Displaying items by tag: Religion

As many Christians water down teaching to accommodate modern Western culture, Tishrei (new beginnings) will encourage Christians to dig deeper into the unchanging truths of God’s Word. The non-residential Tishrei Bible School will bring the Bible back to the centre of family life, which has suffered a succession of laws undermining the Christian building blocks of the UK (same sex marriage, facilitating divorce, promoting abortion and forcing up childcare costs through excessive regulation). Tishrei will re-establish Hebraic teaching, focusing on the whole of life by learning to ‘walk with God’ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Built on the same foundation as the Bible school and at the same premises is the Cedars School of Biblical Family Life, helping parents to strengthen their families on biblical foundations and enrich their children’s education

The Sunni Zaza are nomadic shepherds and farmers who practise mysticism. Years of repression leaves them crying out to God for help. Their Sunni Muslim mystical faith is rooted in shamanism and Zoroastrianism – spirituality not easily broken. Yet God is overcoming spiritual obstacles and a few dozen believers have emerged among Zaza speakers. Zaza has almost no literary tradition except a specimen of a poem praising Muhammad. Recently two magazines written in Zaza have emerged. See This little but growing church worships in Turkish - as they wait for biblical resources in their own dialects. The spoken word is more natural to Zazas than the written word, pray for workers to know how to develop fruitful oral resources.

Christian and other minority faith group persecution in Manipur worsens. By 26th May 70+ Christians were killed, 10,000 forced from homes, 300+ churches burned or demolished, and 1,000 Christian homes destroyed as Hindus sought Christians to kill or convert to Hinduism. The Supreme Court ordered the military to maintain peace in the region, but the Hindu nationalist government has done nothing to stop the violence. Open Doors said, ‘If the situation continues civil war is inevitable, with more lives lost, properties destroyed and further open persecution of religious minorities.’ Those who have fled don't have food or shelter and face threats of physical violence. Justin Welby is distressed to hear about these attacks on indigenous tribal Christians, saying, ‘Kailean Khongsai is training for Church ordination and is from Manipur. I join him in praying that regional authorities would protect all minority groups, including Christians and their places of worship, and that justice and peace would prevail.’ See

Libya’s religion is Islam with Sharia law, but the constitution guarantees non-Muslims freedom to practise their religion. Yet, six Libyan Christians, arrested separately, are facing a potential death sentence as apostates for converting from Islam. They are also accused of proselytising others and are charged under Article 207 of the penal code, stipulating the death penalty for promoting views that ‘alter fundamental constitutional principles or structures of the social order’ or overthrow the state. Possessing books, leaflets, drawings, slogans, or anything supporting such a cause is punishable by life imprisonment. Libya’s Internal Security Agency said it issued the arrests to ‘stop an organised gang action aiming to solicit and make people leave Islam’. One of the six Christians is a 22-year-old woman who released a video explaining her conversion to Christianity at the age of 15.

Hatun Tash, a Christian street evangelist who regularly preaches at Hyde Park's Speakers’ Corner, has raised concerns about freedom of speech in the UK after Edward Little, 21, pleaded guilty on 19 May to attempting to kill her. In September, police arrested him when they found him in possession of thousands of pounds in cash, intending to purchase a gun to murder Tash and her camera crew. He was apprehended before he could carry out his plan. In response to his admission of guilt, Tash said, ‘l am glad that the police were able to act and stop Mr Little before he harmed me and people around me. This should concern everyone in the UK. It shows that the teaching of Islam is not compatible with British values if it inspires men to attempt to murder Christian evangelists.’

Under a new Utah law that gives parents the right to challenge or report materials considered indecent, one parent wants the Bible removed from Davis School District, for its ‘pornographic’ content. If a book includes descriptions of sexual acts it must be immediately removed from school shelves. The parent sent an eight-page document to the school board stating, ‘Get this PORN out of our schools’, and quoted offensive Bible passages describing rape, incest, sex, and nudity. The district has removed 33 books from schools due to previous requests. Parents can also ask their child’s school to restrict a student from checking out certain titles. This parent wants the Bible completely removed because the Holy Book has ‘no serious value for minors’. The First Liberty Institute referred the review committee to surveys. One statistic established that 98% of English teachers said students who do not know the Bible are at a disadvantage when studying literature.

Marriages between men and women were ‘the only possible basis for a safe and successful society’, said Christian MP Danny Kruger at the National Conservatism Conference in Westminster. In his speech, he emphasised the Christian notion of marriage as ‘a public act that wider society should recognise and reward’. But Mr Sunak's spokesman said although some ministers chose to speak at the event, that did not mean the Government endorsed its agenda. The remarks causing concern to Downing Street saw Mr Kruger making a bold defence of a traditional theological understanding of matrimony: ‘The normative family - held together by marriage, by mother and father sticking together for the sake of the children and the sake of their own parents and for the sake of themselves - this is the only possible basis for a safe and successful society.’

There has been an epidemic of violence toward Christians in Uttar Pradesh. In one attack, radical Hindu nationalists destroyed the church, burned everything especially the Bibles and injured the congregation. They demanded the Christians leave the area, warning the police would not protect them. Sure enough, the police stood back at first, then arrested them, but released them to go to another village and attack Christians. Traumatised and hungry, the Christians returned to repair the damaged village. ICC heard about the attacks and came to aid the small Christian community of 30 with food packages, rent for their stay, medical attention where needed and building materials to repair the church. ‘When we saw things that were brought to us like groceries and the items for the church repair, I felt scriptures being fulfilled in our lives. When one part of the body suffers, the other part shares and helps’, said one member of the congregation.

Rev Franklin Graham told Liberty University graduates that America is dominated by a ‘culture of confusion and lies, coming from Hell’. He was the keynote speaker for their graduation ceremony. He said, ‘ I pray this class will stand for truth, as America changes so fast. I think the heart of God is grieved as He looks at our world today. I love our country, but it's in a downward spiral morally, spiritually, economically, and politically. The nation is in a freefall because we turned our back on God and His truth.’ He urged the graduates to be a beacon of light, standing on the Word of God while living in a culture of confusion and lies. Graham declared, ‘The Bible doesn’t contain truth, it is the truth, and every word of God is true. Truth is not what you say it is, but what God says it is.’

Texas has passed a bill that would allow public schools to hire chaplains in addition to school counsellors. A version of the bill sailed through the state Senate last month, and the House passed an amended version on 9 May in a vote to give school districts all the help they can muster to combat mental health problems and other crises. The Democrats' amendments to require parental consent was rejected, as was barring schools from using public funds for religious services. The School Chaplain Association believes the bill will increase school safety without intruding on students' religious beliefs. Schools will provide a representative of every denomination. To be eligible for the programme, chaplains must be endorsed by an organisation recognised by the US authorities.