New plans to block online pornography automatically
David Cameron has announced new plans to automatically block access to online pornography after warning that explicit images available on internet websites are ‘corroding childhood.’ In a major speech Mr Cameron said that internet users who wish to access pornography will be required to ‘opt-in’ under the new regime, unless they choose to have the filters removed. Harmful online content will be blocked automatically for all new customers, whereas existing users will be contacted by their internet providers and presented ‘with an unavoidable decision about whether or not to install family friendly content filters’. The UK’s biggest internet service providers have all agreed to offer the filters, which would apply to both home and public Wi-Fi networks ‘wherever children are likely to be present,’ including railway stations and cafés.
Pray: for any measures put in place to protect our children to be robust and effective. (Col.3:23)
Christians prepare for day of prayer before London arms fair
Christian communities throughout the country will take part in a Day of Prayer on Sunday 8 September, two days before the scheduled opening of one of the world's largest arms fairs, Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEi) at London's ExCel Centre. The day will enable Christians to reflect on the death, destruction and waste created by the arms trade and to pray for a less militarised and more peaceful and creative society. On the following evening, a multi-faith vigil near the ExCel Centre will provide a quiet and contemplative interlude before the arms fair opens its doors the next morning. The Day of Prayer is one event in a week of activities organised by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) as part of Stop the Arms Fair Coalition. CAAT calls for an end to arms sales to repressive regimes and an end to government support for the arms industry.
Pray: for the effectiveness of our prayers as we reflect on the increased influence of arms sales across the world. (Col.4:2))
More: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/18663
Sentamu attacks 'scandal' of low wages
The Archbishop of York has challenged politicians to put their money where their mouths are and make the living wage a reality. Dr John Sentamu has just taken up his new appointment as chair of the Living Wage Commission, which will spend the next 12 months looking at how the living wage can be implemented. Writing in The Observer at the weekend, he said it was a ‘national scandal’ that five million people in Britain are not being paid enough to live on. ‘Millions of people across the country will get up today, leave their families and travel to work to carry out jobs that we all depend on,’ he wrote. ‘They will care for people, serve us food, clean the spaces that we all use and share. They will do more than a fair day's work, but they won't get a fair day's pay.’
Pray: that a living wage for a fair day's work will become the norm and not something that leaves people with less than enough. (Dan.9:17)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/sentamu.attacks.scandal.of.low.wages/33295.htm
France: Headscarf war
Ten years ago religious symbols were banned from state schools, this included girls' headscarves. A French protest group called Mamans Toutes Égales has blocked school coaches, boycotted outings and staged street demonstrations in protest of mothers in headscarves being barred from school trips, saying it’s an attack on freedom and democracy in state schools. ‘They seem to want to wipe Muslim women off the landscape,’ said an activist. A Paris suburb suffered two nights of rioting and car-burning at the weekend after a police identity check on a French woman wearing a full-face Muslim veil raised questions about the law banning the niqab from public places. Tension has been rising for months over the broader issue of Muslim headscarves, including the simple hijab. The current Socialist government is considering tightening laws on standard headscarves, despite France having some of the hardest-hitting legislation on veils in Europe. The French Republic is built on a strict separation of church and state.
Pray: against further violent clashes and for positive dialogue that leads to equality for all private beliefs rather than stigmatism any religion. (Ro.12:17-18)
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/22/frances-headscarf-war-attack-on-freedom
France: Headscarf war
Ten years ago religious symbols were banned from state schools, this included girls' headscarves. A French protest group called Mamans Toutes Égales has blocked school coaches, boycotted outings and staged street demonstrations in protest of mothers in headscarves being barred from school trips, saying it’s an attack on freedom and democracy in state schools. ‘They seem to want to wipe Muslim women off the landscape,’ said an activist. A Paris suburb suffered two nights of rioting and car-burning at the weekend after a police identity check on a French woman wearing a full-face Muslim veil raised questions about the law banning the niqab from public places. Tension has been rising for months over the broader issue of Muslim headscarves, including the simple hijab. The current Socialist government is considering tightening laws on standard headscarves, despite France having some of the hardest-hitting legislation on veils in Europe. The French Republic is built on a strict separation of church and state.
Pray: against further violent clashes and for positive dialogue that leads to equality for all private beliefs rather than stigmatism any religion. (Ro.12:17-18)
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/22/frances-headscarf-war-attack-on-freedom
A network of prayer and unity in Brussels
Pray4brussels seeks to mobilise prayer and to coordinate it in and for the city of Brussels. Brussels is becoming more and more a metropolis and an international crossroads: NATO, the EU and many international institutions have their headquarters here. It is a very strategic city, but also has a high degree of spiritual need. International teams come regularly to Brussels to pray, and we welcome them with open arms. However, we also want to create a platform among the many churches in Brussels to pray together and strengthen each other in this task. We want to make a conscious effort to join and work together with all other existing prayer initiatives.
Pray: that the significance of Brussels will be recognised and therefore the importance and strategic need for focused prayer will be taken up. (1Tim.2:1)
More: http://www.pray4belgium.be/index.php?page=pray4brussels-en
NIGERIA: Islamic and secular laws clash in Senate
Many Nigerians are enraged, wondering how a senator notorious for marrying a 14-year-old girl can use Shariah law as an excuse to filibuster a constitutional amendment that has sparked a debate on the age of consent for girls. Since the country's secular and Islamic laws clashed in the upper house of Parliament last week, concerned citizens are using petitions, protests and social networks to demand the Senate revisit the issue. ‘Every Nigerian should bow his or her head in shame because instead of crushing the head of the lustful beast that seeks to fornicate with our children, to steal their virtues and to destroy their future, what the Senate did the other day was to compromise with and cater for the filthy appetites and godless fantasies of a bunch of child molesters and sexual predators,’ Femi Fani-Kayode (a traditional chief and former Cabinet minister) fumed in a letter to The Vanguard newspaper on Monday.
Pray: for the age of consent to remain at 18 in Nigeria and an end to the practice of forcing underage girls into marriage. (Jer.22:16-17)
More: http://www.kwqc.com/story/22902103/islamic-and-secular-laws-clash-in-nigerias-senate
USA: Mainline churches no longer support Israel
At a conference in Washington where thousands of Christians met to Support Israel Texas Senator Ted Cruz said he and other Christians need to do a better job of explaining why support for Israel helps protect the USA and if the U.S. won't stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons Israel will. He added that the U.S. should support Israel unequivocally and Christians should pray that the Palestinians would renounce violence. New York Rabbi Shlomo Riskin referred to Jews and Christians as God's children and grandchildren and thanked the thousands of mostly evangelical Christians attending the summit for demonstrating God's love. Executive director of Christians United for Israel, lamented that America's mainline churches no longer support Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the group on Wednesday by satellite.
Pray: that more people would recognise the danger for Israel as the winds of war blow across the Middle East. (Jer.31:9-11)
More: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/shows/cwn/Religion-Roundup/#1
World: How some financiers view the British Isles
Some excerpts from an American Financial Report - ‘In 2005 we began warning about Britain’s dangerous debt burden. The Financial Times and Daily Mail couldn't refute our research but they weren't ready to accept the enormity of its conclusions.’ And ‘Despite David Cameron’s talk of austerity he’s going to add an estimated £700 billion to the national debt in five years. That’s more than Tony Blair and Gordon Brown added to the national debt in eleven years.’ Looking at UK finances as a whole the Coalition isn’t cutting anything. State spending, national debt and interest payments are all going up. By 2015 UK national debt is estimated to be almost £1.4 trillion.’ Wednesday 24th July’s Guardian reported, ‘the debt to GDP ratio in the Eurozone has reached a new record of 92.2% as high unemployment, tumbling trade flows and a prolonged recession in the single currency bloc take their toll. - The UK's ratio is the seventh largest in the EU, at 88.2%, level-pegging with Spain.’ Source: ukpublicspending.co.uk
Pray: for the UK’s bankers, financiers, commerce and industry leaders humbly to know God’s way forward and wisely and honestly to appraise 2013’s financial challenges. (2Ch.7:14)
Central Africa Republic: Seleka v Christians
CAR is 76% Christian. The Seleka rebels who seized power in an orgy of violence earlier this year are Arabic-speaking Muslims. Their victims are Christian. Despite their poverty the rebels wear brand new military uniforms, drive new pickups and brandish new weapons. Amongst their number are janjaweed from Darfur, Sudan, and jihadis from Mali and Northern Nigeria. The following are extracts from a recent letter Bangui Blog. ‘Since the ‘Seleka’ coalition took power our country has regressed by a century. Everything has been destroyed, devastated and plundered. Total insecurity rules. We don't sleep at night because of sporadic shooting. They are everywhere in the town and drive at great speed with heavy weapons in their vehicles. Their number is estimated to be 20,000 men. Can you imagine? It is total anarchy and hysteria.’ Christian organisations looted by rebels are attempting to provide help, See: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/bible.society.office.ransacked.in.central.african.republic/33282.htm
Pray: for governments to step into this humanitarian emergency and for NGO’s to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Pray that the rights and needs of the poor will be met. (Prov.31:8-9 & Mat.25:45) More:
http://elizabethkendal.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/central-african-republic-car-churches.html