Displaying items by tag: Praise

In Middle East’s honour-shame culture, a raped woman brings her family shame and they have a duty to kill her. Three Yazidi girls were taken as slaves by IS. Later, while their father was asleep, he saw Jesus. He recognised Him by His nail-pierced hands. Jesus said, ‘You don’t need to kill your daughters. I paid for everyone, so go and get them.’ The man woke and thought this can’t be real. He went back to sleep and had exactly the same dream. He woke up again, went back to sleep, and had the same dream for a third time - one dream for each daughter. He gathered the Yazidi elders and told them what happened. ‘Jesus showed up in my tent, I’m going to get my girls and not kill them.’ Because of Jesus, he welcomed his girls home and persuaded other Yazidi men to take back their daughters without harming them.

Kanye West's Jesus is King album has prompted the American Bible Society to offer 1,000 free Bibles. ABS said that curiosity about Christianity has soared since the US rapper released his first Christian album: ‘When we saw an influential cultural figure like Kanye inspiring young people to seek out answers to their faith questions, that was an opportunity to provide God's word and point people to it as a source for their questions about faith.’ Up to 1,000 copies of the Good News translation are available to fans who apply on the ABS website. According to Google Trends, online searches for ‘Jesus’ and ‘Christianity’ shot up significantly in the USA after West released his album on 25 October.

Ethiopia is unique. It has its own alphabet and cuisine, and the people do not fit in with either sub-Saharan Africa or the Arabised North African peoples. 98% of the people claim some sort of religious affiliation; there is a spiritual hunger among Ethiopians. Whereas 3% were evangelicals in 1970, by 2015 this figure had risen to 19%. They are becoming Christ’s ambassadors to unreached peoples. The Kale Heywet (Word of Life) church supports 250 missionaries, working among 16 people groups. Wycliffe Bible Translators are working with Ethiopians to translate the Old Testament into the language of the Eastern Oromo people, most of whom are Muslim.

A group of pastors and faith leaders had an exclusive meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on 29 October. During that meeting, Trump asked the pastors to lay hands on him and pray. The meeting, according to several pastors, involved discussions of the president's accomplishments on behalf of evangelical Christians, including defending religious freedom, battling opioid addiction, reducing abortion, and nominating conservative and pro-life supreme court judges. Soon afterwards, several leaders posted photos of the meeting and prayer. Some praised the president's pro-family and pro-biblical values, while others offered prayer against what they see as unjust impeachment hearings.

The mission of an evangelism boot-camp will be to equip, train, and launch radical evangelists, whose hearts burn to touch the world with the Gospel, onto the front lines of the harvest field. The first ever bootcamp by Christ for all Nations will launch in January 2020. This six-month intensive training is a fast track to the field which will open the door for Christians to preach the gospel in Africa alongside a gospel crusade team. Not for the faint of heart, this programme will include rigorous components of study and service. In only a few months participants will be prepared mind and spirit to fulfill the plans that God has for them to reach the lost! This first training school is limited to only fifty students. But its launch will be a step to an extended school coming soon, with additional training requirements for work in the field. 

Christians in Politics (CP) shamelessly profess their vision for Christians young and old, up and down the country, stepping into politics from across the spectrum, with loyalty to God before any political tribe. CP’s Alasdair Howorth writes, ‘We crave the sight of young passionate Christians working together in government, locally and nationally to bring about God's Kingdom in our United Kingdom.’ He recently attended a Just Love event where 30+ young people less than five years out of university were working at the heart of politics - parliamentary assistants working in the Houses of Lords and Commons, in Brexit departments, and in individual parties; civil servants, community organisers, and lobbyists. Alasdair said, ‘Here before me was the vision of CP being lived out as young Christians were coming together from across political and social divides to pray with and encourage one another, all with a vision of Kingdom before Tribe’.

Fred’s body was engulfed in a flame in a tragic accident. He rolled on the ground, but there was extensive damage to his arms and legs. He was airlifted to a burn centre in a critical condition. Julie, his wife, prayed. ‘I knew God was there: I just prayed the whole time that he’d be okay.’ Doctors were amazed that Fred’s lungs and airways were undamaged by the fireball. After only two days in ICU, his circulation was remarkably better - but then infection set in and his condition deteriorated. Julie redoubled her prayers, requesting intercession from family and church. They also prayed with him before his surgery. Doctors said he might be unable to work for six months. But God heard their prayers! Ten days after his last skin graft, Fred was released from hospital, and returned to work a month later.

Pastor Toby leads Spacnation South London, a faith-based organisation committed to transforming the lives of young people. In a generation where many young people have been dejected, abused and simply overlooked, Spacnation offers an alternative, whilst changing the narrative of this generation one step at a time. They are rescuing people from gangs, from addiction and from fear, with over one hundred baptised each week. They have set up 23 safe houses for gang members who are willing to turn their life around and escape from a life of crime; they say their safe houses are homes full of fun, food and fascinating stories. Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has backed the initiative, saying the safe houses seem to be working and are part of a solution. See

Kanye West, a popular American singer, held a Sunday service in Salt Lake City to tell young people about the evils of the media. His event, held across the street from an international Mormon conference, attracted thousands of fans, and many took to the surrounding rooftops to join in. A large gospel choir sang throughout, as they hummed to the tune of ‘Jesus walks’. West said: ‘There is a spiritual war going on outside, from which no-one is safe. It is no longer a mystery, Jesus has already won the victory! Tell the devil his time is up!’ He said that Satan has been trying to control minds through social media: ‘No weapon formed against me shall prosper, no false validation, no Grammy, no Oscar. God, this is your nation. This is America.’

As 70-80 worshippers in a synagogue in Halle observed Yom Kippur, their holiest day of the year, a gunman shot at a locked door. The camera at the entrance showed him trying to break into the building, but the door remained closed. God protected them. The attack, streamed live, was a chilling reminder of the mosque attack in New Zealand which was also online in real time. Footage also shows the assailant laying a home-made explosive outside and uttering anti-Semitic statements. He shot and killed a passer-by, and another man nearby. Following the attack, the synagogue congregants were filmed singing and dancing on a bus transporting them from hospital. They finished the concluding prayer for Yom Kippur inside the hospital. The attacker wanted to carry out a massacre and had nine pounds of explosives in his car.