Displaying items by tag: Praise

Raheem Sterling, 24, one of England's most talented footballers, has described his Christian faith as ‘massive’. He was interviewed by GQ, a news magazine based around music, models, women and news and directed at young adult males. Sterling says he was brought up in the church, and his mum taught him about faith from an early age. When he moved from home, his faith deepened and now he has ‘no doubt’ that God exists. ‘I know for sure. A lot of scientists, the cleverest people in the world, will tell you that there has to be a creator. They need answers, but you just have to sometimes accept that it's bigger than you and you have to leave it at that.’

An estimated two million people filled Hong Kong streets in protests against the government, which had been pursuing an extradition agreement that could have sent activists, advocates and even foreign nationals to mainland China for legal proceedings. But even after the bill was pulled, the protests not only continued: they have grown, and through the ongoing protest, an unlikely song has rapidly become the unofficial anthem by tens and hundreds of thousands. The uniting song is ‘Sing Hallelujah to the Lord’. A quarter of the entire population sang the anthem. Praise the Lord, Hong Kong! Praise the Lord, indeed!

John Earnest walked into a California synagogue carrying a semiautomatic rifle. Rabbi Goldstein was preparing for the day’s prayer and heard gunshots. He found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Earnest had just shot someone in the foyer. ‘I have a fraction of a second to decide what to do’, he recounted. ‘Do I hide? The gun is pointing at me. Do I think about others?’ His mind raced. When he turned to herd the children to safety the gunman fired at him, blowing off his fingers. His granddaughter cried, ‘Grandpa, why are you bleeding?’ The gunman fired into a side room full of people but only two were slightly wounded. As the rabbi turned back, the gunman’s rifle jammed. Two congregation members chased him out of the building. A short time later, he inexplicably phoned 911 and reported the shooting.

‘It was as if God had prepared us for this,’ said Pastor Hikmat Kashouh of his congregation. He is recalling the time when over a million Syrian refugees started pouring into Lebanon, fleeing civil war. Resurrection Church, Beirut had already built strong connections with local Syrian workers. But what the church was less prepared for was the radical transformation it would take to welcome former enemies as equal members of their church family. From an unremarkable congregation of ninety people to one that welcomes 1,300 people and broadcasts to thousands across the Arab world via SAT-7, Resurrection Church has experienced a great transformation in the last ten years among Arabs, Kurds, and Muslim converts. To read the inspiring story of conversions, click the ‘More’ button.

17 June 2019 marks five years since IS told Christians living in Mosul to ‘convert, pay or die’. Three thousand Christian families were among the half million citizens who left Mosul. Most of them fled to the city of Erbil or to the Kurdish region in the north of Iraq. Only 25 Christian families stayed in the city after the ultimatum - those who were too old, ill, or disabled to flee. Open Doors started working through local churches and partners to support internally displaced people, giving humanitarian aid and providing monthly food packages. By 2015 they were employing 86 local people, distributing food to 75,000 people, and handing out Bibles, Christian materials, hygiene baskets, clothing vouchers and support for medical expenses. Next they gave churches training on trauma care, and provided three trauma centres.

Little Worship Company is a new project which offers a range of co-viewing products designed to inspire and delight children aged 0 - 7 years, while helping families worship and discover God together. Finding the right resources that will equip children on this important journey to build their relationship with God can be challenging. The company’s beautifully crafted products are designed to support both children and grown-ups, with a range of inspiring and entertaining media, built on a solid Bible curriculum. A 32-lesson pack can be used as individual sessions, or split and delivered over a number of weeks. It is designed to support educators, children’s workers and volunteers in delivering highly engaging, interactive children’s sessions in Sunday schools, family services, or school assemblies.

Twelve-year-old Matt Martinson truanted from school, experimented with drink and drugs, and spiralled into a life of crime. Petty offences escalated to drug dealing, burglary and armed robbery. He was jailed for 11 years following an armed raid on a post office in York. After serving nearly four years - during which time he drew alongside a prison chaplain and came to faith - he was released. After study and much commitment he was eventually ordained as a priest. Matt, now aged 44, explained, ‘I remember being in prison and hearing God say to me, “One day you will be a vicar”. I burst out laughing saying, “Didn’t you hear what the judge has sentenced me to?”’ He now ministers to people who are hurt and lost, reaching out to them with grace and telling them, ‘No matter what you may have done in the past, there is a loving God to turn to’.

Twelve months ago Army Chaplain Jose Rondon wrote, ‘There is nothing more exhilarating than seeing people come to Christ.’ Rondon experienced that exhilaration with 1,459 professions of faith in six months. There’s a spiritual awakening at Fort Leonard Wood. Retired Major-General Doug Carver said, ‘Fort Leonard Wood is not an exception. There are 1,348 military chaplains in the Southern Baptist Convention at work. Our troops are increasingly hungry for truth and relevancy in their lives and finding a faith that works through a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The spiritual awakening at Fort Leonard Wood indicates a great move of God taking place within the Armed Services.’ Army chaplains are currently baptising an average of 70 soldiers during every basic combat training cycle at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. The military has built more chapels since 9/11 than any other period of American history, except for World War II.

‘My husband Todd and I were serving at an orphanage. The kids hadn't had meat in a year so we made them hamburgers. I noticed the pre-schoolers kept coming back for more before disappearing. I was curious, so I followed them. The children were hiding the burgers underneath their mattresses for another day. I called my husband over, and that was a defining moment for both of us. We couldn't un-see that scene, we knew that we were called to ministry.’ In 1997 Beth and her husband saved, took a year's leave of absence from work and moved to Mexico to start their orphanage. Today, Back2Back Ministries is an international orphan care ministry serving abandoned, orphaned and impoverished children in Mexico, Nigeria, India and Haiti.

A year after its launch the Church of England’s Alexa skill has been asked over 75,000 questions. The smart speaker skill was originally launched with prayers, explanations of Christian faith and details of where to find the nearest church for local events and services. More family prayers have also been added, and integration improved with A Church Near You, the national church finder tool, showing maps of where the nearest church is. A range of videos have now been added to bring the Christian faith to life and showcase Church social action work across the country. The highest numbers of people using the skill were in the evening. So the teams added a wider range of mealtime, evening and night prayers. The skill is average 4.2 out of five stars on the Alexa store with comments such as ‘Love it - great example to the kids on how to pray’.