The head of the YMCA’s Be Real campaign, Liam Preston, told Premier: “We are constantly bombarded with images and messages that tell you don’t look good enough.
“When you get this, when you turn over a newspaper, when you get this when you turn on TV or look on social media, they are going to feel pressure, that they aren’t good enough and this will naturally have a knock on effect on their mental health as well.”
Liam told Premier that the Be Real campaign aims to make the general population feel good about the way they look, but also to help young people who are ‘worried that they don’t fit in society.’
The start of Mental Health Awareness Week (13th – 19th May) was also marked on Monday with radio stations across the UK, including Premier, simultaneously broadcasting the Mental Health Minute.
The message included words from Katy Perry, Stephen Fry and Prince William and encouraged people to open up about their own experiences.
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Six More Christians Executed by Terrorists in West African Church Attacks
Another church in Burkina Faso, West Africa was targeted by terrorists this Sunday leaving six dead.
According to Christianity Today, six Christians were killed in a Burkina Faso Catholic church in the town of Dablo after people on motorcycles raided the church, executed five worshippers and the priest and then set the church on fire.
Reportedly, the motorcyclists entered the church during the Sunday morning Mass and opened fire on the churchgoers.
According to the Burkina Information Agency, the attackers “ordered the women and children to clear the scene before executing six men, including the priest.”
According to Reuters, the men also looted several stores in the town, including the pharmacy, before taking off.
This is the second attack in this area since Easter that have had nearly identical M.Os.
As Christian Headlines previously reported, six Christians were executed in a West African Protestant church on April 28, after they refused to convert to Islam.
Several armed motorcyclists opened fire on the Assemblies of God church in a Burkina Faso killing six people, including the church’s long-time pastor Pierre Ouédraogo, after they refuse to deny their Christian faith.
According to the Associated Press, no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in April, though violent Islamist extremism has increasingly become a problem in…
The country will block his entry despite his claim that he’s preaching and ‘soul winning’ in Dublin on 26 May.
It is first time Ireland has used a law introduced 20 years ago which permits banning foreign nationals from entering.
It comes after online petition calling for a ban gained over 14,000 signatures.
Anderson runs Faithful Word Baptist Church in Arizona but has been accused of openly expressing anti-gay and anti-Semitic views.
Spotlight was put on his church in 2009 when he preached a sermon titled ‘Why I hate Barack Obama’. In it he argued the US would “benefit” from Obama’s death.
Anderson has already been banned from the UK.
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About once a month, I am contacted by a person serving on a church staff voicing a similar concern. The pastor has retired, resigned, or been fired. A new pastor will be coming at some point in the future. Life has changed for the staff member with one announcement by the pastor. As an executive pastor recently asked me, “Where do I go from here?”
The question is legitimate. Many church members do not fully grasp how disruptive a pastor’s departure is to the remaining staff. The staff are left behind, even if it’s not in an eschatological sense. Look at some of the possible consequences for church staff.
The staff member and his or her family’s life is disrupted. This consequence is almost universal. It is not just the staff member. The family is uncertain where the next job, town, school, or income will be.
The staff member may be terminated. It is not that common anymore, but some churches “clean house” so the next pastor can choose the staff. Some ask for a written letter of resignation that can be accepted or rejected by the next pastor.
Those closest to the pastor are most vulnerable. It can be rewarding for a staff member to have a close working relationship with the pastor . . . until the pastor leaves. The closest staff members have their ministry identity tied closely to the exiting pastor. And that can be a threat if the next pastor is uncertain where loyalties lie.
The on-boarding of the new pastor is fraught with tension for the staff members. They, in many aspects,…
In other news, the Times Literary Supplement recently profiled “new fiction for children and young adults on an LGBTQ theme.” One tells the story of a boy who decides he is a mermaid. Another tells the “gay love story” of two aardvarks. Another is much more explicit than I am willing to describe.
For years, the left side of the culture wars has been astute in describing the other side as “anti,” knowing the psychological advantage of such branding. We’re “anti-abortion” rather than “pro-life,” “anti-LGBTQ” rather than “pro-biblical sexuality,” “anti-marriage equality” rather than “pro-traditional marriage,” and so on.
Any time I can describe you as what you’re not more than what you are, I gain a significant rhetorical and persuasive advantage.
How should we respond to a culture that seems so antagonistic to biblical values?
“We are not our own. We belong to him.”
One of the most important lessons I have learned in recent years is this: God wants us to love the world without needing the world to love us in return.
Jesus clearly taught us to love even our enemies and “pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). We are to offer the world the kind of love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7).
But “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) means…
The attack on Sunday took place in Dablo, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the capital, Ouagadougou.
Urbain Kabore, a government spokesman for the West African country’s Sahel region, said the gunmen also set fire to a health centre and destroyed all places serving alcohol.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the attacks bore the hallmarks of Islamic extremists who are known to be active in the area. An attack on a Protestant church about two weeks ago left six people dead.
Burkina Faso has been increasingly destabilised by jihadists from across the border in Mali. Attacks have included the kidnapping of foreigners.
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He told an audience in central London the vote to leave the EU had created a “fundamental disagreement” about the Britain people want – between being inward or outward looking.
At the launch of Christian Aid Week at Church House in Westminster on Sunday, Mr Brown said countries have to co-operate to solve the world’s problems such as climate change.
He added: “It raises the question of what it is to be British and this, I think, is at the heart of the debate that’s Brexit.
“It does now raise a fundamental issue and I will be honest, my worry is that the divisions in our country are now so deep and so pervasive that it could take a generation for us to reconcile these differences, bring people together and find a unified vision of our country and a sense of purpose and direction that takes us forward into the modern world.
“It is not just that parliamentary deadlock. There’s a fundamental disagreement about what kind of Britain we are trying to be.”
He said the inward vision misunderstands the “Dunkirk spirit” as meaning the UK is better when it stands “alone, aloof and apart”.
But he said: “That of course is not what Dunkirk was about – Dunkirk was about us being alone out of necessity.
“But there is a second vision of Britain, a Britain that’s open, outward looking, engaged and not disengaged with the rest of the world. A Britain that’s internationalist in its…
Psalm 89:34-35 – “34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. 35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.”
Our faith as believers is a function of a love relationship with God which exists within a context which is called a covenant. A covenant is an agreement that is legally binding. Why do we need agreement? An agreement increases the degree of certainty that the terms of a relationship will be met or that promises will be kept.
In Gen 15, Abraham was in this scenario in which he needed some assurance that what God had promised him in Gen 12 would come to pass. Time was passing and nothing was changing except his body and Sarah’s body. God told him to take some animals to cut them into halves. God had to come down to speak human language to Abraham in order to give him the assurance that what He promised would come to pass. In those days, people would cut blood covenants that way. A covenant cut with blood was literally cut with a person’s life. The blood covenant is the highest form of agreement. The two parties would pass through the middle. Those animals died on their behalf indicating that they had ceased to exist the way they were before. When the two parties passed through the middle, it means the old them is dead and there is a new them now and the two parties were fused together and were now one. So Abraham passed through the middle and in the evening, there came a burning lamp and it passed through the middle and God spoke to Abraham that He was going to give that land to his descendants. Abraham came out of that experience with faith exploding in his heart.
The validity of the covenant depends on the integrity of the parties in the covenant. This covenant cannot fail from God’s end because God will never lie. In Hebrews 6:13-20 describes what happened in Genesis 15. There is absolutely no threat to God’s capacity to fulfil His promises. God cannot lie because God cannot die. If He makes a promise to you, He will hang around you till it is fulfilled.
God will not lie because there is no power that can stop Him. God cannot be stopped by the power witchcraft. We were raised on the culture and diet of fear of witchcraft which has shaped our Christianity. Our concept of God and prayer point. If any entity anywhere can leverage supernatural powers to stop god, that god is not the God of the Bible.
In Numbers 23:19-20, Balaam was hired to curse Israel, he proclaimed that God has blessed and he can’t curse them. God cannot lie because whatever He says is created.
Our greatest aspiration in life should be to cultivate a relationship with God. Jesus said in Matt 22:37-38 that loving God was the first and greatest commandment. Unfortunately we have been indoctrinated into a transactional relationship. We recognize God because of what He can do. But love is a celebration of value. Loving God is celebrating His worth and value. Praise is celebrating what He does, Worship is celebrating who He is, His value. Your greatest ecstasy on this planet will be found in a loving a relationship with Him then ultimately you will be able come to the point where like Jesus in John 10:30, you will say “I and my father are one”
Pastor Samuel Adeyemi is the Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre, a fast growing, life changing church committed to “raising role models” based in Lagos. He is also the President of Success Power International
Prayerful people are blessed people and blessed people are prayerful people.
SCRIPTURE: After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Mathew 6:9-11
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Prayerful people are blessed people and blessed people are prayerful people.
From our anchor Scripture, we see that prayer is a major Scriptural channel of the Blessing of God. Prayerful people (who observe the demands of the Blessing Covenant) are blessed people and blessed people are prayerful people.
Abraham is a Scriptural example of a man whose secret was a life of prayer. In Genesis 18:23-33, Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah. He was at the highest level of prayer which is intercession, and worship. General prayer is praying for yourself but intersession is taking yourself out of the picture and standing in the gap for others.
Abraham interceded on the behalf of others and the outcome of that prayer was that he ended up as one of the most blessed persons that ever lived on the face of the earth.
Beloved, your communion with God determines your coverage in life. What you make happen for others especially at the place of prayer determines what God will make happen for you.
Now, take note of the following key facts about prayer:
Your schedule with God is the determinant of your success in life. You cannot be successful in life when God is not within your schedule.
Your private victory at the place of prayer determines your public success. Those who are failures privately at the place of prayer can never be successful publicly.
Beloved, make up your mind to develop a deep intimacy with God at the place of prayer and the Word. Resist the lifestyle of prayerlessness.
REMEMBER THIS: Prayerful people are blessed people and blessed people are prayerful people.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Pray without ceasing
Let intercession be a major agenda of your prayer life.
PRAYER: O Lord, I ask that You guide my prayer life. Help me not to be selfish Lord; let me intercede for others as I would for myself, Lord in Jesus’ Name.
FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: THE BLESSING OF PRAYER
QUOTE: Do not just do the convenient; do the expedient, even when it is not convenient. Culled from PRINCIPLE AND POWER OF PRAYER by Dr Paul Enenche
DAILY READING: 1 Samuel 14:1 to 52, John 7: 31 to 53, Psalm 109:1 to 31, Proverbs 15:5 to 7
AMAZING FACT: Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875) was an American theologian, educator and revivalist; he was a famous evangelist who brought frontiers religion to the urbanised East. He carried an unusual presence of God such that all the workers in a company broke down in tears and surrendered their lives to Christ by merely looking at him without him uttering a word.
DON’T FORGET TO ATTEND: The Healing and Deliverance Service tomorrow by 9:00am. Invite someone. God bless you as you do so.
PROPHETIC DECLARATION/WORD: Receive the grace for intercessory praying today; and your life shall reflect both the Presence and Blessing of God in Jesus’ Name.
Today’s devotional was written by Pastor Paul Enenche of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC), headquartered at Abuja, Nigeria, with Pastor Paul and Becky Enenche, as the Senior Pastors. It is a power-packed arena where God’s Presence, Principles and Power are at work for the salvation, healing and restoration of human destinies and dignities
Flatimes Notice Board: Until you are born again, God ever abiding presence will never be with you. You must be born again to enjoy continuous victory. Please say the displayed prayer below in faith:
Lord Jesus, come into my life. I accept You as my Lord and Personal Saviour. I believe in my heart You died and rose from the dead to save me. Thank You Lord for saving me, in Jesus name Amen.
If you just prayed the prayer of salvation online please send your testimonies and prayer request to [email protected], 07026385437 OR 08141320204.
Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. — John 13:13
He (the Spirit) will never lead you contrary to the Word of God. I hear people saying, “The Lord led me to do this. … The Lord told me thus and so …” I am always a little suspicious unless what the Lord has said is in keeping with His Word. God never directs us to do anything contrary to His Word. The prophet Samuel once said, “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” The Scripture teaches, “He that willeth to do His will shall know the doctrine.” When you find yourself up a blind alley, not knowing which way to turn, if you are willing to do His will, He will reveal Himself. He conceals His will only from those who, before they consent to do His bidding, seek to know what He is going to say. Be an obedient Christian. Remember that “where God guides, He provides. Where He leads, He supplies all needs!”
Prayer for the day: Let me be acutely attuned to Your Word, so that each decision I have to make will be in Your will, almighty God
Written by Billy Graham, Founder of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association(BGEA). BGEA exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by every effective means and to equip the church and others to do the same.
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