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A self-effacing multi-millionaire, Jonathan Ruffer, has become a cultural icon here after buying a series of 17th century religious paintings from the Anglican Church for 15 million pounds and then giving them back so they can remain on public display. Painted by Francisco de Zurbaran, a contemporary of Velazquez and El Greco, the representations of the Biblical patriarch Jacob and his sons have been kept at Auckland Castle at Durham since 1756 when they were bought by Bishop Richard Trevor for just under 150 pounds. Earlier this year, the Church Commissioners proposed to sell the Zurbarans at public auction in the hope of using the money to fund Church ministry in poorer parts of England. Thousands of people in the north east of England signed a petition asking that the paintings remain at the castle and supported a campaign organized by Helen Goodman, Labour MP for Bishop Auckland, to keep them in Britain. Praise: God for the generosity of Mr Ruffer. (2Cor.9:11)
For years now, the words ‘church attendance’ have rarely been read apart from the rather gloomy utterance of ‘in decline’. But it seems there may be more to smile about than any of us realised as the latest figures out from Christian Research show that attendance in the Catholic Church and Church of England have stabilised, while the Baptist Union has seen sizable growth. The statistical evidence coming from Christian Research in recent years has all pointed to long-term decline. The last five years have seen a halt in the decline, however, with average weekly attendance in Catholic churches remaining steady at around 900,000 since 2004, welcome news just days before the Pope's visit to Britain. The same trend can be seen in the Church of England, where average weekly attendance has hovered at around 1.2 million year on year since 2001, whereas the Baptists have also seen an increase. Praise: the Lord for this trend and growth in His Church in our nation. (Ps.135:1-2) More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/british.church.attendance.turns.a.corner/26699.htm
More than one hundred Brazilian mayors have presented the keys of their city to Jesus, reports Dutch prayer leader and author Pieter Bos. ‘In Brazil local deities are so incorporated in the city life and festivals, that at the annual carnival in an official ceremony, most of the mayors hand over the key of their city to Prince Carnival, or Rei Momo. Carnival in Brazil is known for its rampant drunkenness, licentiousness, immorality and violence, but this is a structural problem. Many city mayors are now so desperate to break out of this pattern that they are giving the key of their city to Jesus,’ says Bos.
Praise: God for this initiative and pray that He will bless their choice to follow Jesus. (Mt.4:19)
More: http://ausprayernet.org.au/newsletter/DisplayNewsletter.php?e_id=00000002278#st2
Two million Christians from all over Brazil trekked the streets of Sao Paulo over the weekend to join in on the country's largest religious gathering, ‘March for Jesus.’ The annual event, organized by Pastor Estevam Hernandes of Renascer em Cristo, or Reborn in Christ Church, and other Pentecostal churches, included speeches and prayers from pastors, political figures, and entertainment from various Brazilian gospel artists. ‘After so many years, the event continues to have an impact,’ Pastor Estevam Hernandes told Brazilian press outlets, adding that the success of the event was due to years of ‘work and prayer.’ This year's theme was ‘New Time,’ which describes the nation's hope for change as it faces its worst social turmoil in over 20 years with Brazilians taking to the streets to demand the government find solutions to provide citizens with a better quality of life.
Praise: God for this powerful alternative to protest marches. (Ps.88:2)
Forty of USA's richest people pledged on Wednesday to donate over half of their fortunes to charity as part of ‘The Giving Pledge’ campaign organised by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and legendary investor Warren Buffet. The group includes CNN founder Ted Turner, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Hollywood director George Lucas, as well as Microsoft mogul Gates and investment guru Buffett. The idea, which was announced just six weeks ago as ‘The Giving Pledge,’ is to convince billionaires across the country to give up most of their money - 50 percent or more - to charity. ‘The pledge is a moral commitment to give, not a legal contract,’ a statement released Wednesday said by www.givingpledge.org Praise: God for the generosity of these people and pray that their gifts will bless the most needy. (2Cor.9:11-12)
Bible chapter and verse references have been printed on the face of this year’s Christmas stamps, unveiled by Royal Mail to mark 400 years of the King James Version of the Bible. The series of seven stamps feature Bible references taken from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The stamps also include pictures of nativity scenes. Royal Mail, which alternates between religious and secular themed stamps each Christmas, released the new designs last week. Stephen Agar from Royal Mail said: ‘Christmas stamps help deliver festive messages of good cheer and celebration across the UK and around the world. This year’s stamps feature scenes from the Nativity, together with the Gospel references from the King James Bible which inspired them.’
Praise: God that the message of His Word will be seen on all our mail this Christmas. (Ps.18:30)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/royal-mail-reveals-nativity-stamps/
The UK's 2011 bestseller lists might have been dominated by cookery, courtesy of Jamie Oliver, and romance, courtesy of David Nicholls, but Norwegian readers were plumping for another sort of book last year: the Bible. The first Norwegian translation of the Bible for 30 years topped the country's book charts almost every week between its publication in October and the end of the year, selling almost 80,000 copies so far and hugely exceeding expectations. Its launch in the autumn saw Harry Potter-style overnight queues, with bookshops selling out on the first day as Norwegians rushed to get their hands on the new edition. ‘We only printed 25,000 to start with and thought it would last six to nine months, but it was launched mid-October and by the end of the year it had sold 79,000 copies – it's just incredible,’ said Stine Smemo Strachan, who worked on the project for the Norwegian Bible Society.
Praise: God for this incredible thirst for His Word. (Is.52:7)
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/03/bible-2011-bestseller-norway
The BBC will air a new dramatisation in prime time on BBC 1 of all the events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ in the week leading up to Christmas. Four half-hour episodes at 7pm will follow the biblical narrative and highlight the identity of Jesus God’s Son coming to earth in fulfilment of God’s promise. It is expected to attract audiences of several million. Andrew Marsh will debate the nativity on Radio 5 Live Praise: God for enabling modern technology to reveal the reality and relevance of Jesus Christ to our nation. (Is.35:5)
Masud grew up in a strict Muslim home in a remote part of Bangladesh. Not only was his family strict, but his father was also an Imam. Masud grew up with full knowledge of the Quran and considered himself to be a radical Muslim. As he grew, however, he began to wonder about the Jesus he read about in the Quran and asked his father many questions: ‘Who is Jesus? Is the Quran true? The Quran says we must study the teaching of Jesus because he was more than a prophet. Why don’t we?’ These questions made his father, the Holy Religious Leader, very angry and he would beat Masud and say: ‘Stop asking questions. You must not question Islam.’ One day, Masud was sitting with friends when a Christian pastor came and shared the Gospel, using the Quran as a tool to point them to Issa (Jesus). Masud was moved in his spirit and recognized that the Gospel was the truth.
Praise: God for Masud and his wife as they live and work for the Gospel in a country where as a religious minority they face danger and persecution for their devotion to Jesus. (Rom.8:35)
More: http://blog.godreports.com/2013/05/son-of-imam-becomes-underground-pastor/#more-3533
A Scottish schoolgirl who raised money for a Catholic charity by posting photos of her school lunches online has beaten an official ban trying to prevent her from doing so, reports Catholic News Agency. Nine-year-old Martha Payne, who attends Lochgilphead Primary School, began posting photos in late April of her daily lunch on her blog titled ‘NeverSeconds.’ She gave each one a score for healthiness, tastiness and the number of mouthfuls it took to consume. Her aim was to raise $11,000 for Catholic charity Mary’s Meals to allow them to build a kitchen in a school in Malawi in Africa. Within a few weeks, Martha’s site had received more than two million hits and a third of the donations required to build the kitchen. However, after the success of Martha's blog was highlighted in a national newspaper June 14 – under the headline ‘Time to fire the dinner ladies’ – she was told to stop her activities by school officials.
Praise: God for this young lady's' initiative to raise money for those in need. (Pro.22:1)
More: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue16614.html