It’s winter in the Southern Hemisphere, when ice typically forms around Antarctica. But this year, that growth has been stunted, hitting a record low by a wide margin.

The sharp drop in sea ice is alarming scientists and raising concerns about its vital role in regulating ocean and air temperatures, circulating ocean water and maintaining an ecosystem crucial for everything from microscopic plankton to the continent’s iconic penguins.

“This year is really different,” said Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and an Antarctica expert at the National Snow and Ice Data Center. “It’s a very sudden change.”

A continued decline in Antarctic sea ice would have global consequences by exposing more of the continent’s ice sheet to the open ocean, allowing it to melt and break off more easily, contributing to rising sea levels that affect coastal populations around the world.

Read it all.

A record low level of sea ice around Antarctica is alarming scientists and raising concerns about its role in ocean and air temperatures. https://t.co/BHajpX5ew7

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 3, 2023

Almighty God, who didst reveal the resurrection of thy Son to Joanna, Mary and Salome, as they faithfully came bearing myrrh to his tomb: Grant that we too may perceive the presence of the risen Lord in the midst of pain and fear, that we may go forth proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

Today, the Church remembers Joanna, Mary, and Salome. pic.twitter.com/qMYiAlGLz0

— Gage C. Garlinghouse 🦬 (@Acolyte_1) August 3, 2023

O Good Christ, our most gracious Redeemer, grant that as Thou dost mercifully raise up this my body, even so I beseech Thee, raise up my mind and heart to the true knowledge and love of Thee, that my conversation may be in heaven, where Thou art; to the glory of Thy Name.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

What. Beautiful day ☀️🐑🍃🌿☀️🐑🐾🐾🐑☀️🐑🍃🌿☀️🍃🐑🌿☀️#sheep #landrover #farm #shepherdess #hillfarm #yorkshiredales #sunshine pic.twitter.com/Kx8KqLPGUI

— Alison O’Neill ~ Shepherdess (@woolismybread) August 3, 2023

But I will hope continually,
and will praise thee yet more and more.
My mouth will tell of thy righteous acts,
of thy deeds of salvation all the day,
for their number is past my knowledge.
With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come,
I will praise thy righteousness, thine alone.

–Psalm 71:14-16

It's truly a dangerous distraction as you reach the brow of this hill and see the mosaic of fields laid out before you, criss-crossed by limestone walls and dotted with farms. I can never make it down here without stopping and silently applauding the beauty of the #peakdistrict. pic.twitter.com/q8ceWI570Y

— peaklass (@peaklass1) August 3, 2023

Moses Kuboi, the Jinja district prisons commander and the officer in charge of the Jinja main prisons who received Naimanhye and his team, said they were yearning for the revival of their church inside the facility which had collapsed following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Since guidelines restricted social gatherings, Kuboi said their St Paul Chapel had gone into tatters until one of their staff proposed the need for its revival.

“A month ago, one of our staff decided that we should serve the Lord again and here we are,” Kuboi said.

The church is hosted in one of the buildings within Kirinya complex under the St James archdeaconry in Jinja district. Kuboi said the Church of Uganda had revived drastically at the facility with the deployment of a chaplain, Stephen Wanyagira who was at the helm.

He said the team found them when they were tattered, but kept making them firm and this inspired them to reclaim their church back.

Read it all.

Busoga Diocese bishop the Rev. Dr. Paul Samson Naimanhye said they deemed it fit to visit the prisoners and feed them spiritually.

DETAILS 👇🏽 #VisionUpdateshttps://t.co/qoVQF2RLFw

— The New Vision (@newvisionwire) July 30, 2023

Read it all.

A little late posting this week, but for this week's NYT newsletter, I spoke with @drmoore on his newest book, evangelicalism, Trump & political engagement. https://t.co/xU6X47Onxm

— Tish Harrison Warren (@Tish_H_Warren) August 2, 2023

Why does ChatGPT continue to produce figurative and metaphorical interpretations of Jesus’ teachings? Why is it so easy to convince the chatbot to flip its claims on something like Paul’s use of temple imagery? There are at least two possible reasons: First, ChatGPT has no account of its own training and the traditions informing these interpretations, and second, ChatGPT has no connection to lived experience or reality. As it confidently asserted when I first asked it, it has no “personal beliefs or values.”

Despite this, it vigorously pursues an interpretation when asked, privileging certain perspectives and sometimes outlawing or excluding others. It does so because the words are a statistical game, not Scripture to be lived. It is only parroting what it has been trained on—which is a body of texts that it cannot identify because it seemingly no longer knows what they are (if it ever knew, and if know is even the proper term).

This presents a two-fold problem for Christians who might seek out information about the Bible from ChatGPT. First, one cannot be certain of the sources of the perspectives offered by ChatGPT. Jesus asserts several times in Matthew that his true disciples may be known by the fruits evident in their lives (5:15–20; 12:33–37; 21:33–46). If one cannot access the life of the interpreter and thus the fruits it has produced, how might the Christian know whether the interpretation comes from a true disciple of Jesus?

Second, ChatGPT and other large language models are “black boxes,” meaning we do not know what is happening to generate the responses they provide. Both Christianity and Judaism have historically emphasized engaging with the past and present religious community and that community’s interpretations of sacred texts and traditions.

Read it all.

ChatGPT’s interpretations are ignorant of tradition, overly metaphorical, and individualistic.

Those are pitfalls for human interpreters, too. https://t.co/J8aR5ivRli

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) August 1, 2023

[Ruslana] Danilkina is one of between 20,000 and 50,000 Ukrainians who have lost one or more limbs since the start of the war, according to previously undisclosed estimates by prosthetics firms, doctors and charities.

The actual figure could be higher because it takes time to register patients after they undergo the procedure. Some are only amputated weeks or months after being wounded. And with Kyiv’s counteroffensive under way, the war may be entering a more brutal phase.

By comparison, some 67,000 Germans and 41,000 Britons had to have amputations during the course of World War I, when the procedure was often the only one available to prevent death. Fewer than 2,000 U.S. veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions had amputations.

Read it all.

Incredible courage: Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have lost limbs since the start of the war, according to new estimates https://t.co/Kpguey0rRN via @WSJ

— Nile Gardiner (@NileGardiner) August 1, 2023

Almighty God, who didst raise up thy servant Samuel Ferguson and inspire in him a missionary vision of thy Church in education and ministry: Stir up in us through his example a zeal for a Church, alive with thy Holy Word, reaching forth in love and service to all; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Samuel David Ferguson (1842-1916), Missionary Bishop for West Africa (Liberia) and the first African-American member of the Episcopal House of Bishops https://t.co/LYQzgts9s4 pic.twitter.com/pnmZ4Cs3be

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) August 2, 2023

Almighty God, Who hast made our bodies to be temples of Thy Spirit: reveal, we beseech Thee, in Thy servants Thy manifold gifts of grace; that living in Thy love and fear, they may be purified from the corruption that is in the world, and attain to dwell in the blessed fellowship of Thine eternal Kingdom.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

Wednesday morning beach walk. South Sands, Salcombe pic.twitter.com/f0C68yxULq

— Stephen Ball (@ostizeuropean) August 2, 2023

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by soothsaying. She followed Paul and us, crying, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she did for many days. But Paul was annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the rulers; and when they had brought them to the magistrates they said, “These men are Jews and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs which it is not lawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in attacking them; and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

–Acts 16:16-24

Canal view#malmö #sweden #photofrommyheart pic.twitter.com/joNYv056He

— Lisa von Steijern🇸🇪 (@LisavonSteijern) August 2, 2023

The Chapter of Chichester Cathedral has decided to change the name of one of its properties back to George Bell House, after a years-long campaign by defenders of the reputation of the late bishop after whom it was named….

In 2016, the Chapter announced a decision to call George Bell House — named in memory of the Bishop of Chichester from 1929 till 1958, the late Dr George Bell — 4 Canon Lane, a year after he had been named in a legal civil claim of sexual abuse…. The complaint concerned the abuse of a young girl in the late 1940s and early 1950s, later known as Carol.

In 2017, an independent review of the case carried out by Lord Carlile said that Church of England officials had “rushed to judgement” when they had concluded that Bishop Bell was the alleged sexual abuser….

Sussex Police closed their latest investigation concerning Bishop Bell in 2018 (News, 27 April 2018). In 2019, the Archbishop of Canterbury apologised for “mistakes” made in the handling of the allegation (News, 1 February 2019). Archbishop Welby had said in 2017 that, after the Carlile review, “a significant cloud” was left over the name of Bishop Bell. He later said that “nothing of substance” had been added to previous allegations and that “[Bishop Bell’s] legacy is undoubted and must be upheld.”

Read it all.

Chichester Cathedral property to be renamed George Bell House again https://t.co/UzBaouugIx

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) August 1, 2023

“People are yearning for something greater than themselves — beyond their own understanding,” said Jack Grogger, a chaplain for the Los Angeles Angels and a longtime Southern California fire captain who has aided many people in their gravest moments.

That search for something bigger, he said, can take on many forms, from following a religion to crafting a self-driven purpose to believing in, of course, angels.

“For a lot of people, angels are a lot safer to worship,” said Grogger, who also pastors a nondenominational church in Orange, California, and is a chaplain for the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks.

People turn to angels for comfort, he said. They are familiar, regularly showing up in pop culture as well as in the Bible. Comparably, worshipping Jesus is far more involved; when Grogger preaches about angels it is with the context that they are part of God’s kingdom.

American’s belief in angels (69%) is about on par with belief in heaven and the power of prayer, but bested by belief in God or a higher power (79%). Fewer U.S. adults believe in the devil or Satan (56%), astrology (34%), reincarnation (34%), and that physical things can have spiritual energies, such as plants, rivers or crystals (42%).

Read it all.

Do you believe in angels? About 7 in 10 U.S. adults do, a new AP-NORC poll shows | AP News https://t.co/ToRPGMUoUW

— James F. McGrath (@ReligionProf) July 29, 2023

Ultrasound, the decades-old technology known for giving early glimpses of unborn babies, could hold a key to a problem that has long challenged drug developers: getting medicines to hard-to-reach places to treat diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer.

A cutting-edge approach that combines ultrasound waves with tiny bubbles of inert gas injected into the bloodstream can get more chemotherapy to tumor cells and enable drugs to breach one of the most stubborn frontiers in the human body—the blood-brain barrier. It is also being explored as a new way to deliver gene therapy.

“There’s an extremely wide variety of where this sort of drug delivery or augmentation with ultrasound and bubbles can take us,” says Flemming Forsberg, professor of radiology and director of ultrasound physics at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. The effectiveness of drugs in treating diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s is often limited by poor penetration into tissues, he says, whether in the brain or in tumors in other parts of the body.

Read it all.

Ultrasound waves are combined with tiny bubbles in the bloodstream in a cutting-edge approach to deliver medicines to hard-to-reach places to treat diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer https://t.co/mzjVCjUN02

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) July 31, 2023

For the past two and a half years, Oregon has been trying an unusual experiment to stem soaring rates of addiction and overdose deaths. People caught with small amounts of illicit drugs for “personal use,” including fentanyl and methamphetamine, are fined just $100 — a sanction that can be waived if they participate in a drug screening and health assessment. The aim is to reserve prosecutions for large-scale dealers and address addiction primarily as a public health emergency.

When the proposal, known as Measure 110, was approved by nearly 60 percent of Oregon voters in November 2020, the pandemic had already emptied downtown Portland of workers and tourists. But its street population was growing, especially after the anti-police protests that had spread around the country that summer. Within months of the measure taking effect in February 2021, open-air drug use, long in the shadows, burst into full view, with people sitting in circles in parks or leaning against street signs, smoking fentanyl crushed on tinfoil.

Since then, Oregon’s overdose rates have only grown. Now, tents of unhoused people line many sidewalks in Portland. Monthslong waiting lists for treatment continue to lengthen. Some politicians and community groups are calling for Measure 110 to be replaced with tough fentanyl possession laws. Others are pleading to give it more time and resources.

Read it all.

Oregon’s experiment to curb overdoses by decriminalizing small amounts of illicit drugs is in its third year, and life has changed for most everyone in the city of Portland: “At four in the afternoon the streets can feel like dealer central” https://t.co/K6ziIxzbBV

— Jim Russell (@ProducerCities) August 1, 2023

Merciful God, whose servant Joseph of Arimathaea with reverence and godly fear did prepare the body of our Lord and Savior for burial, and did lay it in his own tomb: Grant, we beseech thee, to us thy faithful people grace and courage to love and serve Jesus with sincere devotion all the days of our life; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today, the Church remembers the witness of Joseph of Arimathea. pic.twitter.com/B4rHsp4gjo

— Gage C. Garlinghouse 🦬 (@Acolyte_1) July 31, 2023

Blessed Lord, by Whose providence all Holy Scriptures were written and preserved for our instruction: give us grace to study them each day with patience and love; strengthen our souls with the fullness of their divine teaching; keep from us all pride and irreverence; guide us in the deep things of Thy heavenly wisdom; and, of Thy great mercy, lead us by Thy Word into everlasting life.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

This morning at the bottom of Glastonbury Tor. The tiny bit of sun lighting up my way. I have a last minute stall at Glastonbury Market today if anyone is around. pic.twitter.com/3cpFqwTE3k

— Michelle Cowbourne (@Glastomichelle) August 1, 2023

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to thee, when my heart is faint. Lead thou me to the rock that is higher than I; for thou art my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in thy tent for ever! Oh to be safe under the shelter of thy wings!

–Psalm 61:1-4

Good morning fellow X’s..Yuck!
After the monsoon conditions yesterday in Aberdeenshire, today’s sun is so welcome. I hope it’s the same wherever you all are.
Enjoy your day.😊
Image: Aberdeen Bay. pic.twitter.com/rC0kHeeuhg

— Terence Farquharson🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇹 (@TelfotoABZ761) August 1, 2023

Cardinal Czerny first looked at the new geological epoch of today, called the anthropocene, which has brought about “a staggering turning point in the history of our planet.” Human beings, Cardinal Czerny recalled, have significantly altered all planetary systems: the atmosphere, oceans, continents and ecosystems. What is unprecedented in our time is the combination of various crises, including the ecological crisis, cultural wars, the plight of hundreds of millions of poor people and refugees, and the digital age, with its opportunities and pitfalls.

The Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development went on to emphasise that in Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’, he urges us to take into account all aspects of the global crisis linked to climate change and to reflect, in particular, on the cornerstones of an “integral ecology for a new humanity.”

Read it all.

Cardinal Michael Czerny speaks at the 4th International Congress on the Care of Creation held in Lisbon, Portugal, and underscores the urgent need for "transitioning from a fossil-fuel economy to a clean-energy economy."https://t.co/YNC3ebIMm4

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) July 31, 2023

Howard Strickland tells the story of a young girl of about 8 being approached in her parish by a well-meaning older woman who remarked upon her jewelry.“Honey, don’t you know that the cross Jesus died on wasn’t beautiful like the one you’re wearing? It was an ugly, terrible, wooden thing.”
The little girl smiled and said: “Oh, I know that. But they told me in Sunday school that whatever Jesus touches, He changes.”

–quoted in the Sunday sermon by yours truly

#HolyWeek #HolyWeek2020 #CatholicArt#HrabanusMaurus #AbbeyofFulda "To the Honor of the Holy Cross" 'a multimedia masterpiece that uses paintings, poems, and prose'
"Christ Crucified with Arms Extended" (c. 1170–1180), British Library, Harley Collectionhttps://t.co/78dDKXEAs9 pic.twitter.com/YYFKB4EZ0l

— Matthew Schaefer (@MattRSchaefer) April 5, 2020

You may listen directly here

or you can download it also there.

Mark 4:26-34 provides us with both the parable of the sower and the mustard seed. Jesus taught in parables because they are evocative & open us up to the various aspects of the mystery. Do we follow his example or do we "limit" the mystery by what we say and how we say it? pic.twitter.com/J7WyIFqTE1

— Fr. Joseph de Viveiros, C.R. (@Fr_JosephCR) June 13, 2021

In leading the church’s youth group, Lie sees these ideas filtering into young people, as the Chinese youth don’t want to socialize with or date non-Chinese.

“I teach teens and young adults that such stigma does not come from God,” Lie said. “I encourage them to interact with people of all ethnicities and who have different skin color, both in church ministry and in social settings, so they can broaden their perspectives, realizing that individuals from different ethnicities are not as they might have thought.”

For Natalisa, the despair over her dark skin only dissipated through a closer relationship with God and a supportive Christian community. “I didn’t dare to develop myself until I realized the value of self-worth in the eyes of God during college discipleship,” she recalled. She joined a small group where friends not only affirmed and accepted her, but also helped her embrace herself as God created her to be.

By viewing herself through a biblical perspective, she was finally able to brush off the culture’s beauty standard. With this understanding, her perspective on herself changed.

She points to Genesis 1:26—“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness’”—as the lynchpin that helped her accept her appearance.

Read it all.

“If the Almighty says I am already perfect when he created me, what more needs to be changed?”https://t.co/S6UeeqK9NS

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) July 31, 2023

West African leaders on Sunday threatened military action against Niger, where soldiers seized power in a coup on Wednesday, unless the country’s democratically elected president is restored to office within a week.

The demand was issued by the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, a 15-member regional bloc, after a crisis summit in Nigeria. It echoed earlier calls by the United States and France, major security allies of Niger, who warned they will cut aid and military ties worth hundreds of millions of dollars unless the deposed leader, Mohamed Bazoum, is reinstated.

After coup supporters massed on Sunday outside the French Embassy in the capital, Niamey, burning French flags and calling for the withdrawal of French troops, President Emmanuel Macron issued a stiffly worded warning. Any attack on France’s citizens or interests in Niger will be met with an “immediate and uncompromising” reaction, Mr. Macron said in a statement.

Read it all.

West African Nations Threaten Military Action Unless Niger Coup Is Undone https://t.co/8i6TQ8W9jg

— Declan Walsh (@declanwalsh) July 30, 2023

Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour and not to seek for any reward, save that of knowing that we do your will; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

July 31 is the feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola: Spanish-Basque nobleman, soldier, duellist, mystic, theologian, writer, priest, founder and first Superior General of the Society of Jesus (a.k.a. the Jesuits), and leading Counter-Reformer—who died on this day in 1556, aged 64. pic.twitter.com/ucvWwyx4q4

— Tradical (@NoTrueScotist) July 31, 2023

Almighty Lord and everlasting God,
we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern
both our hearts and bodies
in the ways of your laws
and the works of your commandments;
that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever,
we may be preserved in body and soul;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Skye Bridge, Kyleakin, Isle of Skye #Scotland 31/07/23 @angie_weather @ThePhotoHour @StormHour @VisitScotland pic.twitter.com/FVxmZ4pHqn

— James MacInnes (@Macinnesplant) July 31, 2023

When I am afraid, I put my trust in thee. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust without a fear. What can flesh do to me?

–Psalm 56:3-4

Beautiful sunrise over Charleston on the last day of July! pic.twitter.com/Z8PdnYMqWu

— Joey Sovine Live 5 (@JoeySovine) July 31, 2023

‘In the ancient world, adoption was a practice ordinarily confined to the childless well-to-do. Its subjects, as we said earlier, were not normally infants, as today, but young adults who had shown themselves fit and able to carry on a family name in a worthy way. In this case, however, God adopts us out of free love, not because our character and record show us worthy to bear his name, but despite the fact that they show the very opposite. We are not fit for a place in God’s family; the idea of his loving and exalting us sinners as he loves and has exalted the Lord Jesus sounds ludicrous and wild—yet that, and nothing less than that, is what our adoption means.’

–JI Packer, Knowing God

6) Knowing God by JI Packer.
This has recently been my bedtime read on the kindle. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it over the years, but each time it’s helped me draw that bit closer to God & stoked my passion to know him better. I will reread this once again soon! pic.twitter.com/V55IX9Ese4

— Jack Griffiths (@JackLGriffiths) March 21, 2023

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

The weather is a bit rubbish today to say the least. Some early light in Glastonbury but just constant rain now for hours! pic.twitter.com/J7MNivzRaH

— Michelle Cowbourne (@Glastomichelle) July 30, 2023

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

–Romans 12:9-21

Merveilleux petit havre de paix, Sierre 💖💙💚💖🇨🇭#switzerland #photography #paysage #landscape #photooftheday #nature #lake #reflections #sunrise@MySwitzerland_e @Veronique_Kanel @valaiswallis pic.twitter.com/k9ta2wCG3k

— Délèze Dominique (@DelezeD) July 30, 2023