away from the Union, and set up its own little sovereignty as sufficient for all human purposes and ends; thus leaving it to the mere will or whim of any member of our political system to destroy the body and dissolve the soul of the Great People. This was the political question submitted to the arbitrament of arms. But the victory was of great politics over small. It was the right reason, the moral consciousness and solemn resolve of the people rectifying its wavering exterior lines according to the life-lines of its organic being.

“There is a phrase abroad which obscures the legal and moral questions involved in the issue,–indeed, which falsifies history: “The War between the States”. There are here no States outside of the Union. Resolving themselves out of it does not release them. Even were they successful in intrenching themselves in this attitude, they would only relapse into territories of the United States. Indeed several of the States so resolving were never in their own right either States or Colonies; but their territories were purchased by the common treasury of the Union. Underneath this phrase and title,–“The War between the States”–lies the false assumption that our Union is but a compact of States. Were it so, neither party to it could renounce it at his own mere will or caprice. Even on this theory the States remaining true to the terms of their treaty, and loyal to its intent, would have the right to resist force by force, to take up the gage of battle thrown down by the rebellious States, and compel them to return to their duty and their allegiance. The Law of Nations would have accorded the loyal States this right and remedy.

“But this was not our theory, nor our justification. The flag we bore into the field was not that of particular States, no matter how many nor how loyal, arrayed against other States. It was the flag of the Union, the flag of the people, vindicating the right and charged with the duty of preventing any factions, no matter how many nor under what pretence, from breaking up this common Country.

“It was the country of the South as well as of the North. The men who sought to dismember it, belonged to it. Its was a larger life, aloof from the dominance of self-surroundings; but in it their truest interests were interwoven. They suffered themselves to be drawn down from the spiritual ideal by influences of the physical world. There is in man that peril of the double nature. “But I see another law”, says St. Paul. “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind.”

–Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (1828-1914). The remarks here are from Chamberlain’s address at the general dedicatory exercises in the evening in the court house in Gettsyburg on the occasion of the dedication of the Maine monuments. It took place on October 3, 1889. For those who are history buffs you can see an actual program of the events there (on page 545)–KSH.

As we remember today Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine at Little Round Top in 1863, we should also remember 1880, when he led the Maine Militia to protect the State House for 12 days when mobs tried to install their favored candidate by force after a disputed election. pic.twitter.com/QbJpbgmldu

— Turnstile // Tours / Virtual / Studio (@TurnstileTours) July 2, 2021

Almighty God, Who has given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners.

Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues.

Endow with Thy spirit of wisdom those to whom in Thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth.

In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

EPIC doesn’t even begin to describe how awesome this is!! Thanks to Benjamin Cash, GulfBayPhotography, for sharing! #4thofJuly #USA #blueangels #USA 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/4yZWAcw6SX

— Thomas Geboy (@ThomasGeboyWX) July 4, 2021

O! say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming.
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

–Francis Scott Key (1779-1843)

Sparks are a flying on Chicago's West Side tonight, July 4th. #chicago #July4th #fireworks pic.twitter.com/CEY0wNtnJ6

— Barry Butler (@barrybutler9) July 5, 2021

By the article establishing the executive department it is made the duty of the President “to recommend to your consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” The circumstances under which I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject further than to refer to the great constitutional charter under which you are assembled, and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given. It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more congenial with the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honorable qualifications I behold the surest pledges that as on one side no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests, so, on another, that the foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the preeminence of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens and command the respect of the world. I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire, since there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.

Read it all.

"How George Washington organized the first large-scale immunization campaign in American history" https://t.co/jop4zVKIqm

— TIME (@TIME) July 4, 2021

Lord God, by your providence our founders won their liberties of old: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to exercise these liberties in righteousness and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

After a brutal year that left many Americans hurt and weary, I wish everyone a happy 4th, and hope we all have the opportunity to share time with friends and family, unburdened by the hardships that weighed on us this past year, with renewed optimism that better times are ahead. pic.twitter.com/0GfoS1pYmm

— Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) July 4, 2021

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water,
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

–Psalm 1

INCREDIBLE sunrise from the Mobile River this morning! pic.twitter.com/st7PaZF7JO

— Thomas Geboy (@ThomasGeboyWX) July 5, 2021

O God, who in thy fatherly love hast called us that we should inherit a blessing: Give to us also, we pray thee, the blessing of wholesome speech and loving deed; that following always that which is good, we may do and suffer all that thou willest; in the name and strength of Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord.

#4thofJuly omega sunrise from the end of Pawleys Island Pier. Great 📸 Jim Arnold! #scwx #ncwx pic.twitter.com/eGw81BiXfM

— Ed Piotrowski (@EdPiotrowski) July 4, 2021

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation.

–Romans 5:1-11

Happy 4th of July! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/WAUh1Gacoo

— Matthew Peacock (@mpeacock28) July 4, 2021

And then there were four… 👀 pic.twitter.com/fkGBOa7yZw

— England (@England) July 3, 2021

3 July 1754: Future U.S. #President George #Washington, fighting for #British during French and #Indian War, surrenders Fort Necessity to the #French. #history #otd #ad https://t.co/AsoJx4spXt pic.twitter.com/yUwK546pyE

— Today In History (@URDailyHistory) July 3, 2021

One of the most obvious priorities with helping someone transition out of homelessness is finding them a place to live.

But what happens when they move into a space with nothing but a crate full of clothes and rent money?

“The difference between having a bed or not really changes your whole day,” said 18-year-old John Michael Stagliano, a lifelong Summerville resident.

Stagliano is also the founder of Home Again, a nonprofit dedicated to supplying furniture and household items to families leaving former conditions behind and moving into new homes.

It all started with Stagliano volunteering at a Summerville homeless shelter where he learned the needs of the residents didn’t end with them simply moving out of the shelter.

Read it all.

John Michael Stagliano is the founder of Home Again, a nonprofit dedicated to supplying furniture and household items to families who are transitioning out of homelessness and moving into new homes.https://t.co/vnnILrFdAJ

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) July 2, 2021

O God, by whose Almighty power all things living were created, and by Who, on the sixth day, didst make the first man after Thine own image; mercifully grant that in following Thy Son, the second Man from heaven, we may recover that which hath been lost through sin, and may put on the new Man, which is created after Thee in righteousness and true holiness, though the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

–Henry Stobart, Daily Services For Christian Households (London:SPCK, 1867), p.71

Great place to catch a sunrise In Yosemite pic.twitter.com/AgnI8rIWBe

— Dom Flipp (@FlippPhoto) July 2, 2021

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Anani’as. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Anani’as.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul; for behold, he is praying, and he has seen a man named Anani’as come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Anani’as answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Anani’as departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized, and took food and was strengthened. For several days he was with the disciples at Damascus.

–Acts 9:10-19

Pietro da Cortona – Ananias Restoring The Sight of Saint Paul #pietrodacortona pic.twitter.com/duxZpIiGkq

— Beautiful Paintings (@painterswork) April 28, 2019

Tune in to AXS TV July 7 at 6:30 p.m. to see the season premiere of “If These Walls Could Rock,” a new series featuring musical performances in historically significant venues along with conversations surrounding the history and meaning of the venue in which the artists perform. In the opening show, July 7, Performer Ty Taylor reflects on his experience performing at the Old Brick Church in conversation with the Rev. Hamilton Smith (Rector of St. Thomas, Mt. Pleasant) and the musical duo Finnegan Bell (Shane Williams and Warren Bazemore) which leads worship at St. Thomas. The connection was made through the STAC House shows, the critically acclaimed songwriter series hosted by St. Thomas which Finnegan Bell created and curates.

Watch a video conversation with the lead singer of Vintage Trouble, Ty Taylor.

Read it all.

The Latest Edition of the Anglican Diocese of #SouthCarolina Enewsletter https://t.co/AVaJY4W4gl #parishministry #religion #anglican #lowcountrylife #music #hometours #creativity pic.twitter.com/h2CDVRZWhV

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) July 2, 2021

Archbishop Sami Fawzi has been installed as the Episcopal / Anglican Archbishop of Alexandria and Primate of the Episcopal / Anglican Province of Alexandria, succeeding Dr Mouneer Anis. In the united Church of Pakistan, Bishop Azad Marshall has been elected Moderator, to succeed Bishop Humphrey Peters.

A new Archbishop in Burundi will also up his post in August, when Bishop Sixbert Macumi will succeed Archbishop Martin Blaise Nyaboho as Primate

Archbishop Sami Fawzi was installed at All Saints Cathedral in Cairo. Speaking at the service, he said: “the Church will continue to support the poor, the needy, the marginalised, and the people of determination and cares in particular [for] refugees through the Episcopal Care Institution.”

He added that “the vision of the Episcopal Church is the main focus of a strong, real communion relationship with God” and that “this is how a spiritual revival is achieved in our churches”.

Read it all.

Today Anglicans worldwide pray for the united Church of Pakistan. May God grant each member faith, love and courage in abundance, and to the whole Church, peace & joy

We pray especially for the new Moderator, Bishop Azad Marshall, as he leads the Church.https://t.co/STekLoAn5p

— Oxford PWM (@LivingFaithWW) June 27, 2021

It was an unlikely connection. A literal, logical person, challenged by basic verbal communication, and an unseen spirit, who communicates through the Word. Yet I reached out to God, and he reached out to me. We both answered the other’s call.

As an autistic person, I struggle to make connections. I did not communicate much as a young child and only barely as an adolescent. Even now, my thoughts exist independent of language. My mind undergoes a vast translation process, back and forth, to relate to the human world.

Yet the Christian faith spoke to me through one word: love. I often feel as if, by relying on only a single word, God designed this message for people like me. There is no complicated work to interpret that message. You are loved by your Creator. You are commanded to love others and also to love yourself.

It frequently surprises people that my faith is based entirely on logic and reason. It has no emotional base. Many may wonder how that squares with the message of love. But to me, it comes down to the principle of mutual recognition: If you believe in a Creator, then you believe that the Creator knows his own handiwork. You believe that each of us has a place, has equal value, and fully belongs in this world. There is not one correct path to life or to God. Mine may be unusual, but it can still be strong.

Read it all.

Beautiful thoughts and real wisdom from a man who quite literally thinks differently than we do. @JoryFleming https://t.co/tOU5qVbT7n

— ℎ (@timetherington) June 28, 2021

An article in FE Week last week by the National Secular Society rather bizarrely tried to argue that this was part of some secret plan.

On the contrary, we are unapologetic about seeking to engage with and serve a new generation, as this is what we have always done.

Suggestions that spiritual guidance and support offered by chaplaincies is either unwanted or a niche provision also miss the mark.

A recent ComRes poll showed that almost half of adults (44 per cent) say they pray. And one in four people pray regularly (at least once a month) ̶ a number that has increased six percentage points since a pre-pandemic survey.

Positive responses are even higher in the 18-to-34 age group, with 30 per cent saying they pray regularly, and 34 per cent having watched a broadcast religious service during the pandemic.

By this measure, the idea that faith has no place in modern society is decidedly pre-pandemic in its worldview, especially among younger age groups.

Read it all.

'The Church of England wants to serve a new generation, as we have always done' @nigelgenders writes in @FEWeek https://t.co/TJHlaO0DEG

— Church of England in Parliament (@churchstate) July 2, 2021

Moses the brigand spent several years leading a sinful life, but through the great mercy of God he repented, left his band of robbers and went to one of the desert monasteries. Here he wept for a long time, begging to be admitted as one of the brethren. The monks were not convinced of the sincerity of his repentance, but the former robber would neither be driven away nor silenced. He continued to implore that they accept him.

Saint Moses was completely obedient to the hegoumen and the brethren, and he poured forth many tears of sorrow for his sinful life. After a certain while Saint Moses withdrew to a solitary cell, where he spent his time in prayer and the strictest fasting.

Once, four of the robbers of his former band descended upon the cell of Saint Moses. He had lost none of his great physical strength, so he tied them all up. Throwing them over his shoulder, he brought them to the monastery, where he asked the Elders what to do with them. The Elders ordered that they be set free. The robbers, learning that they had chanced upon their former ringleader, and that he had dealt kindly with them, followed his example: they repented and became monks. Later, when the rest of the band of robbers heard about Saint Moses’ repentance, then they also gave up their thievery and became fervent monks.

Read it all.

Blessed feast day of St. Moses the Black. #Orthodox pic.twitter.com/k1CrL9yEYX

— Ben Johnson (@TheRightsWriter) August 28, 2020

Almighty God, whose blessed Son dost guide our footsteps into the way of peace: Deliver us from paths of hatred and violence, that we, following the example of thy servant Moses, may serve thee with singleness of heart and attain to the tranquility of the world to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

“I carry behind me my manifold sins where I cannot see them, and I come to judge the errors of another.” (Said by St Moses the Black, on carrying a leaking bag of sand to a meeting about another monk's sins.) pic.twitter.com/wgRCulTubx

— Bernard Mulcahy OP (@FrBMulcahyOP) July 21, 2018

O Thou, Who art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and on Whom the eyes of all do wait, Who crownest the year with Thy goodness, and openest Thine hand and fillest all things living with plenteousness: every day we give thanks unto Thee, and praise Thy Name for ever and ever; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Robert W. Rodenmayer, ed., The Pastor’s Prayerbook: Selected and arranged for various occasions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1960)

"Let us strive to know the Lord; his appearing is as sure as the sunrise.
He will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth"

Hosea 6 pic.twitter.com/Bwjlbya0GL

— Oxford PWM (@LivingFaithWW) July 2, 2021

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul arose from the ground; and when his eyes were opened, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

–Acts 9:1-9

Sunrise in Peabody, KS this morning. #kswx

Photo: Tammy Southern pic.twitter.com/2vHuC6ycBa

— Peyton Sanders (@KWCHPeyton) July 1, 2021

Former General Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance and senior UK church figure, Rev Dr Joel Edwards, has died from cancer.

On Wednesday morning, the family confirmed the passing of the 70-year-old pastor by posting a letter Rev Edwards had written thanking people for their prayers.

“This is to say a final goodbye. First, my incredible thanks for your prayers, love and holding on with me to that fingernail miracle,” the letter said.

“Words cannot express the depth, breadth and height of my gratitude, but I have gone home.

“My earnest prayer is that your faith and tenacity on my behalf will not be considered a pointless religious exercise, but that it will have strengthened your faith in a God who is marvellous, mysterious and majestic in all that He does: The Faithful One.”

Read it all.

My friend Joel Edwards went home to the Lord Jesus today. We were exchanging messages until the end and he was always kind and wise and irreverent. It’s so typical of him to lead well and point beyond himself to Jesus – even in his dying. pic.twitter.com/n59BKFLXUj

— Pete Greig (@PeteGreig) June 30, 2021

So will a fertility bust destroy religion? No, or not exactly, for two reasons. The first is that the fall of religious institutions does not necessarily destroy faith as such, or eliminate spiritual hunger. Witness the upsurge of pilgrimage across supposedly secular Europe. The question that then arises is how long private and individual faith can endure without institutions, and we simply do not have the historical records to answer that question.

Also, presently at least, the fertility decline is patchy. There are large areas of the globe it has not yet affected—above all, Africa. For a generation at least, that continent’s two great faiths, Islam and Christianity, will be flourishing in that setting, if not elsewhere. After 2050, the crystal ball becomes distinctly cloudy, but it is highly likely that even Africa will eventually move to the low-faith and low-fertility model.

The Times study demands that we think beyond simple secularization and through the linkage between the size and structure of families—and about what churches actually do. Only when we take children out of the picture do we realize just how much of what churches have always done has focused on the young. Besides Sunday school, this means bringing them through the rites of passage, from baptism, confirmation, and first communion to summer camp and vacation Bible school. Such activities are what binds people to religious communities. If you want to see churches where the young are largely absent, then look to Europe, and worry. In the words of the prophet Joni Mitchell, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone….

Read it all.