Read it all.

America’s referendum on President Donald Trump’s second term is underway.

With polls set to open Tuesday morning for the US midterm elections and tens of millions of early ballots already cast, voters say they are frustrated by the high cost of living, fuel prices that spiked after the launch of the Iran war and uncertainty over where their jobs and the world’s largest economy are headed in the age of AI.

Democrats are expected by many to take control of the House of Representatives, with opinion polls signaling for months that the party has a wide enough advantage with voters to overcome headwinds from Republican-led redistricting efforts.

Winning the Senate is more uncertain but has shifted from being a Democratic pipe dream mere months ago to a real possibility, with the GOP unexpectedly playing defense in traditionally safe bastions like Kansas, Texas, Alaska and South Carolina.

Read it all.

Trump isn’t on the ballot Tuesday, but his policies and record are front and center as US voters decide control of Congress https://t.co/zYDJPfcizp

— Bloomberg (@business) November 3, 2026

But I am besides my purpose when I fall to bewail the cold affection which we bear towards that whereby we should be saved, my purpose being only to set down what the ground of salvation is. The doctrine of the Gospel proposeth salvation as the end, and doth it not teach the way of attaining thereunto? Yes, the damsel possessed with a spirit of divination spake the truth: “These men are the servants of the most high God who show unto us the way of salvation” [Acts 16:17] — “a new and living way which Christ hath prepared for us through the veil, that is, his flesh,” [Heb 10:20] salvation purchased by the death of Christ.

–Learned Discourse on Justification (my emphasis)

2nd November 1600 – Death of Richard Hooker 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿On this day in 1600, Richard Hooker, one of England’s most influential Anglican theologians, died in Kent, aged 46.Born in Devon in 1554, Hooker defended the Protestant Church of England, the authority of Scripture, the Book of Common Prayer and historic Christian traditions.His writings helped establish the foundations of traditional Anglicanism, defending the Church against radical Puritan demands to abandon longstanding practice 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

— The English Remnant (@Englishremnant) November 2, 2026

O God of truth and peace, who didst raise up thy servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Tuesday 3rd is the Lesser Festival of Richard Hooker, we celebrate with Holy Communion at 9.00am. Hooker (25/3/1554 – 2/11/1600) was an English priest in the Church of England, Anglican divine, and an influential theologian.More at https://t.co/8vBz4UHBAU#AllWelcomeAlways https://t.co/j2EngXD2cB

— All Saints Hertford (@AllSaintsHertf) November 1, 2026

O most loving Father, who willest us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of thee, and to cast all our care on thee, who carest for us; Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which thou hast manifested unto us in thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

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

Sunrise over Lake Ontario this morning in Rochester N.Y. https://t.co/TYtyUdhpfh

— James Montanus (@JamesMontanus) November 2, 2026

For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

–Psalm 62:5-8

A calm and peaceful sunrise today here in Glastonbury and I even had some company today. https://t.co/hsCB5lHddg

— Michelle Cowbourne (@Glastomichelle) November 3, 2026

Professors John Craven and Robin Gill are to be thanked for bringing to our attention in their report, Wasted Money in a Diminishing Church (News, 23 October), the serious financial issues that will face the Church of England over the next few years, and the unsustainable deficits faced by many diocesan boards of finance (DBFs). This is why the church economy will be the subject of a major debate early in the new General Synod.

So much of their report is inaccurate or unrealistic, however, that I fear that it will skew that debate in unhelpful directions. I, therefore, want to push back in three areas.

First, the report reaches a strange conclusion. The authors decide that the way to address what they diagnose as fundamentally a financial problem is to make the deanery the heart of the Church’s administrative life.

Most area deans, however, want to be pastors, not middle managers, and I can readily see why. With an eviscerated diocesan structure, area deans would have to take on, alongside their parochial responsibilities, duties now fulfilled by archdeacons and bishops.

Read it all.

📉 Philip North takes issue with three aspects of a new report that warns that the C of E is heading for financial disaster #ChurchTimes #Comment #Opinion https://t.co/gdFJMCZqAD

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) October 30, 2026

The economy, healthcare and the situation in Iran lead in importance to U.S. voters in this year’s election, among 11 issues rated. Half of registered voters say the economy and healthcare are extremely important to their vote, and 47% say the same about Iran. Roughly four in 10 rate income and wealth distribution (44%), gas prices (42%), immigration (40%) and abortion (38%) as extremely important.

About a third rate crime and the Israeli-Palestinian situation (35% each) as extremely important, while construction of AI data centers (30%) and climate change (29%) rank lowest.

These results are based on registered voters interviewed in an Oct. 1-19 Gallup survey, which asked Americans to say whether each issue is extremely important, very important, moderately important or not that important to their vote for Congress this year. Majorities of voters rate every issue except climate change as at least very important.

Read it all.

The Issues Voters Say Matter Most This Midterm https://t.co/9JCE1hHYMv

— james starosta (@jimjudistar) October 29, 2026

The Iran war has triggered the largest energy crisis in history, or so the conventional wisdom says. Epochal stuff — but only half-true, because oil is only half the story.

Thanks to the shale revolution and an enviable geological endowment, US and Canadian natural gas consumers are dodging the economic fallout of the Iran conflict. For America, long worried about its reliance on foreign fossil fuels, it’s an embarrassment of riches.

While European and Asian consumers are now paying north of $30 per million British thermal unit for their gas, US buyers pay around $3 per mBtu. Last week, US gas prices briefly touched a two-year low of $2.5 per mBut — in the middle of an energy crisis. Canadian costs are even lower, at about $1.5 per mBtu.

The price difference between gas in Europe and Asia versus North America, reaching now a ratio of 12 times, has never been wider; not during the 2022 gas shock following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, nor in 2011-2012 after the Fukushima nuclear accident, which forced Japan into gas to keep the lights on.

Read it all.

@iribnews_irib It’s never been this profitable to export US natural gas. America is making a fortune in the energy crisis. https://t.co/0LLrPkUHno

— Sister Rosetta (@rosetta_sister) November 2, 2026

Congregations are “less biblically literate” than in the past, [Fergus] Butler-Gallie argues. For this reason, modern churchgoers require “more extrapolation and more zoning in on what the readings actually mean” in order for the Bible to be brought alive. But this, he says, is something “fewer and fewer clergy are prepared to do”.

Bishop North is pragmatic about what people take away from a sermon. “People remember very little about the content of the sermon: all that they remember is what a sermon makes them feel,” he says.’

“The last thing I’m looking for is originality. I’m not trying to say something new: it’s all been said.”

Read it all.

An interesting read on the art of preaching. Made me think that perhaps reading sermons by others can be quite helpful. I like @flemingrut @gerrylynch @DeHartBenjaminR and heard a great one by @RevThomasSander this year.https://t.co/22xqA6w5ng

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) November 1, 2026

Almighty and merciful God, we remember before you all the faithful departed, those we have loved and all who have died in the hope of the resurrection. Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Comfort those who mourn, and fill us with the hope of your promises. May they rest in your peace and rise in glory. Unite us with them in your love, that we may join together in the joy of your eternal kingdom. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the resurrection and the life. Amen.

All Souls’ Day (Hedwig Cemetery), 1896 by Franz Skarbina #AllSoulsDay #zaduszki https://t.co/59E7J9ghs8

— Marysia (@marysia_cc) November 2, 2026

Grant, O Lord, that as thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ prayed for his enemies on the cross, so we may have grace to forgive those that wrongfully or scornfully use us; that we ourselves may be able to receive thy forgiveness; though the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

First lightGood Monday&new week lovely people in my phone.✌️💛#NewWeekNewGoals #StormHour #MondayMood #AutumnVibes #GoodVibesOnly #jefinuist #outerhebrides #Scotland https://t.co/uQgftzXD6a

— DaliMach (@frenchscotjeff) November 2, 2026

Then I looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpers playing on their harps, and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth.

Revelation 14:1-13

Knock-your-socks-off foliage in one of Helene’s most severe blowdowns today. WNC is healing.📍 Mountains to Sea Trail, NC https://t.co/2LlWWkTgE5

— Evan Fisher (@EFisherWX) November 1, 2026

Almighty God,
you have knit together your elect
in one communion and fellowship    
in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord:
grant us grace so to follow your blessed saints
in all virtuous and godly living
that we may come to those inexpressible joys
that you have prepared for those who truly love you;
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.

All the saints.From the Hours of Louis de Laval, France ca. 1480. https://t.co/uN9q6lMPKF

— The Public Domain Review (@PublicDomainRev) November 1, 2026

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
    the God of glory thunders,
    the Lord, upon many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful,
    the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars,
    the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
    and Sir′ion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness,
    the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

–Psalm 29:3-8

November! Halfway through the ’ber months. Look out for: • Owls (especially listen for tawny owls) • Starling murmurations at dusk • The last of the autumn colour • Fungi, including colourful waxcaps Take a moment to notice November 🍂📸: Sam Moore https://t.co/5hHlVW4T7Y

— South Downs National Park (@sdnpa) November 1, 2026

Jesus, our Master, do thou meet us while we walk in the way and long to reach the heavenly country; so that, following thy light, we may keep the way of righteousness, and never wander away into the darkness of this world’s night, while thou, who art the Way, the Truth, and the Light art shining within us; for thy mercy’s sake.

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

Misty Saturday mornings by the riverbank https://t.co/rIOI9DnVtX

— Graeme Peacock (@GraemePeacock1) October 31, 2026

Then I saw another beast which rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It works great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men; and by the signs which it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on earth, bidding them make an image for the beast which was wounded by the sword and yet lived; and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast should even speak, and to cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six.

–Revelation 13:11-18

Statuesque and Golden… the rich gold Autumn colours of the tall weeping Silver Birch tree 💛🍂🍂💛🍂🍂💛 https://t.co/wrqsvU9YoZ

— Cloudymamma (@cloudymamma) October 31, 2026

In September, OpenAI announced that its new artificial intelligence technology needed less than a week to solve the Navier-Stokes problem, a mathematical puzzle that bedeviled the world’s smartest humans for decades. In the weeks that followed, the company released a deluge of additional findings that stunned leading mathematicians and raised new questions about the future of an academic field that has long been viewed as the pinnacle of human achievement.

But the implications of A.I.’s newfound mathematical skills extend well beyond academic research. Using similar techniques, Silicon Valley is now building A.I. systems that aim to eliminate the dangerous flaws, or “bugs,” in the world’s computer software. Just as an A.I. system can prove a math problem, it can prove that a software application is bug-free — at least in theory.

This sweeping effort to guarantee the integrity of computer software, which scientists call “software verification,” is vitally important as the internet faces its biggest cybersecurity threat in decades. Now that the leading A.I. systems can hack into computer software, by identifying and exploiting its flaws with stunning speed, the world needs a new breed of A.I. that can remove these flaws.

&Truth, a new start-up based in Palo Alto, Calif., is among the many companies working to build this kind of technology. Much like the Silicon Valley start-ups Axiom and Logical Intelligence and leading A.I. labs like Anthropic and OpenAI, &Truth hopes to verify the world’s software using a specialized computer programming language called Lean, the same tool that allows A.I. technologies to solve million-dollar math problems.

Read it all.

“Using the same techniques that allowed A.I. technologies to crack a million-dollar math problem, researchers are building new systems that aim to solve the world’s cybersecurity crisis.” https://t.co/dpHfCT2BOL

— Christina Ayiotis, Esq., CRM, CIPP/E, AIGP (@christinayiotis) October 30, 2026

The rituals of grief are enduring, their meanings familiar across many cultures: We remember those who have died, we mark the places where their bodies lie, we sense that our relationships with those we love don’t end when their lives do, and we pray for their condition in the afterlife.

Catholics remember the dead on All Souls Day, Nov. 2—the second day after Halloween, the day following All Saints Day. We visit the places where the dead rest, bringing flowers and standing before the names etched in stone. There in the graveyard, we pray for them and ask them to pray for us in the afterlife.

But what happens when those places disappear? America is rapidly drifting away from traditional burial. The norm has increasingly become cremation. The National Funeral Directors Association reported that 63.4% of Americans who died in 2025 were cremated, and the rate is expected to rise to 82.3% by 2045.

The old, earthy connection of death to a particular location—the tie of grief and memory to physical place—is loosening. Only 20% to 40% of cremated remains are buried or interred at a cemetery, according to the Cremation Association of North America.

Read it all.

"A cemetery is more than a resting place. It’s a landscape of grief, a physical expression of love, and a reminder that those who have died remain part of the world of the living."@Faithika: The Days of the Graveyard May Be Numbered https://t.co/veZnyc23i5 via @WSJopinion

— John J. Miller (@heymiller) October 30, 2026

New diocesan data for the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) released this past week shows a 2.55 percent jump in churchwide Average Principal Sunday Attendance in 2025, an increase of 2,509 from 96,009 in 2024 to 98,514 in the most recent reporting year. The data is viewable below in the PDF form it was provided in.

The numbers, drawn from the 2025 congregational report, place the ACNA among a small number of U.S.-based denominations including the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and the Assemblies of God (AG), each of which report annual growth of 2-3 percent. It does, however, mark a slowdown from the double-digit growth reported for each of the prior three years rebounding from the period of COVID restrictions at the beginning of the decade.

ACNA Executive Director Deborah Tepley announced in June at the denomination’s annual Provincial Council held at Cornerstone Church in Tulsa an attendance increase of 1,402 persons (1.5 percent) from 97,032 persons in 2024 to 98,434 in 2025. Numbers from that 2025 mission index have since been adjusted by a data analyst who corrected 2024 figures, revising them downward from 97,032 to 96,009, accounting for the greater percentage attendance increase in 2025 compared to the initial announcement. The ACNA previously reported a 13.4 percentage increase for 2024.

Read it all.

The Anglican Church in North America is among a small number of U.S.-based denominations including the Presbyterian Church in America and the Assemblies of God each of which post annual growth of 2-3 percent, reports IRD’s @jeffreyhwalton. #anglican https://t.co/NOjCvBkEg8

— IRD (@TheIRD) October 29, 2026

O God, whose justice continually challenges thy Church to live according to its calling: Grant us who now remember the work of John Wyclif contrition for the wounds which our sins inflict on thy Church, and such love for Christ that we may seek to heal the divisions which afflict his Body; through the same Jesus Christ, who livest and reignest with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Wycliffe (1324–1384) preached against the spiritual domination of the priesthood, the authority of the pope, transubstantiation and the sale of church offices. He argued that the Bible belongs to the people. His followers, called Lollards, carried copies of Scripture across England at great risk.His work paved the way for later translators and reformers. He died of natural causes, but many years after his death, church authorities exhumed and burned his remains.A Bible in your own language is a precious treasure won at great cost.Have you ever read the Bible in a language you understand deeply? What difference did it make?

— Gary Adams (@GaryAdams713) October 26, 2026

O Eternal God, who committest to us the swift and solemn trust of life; Since we know not what a day may bring forth, but only that the hour for serving Thee is ever present, may we wake to the instant claims of Thy holy will, not waiting for tomorrow, but yielding today.  Lay to rest, by the persuasion of Thy Spirit, the resistance of our passion, our indolence, or our fear.  Consecrate with Thy presence the way in which our feet may go, so that the humblest work may shine and the rough places may be made plain.  Lift us above unrighteous anger and mistrust, into faith, and hope, and charity.  In all things draw us close to our Saviour Christ, that Thy lost image may be traced in us again, and all men, looking at us, may know that we have been with Thee; 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)

Happy Friday! If you’re spending time in and around the National Park this weekend, as half terms draws to a close, please:🚮 Take your litter home 🐄 Be cattle aware 🚉 Consider public transport. Plan at https://t.co/spItkrCxKi📸 Upper Wharfedale by Wendy McDonnell https://t.co/kjfsgQHgD5

— Yorkshire Dales National Park (@yorkshire_dales) October 30, 2026

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns and a blasphemous name upon its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth followed the beast with wonder. Men worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months; it opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, every one whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain. If any one has an ear, let him hear:

If any one is to be taken captive,
    to captivity he goes;
if any one slays with the sword,
    with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

–Revelation 13:1-10

Morning everyone I hope you are well. After all the rain, but still with the grey weather, it’s the best time to explore the valleys to enjoy the flowing becks and autumnal colours. Have a great day.#LakeDistrict https://t.co/oTpZ7lMwBi

— Rod Hutchinson (@lakesrhino) October 30, 2026

A plea for a new national plan to care for crumbling church buildings is on the agenda of the first meeting of the new General Synod.

A diocesan-synod motion from Blackburn is posited on the argument that cash-strapped parishes cannot be expected from donations and grants alone to foot the estimated £1-billion bill for outstanding church maintenance work.

Instead, the Synod will be asked to call for the national Church of England institutions to create a “national strategy for the preservation, maintenance, and development of our buildings”.

Updates on safeguarding and the clergy well-being covenant, as well as an overview of church finances, make up the rest of the short agenda for the two-day group of sessions.

Before the hundreds of newly elected and returning members begin debate in Church House, Westminster, they will attend a eucharist in Westminster Abbey on the morning of 17 November.

Read it all.

A plea for a new national plan to care for crumbling church buildings is on the agenda of the first meeting of the new General Synod. #ChurchNews #GeneralSynod https://t.co/fmBCiA3gi8

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) October 29, 2026

After Javio Bolsonaro stepped off the plane in Miami on Wednesday morning, uniformed officers used umbrellas to shield him and his family from cameras. Their arrival followed an extraordinary effort by a small circle of influential Trump allies, senior U.S. officials and Argentine President Javier Milei to help him fly to the U.S. and secure entry, despite a Brazilian court order barring Bolsonaro from leaving the country. Referring to himself as the “leader of Brazil,” Bolsonaro thanked President Trump for welcoming him to a “land of freedoms” and Milei for his “courage” and “sense of justice” in a statement from Miami Wednesday. After Trump personally approved admitting Bolsonaro and his family to the U.S. on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio moved to issue them visas, according to people familiar with the arrangements. 

The operation to whisk Bolsonaro out of Brazil to the U.S. took shape on Monday, as allies grew concerned that he could face arrest. Although the criminal investigations into Bolsonaro predated the election, the Supreme Court order barring him from leaving Brazil and requiring him to surrender his passports came shortly after his defeat and fueled accusations that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was determined to punish his political rival.

Working with Flávio Bolsonaro’s well-connected younger brother Eduardo, a small group including Trump adviser Jason Miller secured a charter jet to take him from Argentina to Florida. 

The Trump administration’s decision to provide refuge to Bolsonaro marks the culmination of the family’s yearslong lobbying campaign to enlist the U.S. president and his inner circle in its legal and political battles at home. The personal alliance between the two most powerful political families in the hemisphere has reshaped relations between the U.S. and Brazil. Last year, Trump imposed steep tariffs on the country citing its treatment of Bolsonaro and sanctioned the same Supreme Court justice who barred Bolsonaro from leaving Brazil.

Now, what began as a domestic political and legal battle in Brazil is becoming a test of how far Trump is willing to wield American power on behalf of a foreign political dynasty—with potentially far-reaching consequences for the second-largest democracy in the Americas.

Read it all.

Less than 24 hours after losing Brazil’s presidential election, Flávio Bolsonaro appeared to vanish into a convoy of four dark cars https://t.co/T2SRrBPxEc via @WSJ

— Jose de Cordoba (@Jose_deCordoba) October 29, 2026

American spy agencies had gathered striking intelligence.

A top executive at a Singapore-based data center company was under scrutiny for possibly steering advanced Nvidia A.I. chips to China. And now American officials had concluded that she was a Chinese intelligence asset, funneling information to Beijing.

But what came next was even more alarming. Surveillance of the executive, Alice Huang or Huang Le, a Chinese citizen, revealed that she had developed a close relationship with Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive.

For years, Washington has worked to deny China the technology needed to match or surpass the United States in the intense global competition for superiority in artificial intelligence. The discovery that Beijing was getting reports from someone with direct access to Mr. Huang, one of the most powerful figures in the A.I. revolution as well as an influential ally of President Trump’s, set off alarms at the White House.

Read it all.

Wow.https://t.co/ovzrTKn4CR https://t.co/VlJTst2k4X

— Ryan Mac 🙃 (@RMac18) October 29, 2026

We are reminded of Proverbs 21:1: The king’s heart is like “a stream of water” in YHWH’s hand, and he turns it this way and that. That’s why the early Christians, living under hostile Roman rule, were instructed to pray for those in authority. Now, the prophet is telling the exiles to trust that YHWH knows what he’s doing. We all need that message now and then, not in order to justify or excuse wickedness but in order to inculcate humility.

The conclusion acknowledges that all this is a shock: “Truly, you are a God who hides himself” (45:15, NRSV). God is operating behind the scenes in ways for which nothing in Israel’s earlier history has prepared them. The idea of the world’s greatest monarch using his military power to rescue the Judaeans from exile, and telling them to rebuild the temple, was way beyond any precedent.

In a different register, think how the story of Cyrus finds some shadowy first-century equivalents.

Emperor Augustus in Rome lifts his little finger and there’s a worldwide census … and a young couple make their way to the royal town of Bethlehem.

Thirty or so years later, Tiberius Caesar appoints Pontius Pilate as governor, and Jesus tells him, to our dark astonishment, that God has indeed given him the power of life and death.

Read it all.

I’d like to introduce you to my next book, Into the Heart of Isaiah. In this book I ask: What does Isaiah have to do with Jesus, Paul, the resurrection, and the first century Christians? Quite a lot, it turns out. I encourage you to pre-order here: https://t.co/5yz1s6D7xL https://t.co/jm4Dx5HcTN

— Tom Wright (@profntwright) October 8, 2026

Precious in thy sight, O Lord, is the death of thy saints, whose faithful witness, by thy providence, hath its great reward: We give thee thanks for thy martyrs James Hannington and his companions, who purchased with their blood a road unto Uganda for the proclamation of the Gospel; and we pray that with them we also may obtain the crown of righteousness which is laid up for all who love the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

29 Oct 1885, James Hannington, @cmsmission missionary & first Anglican bishop of East Africa, speared to death in Uganda. Born Hurstpierpoint. Studied @OrielOxford, 1874 ordained. 1882-3 in E Africa but left due to illness, returned 1885. ‘Blood of the martyrs is seed of church’. https://t.co/CKjbAn8I6F

— Revd Nicholas Pye (@RevdPye) October 29, 2026

Grant us, O Lord, the faith that rests not on signs and wonders but on thy love and faithfulness; that obedient to thy word and trusting in thy promises, we may know thy peace and healing power, both in our hearts and in our homes; for the honour of thy holy name.

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world–he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

Revelation 12:7-12

Catching the last rays of autumn sunshine in Cunningsburgh, Shetland- happy Thursday, friends#ScotlandisNow #StormHour #photography #photooftheday #sunset #OutAndAboutScotland #landscapephotography @VisitScotland @ScotsMagazine #STVSnaps #ThePhotoHour https://t.co/RqEotl0LDI

— Mike Wood (@MikeMikwd) October 29, 2026