Prime Minister David Cameron’s claim that England is a Christian country created much controversy. However, a survey of 2,000 Britons for The Telegraph newspaper found that most citizens do identify as Christians.
The findings of the survey include the following: 56 percent of respondents agreed with Cameron’s statement (60 percent of men and 53 percent of women). 73 percent of citizens over the age of 65 sided with Cameron. However, only 14 percent answered that they practice Christianity; 38 percent called themselves “non-practising” Christians while 41 percent were not religious at all.
Baroness Warsi, who serves as the Minister for Faith, said: “Britain is a Christian country.” She then went on to state that current immigration is actually increasing the number of Christians in
the country. ‘You can be Christian of all sorts of background and heritage. The diversity of Britain is not taking away from Christianity. It has actually led to a revival of Christianity,” she explained.
Source: The Telegraph; The Christian Post
BIBLE STUDY: Psalm 80:17-19
PRAISE: God for our Christian heritage and culture. Pray the Church will strengthen through revival.
Nine-year-old Willie Myrick was kidnapped from his Atlanta driveway earlier in the month by an unknown man. The kidnapper then dropped him off unharmed after driving around for hours. Myrick says he continued to sing “Every Praise” by Hezekiah Walker until the kidnapper grew tired of cursing and telling him to shut up.
The hymn repeats the verse and chorus three times: “Every praise is to our God. Every word of worship with one accord Every praise every praise is to our God. Sing hallelujah to our God Glory hallelujah is due our God Every praise every praise is to our God. God my Saviour God my Healer God my Deliverer Yes He is, yes He is.”
Inspired by the story, Walker, a Grammy Award-winning singer, visited Myrick at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church last week. In an interview with local media, the singer said he was emotional after hearing the story. “You never know who you’re going to touch,” Walker said. Upon hearing the story, “I just wanted to hug him and tell him I love him.”
Source: Charisma News
BIBLE STUDY: Psalm 63:7-10
PRAISE: God for His protection for this little one, and for Willie’s heart to praise God amid the ordeal. Pray that this story may lead many to praise God.
A Christian woman in Sweden has been unable to find work as a midwife since a hospital where she interned last year dismissed her for refusing to help perform abortions. Hospital officials in the southern town of Eksjö had promised to extend Ellinor Grimmark’s contract until she refused to participate in abortions last summer, she said. Another hospital agreed to hire Grimmark but then reneged due to her convictions and the controversy growing over them, and no other hospital would hire her in spite of a shortage of midwives in Sweden. Grimmark, a 37-year-old wife and mother who has since found work as a nurse, has filed a complaint with Sweden’s Discrimination Ombudsman, in a case that it is hoped will help establish protections for freedom of conscience in Sweden.
Source: Prayer Alert
BIBLE STUDY: 1 Corinthians 2:7-9
PRAY: That God will honour this sister and all those who uphold the sanctity of unborn life.
A thousand South Korean Christians will be visiting the UK this September as part of a country-wide prayer mission. The National Day of Prayer and Worship (NDOPW) is partnering with the Korean Word Prayer School in Seoul to bring hundreds of believers to Britain, following a smaller mission last year which saw around 300 Koreans make the trip. They are hoping to visit around 40 church communities around the UK, sharing in their worship, joining in with missional activities, and issuing a prophetic call for the Church to remain strong, and Britain to remain faithful to its Christian heritage. Two large-scale prayer gatherings will also be held in Central London to conclude the visit.
Christianity is buoyant in South Korea, with some estimates suggesting that up to 25 per cent of the population identifies with the faith. Dr Jonathan Oloyede, Convenor of NDOPW, has expressed his delight at the forthcoming visit, and says it is a “privilege” to support the Korean Word Prayer School’s ministry. “I believe there is a call on the church in the British Isles to warmly respond in welcome to the obedient call of the Christians of South Korean to come here as they thank these Isles for sharing the Gospel in times past,” he said.
“I would urge every Christian community, network or church to prayerfully consider how they might be able to participate in this initiative,” he continued; “I believe we need to make this a united… initiative so that the South Korean Christians see the best of the church in these Isles.” Dr Oloyede is keen to foster unity between the two nations, and is passionate about helping people to capture the power of prayer. He believes this visit will propel the UK into a new season of “awakening”.
Source: National Day of Prayer and Worship (NDOPW)
BIBLE STUDY: 3 John 1:2-4
PRAISE: God for the visit of these vibrant brothers and sisters. Pray they may inspire revival in Britain.
We’re hearing of whole families coming to Christ, in Saudi Arabia – a nation closed to the Gospel. One Saudi woman asked a sister to get her an Arabic Bible on a trip to London. Upon receiving and reading Scripture, she became a believer. Her husband did not forbid her but asked her to be private about her faith. She had thus far been barren – a huge shame in that culture – but immediately after she trusted in Christ she became pregnant and bore twin sons – a double blessing that was understood by her family and community as clear evidence that God had blessed her step of faith in Jesus.
An older man had a vision – He saw a light and angels that proclaimed, “Behold, the King is with you.” He knew this King was Jesus – Saudis have a sense of who Christ is. He began to proclaim Christ even though he knew very little.
Another man was surfing the Internet when the Holy Spirit spoke clearly to him to read the Injil (New Testament). He downloaded it and began to read; as he read through the Gospels the darkness lifted. Later, he began to follow video Bible teaching online and came to know Christ. Since then, he has been telling friends and family. His family put his bags on the street and locked the door, but a few days later relented. One daughter has since been reading the Gospels.
Source: OM International
BIBLE STUDY: John 12:23-25
PRAISE: God that He is working to bring these people to His Son. Pray the shackles will be broken.
“Jesus has always fascinated me,” singer and songwriter Ehud Banai said in an interview with Israel’s biggest newspaper Yediot Ahronot. Under the headline, “The Boy is 60,” Banai discussed the milestones in his life and in Israeli music. The headline was a play on words in one of his songs, “The Boy Is 30”, a ballad about leaving childhood behind.
In the interview, the Orthodox Jew explains how he became a Jesus fan. “All of us would like to be successful abroad, wouldn’t we? And who else would have achieved this in a better way than Jesus? Internationally, He is the most successful Israeli,” said Banai. “Jesus was a revolutionary who never crossed Israel’s borders to go abroad and who spoke the ‘language of the Hebrew Man’”
Banai continues, “He (Jesus) carried out his ministry for three years and His message reached Rome, London, America and Africa. Everywhere I go and I see the churches, I tell myself: Whoever started this (religion) has to be one of us! I often wonder why Jesus is not regarded as one of Israel’s prophets or wise men. Everything started with a young man from Galilee who stood on a hill and preached.”
Source: Israel Today
BIBLE STUDY: John 12:32
PRAISE: God that this Israeli is fascinated with Jesus. Pray that he, and many other Israelis, will look to the most famous of all Jews and find the Messiah.
Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) is an Emirate in the northern tip of the UAE, located only 60 miles from Iran – across the Gulf of Oman. At the present time there are only seven evangelical buildings on the whole of the Arabian Peninsula. Only last year the chief religious leader in Saudi Arabia said that there should be no Christian churches on the peninsula and, since there is currently no English-speaking congregation in RAK, many Christians who live there travel to Dubai – 65 miles away – to attend church. Many Christians in RAK have simply given up gathering together at all.
But God has opened a door; in 2012 Josh Manley – a graduate of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary – planted RAK Church in Ras Al Khaimah, meeting in the Al Hamra Convention Centre. Nearly 100 attended the first service. What makes this work different is that the ruler of RAK, Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, bravely granted land for an evangelical church building in the middle of this Muslim region.
The mission of RAK Evangelical Church seeks to be a display of God’s glory among the northern emirates. The vision includes the building of both a church and a regional ministry training centre to be a hub for evangelical ministry throughout the region.
Source: Christian Press; RAK Church
BIBLE STUDY: Isaiah 45:1-3
PRAISE: God for this open door of ministry. Pray blessing on the Emir and that many may know Jesus.
Bible translators Wycliffe Associates are focusing on South Sudan’s unreached people groups, many of whom are living in crowded, unsanitary refugee camps. The conflict in South Sudan means those who sought safe refuge before are in danger again. With the country in turmoil, men, women, and children are caught in the crossfire between government and rebel fighters, with violence rampant.
President/CEO of Wycliffe Associates Bruce Smith says, “But in the midst of the turmoil, there is a ray of hope. This ongoing conflict has created a fertile ground for seeds of faith in the most unlikely soil – that of refugee camps. More than ever, these refugees are open and hungry for hope and truth. They must have God’s Word in their heart language to cling to in the midst of such persecution and tragedy.”
An estimated one million South Sudanese speak some 54 different languages. Smith sees this as “an incredible, unprecedented, God-given opportunity to reach a generation of lost people in South Sudan.”
Source: The 10/40 Window Reporter
BIBLE STUDY: Psalm 119:33-40
PRAISE: God for the vision and work of Wycliffe Bible Translators, Pray for speedy provision of Bible portions in the languages of these refugees.
Parts of Germany are among the most godless areas in the world. Belief in God in the old communist east is only 13%. But, at the House of God’s Help (Church) in Berlin, Persian converts to Christianity have doubled the size of the church Deaconess Rosemarie Götz said. “Suddenly new people started coming every week and asked to be baptised.”
Germany has experienced a surge in Islam this year. Muslims conducted a nationwide campaign to give away Korans. But the Iranian immigrants have already known the darkness and oppression of Islam in their native land, and they are hungry for the freedom and joy of Christ.
Götz said, “They’re ahead of us in a sense because they have already been persecuted for Christ. It’s not known how many Persian immigrants have joined churches in Germany, but it has become a nationwide phenomenon, and the baptisms are said to number in the thousands. At the House of God’s Help, it has reinvigorated the congregation. “These young, energetic, diligent Iranian Christians have brought a little revival from Iran to our congregation,” Götz said.
Source: CBN News
BIBLE STUDY: Acts 18:7-11
PRAISE: God that He is working His purposes out. Pray that these people will have a firm faith in Jesus.
