Displaying items by tag: Religion

Last week we praised God for the release of 104 Dapchi school girls by Boko Haram. Five of the 110 girls died and were buried in the bush. What happened to the other girl? Her name is Leah Sharibu, and she defied Boko Haram by refusing to renounce her Christian faith! She is still in captivity. Her father, Nathan Sharibu, said, ‘They gave her the option of converting in order to be released, but she said she will never become a Muslim. I am very sad, but I'm also praising God because my daughter did not renounce Christ.’ Leah sent a message asking her family ‘to pray for the will of God to be done in my life’. What bravery, what faith, what a testimony to the world! One lone Christian girl among 110 defies the abominable Boko Haram. What will happen to her? President Buhari has been asked to ‘uphold the tenets and principles of the Nigerian constitution’. We must pray!

The following ideas are found in the Small Church Essentials book: *The lack of a powerful worship band doesn’t mean settling for passionless worship. *Small churches thrive if they prioritise culture, relationships, and history. *If you’re doing the Great Commandment and Great Commission, you have a great church, no matter the size, denomination, or liturgy. *Small congregations may be Christianity’s most overlooked, underutilised asset; but they’re multiplying and driving global church growth. *Healthy churches continually assess and clear space in their agenda, then they are ready to add something fresh and new. *Reaching the next generation will be done through ministry from the church in the community, not just in the church.

Mission networking in Cameroon is bearing fruit through evangelical cooperation to reach the unconverted. Please pray for three initiatives: 1) Christian Missionary Fellowship International has remarkable ministries in prayer, missions and publishing, all having a global impact. 2) Cameroon for Christ, launched in 1996, involves many denominations and churches in research and evangelism of the 2,400 villages of the north. 3) Mission BINAM targets the idol-worshippers of West Cameroon, especially the Bamiléké, and is very active in evangelism as it trains researchers for church and mission needs. Please pray also for the restless young people who are frustrated by high unemployment and cheating, bribery and favouritism in the education system. Many turn to crime and prostitution, and violent demonstrations are occurring. Cameroon has never before dealt with such disruptions. Also Christians in the north are under increasing pressure from Muslims.

All exercise of the right to freedom of religion or belief without state permission is banned in Kazakhstan, in defiance of the country's international human rights commitments. There is a growing trend of banning religious communities on various grounds. For example, on 16 March a court in South Kazakhstan fined and banned for a month a Protestant church for having three not five fire detectors in a property used only for storage. The fire inspector refused to explain why the order to install the extra fire detectors was not put in writing, or why the church was punished despite having installed those extra detectors within the specified one month. Also, at the same church, police arrested a woman for ‘missionary activity’ after she helped someone download a Bible onto her phone. Religious communities face raids and fines as parliament's lower house prepares the final text of a wide-ranging set of amendments to make the exercise of religion or belief more difficult. See also https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/central-asia/kyrgyzstan/kyrgyzstan-state-fragility-and-radicalisation

On 22 March the gay clergyman Canon Jeremy Pemberton lost his appeal against the Church of England after he claimed its attitude to same-sex marriage breached equality laws. The Court of Appeal upheld a previous ruling that he was not discriminated against when he was barred from becoming a hospital chaplain after marrying his partner. The CofE has now established that it can continue to discriminate legally against some LGBT people in relation to their employment, even when that employment is not within the boundaries of the Church's jurisdiction.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, speaking to an independent enquiry, has warned that child sex abuse by priests will 'destroy the Church' if it continues, adding the Church of England's current safeguarding powers to protect children 'probably needs re-looking at'. In cutting terms Welby warned that those who didn’t protect children would 'answer on the day of judgement'. 'That probably doesn't mean much to some people here’, he said. 'But I think about that every day. Those who do children harm would do better to have a millstone put around their neck and be thrown into the sea rather than face the judgement that God will give them. The reputation of the church, the reputation of a person, the reputation of an institution, is as nothing compared to the call to obey God in Jesus Christ in the way we love and care for people. Everything that goes against that will, in the end, destroy the Church.'

Europe’s march towards a post-Christian society has been starkly illustrated by research showing that a majority of young people in a dozen countries are not following any religion. A survey of 16- to 29 year-olds found that in the UK only 7% identify as Anglican and 10% as Catholic. Young Muslims, at 6% and rising, are on the brink of overtaking those who consider themselves part of the country’s established church. The UK figures were partly explained by high immigration - one in five Catholics in the UK was not born in the UK, neither were most of the Muslims. The figures were in a report, Europe’s Young Adults and Religion, by a professor of theology who said, ‘The new default setting for faith in the UK is no religion, and the few who are Christians see themselves as swimming against the tide.’

It has been confirmed that 81-year-old Pope Francis will visit Dublin on Saturday 25 August to take part in the Festival of Families, a faith-based cultural concert in Croke Park, and celebrate Mass in Phoenix Park the following day. Bearing in mind the current contemporary challenges that face families in both Ireland and elsewhere, the Catholic bishops said, ‘We are deeply honoured that Pope Francis will come to our country to participate in this universal church celebration of faith and joy’, adding that they look forward to hearing apostolic guidance.

President Morales has announced that the Guatemalan embassy will be moved to Jerusalem in May, just two days after the United States. The president, an outspoken Christian Evangelical, has been publicly supportive of Israel since the beginning of his mandate. After receiving an award recently he said, ‘From the bottom of my heart, I tell you, I don’t feel I deserve this. I’m just trying to do the right thing and allow my God, my people, and history to judge me.’ Vice president Jafeth Cabrera said his country is fulfilling biblical prophecy: ‘Yes, we do share the idea that prophecy is coming to pass. We are pleased that Guatemala is contributing to having that happen, and we hope it will soon be a reality.’ The vice president also said the decision could not have happened without prayer.

In a recent speech, Ofsted claimed that extremists are using religion to pervert education and indoctrinate young people. Singling out the Christian Institute, which was wrongly labelled Anglican, it condemned ideological indoctrination by Christian extremists, and said that schools have a responsibility to ‘tackle those who actively undermine fundamental British values or equalities law’. However, under the Equality Act 2010, religion is listed as a protected characteristic, alongside such things as sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy, age, and race. Ofsted’s apparent prioritisation of LGBT rights over other protected characteristics not only denies this but, by extension, seeks to alter or oppose the law. An Ofsted spokesperson said, ‘We must tackle those who actively undermine fundamental British values or equalities law.’ Ofsted appears to believe that expressing religious belief is not endorsing British values. Pray for parents to continue to have their children educated in line with their own religious and / or philosophical beliefs.