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Graham Kendrick is calling Christian men in the UK to stand together in prayer and praise this month. He will be leading CVM's Prayer and Praise day in Market Harborough Evangelical Church on February 25. He said: ‘This will be a key day for every man who wants to see men come to faith in Jesus. Prayer and praise is so often the missing jewel in our strategy. It’s an event for Christian men to put in their diaries.’ Hundreds of men are expected to attend the day, which will provide them with the opportunity to pray for their friends and family. CVM's general director, Carl Beech, wants to see more men dedicate their Christian witness and evangelism to God this year. He said: ‘Anyone interested in seeing more men coming to faith should take this opportunity to stand with their brothers in prayer and praise. It’s about drawing a line in the sand and starting this year the right way.
Pray: that many men will respond to this event motivated by the power of The Spirit. (Isa.2:3)
More: http://www.christiantoday.co.uk/article/graham.kendrick.to.lead.prayer.and.praise.event.for.men/29255.htm
A Labour MP’s attempt to criticise a Government department for presumed excessive festive spending backfired spectacularly earlier his week. Robert Neill, a minister in the Communities Department, highlighted the Government’s commitment to a Christian Christmas. He was responding to Caroline Flint, Labour’s Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary. She asked ‘how many Christmas parties and drinks receptions his Department plans to host in December 2010’. Robert Neill, MP for Bromley and Chislehurst, responded on behalf of the Secretary of State, Eric Pickles. He said: ‘As the Secretary of State indicated in his departmental press notice of 29 November 2010, the new Administration is committed to celebrating Christmas, including its Christian heritage. Ministers recognise that we live in frugal times due to the need to pay off the significant public deficit and national debt. But there is no need to play Scrooge. We should not allow politically correct Grinches to marginalise the importance of the birth of Christ.’
Pray: that the UK Government continues to ensure that Christianity is not marginalised. (Jn.1:17)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/govt-tells-labour-were-not-ashamed-of-christmas-cheer/
Former Government minister Tim Loughton was sacked because of his opposition to redefining marriage, according to reports. He was removed from his ministerial post in September’s Government reshuffle, and close friends say it was because of his support for keeping marriage as it is. Mr Loughton voted against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill on Tuesday night, together with over 170 other Mps. One Tory MP told the Scotsman newspaper: “Tim was a really good minister whose career was wrecked because of his stance on this issue on a matter of principle. “It shows that, already, this bill is poisoning the party and destroying careers.” David Cameron promised that Tory MPs would have a free vote, but behind the scenes a lot of pressure was applied to stop them breaking rank.
Pray: for God's protection for all those who find themselves pressured or threatened in any way simply for standing up for their beliefs. (Dt.31:6)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/govt-minister-sacked-for-opposing-gay-marriage/
The Evangelical Alliance(EA) has welcomed assurances from Baroness Warsi that this Government ‘does God’ and is ‘comfortable’ with faith. The Government minister made the comments to Church of England bishops last week, adding that the church was ‘at the heart of society’ and that the Labour Government had failed to ‘create policies to unleash the positive power of faith in our society’. The EA head of public affairs, Dr Don Horrocks, said her comments were ‘welcome’ and ‘timely’. He pointed to the work of Christian charities like Redeeming our Communities in Manchester, whose volunteers have been credited with helping to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. The General Director of the EA, Steve Clifford, said that Christians were ‘already at the heart of serving their communities’ but should grasp the opportunity to get even more involved by being a part of the Government’s Big Society initiative.(See Prayer Alert 3010) Pray: for Government to act on their words to place the Church at the ‘heart of society’. (Isa.26:2) More:http://www.christiantoday.co.uk/article/evangelical.alliance.welcomes.governments.commitment.to.people.of.faith/26745.htm
A week after Prime Minister David Cameron re-launched the initiative, the Jubilee Centre warned that the Big Society would be judged a failure if all it accomplished was the proliferation of charities and volunteers while poverty, inequality and crime remained high. The Centre said that 'the Government should not be allowed to sidestep its responsibilities by passing them on to third sector organisations. I In particular, the Centre pointed to the need to promote religious freedom as it warned that red tape was preventing people from volunteering, particularly people of faith. ‘In reality it is therefore highly unlikely that any Big Society ambitions can succeed without the help of faith groups,’ the Centre said. (See Prayer Alert 3010) Pray: against confusion and pray for clarity and understanding. (Gal.5:10b)
The Government has been heavily criticised by Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, over its decision not to back four British Christians who have taken their cases to the European Court of Human Rights. Lord Carey had appealed to Prime Minister David Cameron, asking him to support the four Christians who were ruled against by British Courts. Among these were Shirley Chaplin and Gary McFarlane, whose cases were handled by the Christian Legal Centre. Two of the four cases relate to the freedom of Christians to wear a cross in the workplace and two concern instances where the freedom of Christians to act in accordance with their conscience has been trumped by homosexual rights. The Government has stood by the British courts and argued that these Christian individuals have not been discriminated against. It further argued that neither the wearing of a cross nor the following of conscience are an integral part of the Christian faith.
Pray: that Lord Carey’s comments will be listened to and lead to a change of heart. (Pr.31:9)
An investigation into how Sharia courts are operating in the UK has been dropped after the inquiry faced ‘challenges to undertaking more robust research’, reports Christian Concern for our Nation. The Ministry of Justice probe was launched due to concerns that some judgments of Sharia courts contravene English law. The Ministry of Justice said ‘The challenges to undertaking more robust research were that the councils are generally run on a volunteer basis, were short staffed and very busy, so there were practical difficulties in speaking with respondents.’ Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, commented: ‘The activity of Sharia courts in this country is shrouded in secrecy. The failure of these councils to co-operate with the Government investigation does not alter this impression. It is important that the truth comes to light both to ensure that they are complying with English law and for the protection of women and children.’
Pray: against the bland acceptance of a situation just because it is challenging to investigate it. (Rev.3:2)
The Church of England is to make a rare direct political intervention in the House of Lords this week over legislation to enshrine the ‘military covenant’ in law. The proposals will guarantee soldiers that their sacrifice is honoured by provisions including council tax rebates for those on operations, extra NHS help for the injured and free bus travel for those who have been wounded. But senior bishops, who are backed by former chief of the army staff General the Lord Dannatt, say that the scheme needs to go further. Under the current plans, the Ministry of Defence would be solely responsible for governing the level of care given to troops. The Rt Rev Stephen Platten, the Bishop of Wakefield, will move an amendment to the Armed Forces Bill in the House of Lords on Tuesday, arguing for the Government to set up an independent review of the welfare needs of serving armed forces personnel.
Pray: for all those who are injured in action and that our Government will respond to requests that their welfare needs be independently administered. (Lk.10:9)
The number of households declared homeless so far this year is up by 13 per cent from the same period last year, according to Government figures. According to Homeless Link, the umbrella group for over 500 charities, 35,680 households have been accepted as homeless by local authorities since the start of 2011 and the numbers of people placed in bread and breakfast accommodation has risen by 30 per cent to 9,240 compared with the same period last year. Jacqui McCluskey, of Homeless Link, said: ‘As a result of the recession, cuts and the high cost of living, the number of homeless people continues to rise. Especially alarming is the jump in number of people becoming homeless because they have had to leave their privately rented homes. We are concerned that this trend will accelerate as the government's changes to housing benefit bite. Becoming homeless shouldn't be inevitable. Urgent action is needed to keep more people in their homes.’
Pray: for all those who are homeless or likely to become so and that safeguards will be put in place by the Government to protect them. (Ps.70:5)
The Government’s chief drugs adviser has heavily criticised a Channel 4 programme showing volunteers taking ecstasy. Professor Leslie Iversen, chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, said the programme may ‘glamorise’ drug-taking as a ‘form of entertainment.’ The Oxford University professor made the criticisms in a letter to The Daily Telegraph. He said: ‘Viewers were repeatedly told this was groundbreaking research that had never been done before.However, a search of scientific literature reveals that there have been no fewer than 68 human studies of Ecstasy using brain-imaging techniques.’ The programme showed 25 volunteers, including a former MP, being given an MDMA tablet (pure ecstasy) or a placebo. They then underwent tests including a brain scan. Almost 2 million people watched the programme, and campaigners accused the show of being an advert for drug taking.
Pray: that TV shows such as this will be halted and not be allowed to glorify drug taking. (1Jn.5:19)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/government-drugs-chief-criticises-channel-4-show/