Romania: Prime minister's prosecution?
Romania's parliament has refused to lift prime minister Victor Ponta's immunity from prosecution after he was questioned by Romania's powerful DNA anti-corruption agency last Friday on suspicion of forgery, tax evasion and money laundering. Mr Ponta, who has come under pressure to resign, said he would stay on to prevent a protracted political crisis. Anti-corruption officials are looking at his work between 2007 and 2011. Parliament is dominated by Mr Ponta's centre-left coalition so Tuesday's vote to block prosecution was unsurprising. It is alleged that Mr Ponta used forged invoices from a law firm, Sova and Associates, to buy two luxury apartments and a Mitsubishi Lancer car. The Social Democrat prime minister, in office since 2012, has denied any wrongdoing and says his government will survive a no-confidence vote in parliament due on Friday 19 June. President Klaus Iohannis said he regretted that parliament was obstructing justice and acting as a shield for the prime minister ‘in contempt’ of the Romanian population.
Turkey: Man attacks church with Molotov cocktail
A man attacked a church in the Kadıköy district of İstanbul with a Molotov cocktail on Tuesday, setting the building's door on fire. In a video purporting to show the attack, the man is seen shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great) and ‘Revenge will be taken for Al-Aqsa Mosque’ as he throws a bomb at the Aya Triada Orthodox Church in the Bahariye area of Kadıköy. The door of the church caught fire, but the blaze was extinguished shortly after the attack. The man was detained by police. A recent report by the Gatestone institute stated, ‘Churches in Turkey on the Verge of Extinction’ as cathedrals are having Qu'ran recitations and being turned into museums. See also
Former strip club is converted to worship centre
After giving his life to Jesus, strip club owner Aaron Bekkela felt compelled to sell the property to a church. He approached Dary Northrop, senior pastor of Timberline Church in Colorado. Bekkela and Northrop had established a friendship after Bekkela learned that the mother of one of the dancers and her prayer group at the church had been praying for him for years. Upon divesting himself of interests in the strip club, Bekkela visited the church and met Northrop to share his commitment to the Lord. Inspired by Bekkela's desire to move away from the industry, Northrop said he saw it as a great opportunity to plant a church in one of the most underserved areas of town. Bekkela invited Northrop and Timberline Pastor Rob Cowles to tour the club before it opened. When they entered a dressing room, Cowles was overcome with emotion upon seeing pictures of children of dancers on lockers. ‘It just broke me,’ Cowles said. ‘Before I even knew what I was saying, I said “we really need to plant a church here and I need to lead it”.’ The 7,200-square-foot building is now home to a 200-seat worship centre.
Former strip club is converted to worship centre
After giving his life to Jesus, strip club owner Aaron Bekkela felt compelled to sell the property to a church. He approached Dary Northrop, senior pastor of Timberline Church in Colorado. Bekkela and Northrop had established a friendship after Bekkela learned that the mother of one of the dancers and her prayer group at the church had been praying for him for years. Upon divesting himself of interests in the strip club, Bekkela visited the church and met Northrop to share his commitment to the Lord. Inspired by Bekkela's desire to move away from the industry, Northrop said he saw it as a great opportunity to plant a church in one of the most underserved areas of town. Bekkela invited Northrop and Timberline Pastor Rob Cowles to tour the club before it opened. When they entered a dressing room, Cowles was overcome with emotion upon seeing pictures of children of dancers on lockers. ‘It just broke me,’ Cowles said. ‘Before I even knew what I was saying, I said “we really need to plant a church here and I need to lead it”.’ The 7,200-square-foot building is now home to a 200-seat worship centre.
Another Trumpet Call in two weeks
At the first Trumpet Call in October 2004, the team at the World Prayer Centre had no idea how many times God wanted us to blow the trumpet in the heart of the nation. After each Trumpet Call, their offices received amazing, inspirational testimonies of the experience of being with thousands of Christians praying together for their nation. People were healed, and had their faith restored again to go on believing God for impossible situations. On 4 July there will be another Trumpet Call in Birmingham, where God’s people have the opportunity to stand together at the INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE to SEEK THE FACE OF GOD that He would, in response to our repentance and prayers of faith, hear our cry, have mercy and pour out His Spirit on our land. Readers of Prayer Alert are invited to come, if they are able, and pray. There’s nothing more powerful than when saints pray and seek God’s kingdom, standing in the gap for the lost.
Christian MP to lead 50 rebel Conservatives
Christian MP Steve Baker warned his fellow MPs on Thursday that the current setup of the European Union will ultimately lead to Britain ‘surrendering our democracy’. He said, ahead of a proposed referendum on Britain's future membership of the EU, that he will lead a group of 50 rebel Conservative MPs calling for an exit from Europe if Prime Minister David Cameron fails to negotiate sufficient reforms. Mr Baker said he backed Mr Cameron's challenge to renegotiate the terms of Britain's membership, adding, ‘There are many subjects I care about extremely deeply, but the one thing that got me into politics was the treatment of the European Union constitution and, in due course, the Lisbon treaty. I am a sinner who has repented.’ Mr Baker added that the system of free movement needs to be looked at in more detail, citing the recent ‘inhumane’ example of one of his constituents being unable to source a visa for her mother to visit her. See also THE MILL GATHERING STATEMENT at
Extremism orders could criminalise Christian teaching
Traditional Christian teaching could effectively be ‘criminalised’ in some settings under David Cameron’s plans for new anti-extremist banning orders, a top Anglican theologian and former parliamentary draftsman has warned. The Rev Dr Mike Ovey, a former lawyer and now principal of Oak Hill Theological College in London, a training school for Church of England clergy, said proposals for new ‘Extremism Disruption Orders’ could be a disaster area for people from all the mainstream religions and none. Mr Cameron and Theresa May have signalled that the new orders, planned as part of the Government’s Counter-Extremism Bill, would not curb the activities of radical Islamist clerics but the promotion of other views deemed to go against ‘British values’ even if it is non-violent and legal. Dr Ovey warned that unless the criteria are tightly defined, the orders could be used against almost anyone and would have chilling effect on preachers and even call into question the curriculum of colleges such as his.
God breaks through on a converted Welsh farm
We’ve grown used to stories of dazzling new churches with huge followings, global media ministries and where founders and leaders become worldwide celebrities. Roy Godwin and Dave Roberts tell a different story. No glittering palace of worship here, no global media empire and no megachurch congregation. Instead, this is the story of a converted farm, high up in the bleak but beautiful hills of west Wales, where God breaks through. The Grace Outpouring is a simple story of hospitality and prayer - where all are made welcome and aware of God’s presence. There’s no story of building a congregation or even a resident community. Instead, the core vision is a scattered prayer community - the Caleb Community - pouring the grace and power of God outward into the world, rather than inward, into a church. To read the wonderful story of A House of Prayer with the Father’s Heart, click the 'more' button below.
Reports-of-child-abuse-rise-sharply
The number of recorded sexual offences against children in England and Wales has risen by a third, according to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). There were 31,000 offences recorded in the year up to April 2014, up 8,500 on the previous year. Figures compiled by the charity show that 85 offences were recorded by police every day, with significant rises in Scotland and Northern Ireland also. A spokesman said high-profile cases had ‘played a contributory factor’ in encouraging people to come forward. Jon Brown, from the NSPCC's sexual abuse programme, told BBC Radio 4's Today that cases in Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford and elsewhere had helped prompt children, young people and adults to speak about abuse that is either happening to them or has happened to them. Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) lead for child protection, said police now looked upon child abuse very differently but the latest figures could be still only be the tip of the iceberg.
Christians’ big worry is climate change
A new ComRes poll commissioned by Tearfund asked practising Christians in the UK to identify the main social and political issues they believe the world will have to face over the next ten years. They said it would be climate change or the environment. Next came social justice, then secularism, migration and poverty. The research was released just before a mass lobby of Parliament on Wednesday calling on parliamentarians to tackle climate change. Campaigners want MPs to support a climate change agreement aimed at limiting temperature rises to two per cent of pre-industrial levels, and to work towards ending pollution from coal in the UK.