Vatican says Christians in Middle East are ignored
A working paper released during Pope Benedict XVI's pilgrimage to Cyprus to prepare for a crisis summit of Middle Eastern bishops in Rome in October also cites the ‘extremist current’ unleashed by the rise of ‘political Islam’ as a threat to Christians. In his final Mass in Cyprus on Sunday, the pontiff said he was praying that the October meeting will focus the attention of the international community ‘on the plight of those Christians in the Middle East who suffer for their beliefs.’ He appealed for an ‘urgent and concerted international effort to resolve the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, especially in the Holy Land, before such conflicts lead to greater bloodshed.’ Pray: for the Holy Spirit to give peace to those suffering for their faith in the Middle East. (2Th.1:5)
Vatican says Christians in Middle East are ignored
A working paper released during Pope Benedict XVI's pilgrimage to Cyprus to prepare for a crisis summit of Middle Eastern bishops in Rome in October also cites the ‘extremist current’ unleashed by the rise of ‘political Islam’ as a threat to Christians. In his final Mass in Cyprus on Sunday, the pontiff said he was praying that the October meeting will focus the attention of the international community ‘on the plight of those Christians in the Middle East who suffer for their beliefs.’ He appealed for an ‘urgent and concerted international effort to resolve the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, especially in the Holy Land, before such conflicts lead to greater bloodshed.’ Pray: for the Holy Spirit to give peace to those suffering for their faith in the Middle East. (2Th.1:5)
Edinburgh 2010’s call for co-operation
Around 1,000 Christians from across the denominations and traditions heard the call from the Archbishop of York to the ‘be, see, think and do mission’ on Sunday night as they came together for the close of Edinburgh 2010. Christians were gathered for the conference in the Scottish capital for most of last week. The occasion celebrated the 100th anniversary of the historic World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910 and the subsequent birth of the world church. In an honest closing address, the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, said that' too much of what the church did today amounted to nothing more than ‘re-arranging the furniture.’ ‘re-organizing the structures; arguing over words and phrases, while humanity as a whole plunges suicidally into obscurity and meaningless despair. And so often the Church’s activities and energies appear to be totally irrelevant to the needs of the world today,’ he said. (See Prayer Alert 2310) Pray: for the Holy Spirit to empower and lead the Church in its mission to reach the world in a meaningful way. (Ac.9:31)
Prayers in London for healing Britain
Global Day of Prayer London convener Jonathan Oloyede calls on Christians to prepare for a National Day of Prayer at West Ham Stadium June 13 2.pm ‘As we have asked people to gather locally in our boroughs we're also asking the whole nation to come down to West Ham Stadium June 13 to prepare the nation for what is to come. We're asking God to open up a New Britain, that it no longer is to be Broken Britain, but for it to be healed. We're inviting churches to come to West Ham and send a delegation to come down as a church family and come and join thousands of other people as we pray ‘Lord heal our land.’ Worship leaders include Graham Kendrick, Noel Robinson, Godfrey Birtil, All Souls Orchestra and Beverley Trotman. ‘We're calling for every church in the nation to take one day in the month where they will pray and fast’ Pray: for God to move across our land bringing His Church into the unity of unceasing prayer for our communities and each other. (2Ch.7:14) More: http://www.gdoplondon.com/news/gdop_pentecost_prayers_to_heal_britain.htm
Sermon for the New Parliament
The Archbishop of Canterbury preached at a Service for the New Parliament at St Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey. Used the words of Jesus ‘Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar’, he said. ‘You may or may not as an individual share the perspective of faith; but in the difficult years ahead it will be worth remembering that giving God what belongs to God is something that is not a matter of dry and unwelcome duty but a release of human possibilities that we all need to witness and in some degree to share. May this Parliament mark a new level of enthusiasm and imagination around the call to honour God-given dignities by creating strong citizens of our nation and of the world; May the work of our elected leaders be for the sake of gathering and not scattering and may the divine image in men and women, recognised or unrecognised, be the vision that directs us towards a fresh political energy and moral vision.’ Pray: for the Government and Opposition that they will honour God in their work for this nation. (1Ki.3:9)
Disappointment over nuclear disarmament
An alliance of nine UK churches has expressed disappointment at the failure of nuclear weapons states to agree deadlines for actions on nuclear disarmament. While the churches welcomed progress made on discussions on the Middle East and a declaration by the UK on number of warheads, they were highly critical of the refusal of the nuclear powers to agree timeframes for future discussions at the end-May conference in New York. Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Reading, said, ‘Nuclear weapons are a legacy of the cold war era and have little relevance to the threats that we face today’. There is a growing recognition that having one set of rules for some nations, and a different set of rules for others is unsustainable. The nine churches' campaign, entitled Now is the Time, calls on the British Government to make a commitment to achieving a world free of nuclear weapons, creating a safer future for all. Pray: that world governments will work positively to remove all nuclear weapons in the near future. (Mi.4:3) More: http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.newsDetail&newsid=443
NI abortion guidelines - legal challenge
Efforts by the British government to bring legal abortion by ‘bureaucratic stealth’ into Northern Ireland will be met with a full legal challenge by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC). The High Court in Belfast has granted leave to SPUC to launch a challenge after the Department of Health, without explanation, reissued medical practice guidelines that had been rejected by the High Court for violating the province’s abortion laws, reports Hilary White at LifeSiteNews.com (LSN). For three years the guidelines have been the focus of an intense battle in Northern Ireland, where abortion remains a crime, between the pro-life movement and pro-abortion forces in the British government. SPUC’s Liam Gibson told LSN, ‘At present it's difficult to tell whether our case will be overtaken by events, but the department is hell-bent on pushing its abortion guidance forward no matter what happens.’ Pray: that any changes to the abortion guidelines in NI are fully and openly debated to protect the rights of unborn children. (Pr.10:9)
Prisoners convert to Islam
Inmates are converting to Islam in order to gain perks and the protection of powerful Muslim gangs, the Chief Inspector of Prisons warns today. Dame Anne Owers says that some convicted criminals are taking up the religion in jail to receive benefits only available to practising Muslims. The number of Muslim prisoners has risen dramatically since the mid-1990s - from 2,513 in 1994, or 5 per cent of the prison population, to 9,795 in 2008, or 11 per cent. Staff at top-security prisons and youth jails have raised concerns about the intimidation of non-Muslims and possible forced conversions. Dame Anne’s report, Muslim Prisoners’ Experiences, says that, although several high-profile terrorists have been jailed recently, fewer than 1 in 100 Muslim inmates have been convicted of terrorism. She says that prison staff are suspicious about those practising or converting to the faith and warns that treating Muslim inmates as potential or actual extremists risks radicalising. Pray: for a prison system that recognises the offence committed and matches punishment and treatment accordingly. (Ps.106:3)
Schools not teaching core Christian beliefs
Ofsted’s study suggests that teachers in English schools pay more attention to other faiths and that Christian pupils are being sidelined in class. It has found that the quality of RE in secondary schools is worse than it was three years ago when the last analysis of the subject was carried out, with inadequate teaching in nearly a fifth of lessons. Changes to the curriculum in the early years of secondary school, introduced by the Labour government to increase ‘flexibility’, were having a negative impact on RE; in some schools it has been amalgamated with other lessons and had all but disappeared. The report suggests that other religions are treated more seriously in RE classes. In non-faith state schools, Christian assemblies are being dropped in favour of multi-faith worship, despite a legal requirement for Christian collective worship, and children are no longer taught the Lord's Prayer. A recent survey of more than 500 12-year-olds found that only 54% knew that Christians celebrated the Resurrection at Easter. Pray: that those responsible for our education syllabus re-assess RE teaching to support Christianity. (Ac.3:18)
One million 'March for Jesus' in Brazil
An estimated one million Evangelical Christians in Brazil rallied for the 18th annual March for Jesus event in Sao Paulo. The event unites Evangelicals in the world's largest Roman Catholic country. Sao Paulo is one of the world's largest cities with over 10 million residents. In recent decades, Evangelical churches have grown rapidly to become a major influence. The latest figures available show the number of Evangelicals increased from 9 percent to 15 per-cent. Praise: God for this powerful testimony to the people of Brazil. (Ps.147:1) More: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2010/June/one-Million-March-for-Jesus-in-Brazil/