The Church of England this week welcomed an announcement of a government consultation in the autumn on the potential for including religious education (RE) in the National Curriculum.

Earlier this year, the National Society praised the Government’s announcement of a £4-billion investment in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision, which, it said, chimed with its “core mission” (News, 23 February).

The Church says that it will respond to the consultation on RE in the autumn, and that the National Society, which is the education office for the C of E and the Church in Wales, will work closely with its diocesan partners in the mean time.

RE currently sits outside the national curriculum, and decisions about what is taught are taken locally. But the Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has now announced that consensus has been reached among those “representing the full spectrum of religion in this country”, including the Church.

Read it all.

The Church of England this week welcomed an announcement of a government consultation in the autumn on the potential for including religious education (RE) in the National Curriculum 🍎✏️#RE #Curriculum #churchnews #churchtimes https://t.co/4AiKVtHW6o

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 8, 2026

‘Our cover this week features the most stunning such warning [for Russia] so far.

It comes from Andrey Melnichenko, the world’s fertiliser king and Russia’s biggest industrialist. Mr Melnichenko is hardly a member of the anti-Putin opposition. Far from criticising the invasion, he is an insider whose factories have supported the war economy.Nor is he being high-minded. Having run his companies outside Russia, Mr Melnichenko returned in 2023 as the scope for global business shrank. Like most oligarchs, he has lived by Mr Putin’s rules—make money, but keep your nose out of politics. He is talking now because he and his fellow tycoons can no longer afford to ignore the rot in a country they watched descend into tyranny.

Mr Melnichenko issued his warning over nearly 60 hours of interviews with The Economist and more guardedly in an essay we are publishing online. It is the first time an oligarch in Russia has spoken out at such length. We are giving him space not because we agree with all his views or because he is a champion of democracy and human rights. Instead, he is a pragmatist who wants his firms to thrive. That is why his call could resonate in a country where wars gone wrong, including the defeat to Japan in 1905, have led to campaigns by industrialists for political change.

Mr Melnichenko’s words go far beyond the war, to the bleak outlook for Russia and its neighbours. 

Read it all.

A leading oligarch speaks out, warning of the looming disaster facing his country https://t.co/C3SKtbT1L4

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) July 9, 2026

Wendell Gilliard spent the hottest days of his childhood summers praying for a cool breeze.

Gilliard, a state lawmaker who represents parts of the peninsula and West Ashley in the S.C. House of Representatives, grew up in Charleston’s low-income housing before it had air conditioning. His family would cool off by purchasing a large block of ice and setting it in the middle of a room surrounded by fans and open windows.

“ That was our air conditioning,” Gilliard recalled. “Mom would always say, ‘ You need to stay still and pray for a cool breeze.’   Then, when everybody stayed still in that one room, you would notice the curtain would pick up from the breeze, and everything changed.”

Charleston Housing Authority properties now have air conditioning, but many households across the state still don’t. As South Carolina enters the dog days of summer, heat-vulnerable residents — who are predominantly elderly, those with chronic illnesses and the “homebound,” per the S.C. Department of Public Health — face life-threatening risks.

Read it all.

(Local paper) '#CharlestonSC Housing Authority properties now have air conditioning, but many households across the state still don’t. As South Carolina enters the dog days of summer, heat-vulnerable residents — who are predominantly elderly, those with chronic illnesses and the…

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) July 9, 2026

July 9: Feast of Everild (†c.700). Wessex noblewoman who went north to become a nun with her companions Bega and Wulfreda. They settled on land owned by St Wilfrid called Bishop’s Farm, which he gave them. There they founded a convent. St Everilda's Church 📸Frederick Weeks pic.twitter.com/t00fnYh9Xy

— North Ages (@NorthAges) July 9, 2026

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

How lovely is this church? Some places carry the whispers of people long after they are gone.

All Saints', Billesley, Warwickshire once stood at the heart of a medieval village. Today, the village is gone and it stands alone in a copse. pic.twitter.com/9DfUfW7bh8

— Andy Marshall 📸 (@fotofacade) July 9, 2026

“And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The Lord your God has given you this land to possess; all your men of valor shall pass over armed before your brethren the people of Israel. But your wives, your little ones, and your cattle (I know that you have many cattle) shall remain in the cities which I have given you, until the Lord gives rest to your brethren, as to you, and they also occupy the land which the Lord your God gives them beyond the Jordan; then you shall return every man to his possession which I have given you.’ And I commanded Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings; so will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are going over. You shall not fear them; for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’

–Deuteronomy 3:18-22

Is there anything better than a South Downs sunrise?

📍Ditchling Beacon
📸 Billy Callum pic.twitter.com/l0xVo3f4MP

— South Downs National Park (@sdnpa) July 9, 2026

[Gavin] Francis consistently challenges the labelling effect of standard diagnostic manuals, and the danger of “diagnostic creep”. “If we were able to hold the labels more lightly, aware of the human tendencies they oversimplify, would we be able to create a society more accepting of difference? Might it be less stigmatising, but also more hopeful, and more open to recovery?”

Religion appears from time to time. People who attend religious services evidently have a 20 per cent lower rate of depression than others. There is something priestly in the role of psychiatrist, “in that it concerns questions of doubt, faith and love”. More fundamentally, the author conveys a marvellous sense of wonder at the miracle and mystery of the human body and mind: “Wonder fosters humility, compassion and reverence for life — the cornerstones of all the major world religions, and fundamental qualities for the effective practice of medicine.”

Those involved in pastoral care can learn much from Francis’s account of his practice, and not least his insistence on the central place of kindness and compassion.

Read it all.

"Those involved in pastoral care can learn much from Francis’s account of his practice, and not least his insistence on the central place of kindness and compassion"

📚 Philip Welsh welcomes a GP’s reflections on mental-health issues#books https://t.co/LHAmMaRnUM

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 7, 2026

Someday real soon, most of us — starting with young adults — will carry an always-on AI. This agent will help us navigate our journeys, answer our questions, tutor and teach us new skills, remember people we have met before, remind us of what we once knew before, offer advice and recommendations, do simple errands, and remember everything we say and do. Before long, it will know us better than we know ourselves. It will be our exoself.

While we will use more than one agent, we’ll primarily favor just one that knows us best. Always-on means this agent is listening, watching, tracking, present during all our waking hours, and maybe even while we sleep. We will allow this intimate access to our inner life because it gives us superpowers: knowledge, judgment, decisiveness, confidence, and most important, speed. We will feel productive, creative, smart, capable, and on top of it when it is on. When it is off, we will feel amputated.

This entity is clearly not our self. But at the same time, this always-on AI will be so close to us, understanding us so well and so deeply — better than almost any human could — that it will not be an other, or an outsider either. It can model us too well to be an other. It will be an exoself: something in between our self and an other self. Neither us, but also not outside of us. A new category.

It won’t feel strange, because we don’t feel strange wearing eyeglasses all day, or hearing aids, or carrying a computer in our pockets. Machines like this have been moving closer to us since they were invented. Smart machines started out as room-sized apparatus, then moved nearer as appliances alongside a desk, then onto the desktop in front of us, then onto our laps, then into our pockets — and soon, they will sit on our skin, perhaps on our heads. We already see prototypes of smart glasses, where the exoself can perch, whispering into our ears and illuminating our eyes.

Read it all.

I write about the controversial idea of an "exoself" as if it were inevitable: https://t.co/nds5pW2b0r

— Kevin Kelly (@kevin2kelly) July 7, 2026

As you read this sentence, circuits in your brain are adjusting your posture, controlling your breathing, and transforming lines and curves on the screen into recognizable words. Most of this processing is invisible to you. But some of what takes place in your brain you do have access to—an image that pops into your head, or a deliberate plan you make about where to go shopping. Neuroscientists and philosophers sometimes refer to the latter type of brain activity as “consciously accessible,” to distinguish it from all the other processing that goes on unconsciously. This activity has special properties: we can describe it, control it, and use it for deliberate reasoning, in contrast to all the automatic processing that goes on without our awareness.

In a new paper, we present evidence that a similar distinction has emerged in modern language models like Claude. We find that Claude has developed a small collection of internal neural patterns that, compared to all its other internal processing, play a special role.

We call the collection of these patterns the J-space—named after the technique we used to find them, involving a mathematical concept called the Jacobian. Each J-space pattern is linked to a particular word. But when one of these patterns lights up, it doesn’t mean the model is saying that word—just that the word is on its mind. If you’ve heard of language models having a “scratchpad” or “chain of thought”—text they write to themselves while reasoning—the J-space is something different. It operates silently, in the model’s internal neural activations, allowing the model to think about a concept without writing it down. Notably, the J-space wasn’t designed or programmed by us, but instead emerged on its own during Claude’s training process.

Read it all.

Wow! Unexpected results from Anthropic's experiments in exposing the inner thoughts of Claude. They call its unconscious a J-space. The short video they made is good place to start. https://t.co/07cr8aJlxr

— Kevin Kelly (@kevin2kelly) July 8, 2026

The Ukraine war may be entering a dangerous new phase as an embattled Russia appears to be weighing whether to escalate the conflict with limited strikes or military incursions against European NATO countries such as the Baltic states or Poland — betting that the United States wouldn’t intervene.

“I’d say escalatory risk is real, and growing — mostly because [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is under growing pressure at home and losing on the battlefield,” said former CIA director William Burns in a message to me Monday. The United States has been sharing warnings about the growing danger with European allies for the past month, officials told me.

We’re watching a demonstration of how wars can leap the bounds of what strategists call “agreed battle” and become global catastrophes. With Russia caught in a meat grinder in eastern Ukraine, suffering more than 30,000 casualties a month to Kyiv’s drones, the danger is that Putin will try a breakout against the NATO alliance that he claims is his real adversary — at a moment when the United States is less engaged than at any time in the alliance’s history.

Read it all.

Europe braces for a Russian provocationhttps://t.co/roGYB9LLbN

— Tarık Oğuzlu (@TarikOguzlu) July 7, 2026

God of grace and might, we praise thee for thy servants Priscilla and Aquila, whom thou didst plenteously endow with gifts of zeal and eloquence to make known the truth of the Gospel. Raise up, we pray thee, in every country, heralds and evangelists of thy kingdom, that the world may know the immeasurable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today is the feast of Saints Aquila and Priscilla, early Christians who are mentioned in the New Testament. They lived, worked, and traveled with the Apostle Paul, who described them as his "fellow workers in Christ Jesus”. They are considered patrons of love and marriage. pic.twitter.com/5Y2z3Rq6iW

— Chess Valley RC (@ChessValleyRC) July 8, 2025

Almighty God,
send down upon your Church
the riches of your Spirit,
and kindle in all who minister the gospel
your countless gifts of grace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Good morning from the #WelshMarches. Already warm and the pasture looks baked and dry. A layer of mist in the distant valley. pic.twitter.com/ZbiWoNajQd

— Anne O'Brien (@anne_obrien) July 8, 2026

I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen by race. They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. God who is over all be blessed for ever. Amen.

–Romans 9:1-5

Poppies at Little Bay Islands #photography pic.twitter.com/OgaYh0lJjo

— Mike Parsons (@mikep_lbi) July 8, 2026

Read it all.

ACNA news: Abp Wood's parish states they have continuously cooperated with the prosecution & defense, they haven't threatened the jobs of employees who may testify, & the court should issue a "corrective public statement" to their document that said the parish was uncooperative. pic.twitter.com/mTBXIWNMXL

— Arlie Coles (@ArlieColes) July 8, 2026

From the start, 250 years ago, America’s founders believed that their republic would shine out as an example to all humanity. But the republic was also an experiment, and they feared that it could soon collapse into disorder or tyranny. Such has been the dance throughout America’s extraordinary history. Slavery and xenophobia, corruption and robber barons, civil war and world war have all jostled the republic even as America rose to become the beacon of the free world.

On July 4th Americans are celebrating their semiquincentennial. All those syllables rebut the founders’ gloom. Far from succumbing to tyranny, America saved the world from tyrants three times over. Glorious disorder created a dynamism that has long sustained America as a superpower. Dominance comes with temptations, but the United States has by and large held out republican virtues as the salvation of people everywhere.

Yet this birthday comes at another anxious moment in America’s story. Virtue is under threat and talk of decline is in the air. Even as citizens celebrate together, public life is scarred by division. America is demolishing the world order that it created after the defeat of fascism in 1945. The restless republic is opening a new chapter, but does that signal retreat, as some Americans worry, or instead herald a renewal?

Read it all.

America saved the world from tyrants three times over. Its economic dynamism has long sustained it as a superpower. By and large it has held out republican virtues as the salvation of people everywhere https://t.co/19Rn9DI67F

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) July 6, 2026

During his 1984 trip to China, President Ronald Reagan spoke to Chinese college students of America’s commitment to the “self-evident truths” of its founding. Reading from the Declaration of Independence, he affirmed America’s foundational moral principles: All humans are created equal, and valued equally, by God. God grants every person on earth certain inalienable rights, including the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  

President Reagan emphasized the importance of religion in living out these truths: “[Our faith is] why we wish well for others. It’s why it grieves us when we hear of people who cannot live up to their full potential.” Americans, he said, have even used their freedom to fight and die while protecting the freedom of others. 

He told the students that their American peers had “committed to memory” the self-evident truths of the Declaration. His implicit message was that America’s students know that human equality, freedom, and dignity are given by God and not by the state. The state’s duty is to secure the inalienable rights of its citizens, especially religious freedom.  

No American president could truthfully make such a statement today. Two hundred and fifty years since our nation’s founding, the public conscience has begun to replace its fidelity to inalienable rights and religious freedom with a state-enforced commitment to radical human autonomy. The reasons for this authoritarian shift are not new, but its emergence in the mainstream is led by the Democratic Party and our elite educational institutions.  

Read it all.

https://t.co/4E3naneYGj Two hundred and fifty years since our nation’s founding, the public conscience has begun to replace its fidelity to inalienable rights and religious freedom with a state-enforced commitment to radical human autonomy.

— Public Discourse (@PublicDiscourse) July 1, 2026

In the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln said America was “conceived in liberty.” Today we might call that our country’s unique selling proposition. While other nations emphasized biological unity, America in the 20th century finally became a liberty theme park where people of all skin colors and ethnicities could together enjoy the thrill rides of building families and careers. 

On our national roller coaster, we’ve had the right to wave hands as long as we do not hit the noses of our neighbors. George Washington defined this liberty theme park well in a Bible-oriented letter to a Jewish synagogue in 1790: “Everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid” (an allusion to Micah 4:4).

Legal racial segregation has disappeared, but on our 250th anniversary tomorrow, we should remember a roadblock that appeared shortly before our 200th: In 1973, the US Supreme Court ruled that unborn children had no right to life. A redefinition of liberty followed in Justice Anthony Kennedy’s 1992 defense of abortion: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” 

Earlier, liberty meant “live and let live”—but live within a common reality that does not include file cabinets marked “my facts” and “your facts.” That’s not true now. Post-Kennedy and within postmodernism, we feel entitled to live with internet algorithms that feed us only the news we feel fit to imprint on our brains.

Read it all.

https://t.co/AKOUNAujbW Still a Restless Nation, Unless We Rest in God

— Ken Ragsdale (@ken_ragsdale) July 4, 2026

This wasn’t enough. Not nearly. Not even close.

It might feel harsh to boil down a month of excitement and exhilaration to something as simple as that, but for all of the pageantry and majesty of high-level sports, the scoreboard always tells the tale. The United States men’s national team gave this country everything it could have wanted from a home team in a World Cup: beauty and belief, passion and grit, a buzzing, rising feeling that this was a moment we would always remember.

Everything, except another game.

Is it a failure? It doesn’t matter. There will be plenty of focus on that word and whether it applies, but the honest truth is this: It makes no difference what you call it because it’s clear what this was not — a success.

The players know. Mauricio Pochettino was brought here to elevate the talent pool, sure, and to enhance the program’s tactical acumen, absolutely. But mostly he was recruited — with dollars kicked in by high-value U.S. Soccer donors — to deliver a different ending to these summers.

Read it all.

USMNT will look back at 2026 World Cup as a missed opportunity. Unfortunately the US soccer team was definitely out played outsmarted both on offense and defense. https://t.co/E7esLw7XRx

— Thomas Reilly (@ThomasR84194144) July 7, 2026

O God, renew our spirits by thy Holy Spirit, and draw our hearts this morning unto thyself, that our work may not be a burden, but a delight; and give us such a mighty love to thee as may sweeten all our obedience.  Let us not serve with the spirit of bondage as slaves, but with cheerfulness and gladness, as children, delighting ourselves in thee and rejoicing in thy wishes for the sake of Jesus Christ.

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

Morning everyone I hope you are well. Crossing the River Brathay in Langdale built in the early 18 hundreds with the Pikes as the backdrop. Have a great day. pic.twitter.com/DMeMAdKHXF

— Rod Hutchinson (@lakesrhino) July 7, 2026

What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,

“For thy sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

–Romans 8:31-39

Good morning and happy Tuesday from my forest in Northern Maine.
2 for Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/sG1G7BBejE

— Dogman (@Dogman1013) July 7, 2026

Rules accompanying the new Clergy Conduct Measure will come before General Synod next month. This follows a vote in the House of Lords on Wednesday to send the Measure to the King for Royal Assent.

Notes accompanying the Rules state that the “overriding objective” at their core, “mandates that all complaints must be dealt with justly, fairly, expeditiously, and proportionately, alongside a strict duty for all parties to co-operate with the proceedings”.

A report from the Clergy Discipline Commission, also published last week, records a “significant increase” in the number of cases being referred for formal investigation — from 12 in 2024 to 25. In 2025, 119 allegations of misconduct were made under the Measure against priests or deacons, compared to 71 in 2024.

Read it all.

Rules accompanying the new Clergy Conduct Measure will come before General Synod next month. This follows a vote in the House of Lords on Wednesday to send the Measure to the King for Royal Assent#clergydiscipline #Tribunal #churchnews #ChurchTimes https://t.co/x1WTYLknx3

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 5, 2026

The U.S. labor force participation rate has quietly returned to levels last seen in the 1970s (outside the recent pandemic). It increasingly seems to signal a structural shift in how society works, with a shrinking share of adults participating directly in the production of goods and services. The consequences extend well beyond slower economic growth.

Some implications:

• A growing share of U.S. society has no direct stake in labor markets.
  • As fewer adults work or seek work, a larger fraction of voters experience the economy mostly as consumers, retirees, or rentiers, not as workers.
  • That changes political incentives around wages, immigration, AI, taxation, and redistribution.
• The economy becomes increasingly dependent on a shrinking core.…

Read it all.

or the first time in generations—since the Great Depression—the prospect of long-term population decline is looming on the American horizon. Almost no serious consideration has yet been devoted to how well America might fare in the face of depopulation. That inattention could prove costly, for depopulation could come upon us with stunning speed.

Fortunately, a depopulating America can still prosper—in theory. The power of human ingenuity and adaptability made the world much richer during the era of the global population explosion. It can do so in an era of long-term population decline as well. American history demonstrates our nation’s exceptional advantages over others in ingenuity and adaptability.

But major changes in policy, practice, and behavior will be required before the US can expect to succeed economically in the terra incognita of population decline. To be blunt: America is not well positioned to pass the stress test that depopulation will unforgivingly impose. In fact, the US may actually be less prepared for an eventual depopulation today than it was a generation ago.

Read it all.

Can a Depopulating America Still Flourish Economically? | American Enterprise Institute https://t.co/VCR7cZ8awM

— Amb Antonio Garza (@aogarza) July 6, 2026

He protested against the ecclesiastical system, he preached in favour of reform in the Church and advocated a return to the poverty recommended by the Scriptures. Indeed, the Scriptures were the only rule and every man had the right to study them. In Questio de indulgentis (1412) he denounced the indulgences.

He admired Wyclif’s writings and defended him when he was condemned as a heretic. He was excommunicated. An interdict was pronounced over Prague and he had to leave it and go to southern Bohemia, where he preached and wrote theological treatises, notably the Tractatus de ecclesia (1413), known as «The Church».

Read it all.

Jan Hus, Czech priest and reformer, was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake on July 6 1415 at the Council of Constance, where he had been promised safe conduct to defend his theology. My reflection in @GiveUsThisDayLP pic.twitter.com/nTsjiy4Cqu

— @RobertEllsberg (@RobertEllsberg) July 5, 2024

Faithful God, who didst give Jan Hus the courage to confess thy truth and recall thy Church to the image of Christ: Enable us, inspired by his example, to bear witness against corruption and never cease to pray for our enemies, that we may prove faithful followers of our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

#OTD July 6, 1415:
Jan Hus, Czech reformer and preacher, was burned at the stake in Constance, Germany, condemned for heresy. He had boldly called for church reform, the authority of Scripture over tradition, and greater rights for the common people. His death inspired the… pic.twitter.com/M417IQ1YEZ

— ☧ Today in Christian History (@HistoricalRook) July 6, 2026

Grant us, O Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who can do no good thing apart from you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

–Matthew 23:1-12

Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church
is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
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.

5th July 2026 05.29 pic.twitter.com/bqjInaZ5sV

— SeaWindowCraster (@SeaSkyCraster) July 5, 2026

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.”

And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zeb′edee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zeb′edee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.

–Mark 1:14-20

JUST IN: Germany lights up the Brandenburg Gate, iconic former East Berlin landmark, for America’s 250th anniversary. pic.twitter.com/WmN4e35FDL

— Polymarket (@Polymarket) July 5, 2026

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

Statue of Liberty photographed as it was dedicated a hundred and forty years ago this fall: pic.twitter.com/elAvKKO1ug

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) July 4, 2026