Despite a huge, concerted effort by homosexual activists to derail Franklin Graham's Festival of Hope, dramatic testimonies from thousands reveal tears, brokenness, salvation - assurance of a ‘new beginning’ for Iceland. Last Sunday, as Icelanders responded to a Gospel message from Franklin Graham, an emotional night left tears of joy and real hope for a revival to sweep this nation. ‘It was like a child has been born in many ways,’ said Ragnar Gunnarsson, Festival of Hope director. ‘This is what we have been praying for. It means a lot for Iceland,’ Festival of Hope committee chairman Ómar Kristjánsson said. ‘This will be a new beginning.’ After two Festival of Hope nights - and nearly 6,000 in attendance - one question lingered as Icelanders filed out, spiritually charged from a weekend filled with a top-notch choir, a plethora of local artists, two Michael W. Smith worship concerts and hundreds of new believers. Is this the start of revival?

Praise: God for His blessings and pray that the many new beginnings will establish strong roots. (Ps.5:12)

More: http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=12526

Bertolt Meyer, the academic known as "the bionic man", said yesterday that scientists and engineers should not be allowed to launch some technological advances on the open market without a prior ethical debate. Meyer, a key speaker at the first FutureFest event last weekend, has had a cutting-edge £40,000 artificial lower arm and hand since 2009. He queried whether the public ought to let the laws of supply and demand decide how the human race moves towards a probable "bionic" future; a time where the bodies of those with access and money can be enhanced and augmented. "We are reaching the point where people with artificial limbs may have an advantage. It they start to appeal to everyone, a mass market will develop," he said. Engineers on the frontline of research are not always prepared to think through the impact of their work and the ethical dilemmas involved, he argued.

Pray: for a considered international debate about the ethics and availability of developments in human bionics. (1Cor.6:19-20)

More: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/sep/29/bionic-man-ethical-debate-futurefest

Over 10,000 people have signed the Jubilee Debt campaign petition for a ‘Jubilee for Justice’ calling for cancellation of the unjust debts of the most indebted nations, the promotion of just and progressive taxation policies, and an end to harmful lending which forces countries into debt. At the start of 2013, over 400 faith leaders signed a similar letter to the Prime Minister calling for the same three things to tackle the global debt crisis. The Prime Minister’s response to the faith leaders said that “Freeing developing countries from their debt service payments frees up vital resources that can be used to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals” and that the UK had been doing this through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. The organisation has now written to the Prime Minister again, with six concrete proposals of how the UK government could cancel unjust debts, promote just taxation and control lending.

Pray: for world Governments and the IMF to recognise the need for debt cancellation and ending unjust taxation. (Lev.25:28)

More: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/19116

Parents’ responsibilities would come under attack from a Scottish Government plan to allocate a state guardian for all children, an MSP has said. Liz Smith said the proposal implies it is the state, rather than parents and families, that has the primary obligation for looking after children. The ‘named person’ idea, contained in the Children and Young People Bill, has already been criticised as “unhealthy” and potentially illegal. Now Scottish Conservative young people spokeswoman Liz Smith has said: “Implicit in this proposal to have a named person for every child is the insistence that the state has the primary obligation to look after children, rather than the parents and families. “That is entirely the wrong way round.” She also said the idea “threatens to take away resources from those children who are the most vulnerable”.

Pray: for the Scottish Government to focus on protecting vulnerable children rather than assuming responsibility for all. (Mtt.20:25-26)

More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/families-face-assault-from-snp-state-guardian-plan/