Iran: executions rise amid unrest
12 May 2023Iran recently hanged two men for blasphemy, saying they had insulted the prophet Muhammad and promoted atheism. They were arrested in 2021 and spent months in solitary confinement without family contact. Iran has executed over 203 prisoners this year, but executions for blasphemy remain rare. The recent spate of executions, including members of ethnic minority groups, comes amid continuing protests over the arrest of Mahsa Amini by Iran’s morality police and her death in their custody. Over 500 people were killed and 19,000 arrested in the protests, which have been one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since 1979’s Islamic Revolution. Today public frustration extends beyond repressive dress codes. The economy is in poor shape due to sanctions and Iran’s policy incompetence. Inflation is above 40%, currency is a record low, and unemployment tops 10%. Many believe that these anxieties mean further unrest is unavoidable.
USA: the land mourns, the cattle groan
12 May 2023The prophet Joel records how the cattle, sheep and other animals suffer and moan because of the condition of the nation (Joel 1:10-12; 18-20). On 13 April, 18,000 dairy cows burned to death in a horrific barn fire in Texas. Over the last decade at least 6.5 million farmed animals in the USA have died by fire, many living in cramped mega-farms. They paid the price for farmers' profits and consumers' low-cost food. The Lord made provision for us to eat all kinds of food, but we are also to take care of God's creatures (Genesis 1:28). Jesus said, 'Not one sparrow falls to the ground without the Father’. While giving thanks for God’s provision, we should still grieve and lament unnecessary suffering and cruelty in the name of profit and convenience. Pray for greater alertness to, and awareness of, the conditions under which livestock are kept and our food is produced.
Through God all things are possible
04 May 2023Country singing legend Dolly Parton recently said she always asks God to bless everything and everyone with whom she works, heralding the importance faith plays in her daily life. ‘My faith impacts everything that I do because I do believe that, through God, all things are possible. And I always ask God to bless everything that I do and the people that I work with and to bring all the right things and right people into my life and to take the wrong ones out.’
Miraculously healed on live Zoom call
04 May 2023When a woman’s horse fell on her, the entire right side of her body couldn’t move. That night she felt a conviction to turn on Apostle Kathryn Krick’s live Zoom call. During the zoom ministry meeting she was calling on the name of Jesus and thought she had died and gone to heaven. ‘I could not move, I was paralysed, I couldn’t even move my arm. I was completely still and something was going on in my body. It was excruciating pain. And then God just healed my body.’ She was healed from her terrible injury. ‘As God took me up to the heavens, I thought I was no longer here in the earthly realm. I woke up, I could move.’
Massive revival among children
04 May 2023Core Group Mentorship is a discipleship movement that has seen God’s power turning their mentorship into a movement. A massive children’s revival is happening among Core Kids. The children are prophesying, evangelising, praying for people, and some are shaking while they praise Jesus. They worship freely and are even casting out demons. Thousands of children and teens are experiencing a strong move of the Holy Spirit. The leaders have trained and seen thousands of Core Kids turn to Jesus, walking in their full calling, set free, whole, and healed.
Coronation: blessing over King Charles III
04 May 2023The following is part of a blessing by Resurgence Global for King Charles III. We can declare it for him at this significant transitional time in his life. ‘Charles the Third, we bless you, by the Grace of God, as you become King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and your other Realms and Territories as King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. King Charles III, on your Coronation Day we bless you with the continuous favour of God to help and inspire your leadership. We bless you with the awareness of God’s peace, prosperity and Kingship as you take your place upon your Royal Throne and Scotland’s Stone of Scone. We bless you as you honour God and your Godly inheritance. May the legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II be ongoing through the generations.’ For the full blessing ,click the ‘more’ button.
Coronation: public invited to swear allegiance
04 May 2023People watching the Coronation will be invited to join a ‘chorus of millions’ declaring, ‘I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.’ The archbishop will proclaim, ‘God save the King’, with a response, ‘God save King Charles. Long live King Charles. May the King live for ever.’ There are several changes to the ancient ceremony. Female clergy will play a prominent role; the King himself will pray out loud; leaders from other faiths have an active part; and it will incorporate hymns sung in Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic. But the oaths that form the heart of the service remain unchanged, including the promise to maintain ‘the Protestant Reformed Religion’. Justin Welby said this coronation would ‘recognise and celebrate tradition’ and contain ‘new elements reflecting the diversity of our contemporary society’.
Ray and Marie Ferguson have campaigned since 2001 to discover why Rachel, their 9-year-old daughter, died at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. Marie said the new inquest, which started on 2 May, is an opportunity to establish why Rachel died from hyponatremia a day after her appendix operation. Hyponatremia, an abnormally low level of sodium in blood, can occur when fluids are incorrectly administered. Mrs Ferguson said the fact that there was a second inquest ‘speaks of the culture of cover-up involving the medical and legal professions’. The 14-year-long inquiry into hyponatraemia-related deaths was heavily critical of the ‘self-regulating and unmonitored’ health service. A 2018 inquiry into Northern Ireland hospitals where five children died, including Rachel, found death was avoidable.