Displaying items by tag: Praise

With the second largest landmass in the world and a very sparse population, it's easy for a Canadian prayer ministry, house of prayer or city-wide worship ministry to feel isolated. ‘Ears to Hear’ responded to this need with a network which for ten years has connected and united the senior leaders of these ministries for mutual encouragement and support. As a result, they have been able to move together when a national or regional need arises, help one another grow, and endeavour to support the emerging expressions of prayer in the nation. Their website says, ‘We’re in this for the Kingdom and for the prayer of Jesus - that they might be one - to be fulfilled in Canada.’ The network meets regularly in video conference calls, praying, discerning and learning from each other.

A tweet by Barack Obama condemning racism in the aftermath of a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, has become the most liked tweet ever, with over three million people endorsing the sentiment so far. The tweet, quoting the late South African president Nelson Mandela, read, ‘No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion.’ The former US president followed the tweet with more from Mandela’s autobiographical Long Walk to Freedom: ‘People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.’ Each has had more than a million likes, and hundreds of thousands of retweets.

Mission Network News reports that Maryam Nagash Zargaran, a Christian convert from Islam, was charged with being a danger to national security and imprisoned four years ago. She was kept in Iran’s Evin Prison, which is known for its harsh conditions. Maryam was in poor health before being imprisoned, but now that she has been released, her physical ailments are even worse. She was reportedly beaten in the prison - once until her leg was broken. She also has suffered mentally. In addition to these hardships she engaged in hunger strikes to protest her unjust imprisonment in conditions lacking suitable food and having poor sanitation.

Poetry is significant in Arabic culture, and Christians in the Arabian Gulf are using it to communicate with Arabs about Jesus. Through a series of short films, local believers from a Muslim background are writing and filming poems to communicate the life-changing power of Jesus in their lives, using a medium that their audience respects and understands. ‘Historically, when Arabs lived among other lands, they didn’t know if someone was a true Arab,’ says Basma, a local believer and poet who is one of the producers of the series. ‘When in doubt, they would often test someone by asking him to recite poetry. If his poetry was good, they knew he was a true Arab’ Many Arab Muslims perceive Christians representing a ‘Western’ culture. By speaking about their newfound faith through poetry, Christian converts are removing the stereotype and showing it is possible to be a Christian without abandoning their cultural heritage.

Some of the most powerful Americans are gathering weekly to learn from God's Word. The Trump Cabinet Bible Study is making history. They've been called the most evangelical cabinet since Jimmy Carter - men and women who don't mince words when declaring where they stand on God and the Bible. Also on 11 July evangelical leaders spontaneously prayed with President Trump in the Oval Office during a day-long ‘listening session’ with the Office of Public Liaison. A former Liberty University vice-president posted pictures of the prayer time on social media saying, ‘It shows a substantive relationship between the evangelical community and this administration,’ See: http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2017/july/faith-leaders-enjoy-open-door-at-white-house.

Palestinian women are scoring a sweet victory against gender discrimination in the West Bank by breaking with tradition and working alongside men at the largest pastry factory in Nablus. They are ignoring prejudices and competing with men for jobs that traditionally belonged to men. However the women only earn half of the amount of the men, even though they have proved to be more competent than the men. Now the factory, supported by women’s rights organisations, plan to provide pastry courses for other women who want to work.

Praise God for the summer Bible camps that provide one of the only opportunities available to plant the seeds of faith in the hearts of millions of children throughout Eurasia who are trapped in poverty, hopelessness, and conflict. Many of these precious children live in areas hostile to Christianity or dominated by paganism and superstition, and we are called to love them as Jesus does. In Bible camps led by Next Generation Christian leaders this summer, an estimated 20,000 children will experience the love of Christian mentors and hear the gospel message in a fun, safe environment - away from the fear and poverty of their daily lives. For many of these children, this is the first and only time they will hear about Jesus.

Most stories coming out of war zones are disheartening, but every now and then there will be a reminder that God is still at work. Recently, Open Doors USA reported on the miraculous conversion of a Muslim extremist in war-torn Syria. He decided to give his life to Christ after witnessing a Christian church service. One of the pastors choosing to stay in the city was hosting a church event, feeding the community and then sharing the Gospel message. As he was preparing his sermon he saw a man with a beard without a moustache, an indication of fundamental, extremist Islam. They were concerned and prayed about it, then they invited him in, keeping an eye on him. They fed him, he heard the sermon, and then gave his life to Christ.

Christian education leaders have new hope after Prime Minister Theresa May promised that she would be an advocate for the establishment of new faith schools. During the last Prime Minister's Question Time before the summer recess, Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh asked if her Government will be honouring its manifesto pledge to remove the faith-based cap for free schools. He said, ‘Catholic dioceses up and down the country are anxious to open free schools, and some have even purchased sites.’ Theresa May responded, ‘The reason we put that in our manifesto, and the reason it was in the schools Green Paper that we published before the election, is that we do believe it is important to enable more faith schools to be set up and more faith schools to expand.’

Christian filmmakers King Street Pictures have begun production of a ground-breaking faith-based fantasy adventure film, based on the 1678 novel ‘The Pilgrim's Progress’ by John Bunyan. Regarded as the first novel written in English, it has been translated into over 200 languages and has never been out of print. It is second only to the Bible itself in global sales, and was begun by Bunyan when he was in prison for conducting religious services without permission. Now, the beloved Christian allegory will be put to film in ‘Heavenquest - A Pilgrim's Progress.’ The film will bring together an international cast of well-known actors from South Korea, Mexico, Australia, and North America. See also