British schools opt-out from Christian assemblies
A growing number of British schools are dropping traditional Christian assemblies in favour of multi-faith meetings and ‘moments of reflection’. More than 140 primary and secondary schools across Britain have won the right to opt out of the legal requirement to provide a daily act of worship which is ‘broadly Christian’ in character. (See also: http://www.christianpost.com/article/20101204/wrong-to-exclude-god-from-classroomsays-u-kthink-tank/) Some schools have adopted Islamic assemblies. The highest number of opt-outs from traditional assemblies is in Bradford where 47 schools have decided to introduce ‘new-style’ assemblies. Rt Rev Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali reminds us that: ‘The Judaeo-Christian tradition provides the connecting link to our island story. Without that tradition, it is impossible to understand the language, the literature, the art or even the science of our civilisation. It provides the grand themes of virtue and vice, atonement and repentance, resurrection and immortality. It undergirds and safeguards our constitutional and legal tradition’.
Pray: that the Gospel message will continue to be taught to our schoolchildren and sustain our shared heritage. (Mk.16:15)
Target for 1,000 ‘Mission Resolutions’
Church Mission Society is looking for 1,000 people to make Kingdom-minded resolutions this New Year. The ‘We Are Saying Yes’ campaign is being launched to inspire people to make resolutions that put a bit more of God’s mission into their everyday life. Some of the suggestions on the campaign website including praying for the person in front in the supermarket queue, joining a campaign, making friends with someone of another faith, and fasting from impulse buys. CMS web manager Jeremy Woodham said: ‘So many people have given up making resolutions because they think they’ll never keep them. We’re giving people the chance to make a resolution that matters – and providing a space for them to share tips, ask for prayer and tell their stories. We think the impact of 1,000 people taking a small step in mission could have a fantastic ripple effect.’
Pray: for many more than 1,000 people to commit to this original approach to mission. (Is.48:15)
‘Not Ashamed’ campaign gathers momentum
The Not Ashamed campaign was launched nationwide last week to encourage Christians to speak up about the value of Britain’s Christian heritage and the Christian faith. A copy of the campaign’s leaflet, written by Lord Carey, was delivered to 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. The leaflet describes Christianity in Britain as being ‘under attack’ and warned of an attempt by the usual suspects of secularists and atheists to ‘air-brush’ the Christian faith out of public life. Lord Carey said: ‘It appears that flowing from a combination of well-meaning political correctness, multiculturalism and overt opposition to Christianity, a new climate, hostile to our country’s tradition and history, is developing’. Nearly 16,000 people have signed the Not Ashamed declaration, which states that Jesus Christ is good news for the nation.
Pray: for the continued growth of the Not Ashamed movement as an influential voice. (Ac.13:47)
More: http://www.christiantoday.co.uk/article/not.ashamed.campaign.hopes.for.christmas.chart.success. with.new.song/27198.htm
24/7 Prayer to become Fresh Expressions partner
The 24/7 Prayer movement has become a formal partner of the Fresh Expressions initiative. The announcement follows conversations between the head of Fresh Expressions, Bishop Graham Cray, and 24/7 leaders Andy Freeman and Pete Greig. ‘The result was that it felt like the right time, something that God wanted us to do,’ said Freeman, who sits on the 24/7 Council. 24/7 Prayer began as a single student-led prayer vigil in Chichester in 1999 and has since grown to become an international movement of prayer, mission and justice, spanning more than 100 countries. Freeman said the he was particularly interested to see how younger people could be involved in starting up fresh expressions of church and how prayer rooms could be used as part of the listening process for people interested in building mission communities and fresh expressions. Bishop Cray, Archbishops’ Missioner in the Church of England, said he was delighted that 24/7 Prayer was joining Fresh Expressions.
Pray: that God will bless and encourage this movement through His Holy Spirit. (2Co.9:12)
More: http://www.christiantoday.co.uk/article/247.prayer.becomes.fresh.expressions.partner/27186.htm
Soldiers killed on active service
The continuing loss of life of our Armed Forces in Afghanistan is distressing but when it is allegedly due to ‘friendly fire’ it becomes more poignant. Each soldier’s life is precious, but needless accidents, including for example road traffic accidents, are more difficult to comprehend. Most recently the Ministry of Defence has named a soldier killed in Afghanistan as Private John Howard, from 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment. The 23-year-old New Zealand-born soldier was serving with 16 Air Assault Brigade's Reconnaissance Force when he was killed last Sunday, 5 December. Our prayers thank him for his selfless giving and seek the Lord’s support for his grieving family.
Pray: for the safety of our troops deployed in Afghanistan and for the families of those killed and seriously injured. (Ps.29:10-11)
Teenagers search for family values
Young people want to learn about responsible parenting rather than sexual mechanics in sex education, a recent survey has revealed. Around three quarters of teenagers interviewed said that a relationship does not need to involve sex. The findings challenge the current emphasis in sex education on the mechanics of safe sex. The survey, conducted among over 2,000 13 to 16-year-olds from a range of schools and backgrounds, has surprised experts in the field. Researchers from Hull University said that they were surprised that the majority of those surveyed supported ‘moral’ ideas about having sex. The survey revealed that the single most important ‘fact of life’ for both boys and girls was parenting. Commenting on the findings, Norman Wells of the Family Education Trust, said: ‘Young people are clearly tiring of the negative messages they are receiving about pregnancy and parenthood from sex educators obsessed with contraception’.
Pray: that Christian morality supporting the ideals of marriage and family values is disseminated strongly to our young people. (Heb.13:4)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/teach-us-more-about-family-values-say-teenagers/
Sexualisation of children
Proposed laws against clothing that sexualises children would be impractical, parenting experts have warned the Government. MPs would struggle to draw up rules on the acceptable length of skirts or height of heels that could be worn by young girls, it is claimed. It emerged at the weekend that the Government is to commission a review of inappropriate products and images targeting girls as young as 10. The chief executive of the Mothers’ Union, Reg Bailey, will produce a report on the ways in which children are put under pressure by retailers and advertisers to grow up too fast. This could lead to industry standards being established or individual businesses being prosecuted, while parents could be given new powers to challenge inappropriate adverts or products. Pippa Smith, co-chairman of Safermedia, said: ‘Unfortunately children are quite a high priority on the marketers’ list. I think there’s got to be willpower with the Government’.
Pray: for clarity in formulating standards and laws that will see an end to much of the commercial sexualisation of children. (Jn.17:15)
Poland welcomes first black MP
A Nigerian-born pastor has become the first black member of Poland's lower house of parliament (Sejm) in what is being seen as a large step forward in the nation's race relations, reports Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent, Assist News Service. According to the website www.newspoland.pl John Godson has held Polish citizenship for ten years. He will take the place of Civic Platform’s Hanna Zdanowska, who resigned from her parliamentary post after winning Sunday’s local government elections in Lodz. Godson was previously serving as a local councillor in Poland’s central city. In an interview with Polish Radio Lodz, Godson declared that he will still remain active in promoting his home city even though he will be spending much of his time in Warsaw on national affairs. Godson is also the president of the African Institute in Poland as well as a pastor of the Church of God in Christ, a Christian Pentecostal church active in Poland.
Pray: that Godson will live up to his name and Jesus will be seen in him in all that he does. (1Cor.2:5)
Poland welcomes first black MP
A Nigerian-born pastor has become the first black member of Poland's lower house of parliament (Sejm) in what is being seen as a large step forward in the nation's race relations, reports Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent, Assist News Service. According to the website www.newspoland.pl John Godson has held Polish citizenship for ten years. He will take the place of Civic Platform’s Hanna Zdanowska, who resigned from her parliamentary post after winning Sunday’s local government elections in Lodz. Godson was previously serving as a local councillor in Poland’s central city. In an interview with Polish Radio Lodz, Godson declared that he will still remain active in promoting his home city even though he will be spending much of his time in Warsaw on national affairs. Godson is also the president of the African Institute in Poland as well as a pastor of the Church of God in Christ, a Christian Pentecostal church active in Poland.
Pray: that Godson will live up to his name and Jesus will be seen in him in all that he does. (1Cor.2:5)
Belgium: Court allows to sue for ‘wrongful birth’
The Brussels Court of Appeal has ruled that parents may sue physicians who fail to diagnose ‘serious disabilities’ of pre-born children, assuming that had the parents known they would have had the disabled child killed through an abortion, reports LifeSiteNews.com. The September 21st ruling said, ‘certainly, the misdiagnosis did not cause the child’s disability, which existed before the error and which could not be remedied.’ But, the court said, ‘the injury [that] must be compensated is not the disability itself, but the fact of being born with such disabilities.’ The court commented that abortion is in the best interest of the child whose parents would have it killed, noting that since abortion was legalized, ‘the legislature must have intended to help avoid giving birth to children with serious abnormalities, having regard not only to the interests of the mother but also to that of the unborn child itself.’
Pray: that this ruling will be reversed and life would be honoured. (Is.42:5)