I’d like to offer a different perspective. It isn’t exactly a theological case, though not because there isn’t one. As I’ve written elsewhere, theologically speaking, there is one reason and one reason only to go to church: God. 

If the God of the gospel is the one true and living God, then every one of us should be at church every Sunday morning (and more). If not—if Jesus did not rise from the dead—then the church is built on a lie, our faith is futile, and “we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:16–19). If the gospel were false, church would be a waste of time, even if it added decades to our lives and absolutely ensured our total personal flourishing. If the God of Abraham is fictional, if he is not the maker of heaven and earth, it would be better to live in the truth and be miserable than to playact the liturgy and be happy.

But by definition, Christians believe the gospel is true. And if it is true, then church—“the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15, NET) and Christ’s “body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:23, ESV)—is a vital element of human life lived to the utmost. 

That’s why the instinct to meet our culture’s critique or ignorance of the church by downplaying its import is so misguided. Church is not an optional add-on to Christian faith. It is how we learn to be human as God intended. Indeed, it makes possible truly human life before God. 

Read it all.

“The church is the selling point. I don’t mean that we want people joining churches for the social perks. I mean that Christ himself has made the offer of the gospel one and the same as the offer of joining a people.”

– Brad East https://t.co/ZMItRtYUmW

— Andrew Noble (@nobullnoble) September 14, 2024

Geothermal energy may be approaching its Mitchell moment. George Mitchell, a scrappy independent oilman, is known as the father of fracking. Nearly three decades ago, he defied Big Oil and the conventional wisdom of his industry by making practical the hitherto uneconomic technique of pumping liquids and sands into the ground to force out gas and oil from shale rock and other tight geological formations. The enormous increase in productivity that resulted, known as the shale revolution, has transformed the global hydrocarbon business.

Now Fervo Energy, another scrappy Texan upstart, is applying such hydraulic fracturing—alongside other techniques borrowed from the petroleum industry—to the sleepy geothermal sector. Should it succeed, it would mean this relatively fringe source of energy could, in time, become a major player in the energy mix.

The motivation behind geothermal energy is to harness Earth’s abundant subsurface heat for useful ends. This is ordinarily done by tapping into underground reservoirs of hot water or steam. As these are only found in limited areas, this greatly limits the potential of conventional geothermal power. In contrast, “enhanced geothermal systems” (EGS), like the one deployed by Fervo, use hydraulic stimulation to create channels in hot rocks just about anywhere. One well pumps in water into those channels, where it is heated naturally to 200°C or higher. Another well then brings that hot water to the surface, where it is used to generate electricity in a turbine….

Read it all.

Geothermal energy is usually harvested by tapping into underground reservoirs of hot water or steam. These are only found in limited areas, this greatly limits the potential of conventional geothermal power.

There has been a hot-rocks breakthrough https://t.co/5VDAvYpUIq 👇

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) September 15, 2024

O God, by whose grace thy servant Hildegard, enkindled with the fire of thy love, became a burning and shining light in thy Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and may ever walk before thee as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever.

Cycle of the Seasons by Hildegard of Bingen, 12th c. pic.twitter.com/u85Oy32F6I

— Solas (@solas_na_greine) May 25, 2024

Lord, who hast warned us that without thee we can do nothing; and by thy holy apostle hast taught us that in thy strength we can do all things: So take and possess us, that our weakness may be transformed by thy power; that we be no longer our own, but thine; that it be not we who live, but thou who livest in us; who now reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, world without end.

–Daily Prayer, Eric Milner-White and G. W. Briggs, eds. (London: Penguin Books 1959 edition of the 1941 original)

A golden start to the day here in Glastonbury and even a bit of a sun pillar. pic.twitter.com/zrf3ot4eeY

— Michelle Cowbourne (@Glastomichelle) September 17, 2024

And they went through the region of Phry′gia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come opposite My′sia, they attempted to go into Bithyn′ia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; so, passing by My′sia, they went down to Tro′as. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedo′nia was standing beseeching him and saying, “Come over to Macedo′nia and help us.” And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedo′nia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Setting sail therefore from Tro′as, we made a direct voyage to Sam′othrace, and the following day to Ne-ap′olis, and from there to Philippi, which is the leading city of the district of Macedo′nia, and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days; and on the sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyati′ra, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to give heed to what was said by Paul. And when she was baptized, with her household, she besought us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

–Acts 16:6-15

Aug 3 Saint Lydia of Thyatira
—Dealer in purple cloth who hosts Saint Paul and Saint Luke after their arrival in Philippi (Acts 16)
—Regarded as the first recorded convert to Christianity in Europe pic.twitter.com/tXIwpyh3FN

— Father Schmidt (@FrDarinSchmidt) August 3, 2023

OpenAI’s latest models have “meaningfully” increased the risk that artificial intelligence will be misused to create biological weapons, the company has acknowledged.

The San Francisco-based group announced its new models, known as o1, on Thursday, touting their new abilities to reason, solve hard maths problems and answer scientific research questions.

These advances are seen as a crucial breakthrough in the effort to create artificial general intelligence — machines with human-level cognition. OpenAI’s system card, a tool to explain how the AI operates, said the new models had a “medium risk” for issues related to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) weapons — the highest risk that OpenAI has ever given for its models. The company said it meant the technology has “meaningfully improved” the ability of experts to create bioweapons.

Read it all (subscription).

OpenAI acknowledges new models increase risk of misuse to create bioweapons https://t.co/tFJOhIwPEm via @ft

— Anjana Susarla (@asusarla) September 15, 2024

Rhiannon’s ordained ministry to date has spanned the dioceses of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, Birmingham and Ely. She was ordained deacon in 2000 and worked first in a team ministry in the market town of Huntingdon, followed by being the Rector of a multi-parish benefice just outside Cambridge. She then became Director of Mission for the Diocese of Birmingham which involved leading their Growing Younger project and helping to implement their ‘Transforming Church’ and church-planting vision.

She currently serves as the Archdeacon of Ipswich and Director of the ‘Inspiring Ipswich’ project. Rhiannon is also a trustee of ‘Leading your Church into Growth’.

She is married to Philip, a physicist and photographer based in Oxford, and together they love to travel in the UK and further afield whenever possible.

Read it all.

The Venerable Rhiannon King is to become the next Bishop of Southampton.

Read more about the appointment at https://t.co/QgBHjygINy. pic.twitter.com/oXpl4aOitj

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) September 13, 2024

The Rev. John Parks was taking his first sabbatical in 40 years of ministry when he got a call from his church’s accountant with some bad news.

Church Mutual, the church’s insurance company, had dropped them.

“This does not make sense,” Parks, the pastor of Ashford Community Church in Houston, recalls thinking at the time. “We’ve never filed a claim.”

Five months and 13 insurance companies later, the church finally found replacement coverage for $80,000 per year, up from the $23,000 they had been paying.

“It’s been an adventure,” said the 69-year-old Parks from his home in Houston, where the power was out after Hurricane Beryl. “That’s putting it politely.”

Parks and his congregation are not alone. An ongoing wave of disasters — Gulf Coast hurricanes, wildfires in California, severe thunderstorms and flooding in the Midwest — along with skyrocketing construction costs post-COVID have left the insurance industry reeling.

Read it all.

The same factors that have caused a crisis in the homeowner's insurance market are also affecting churches, who have to choose between paying for insurance or running programs.https://t.co/EZuQfur4d8

— RNS (@RNS) July 10, 2024

In his recent advisory on parents’ mental health, the United States surgeon general, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, said out loud what many parents might have only furtively admitted: Parenting today is too hard and stressful.

Of course, there have always been concerns about families’ well-being. And while some of today’s parents’ fears are newer — cellphones, school shootings, fentanyl — parents have always worried about their children.

So why has parental stress risen to the level of a rare surgeon general’s warning about an urgent public health issue — putting it in the same category as cigarettes and AIDS?

It’s because today’s parents face something different and more demanding: the expectation that they spend ever more time and money educating and enriching their children. These pressures, researchers say, are driven in part by fears about the modern-day economy — that if parents don’t equip their children with every possible advantage, their children could fail to achieve a secure, middle-class life.

Read it all.

So true, right here in our wealthy Silicon Valley community – nearly every kid is scheduled every day, weekends, too, sports, classes, etc. I'm part of it, teaching robotics after school, too:
Today’s Parents: ‘Exhausted, Burned Out & Perpetually Behind’ https://t.co/0JjY4ep8lr

— Steve Mushero (@stevemushero) September 14, 2024

O God, who by the preaching of thy blessed servant and bishop Ninian didst cause the light of the Gospel to shine in the land of Britain: Grant, we beseech thee, that, having his life and labors in remembrance, we may show forth our thankfulness by following the example of his zeal and patience; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today the Church of England celebrates Ninian, Bishop of Galloway, Apostle of the Picts, c.432

Image: Detail of the St Ninian window (D. Marion Grant, 1954) in @GlasgowHighKirk. Photo by Lawrence OP, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, via flickr pic.twitter.com/9wUH1tmf93

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) September 16, 2024

O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Morning everyone hope you are well. I think we are in for a nice week!! Warnscale Beck leading into Buttermere and beyond. Have a great day. #LakeDistrict @keswickbootco pic.twitter.com/4Iv4HFaSug

— Rod Hutchinson (@lakesrhino) September 16, 2024

And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Come, let us return and visit the brethren in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” And Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphyl′ia, and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp contention, so that they separated from each other; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cili′cia, strengthening the churches.

And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren at Lystra and Ico′nium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions which had been reached by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

–Acts 15:36-16:5

Late zonnestralen geven het landschap een vrolijk aanzien. Fijne maandag😀 #natuur #landschap #zomer #Rhenen #ElstUt #Elsterbuitenwaard #zonsondergang #mooieluchten pic.twitter.com/npxkzeduqS

— Tjark Dieterman (@DietermanTjark) September 16, 2024

O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers
of your people who call upon you;
and grant that they may both perceive and know
what things they ought to do,
and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil them;
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.

Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.
Who is the King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!

–Psalm 24:7-10

O God, who by the passion of thy blessed Son didst make an instrument of shameful death to be unto us the means of life and peace: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Initial 'n'(on) depicting Emperor Heraclius bringing the relic of the True Cross back to Jerusalem, the event celebrated on Holy Cross day

BnF MS Latin 11700; Homiliarium Corbeiense, Vol III; 12th century (1179 CE); France (Corbie); f.100v @GallicaBnF pic.twitter.com/9S51Eza0yW

— Ennius (@red_loeb) September 14, 2024

O Lord Jesu Christ, be Thou the beginning and the end of all this day; the pattern Whom I am to copy, the Redeemer in Whom is my strength, the Master Whom I am to serve, the Friend to Whom I may look for comfort and sympathy.  May I fix my eyes on Thee as my help, my aim, the centre of my being, my everlasting friend.  O Thou Who hast so looked on me that I may see Thee, set Thine eyes upon me, I beseech Thee.  Steady my unsteadfastness, unite me to Thyself, and guide me in whatever path Thou seest fit to lead me, till of Thine infinite mercy Thou wilt bring me to Thine eternal presence in Paradise.     

It's the #weekend!🎉We thought we needed an extra special image to start #Saturday with and we thought this might fit the bill – what do you think? The iconic view of Goat Scar Lane close to #Stainforth 🙌

📸 Ross Brown Photography #YorkshireDales #SaturdayVibes #Dales pic.twitter.com/VRVtrfKeL9

— Yorkshire Dales National Park (@yorkshire_dales) September 14, 2024

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsab’bas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, with the following letter: “The brethren, both the apostles and the elders, to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cili’cia, greeting. Since we have heard that some persons from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, exhorted the brethren with many words and strengthened them. And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brethren to those who had sent them. But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

–Acts 15:22-35

"Autumn's Approach"#AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #Highlands #spiderweb #misty #fog #weather #StormHour #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/z3Y1ZXxz3K

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) September 14, 2024

The scholarship of the author shines through the pages of the book as he ponders deeply on what he believes “the duty of man” to entail and what the main thing is that makes for the good life during our sojourn here on earth. It is, he tells us, Avodat Hashem: service (or worship) of the Name, honouring God in everything.

That will mean, as he summarises it in the final text of his letter to his children, in the last ten pages of the book, after much rich reflection: grasping the truth of being made in the image of God, male and female; valuing family, neighbours, toil, and friendship; exhibiting patience, humility, hope, and forgiveness in the face of suffering; finding joy, especially in the recognition of our exhaustive grasp by God’s love; and living within the Church’s time as well as our own. All this we are called to do while acknowledging that God can be “a question, an encounter, a discovery, a struggle, sometimes (too often, perhaps) even a loss and a cry”.

This leaves out much of what is nowadays generally thought to be Christian political duty, which I found something of a relief: it is a modest manifesto powerfully articulated, which I found deeply attractive. Crucially, as the title implies, the book is offered as a vision of the good life lived in the light of mortality….

Read it all.

Mortal Goods
Reimagining Christian Political Duty

Ephraim Radner

This book by one of today’s leading theologians examines how Christians might more faithfully and realistically imagine their political vocation.

Ephraim Radner explains that our Christian calling is to limit our… pic.twitter.com/FuAJeBEoxH

— Theology Books (@theology_books) April 14, 2024

Britain and the U.S. are poised to cross a decisive Rubicon in the Ukraine war on Friday at a White House summit where they will discuss plans to allow Kyiv to strike targets inside Russia with Western-supplied missiles.

In a final bid to scare off the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday evening he would regard such an agreement as tantamount to NATO directly entering the war. “This will mean that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries are fighting Russia,” he said.

The threat came with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer still en route to Washington ahead of Friday’s talks with President Joe Biden over Ukraine’s possible use of British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles on Russian soil.

“Russia started this conflict,” Starmer responded, speaking to journalists on board his flight. “Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away.”

Read it all.

BIG READ

Putin threatens war as Western allies near deal on missile strikes in Russia

Big read on the drumbeat towards a deal — nothing announced tomorrow but will be a crucial staging post

We get inside all the issues & report from over the Atlantic https://t.co/F6y7P0TnhW

— Dan Bloom (@danbloom1) September 12, 2024

The U.S. is gradually moving aircraft and commandos into coastal West Africa in an urgent effort to try to stop the march of al Qaeda and Islamic State militants across one of the world’s most volatile regions.

American forces were evicted this summer from their regional stronghold in Niger, farther inland, and now the Pentagon is patching together a backup counterinsurgency plan in neighboring countries—refurbishing an airfield in Benin to accommodate American helicopters, stationing Green Berets and surveillance planes in Ivory Coast, and negotiating the return of U.S. commandos to a base they used to occupy in Chad.

“Losing Niger means that we’ve lost our ability to directly influence counterterrorism and counterinsurgency in the Sahel,” said retired Maj. Gen. Mark Hicks, former commander of U.S. special-operations forces in Africa, referring to the vast, semidesert band just south of the Sahara.

Islamist militants are wreaking havoc across the core of the Sahel—Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger—attacking police and military, stirring local grievances, imposing their harsh version of Islam in occupied villages and causing some 38,000 deaths since 2017, according to the Pentagon’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies, which analyzed figures collected by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a U.S.-based, nonprofit monitoring service.

Read it all.

If only the moderators had asked serious questions about topics like this last night….

U.S. Forces Try to Regroup as al Qaeda, Islamic State Sow Terror in West Africa https://t.co/2olUuGnpKq

— Morgan Ortagus (@MorganOrtagus) September 11, 2024

But what matters of deep moment are contained in the Lord’s prayer! How many and how great, briefly collected in the words, but spiritually abundant in virtue! so that there is absolutely nothing passed over that is not comprehended in these our prayers and petitions, as in a compendium of heavenly doctrine. “After this manner,” says He, “pray ye: Our Father, which art in heaven.” The new man, born again and restored to his God by His grace, says “Father,” in the first place because he has now begun to be a son. “He came,” He says, “to His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in His name.” The man, therefore, who has believed in His name, and has become God’s son, ought from this point to begin both to give thanks and to profess himself God’s son, by declaring that God is his Father in heaven; and also to bear witness, among the very first words of his new birth, that he has renounced an earthly and carnal father, and that he has begun to know as well as to have as a father Him only who is in heaven, as it is written: “They who say unto their father and their mother, I have not known thee, and who have not acknowledged their own children; these have observed Thy precepts and have kept Thy covenant.”  Also the Lord in His Gospel has bidden us to call “no man our father upon earth, because there is to us one Father, who is in heaven.” And to the disciple who had made mention of his dead father, He replied, “Let the dead bury their dead;” for he had said that his father was dead, while the Father of believers is living.

Nor ought we, beloved brethren, only to observe and understand that we should call Him Father who is in heaven; but we add to it, and say our Father, that is, the Father of those who believe—of those who, being sanctified by Him, and restored by the nativity of spiritual grace, have begun to be sons of God.

–Cyprian of Carthage, Treatise IV On the Lord’s Prayer, 9-10a

“Thanks be to God.”

Saint Cyprian of Carthage, immediately after hearing the ruling of Galerius Maximus sentencing him to death for his refusal to renounce Christ in favor of pagan deities.

Saint Cyprian of Carthage.

Ora Pro Nobis#CatholicTwitter #CatholicX pic.twitter.com/v0A9TNeDwB

— Brian Burgess (@Burgess7281975) August 2, 2024

Almighty God, who didst give to thy servant Cyprian boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of the same our Lord Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

"To him who still remains in this world,

there is no repentance that is too late."

St. Cyprian of Carthage pic.twitter.com/ExpPiFA7t8

— Parousia (@Thewarning9) March 4, 2023

For these Thy most bounteous gifts, and for all other Thy benefits which Thou daily givest unto us of Thy great mercy both for our body and soul; we most humbly thank Thee, most gentle and merciful Father, beseeching Thee that Thou wilt give us grace through Thy Holy Spirit not to be unthankful, but to walk worthy of this Thy kindness, and so to behave ourselves all our lifetime in this world according to Thy holy will, that at the last day we may be found in the number of them to whom Thy only-begotten Son shall say: Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom which was prepared for you from the beginning of the world; through the same Thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.     

–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)

A Frosty Morning. 3°C and clear skies. A Barn Owl in the valley. pic.twitter.com/sUrqq8Zoh4

— Yorkshire Wolds Weather (@WeatherWolds) September 13, 2024

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

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

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

–Acts 15:12-21

where peace lives#forest pic.twitter.com/gsavbcF3pi

— Portmann Carrick (@PortmannCarrick) September 13, 2024

The secret ballot by which diocesan bishops are nominated could be removed under changes intended to restore trust in the processes of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC).

In the wake of the failure of the CNC to appoint on two occasions in the past nine months, faith in the process has deteriorated to the extent that candidates across a range traditions are refusing to have their names added to longlists, a paper by the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, warns.

Others are “openly questioning the integrity of the process”, while “allegations of politicking in the Vacancy in See process are commonplace”.

Read it all.

The secret ballot by which diocesan bishops are nominated could be removed under changes intended to restore trust in the processes of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) https://t.co/2RtEht4aQB

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 12, 2024

How messy will it get? There are three possible outcomes. Start with the extremely unlikely one, which is a vote so close that Kamala Harris and Mr Trump tie in the electoral college. Were this to happen, the next president would be picked by the House of Representatives, with each state wielding one vote. Even if Ms Harris won the popular vote on November 5th, Mr Trump would almost certainly become president. That would be fair in the sense that it would follow the rules, but Democrats would be furious.

The second outcome is a Trump win. Democrats could bring legal challenges in close states where Ms Harris lost. Some of these might end up at the Supreme Court, where three justices appointed by Mr Trump would have to adjudicate their merits. Three of the conservative justices worked on George W. Bush’s legal team back in 2000 on Bush v Gore. That would make it hard to persuade Ms Harris’s supporters that decisions favouring the Trump campaign were impartial. After the court’s rulings on abortion and presidential immunity, Democrats have come to view the justices as Republican politicians in robes. Nevertheless, most elected Democrats would probably accept the rulings, if more grudgingly than in 2000.

However, if enough Democratic lawmakers were really convinced the courts had acted unfairly, they could try to block certification of the result in Congress, following the precedent set by Republicans in 2021. Then, 139 House members and eight senators (all Republicans) voted to reject the results. A reform of the Electoral Count Act, passed two years ago, raises the threshold, so that 20 senators and 87 members of the House would have to object. In the unlikely scenario that those preliminary votes passed, Democrats would probably lose the subsequent full votes of both chambers. All this is possible, but the most probable outcome, if Mr Trump were to win the election, is that Ms Harris would concede, taking the wind out of any Democratic challenge to the result.

If Ms Harris wins, Mr Trump will not be so gracious. In that third scenario, the complexity of America’s voting system collides with the MAGA conspiracy machine.

Read it all.

How ugly will it get?
America’s election is mired in conflict
Donald Trump’s conspiracy machine is already gearing up for election night https://t.co/wBPTd73SzQ

— Pablo Secada (@psecadae) September 12, 2024

I will take comments on this submitted by email only to KSHarmon[at]mindspring[dot]com.

Seal Team 6, the clandestine US Navy commando unit that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, has been training for missions to help Taiwan if it is invaded by China, according to people familiar with the preparations.

The elite Navy special forces team, which is tasked with some of the military’s most sensitive and difficult missions, has been planning and training for a Taiwan conflict for more than a year at Dam Neck, its headquarters at Virginia Beach about 250km south-east of Washington.

The secret training underlines the increased US focus on deterring China from attacking Taiwan, while stepping up preparations for such an event.

The preparations have only grown since Phil Davidson, the US Indo-Pacific commander at the time, warned in 2021 that China could attack Taiwan within six years.

Read it all.

This is an amazing scoop by @FT and @Dimi. It is sure to get under Beijing's skin.

US Navy Seal unit that killed bin Laden trains for Chinese invasion of Taiwan https://t.co/6ngSZFvKrA via @ft

— Dennis Wilder偉德寧 (@dennisw5) September 12, 2024

‘It was impossible,’ says archdeacon Strachan ‘to hear him without becoming sensible of the infinite importance of the gospel. He warned,counseled, entreated, and comforted with intense and powerful energy. His manner and voice struck you with a deep interest which pervaded his soul for their salvation, and into their heart.’

–John McVickar, The professional years of John Henry Hobart: being a sequel to his early years (New York, Protestant Episcopal Press, 1836) p.41

Q. "… do you mean that the bread and wine are changed into Christ's body and blood, as the Roman Catholics assert?"
A. "Certainly not. This would contradict our senses; and the body of Christ is in heaven, not on earth."

-From Bishop Hobart's Catechism pic.twitter.com/efOKdsRgeB

— SouthernAnglo (@AngloSouthern) April 5, 2024

Revive thy Church, Lord God of hosts, whensoever it doth fall into complacency and sloth, by raising up devoted leaders, like thy servant John Henry Hobart whom we remember this day; and grant that their faith and vigor of mind may awaken thy people to thy message and their mission; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates John Henry Hobart, Bishop of New York, 1830

Rector of Trinity Wall Street, 3rd Bishop of New York (1816-30) and founder of General Theological Seminary, he helped promote the extension of the Episcopal Church in Central & Western New York pic.twitter.com/HzLJ8hofhc

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) September 12, 2024