Whitney Houston has just released the first single from her new album, and it’s beautiful. You can download the entire song here for free.

“I Look to You” isn’t a love song, it’s a prodigal daughter’s Psalm. And it’s powerful — far better than any gospel song she’s ever recorded.
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The Rev. Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II aka “Reverend Ike” died Tuesday in Los Angeles, the New York Times reported.

It’s a fascinating article about one of the first prosperity gospel televangelists, though I’d take the audience of 2.5-million claims with a grain of salt…

A. Because it was Sunday morning and he didn’t want to go to church.
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A Methodist minister and an Anglican archbishop are among 16 people who will receive a Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. Who are they?
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Reuters has an interesting story about the growing number of Chinese evangelicals living in Paris.

A Canadian newspaper that falsely accused the prime minister of pocketing a communion wafer has apologized. For more, click here.

NEW YORK (AP) – Leaders of the Episcopal Church have rejected the appointment of a bishop-elect who denies that Satan exists, doesn’t believe God sent Jesus Christ to die for the world’s sins, and teaches that many paths lead to salvation.

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Bishops and standing committees withheld consent to the election of the Rev. Kevin G. Thew Forrester as bishop of Northern Michigan, the diocesan standing committee said today. They expressed sadness and disappointment, asked for prayers and expressed “deep gratitude as members of the body of Christ in the Episcopal Church.”
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The Living Churchreports that Thew Forrester also, apparently, failed to gain consent from a majority of the bishops with jurisdictions.

The presiding bishop’s office does not plan to release the final vote among either standing committees or bishops, the publication reports.

The Episcopal News Service, part of the denomination’s public relations and information department, has posted a story about the defeat of the Rev. Kevin G. Thew Forrester as bishop-elect of Northern Michigan.

It includes a statement from Thew Forrester:

“I have been extraordinarily blessed and honored to walk with my friends from the Diocese of Northern Michigan over these past months as their bishop-elect. I treasure the support they have extended me and my family, as well as that I have received from Hong Kong to Holland and from Great Britain to New Zealand, and indeed from so many throughout The Episcopal Church. As we live and move and have our being in Christ, there is truly a Holy Wisdom in all that is unfolding, and as St. John of the Cross affirms, a grace in ‘all that happens.’”

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s unofficial tally, of the 111 dioceses and convocations:
35 voted yes (gave consent to the election)
65 voted no (withheld consent, abstained, voted no or tabled the vote)
6 declined to reveal their votes (Connecticut, Lexington, Michigan, Rochester, South Dakota, W. North Carolina)
5 international dioceses could not be reached

Episcopal Church presiding bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori today sent a letter to the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Northern Michigan telling them what they already knew — The election of the Rev. Kevin G. Thew Forrester as bishop-elect of Northern Michigan is “null and void” because a majority of the church’s standing committees did not consent to the election by the July 19 deadline. The Northern Michigan standing committee already knew this because the Northern Michigan standing committee is the body that keeps the official tally of the church’s standing committee votes. Jefferts Schori’s office, on the other hand, keeps an official tally of the bishop’s votes. Jefferts Schori’s letter doesn’t reveal how the bishops voted. It’s unclear whether that information will ever be released.
The press release and letter are below.
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Did you notice any howls of outrage from the Global South after the Episcopal Church embraced gay bishops and same-sex blessings? Neither did I. Apparently, they kept their powder dry, and allowed the Archbishop of Canterbury to speak first. And now Rowan Williams has spoken. And his message is going to infuriate supporters of full inclusion for gays and lesbians.
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I bumped into Gov. Mike Huckabee at DFW International Airport last week. As I noted on this blog at the time:

He was returning to Arkansas from an appearance in Oklahoma City and he wasn’t kissing babies or pressing flesh. “I’m off the clock,” he joked, when I spotted him. But he was genial and friendly, smiling and shooting the breeze with everyone who stopped him.

I asked him to talk about his plans for 2012. “Too early,” he responded. “I’m busy now, got plenty of things going, so I’m not thinking about it.”

Well, Gov. Huckabee may not be thinking about it yet, but pollsters are — and so are Republican voters. And the early news is good for the former Arkansas governor. (more…)

An extraordinary press release just arrived from the Church of England. Anglicans in the U.K. won’t be sharing a common cup (or chalice) when they gather for communion anymore because of health concerns.
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Preacher/pedophile Tony Alamo, 74, apparently will be spending his final days behind bars, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.

An Arkansas jury delivered its verdict earlier this morning. Alamo blamed his legal problems on the Pope.