Many people seem to be looking out for themselves; too many people have to be paid to care. Half a generation of children are growing up without a father. Some children are lured into promiscuity. The Christian faith is under attack from the media and homosexual activists. Our politicians feed us propaganda. Family breakdown, crime, immorality, debt, gambling, drink and drugs are more than just statistics. They affect and ruin the lives of real people. The Church needs to develop a prophetic voice, to speak out to our leaders and our nation just as the Biblical prophets were unafraid to do. We Christians need to pray for our nation and its people, out of our love for our Saviour and the victims of injustice. Our prayer needs to be not just, ‘Lord, do something!’; it needs to be, ‘Lord, what can I do?’ When we work, we work. When we pray, God works. When we do both, God works miracles.

Many journalists don’t have much time for Christians and vice versa. The media subculture and church communities hardly intersect. It can be tough for Christians in the media. Shift work makes any sort of regular commitment to church or Bible study very difficult. The media in general is an extremely cynical industry. This means evangelism is very difficult and the people around a Christian may be constantly throwing up issues causing a believer to doubt their faith. Media people tend to be stylish, arty and creative. Churches that have an emphasis on strong Bible teaching are sometimes weak in this area of style, with some almost explicitly anti-creativity. Other churches which may have more style are sometimes lightweight in their Bible teaching. They tend not to have enough intellectual fibre to arm the young Christian in the media effectively for the cynical attacks they will encounter.

Christian magistrate Richard Page was removed from office by Michael Gove, the Lord Chancellor, after sharing his personal convictions in a BBC interview on 12 March 2015. Richard Page said, ‘My responsibility as a magistrate, as I saw it, was to do what I considered best for the child, and my feeling was therefore that it would be better if it was a man and woman who were the adopted parents.’ For fifteen years he has been a magistrate, sitting on the family panel of Kent’s Central Magistrates Court. Then, when he had less than a month to run as a Justice of the Peace, Michael Gove has used his case to make a political statement. Ironically, the interview for which Richard has been dismissed was part of a TV debate about Christians being squeezed out of public life, following the Equality and Human Rights Commission research about challenges to freedom of religion and belief in the UK.

Canon David Porter will take up the new role at Lambeth Palace in early May. He takes over from Kay Brock who retires this month after four years in the job . David is currently in the Lambeth Palace leadership group working as the Archbishops’ Director for Reconciliation. Originally from Belfast, David comes with experience in several Christian organisations at senior staff, CEO and board levels. He has long experience in public affairs, and was a member of the Northern Ireland Civic Forum and Community Relations Council. Before joining the Lambeth Palace team in 2013, he was the Canon Director for Reconciliation Ministry at Coventry Cathedral.

A bomb exploded earlier this week underneath a van being driven by a prison officer in Belfast. Police Service of Northern Ireland Superintendent Darrin Jones said, ‘This could have been a fatal attack and we condemn it in the utmost circumstances. The people who did this set out to kill. Thankfully, on this occasion they weren't successful, but they may be next time. There is a severe threat in Northern Ireland, which means that an attack is highly likely. We believe that in the runup to Easter, there are people in dissident Republican groupings who want to try and kill police officers, prison officers or soldiers.’ This Easter is the one hundredth anniversary of the Easter Rising, when Irish Republicans enacted an armed rebellion against British rule. It was one of the most significant events historically in the establishing of an independent Irish Republic.

Kenny left school with no understanding of politics, but politics affects his life: the cost of transport, his chances of getting a mortgage, and how much he would be taxed when starting work. Like other teenagers he doesn’t understand how, as a citizen, he could shape the country in which he lives. He says, ‘So many people have left school without knowing they must be on the electoral roll to be able to vote, improve their credit rating, be called for jury service, and become a vote worth winning by decision-makers. Despite citizenship education being on the national curriculum since 2002, not much has changed for young people leaving school. I regularly visit schools and colleges across the country, and I am shocked by the number of young people who are disillusioned with politics and who complain that their citizenship education classes are squeezed into registration time. It’s just not taken seriously as a school subject, therefore students struggle to take politics seriously themselves.’

A Christian student has been removed from a university social work course after he made comments on his personal Facebook page in support of biblical teaching on marriage and sexual ethics. Following a 'Fitness to Practice Committee' hearing at Sheffield University, second year Masters student Felix Ngole, 38, was ‘excluded from further study on a programme leading to a professional qualification’ and is ‘no longer recognised as a University student.’ Mr Ngole was told that the committee believed that by posting his comments on Facebook, he may have caused offence to some individuals and had transgressed boundaries which are not deemed appropriate for someone entering the profession. His opinions would have an effect on his ‘ability to carry out a role as a social worker,’ the committee said. Mr Ngole is appealing the decision and is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre.

An Istanbul court has ordered the newspaper Zaman, Turkey's best-selling daily newspaper, into administration, which is ‘deeply concerning’. Zaman is linked to a US-based preacher who is the arch-enemy of the Turkish president. The newspaper has a readership of 63,000+ and is strongly critical of the government. Its sister Today's Zaman is one of a few newspapers printed in English on paper and online. This latest action by a Turkish court, just months after the media conglomerate Koza Ipek was seized by authorities, has raised further alarm regarding press freedom in Turkey and the limitations placed on Turkish journalists. Last week, two opposition newspaper journalists were released from prison after being arrested for spying, when they reported that in January 2014 Turkey’s intelligence agency sent weapons to Islamist rebel groups in Syria, which were intercepted by security forces. Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief Can Dundar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul still face life sentences as they await their trial on 25 March.

On Tuesday an illegal Palestinian killed an American tourist and injured ten other people, five critically, in a stabbing spree at the Jaffa Port and along the Tel Aviv beach promenade. The next day, police arrested hundreds of illegal Palestinian workers, and dozens of Israelis who employed them, in a series of raids across the country. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a series of measures following bloody attacks by Palestinians who are in Israel illegally. The measures include repair work to seal gaps in the security barrier near Jerusalem, harsher punishments for those who help Palestinians to enter Israel illegally, and the shutting down of Palestinian media channels that broadcast incitement. Israel Defence Forces troops arrested family members of the terrorist who carried out Tuesday’s deadly stabbing spree. Israel currently uses home demolitions against families of attackers, saying the measure is meant to deter attacks. Yisrael Katz (Likud) submitted a bill to the Knesset to deport families of Palestinian terrorists to the Gaza Strip.

A partial ceasefire in Syria, brokered by Russia and the US, finally came into force at the end of February. It does not apply to terrorist groups operating in the country. Despite alleged breaches on both sides and intense clashes between Kurds and other Syrian opposition groups, renewed peace talks are due to begin in Geneva. The substantive part of the talks will begin on Monday 14 March and will not last beyond the 24th. Riyadh-Backed Syrian opposition groups have yet to decide on joining these talks. It is hoped that they will be primarily focused on issues of new governance, the constitution, and the future elections of both president and parliament. The issues of ceasefire and humanitarian access will be discussed by specialised task forces rather than at these talks.