Advice UK, the largest support network for free advice centres in the UK, has pushed out a Christian debt counselling charity from its membership for offering to pray with clients suffering from debt problems. Despite being an active member of Advice UK for six years, Christians Against Poverty (‘CAP’) was forced to leave Advice UK as they were told that its prayer offer was ‘incompatible’ with the organisation’s membership criteria. Andrea Williams, director of the Christian Legal Centre, said: ‘This is a very sad development and further highlights how intolerant our society has become to the Christian faith. There is increasingly a chilling notion prevailing that there is something wrong, something sinister, about being motivated by faith. It should come as no surprise that an organisation with the term ‘Christian’ in its name may have a Christian ethos and may offer prayer alongside its primary services.’
Pray: for the volunteers in CAP and that God will lift them above such ill-advised political correctness and use them more powerfully than ever. (Ac.4:33)
Act now on problem gambling
28 Nov 2011A substantial increase in problem gambling in the last four years is unacceptable and needs urgent action, a group of national churches told parliament last week. On Tuesday, 22 November, the Salvation Army, Quaker Action on Alcohol and Drugs, the Methodist Church, the Evangelical Alliance and CARE (Christian Action, Research and Education) gave evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry into gambling. In their contribution to a parliamentary inquiry on gambling, church groups will tell the select committee that the government must take action on child gambling, the clustering of betting shops and funding independent research, education and treatment. The 2010 prevalence study showed that the number of problem gamblers in the UK has jumped by 50 per cent to around 450,000 since 2007. James North, public issues policy adviser for the Methodist Church in Britain, commented: ‘The figures speak for themselves: problem gambling is on the rise. But the government seems determined to liberalise gambling laws.
Pray: for all those affected by gambling d for the Government to take a more realistic view of the problem. (Ec.5:10)
More: http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.newsDetail&newsid=545
Some of the gang are believed to be members of the Islamic extremist group Al-Shabaab, which is linked to al-Qaida. Brits Kirstie Trup and Katie Gee, both 18, suffered face and body scarring after acid was thrown at them from a moped. They were victims of one of five acid attacks in the area in less than a year – the latest of which was on a Catholic priest. The motive for the attacks was initially unclear, but reports now suggest it might have been the work of terrorists. Police also seized 29 litres of acid, which they fear was to be used in future attacks.
Pray: that the girls will recover and that the authorities will trace the perpetrators. (Pr.21:15)
More: http://europenews.dk/en/node/71788
Abortion on the basis of gender
25 Apr 2013Birth statistics in the UK show that abortions on the basis of gender could be taking place in some communities. The findings were made after Government officials analysed the boy-girl ratios of births between 2007 and 2011 and found women in certain communities were giving birth to an unusually higher number of males than females. The Department of Health has refused to release information on the nationalities of such women, stating ‘ it was not in the public interest to do so’. Last week a Ten Minute Rule Bill calling for the Government to monitor the sex of aborted babies was presented jointly by Conservative MP Fiona Bruce and Labour MP Jim Dobbin, with its aims being supported by more than 50 MPs. During the debate, Mrs Bruce said, ‘What should cause real distress is that babies are being aborted because they are the wrong gender. The most dangerous place for girl should not be in her mother’s womb. A second reading on the Bill will take place on 26th April
Pray: for the Department of Health and the Government to open up an evidence based dialogue and then take appropriate action.
Disturbing reports coming from England and Wales as national statistics show that more than a quarter of all deaths in the countries are caused by abortions. The numbers were released by the Office for National Statistics of the UK and offers a complete accounting of the mortality statistics for all deaths that occurred in 2010. The report listed a total of 493,242 deaths in England and Wales from ‘all causes’ in 2010. This number includes 224 babies who died ‘before, during or after birth.’ However, the 224 babies who died were not represented in the 189,574 human deaths from abortion in England and Wales in 2010. Adding the total number of pre-born babies who died as a result of abortion in 2010 to the total number of human deaths in England and Wales for that same year produces an overall total of 682,816 deaths. This leads to 27 percent or 189,574 of the 682,816 deaths being caused by abortion.
Pray: that as these staggering statistics become public that moves will be made by the authorities to change legislation to protect life. (Jn.17:15)
The Dail, (the Irish Parliament), is expected to conduct the first of a series of votes on the controversial issue of abortion in the coming days. If passed, the new legislation will allow abortion in Ireland in limited circumstances. Until now, abortion has been banned in the Republic, a traditionally Catholic country. But figures suggest at least 11 women leave every day for an abortion in Britain. BBC NI Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison reports on current Church-State relations in Ireland. There was a time when the Irish state and the Catholic Church had a very cosy relationship. But the revelations of child sex abuse by priests and its cover-up by bishops who were more worried about the Church's reputation than the plight of the victims, changed all that. Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Enda Kenny told the House: ‘I am proud to stand here as a public representative, as a Taoiseach who happens to be a Catholic, but not a Catholic Taoiseach.’
Pray: for the Taoiseach as they vote on this issue that they will be guided to make the right decision. (Ps.48:14)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23061276
Abortion follows in the wake of contraception
17 Jan 2011There have been two important stories in recent days linking abortion and contraception. Firstly, among British women hundreds of women have become pregnant after a long-term contraceptive implant failed and subsequently went on to have abortions. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1344132/Contraceptive-implant-alert-Hundreds-women-pregnant-birth-control-fails.html?printingPage=true Secondly, a study of women in Spain has found that abortion rates and contraception rates rose in parallel between 1997 and 2007. Both stories need to be examined closely regarding the data used and the individual circumstances involved, but both stories provide evidence of the close association between contraception and abortion. The provision of contraception not only fails to prevent unplanned pregnancies but results in unborn children being victimised, to death as the unwelcome consequences of so-called contraceptive failure.
Pray: that abortion trends will not continue to grow as contraception failure increases. (Ps.139:15-16)
More: http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2011/01/05/abortion-follows-in-the-wake-of-contraception/
Perhaps the Queen had an inkling of how bad things were when she used her historic speech to Parliament last month to call on the nation to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee by being a good neighbour. It turns out 13 million of us (or 26 per cent) don’t know the name of the person who lives next door, 22 per cent don’t know what they do for a living, 7 per cent have absolutely no idea who they are and 3 per cent feel threatened by them, according to new research by FindaProperty.com. But the days of borrowing a cup of sugar might not be completely behind us, as the survey reveals that a fifth of us (or 19 per cent) say they would actually like to have a better relationship with their neighbours. Knowing the person next door can improve security and quality of life. We all want to feel safe and comfortable in our homes and the strength of our relationships with the people who live nearby affect this.
Pray: for neighbours to get to know each other and to be willing to reach out the hand of friendship. (Matt.7:12)
More: http://blog.zoopla.co.uk/2012/04/10/neighbour-dont-know-name/