Displaying items by tag: Media

Christian filmmakers King Street Pictures have begun production of a ground-breaking faith-based fantasy adventure film, based on the 1678 novel ‘The Pilgrim's Progress’ by John Bunyan. Regarded as the first novel written in English, it has been translated into over 200 languages and has never been out of print. It is second only to the Bible itself in global sales, and was begun by Bunyan when he was in prison for conducting religious services without permission. Now, the beloved Christian allegory will be put to film in ‘Heavenquest - A Pilgrim's Progress.’ The film will bring together an international cast of well-known actors from South Korea, Mexico, Australia, and North America. See also

The media are unquestionably powerful and influential voices in our culture. They are also a battleground between God’s purposes and Satan’s. In any given situation, Christian voices giving God’s perspective are poorly represented in broadcasting and in print. In an open society it is not the journalist’s job to represent Christian points of view; they just report an analysis of what is heard and seen. Christians have no middlemen, therefore believers in positions of authority need God’s empowering to speak up clearly to the media, declaring Kingdom values. Likewise, Christians working in the media need our prayers for boldness and fresh vision in all that they do and report. Pray for God to use His people to bring about change in media reporting and presenting, ending chronically misunderstood Christian values and spirituality, ending misrepresentation of Christianity in documentaries, ending irreligious literacy in plays and reality programmes. Pray for the media workforces to research basic Christian values and then to represent them truthfully.

(Linda Digby, Prayer Alert team)

Christianity, no matter what form it takes, has now become unacceptable to the political and media establishments. The Bishops of Ireland call it 'a kind of persecution'. Viewed from a distance, anti-Christian activity might seem to have undergone merely an increase in intensity. But a closer inspection reveals that something more fundamental has changed. It is more subtle, taking the form of gradual exclusion of Church people or Christian activities from the public space. There is denigration of religious beliefs, practices and institutions on radio, television and on social and other media. There is often a focus on bad news about the Church, to the almost total exclusion of good news. The message is clear, in Ireland and in Britain alike: the persecution of the Christian faith has been ratcheted up a notch.

One journalist was killed while resting in a hammock at a carwash. A second was dragged from his car and shot dead near the newspaper he had co-founded. When another was killed in front of her son, the criminals left a note, 'For your long tongue'. Human rights groups say Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries for reporters. More die here than in any other nation at peace. But even for a country so used to drugs-related violence and organised crime, the recent bloodshed has been shocking. Seven journalists have been killed in the country so far this year, most shot by gunmen in broad daylight. Yet virtually all cases of attacks on the press end up unsolved and, in many, corrupt officials are suspected of partnering with criminals. As the killings mount, is there anything that Mexico can do to save its journalists?

'An attempt to overturn November's election and forcibly remove a duly elected president'

http://www.wnd.com/2017/06/new-warning-resistance-turning-into-american-coup/

Please pray that the human and spiritual forces of division and hate will be bound and overthrown in the USA and that the institutions of government and the media will serve the American people honestly and fairly.

Senior figures in Europe have been pondering how the result of Theresa May’s election gamble will affect the Brexit negotiations. The newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung said that the European Commission views the election result as a sign that most Brits don’t desire a ‘hard exit’ from the EU. The European Commissioner, Günther Oettinger, has reportedly said that it may now be possible to discuss ‘closer relations’ between the UK and the EU than Mrs May had originally planned. However Wycombe MP Steve Baker, a committed Christian and one of the most vocal Eurosceptic Tory MPs, was moved in the cabinet reshuffle to an important role in the Brexit department. The choice of Mr Baker is likely to anger those hoping the election result would force Mrs May to adopt a more conciliatory tone on Brexit and drop threats to leave the EU without a trade deal. See also

We live in a stressful world. It is stressful to hear that British authorities are currently investigating 500 active terrorist plotters, 3,000 persons of interest, and 20,000 others with links to militancy. Security officials say the number of radicalised individuals has become unmanageable and the latest terrorist attacks in Great Britain are ‘just the tip of the iceberg, and it’s an enormous iceberg. Meanwhile a transgender man who stopped taking testosterone is now pregnant, and the CofE is to vote on creating a liturgy to celebrate sex changes (see article above). Are your stress levels increasing when you read the news? A new report indicates that those who attend church services may reduce their mortality risk by 55%. The remedy for stress is not found in our fallen culture but in our risen Lord.

With an average age of 29, Morocco has a young population. But, as in neighbouring North African countries, their horizons are limited. Some 22% of young men and 38% of young women are unemployed (as at June 2013). Most of those who do work are engaged in the informal sector without the security of a contract, guaranteed work or income. In an environment which can fuel frustration and depression, a new series of SAT-7 podcasts has a clear message that God accepts us, offers change and sets us free. ‘WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD’ targets Moroccan and North African youth with messages of hope and wisdom, using a mixture of proverbs, comedy, rhymes and biblical values. Its presenter-producer, Hamid, says the short five-minute episodes aim to ‘change young people’s view of themselves and uncover deceptive views and ideas absorbed from culture and folk religion in a humorous way’.

The Russian media is repeatedly criticised for the use of misleading images, false narratives, misrepresentation, suppression and fabricated news stories when it comes to Ukraine. A regular claim has been that the Ukrainian army is committing ‘genocide’ against Russian-speakers who state that they strongly desire Russia to ‘protect’ them against Kiev. The media battle between the two countries has not gone away: neither has spasmodic cross-border fighting, regardless of ‘ceasefires’. On 15 May, a decree banned access to the country's most popular social networking sites and other Russian-based web businesses. This was described as a ‘national security measure’, part of economic sanctions against Russia, which annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has sent weapons, equipment, and troops to support and fuel the separatist side in the war in eastern Ukraine.

Rev Gavin Ashenden (featured in a Prayer Alert article on 5 May about a controversy over the Qu’ran being read in church) responded to a survey showing that one in four British adults who consider themselves Christians do not believe that the resurrection of Jesus really happened. He said that such people ‘made the mistake of confusing British culture with Christianity,’ according to The Daily Telegraph, which ran the story. ‘Those people who neither believe in the resurrection nor go anywhere near a church cannot be Christians,’ he said. ‘As with so many things, the key is in the definition of terms. Discovering the evidence for the resurrection having taken place to be wholly compelling is one of the things that makes you a Christian.’