The Scottish Government has launched a public consultation asking whether the law should be changed to allow religious ceremonies for homosexual civil partnerships, and whether the legal definition of marriage should be changed to allow homosexual marriage. Mike Judge argues that the law should stay as it is. All the legal rights of marriage are already available to homosexual couples through civil partnership registrations. Last year only 465 civil partnerships were registered in Scotland. This is not about rights, this is about redefining marriage for the whole of society at the behest of a small minority of activists. If marriage is redefined for homosexual marriage, that new definition will be the one that the state promotes as the standard. It will have huge implications for what is taught in schools and for wider society.
Pray: against this and any further moves to change God’s definition of marriage. (Lev.18:22)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/the.scottish.government.should.not.redefine.marriage/28559.htm
The power of positive prayers
19 May 2010Methodists are being encouraged to speak ‘words of blessing’ over the Church, its vision, planning, ministry, members and leaders, as part of a new Connexion-wide prayer initiative. Entitled ‘The Power of Blessing’, this initiative has been launched by Methodist Evangelicals Together (MET) – a movement of British Methodists ‘committed to prayer and revival’ which is believed to be the biggest independent organisation in the Connexion. With the support of the Connexional Team, MET will be releasing a series of resources during the coming months, designed to stimulate Methodists of all traditions to use prayer to bless the work of the Church, their communities and the nation. ‘The Power of Blessing’ follows in the footsteps of the Church’s ‘Year of Prayer Without Ceasing’, which promoted a programme of continuous prayer across the Connexion. After this programme ended, in August 2006, the MET executive began to consider new ways of building on the scheme and encouraging more prayer within the life of the Church.
Pray: for the success of this prayer initiative. (Jas. 5:15-17)
The Pope’s visit
09 Jul 2010
Regardless of their faith members of the public have been invited to see Pope Benedict XVI. It emerged that he will meet Nick Clegg, who is an atheist, and Harriet Harman, whose Equality Act has angered the Church. The Government is keen to portray the four-day state visit as a historic event that will enhance the country's standing worldwide and to highlight the pontiff's commitment to social justice in order to head off criticism over the costs and the child abuse scandal affecting the Vatican. Lord Patten is overseeing the visit’s planning. He said that the significance of the first-ever state visit by a Pope to Britain was greater than the potential costs. He told a press conference: ‘Even if we had known of the parlous state of the nation's finances, I'm sure that wouldn't have been a consideration because the importance of this visit makes its own claim upon modest public support.’ Pray: that God will use the Pope’s visit in a positive way for many communities. (Ro.8:28)
The Not Dead Yet UK ‘resistance’ campaign
07 Jun 2010The campaign kicks off with the launch of a charter that will be sent to all MPs, asking them to support the campaign’s aims and commit to fighting for disabled and terminally ill constituents. Campaigners point out that some people view disabled people’s lives as not worth living. High profile cases of disabled people who want the law changed to make assisted suicide easier are the exception rather than the rule, they say. Baroness Jane Campbell of Surbiton, convenor for Not Dead Yet UK, pointed out that the likelihood of cuts in services across the country will create additional challenges for disabled people. She said: ‘There have been two attempts to weaken assisted dying legislation in the past four years, with further discussions taking place in the Scottish parliament now. We face a bleak situation if calls for assisted suicide to be lawful are renewed whilst vital services are being withdrawn or denied.’
Pray: that MPs will oppose any change to the current law and that disabled and terminally ill people should have the same legal protection as everyone else. (Ac.17:24-26)
The complete Methodists’ Handwritten Bible, created by tens of thousands of people across Britain and Northern Ireland, is now online. The Handwritten Bible contains 7,000 pages of text and illustrations transcribed by people from every part of Britain and further afield. More than 30,000 volunteers joined in from across communities - including prisons, schools, colleges, libraries, nursing homes, airports and shopping centres - to copy the whole of the NRSV translation of the Bible after Methodists voted to transcribe the Scripture at their Conference in Portsmouth last year. Since the first volume went live on the Deepening Discipleship website last month, the Handwritten Bible has been viewed more than 1,000 times. Most of those readers accessed the site from within the UK, but there have been visitors from 76 other countries, including the United States, Malaysia, Australia and South Africa.
Pray: that this special Bible will touch the hearts of its readers in a powerful way. (1Ti.4:13)
More: http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.newsDetail&newsid=524
As we watched the closing ceremony of the Paralympics with LCpl Rory Mackenzie, an Army medic who lost his leg in a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq in 2007. While addressing the 80,000 crowd, he reminded us of the huge number of severely injured service personnel who have returned from conflict. The courage and inner strength of these individuals shown through sport is inspiring.
Pray: for the many traumatised and injured British service personnel as they come to terms with life changing injures, that they may find inner peace and strength from our Almighty Father and have a new and worthwhile future in Him.
The health gap between rich and poor
02 Aug 2010
The health gap between the richest and poorest in Britain is now wider than it was during the great depression, according to researchers from Sheffield and Bristol Universities. They say that the gap was gradually narrowing until the 1970s, when the trend reversed. Health inequality has grown rapidly in the last twenty years. This reflects a growth in economic inequality over a similar period. ‘Health and wealth are directly linked’, insisted researcher Danny Dorling, ‘Unless we tackle the income gap, we could well see life expectancy actually starting to fall for the first time in the poorest areas.’ Campaigns for economic equality have gained momentum since the publication last year of the The Spirit Level. The book's authors, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, use detailed analysis to demonstrate lower levels of crime, unwanted pregnancies and other social problems in more equal societies. This perspective is now promoted by the Equality Trust. Pray: for an understanding that redressing this imbalance will also address other problems in society. (Dt.15:4)
The deployed troops and families back home
18 Jun 2012The demands and stress of deployment in Afghanistan can lead individuals to switch off from thinking and communicating with their families back home, in order to focus on the task in hand. However, this is distressing for the families and leads to fear and worry. Then, in reverse, some children of serving personnel deployed get too upset when talking to their parent on the telephone or video link via Skype and so refuse to do so. This in turn proves to be upsetting and stressful.
Pray: about the needs of both those deployed and the families back home that there will be good communication and support between them and that those deployed and those back home will have the appropriate concern for the other. (Jn.15:12)
More: http://www.army.mod.uk/welfare-support/23208.aspx