35 Million Christian Youths Will Leave Christianity by 2050, New Report Predicts

35 Million Christian Youths Will Leave Christianity by 2050, New Report Predicts



A new report shows that some 35 million youths raised in Christian families will leave Christianity by the year 2050.


According to the Christian Post, Greg Stier – founder of the youth ministry Dare 2 Share – says the report, called “The Great Opportunity,” is a chance for Christians to “flip the switch.”


“How about not just slowing down the bleeding, what if there was a revival that flipped those stats?” he said. “That is what we are praying for. How do we flip the switch?”


He says to do so churches may need to rethink youth ministry.


“Youth ministry needs to be re-engineered to be Gospel-advancing and disciple-multiplying,” he said. “It is not about meetings but about the mission. Young people are longing for a cause that matters. So they need to be equipped and youth leaders need to be equipped to equip them.”


“There is nothing wrong with games and all that stuff, but they (youth groups) need to take it serious about the mission that God has put before us. I think we have to have a higher standard for youth ministry than fun, games, pizza and a 10-minute lesson.”


Dare 2 Share will host its third annual Dare 2 Share Live revival event on Oct. 12. The simulcast will be broadcast in more than 100 cities worldwide.


“Each of the cities’ youth groups come together and they’re equipped to share the Gospel,” Stier…

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‘the Prime Minister should resign’

 

CB: Is this ruling what you expected?

RM: Well, it’s quite astounding – a unanimous decision by 11 of the top judges in the land. Certainly, when the Prime Minister has tried to run away from accountability and scrutiny, since he’s been elected and indeed has broken the law, it proves that the law will eventually catch up with anyone who dares to do that. It’s absolutely right that parliament is recalled to address this, not only constitutional crisis but, crisis over Brexit and the future of our country.

CB: What does this mean for you at the party conference?

RM: Well, I’m making arrangements at this very moment to go back to Parliament. There’s been an incredible atmosphere at conference with policy being announced – we’re proving ourselves to be ready for government. We believe that the Prime Minister should resign. His position is untenable, he’s cheated the Queen. He’s tried to silence MPs and we’ve seen this pattern in the Prime Minister. He’s misled the country and I think it’s really important now that we all get down to Westminster and do our job in calling the government to account, to scrutinise every word that he utters and to ensure that we have our democracy upheld.

CB: What would you like to see happen tomorrow when MPs go back?

RM: I think the future of who leads our country is seriously under question now. But not only that, we have to have a…

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Christian Recording Artist Lecrae Gets Baptized in the Jordan River

Christian Recording Artist Lecrae Gets Baptized in the Jordan River



Popular Christian recording artist Lecrae has shared footage of himself being baptized in the Jordan River.


“Today we got baptized in the Jordan River. The one John baptized Jesus in… Getting baptized in it was an incredible experience for me,” he wrote on Instagram alongside a powerful video of the momentous occasion. “I love the Jordan because of all the symbolism it holds,” he added. “It was the border of the promised land. It was the picture of safety and security. Getting baptized in it was an incredible experience for me.”


The rapper went to eloquently explain the true meaning of baptism as a symbol of new creation and spiritual cleansing. Indeed, those who choose to get baptized are submerged underwater and resurface as having been cleansed by the blood of Christ. As the Apostle Peter wrote, “this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” — 1 Peter 3:21.


Lecrae noted that the “Jewish ritual immersion in water is called a mikvah, which is a Hebrew word meaning gathering of waters.”


“Immersion in a mikvah also represents death and resurrection. When you come back out of the water, you come back to life as a new creation,” he explained.


Not stopping there, Lecrae continued to share a…

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‘the country doesn’t need any more disruption’

MJ: Tell us how you’re feeling then after hearing that verdict from the Supreme Court – you might be back in London soon.

DT: That’s true and I sincerely hope that it won’t disrupt the Conservative Party conference because I know that earlier in the year the leader of the House had actually approached the different political parties to see if they would be prepared to move their conferences this year and the answer was no. So, I hope that we get to run our conference and hear what the Prime Minister wants to do going forward. At the end of the day, the court is the court and we have to respect and honour their decision, and they found the Prime Minister was unlawful in his decision.

MJ: How do you think Boris Johnson will react to this verdict?

DT: Boris Johnson is a very intelligent man who understands Great Britain, believes in Great Britain and believes in our court system. I don’t think this will present him a particular challenge, I think we will return and get on with the job of trying to make a good date of Brexit. I think what he was attempting to do – and I have enormous sympathy for him – is that while there is important work to do, much of our time in Parliament for a long time now has been unnecessarily, in my view, disrupted by people who actually just want to frustrate the process of Brexit, maybe even stop it alltogether. I can see why he wanted us out of the way so they could actually get on with the work. Government has done enormous…

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Christian human rights campaigners temporarily move to Holy Land to be ‘eyes and ears of international community’

Under the WCC’s Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme, Christians live among communities in the disputed West Bank – the area occupied by Israel since the Six Day War in 1967. Israeli settlements on the West Bank are seen as illegal under international law, but Israel disputes that.

One of the volunteers, Sarah Donald, told Premier: “We are here by invitation of the churches to witness the violation of international human rights and law.”

 

Examples of the work include accompanying Palestinian shepherds as they move sheep onto land adjoining Israeli settlements, travelling to school with children in troubled areas and trying to calm other tense situations between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers or settlers. 

Another volunteer, Jane Foster, said: “By being there and being recognisably neutral but in support of international law and human rights, it makes the Israeli settlers and others think twice about behaving badly.”

Albin Hillert/World Council of Churches

EAs monitor and document the situation at many checkpoints in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and offer basic support if anyone is denied passage

 

Critics of the project say it sides with Palestinians and is unduly critical of the Israeli government. But the ecumenical accompaniers reject the criticism. 

The WCC’s guidelines insist on neutrality between the different…

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Bachelorette party turns into mission trip: How social media is changing the way we experience reality

Six months ago, Rikki Kahley of Macon, Georgia, planned a bachelorette party for herself and her friends, booking a September 12 trip to the Bahamas. After Hurricane Dorian devastated the islands, they chose to make their party a mission trip.

They launched a social media campaign, asking people to donate supplies the group could take with them. They hoped to bring ten extra suitcases filled with donations but boarded their flight with thirty-seven. Delta Airlines waived the fees. 

In a day before social media, such an initiative would have been much harder to launch. As it was, the girls posted their trip on their Facebook pages, and the rest is history. 

Social media makes possible much good, but as we’ll see today, it also contributes to the moral confusion of our day. 

Musician declares he is a “sapiosexual” 

Mark Ronson won the Oscar for Best Original Song this year. He is known for collaborations with artists from Amy Winehouse and Adele to Miley Cyrus. 

Now he is making headlines by declaring that he is a “sapiosexual.” Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines the term as “sexually attracted to highly intelligent people” no matter their gender identity or appearance. 

Sexuality is more complex, confusing, and divisive than ever before in history. 

One website lists ten different sexual orientations in its glossary. A resource developed by the BBC tells young school kids that there are over one hundred recognizable gender identities. Tumblr has a list of 112 different genders. 

A seminary chapel service prays to plants 

Such confusion and dissension over sexuality reflect the broader conflicts in our culture over the nature and significance of truth. 

You may have heard about Union Theological Seminary’s recent chapel service in which students were led to confess “the harm we’ve done to plants” directly to the plants. The seminary defended their worship service as a “beautiful…

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Event to recreate 800-year-old peace talks between saint and sultan

During a pause in the battles of the Fifth Crusade in the 13th Century, Francis of Assisi crossed over from the Christian camp to the Muslim armies in an attempt to end the fighting by preaching to the Muslim leader, Sultan Malik al-Kamil.

Despite the assumption that he would be killed, the outcome was a peaceful conversation between the two leaders.

 

Just before he left the sultan’s camp, Francis of Assisi asked that they sit down together for a meal, believing that this would deepen the fellowship between them.

To commemorate this, the Third Order Anglican Franciscans is taking a meal into the Dar ul-Isra Mosque in Cardiff, and serving it to a group of Muslims and Christians, including Rt Rev June Osborne, Bishop of Llandaff.

The meal will be accompanied by a dramatic presentation of the encounter, based on a number of contemporary accounts from the 13th Century.

The Church in Wales said the hopes are the event will advance the cause of Muslim/Christian relations in Wales.

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Donald Trump announces $25m fund to protect religious freedom

He made the commitment at the Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom event at the UN General Assembly on Monday.

The purpose of the meeting was to urge world leaders to act and bring an end to religious persecution and stop crimes against people of faith.

 

Mr Trump said: “Each of us has the right to follow the dictates of our conscience and the demands of our religious conviction.”

On top of announcing the new $25 million fund, the president outlined efforts by his administration to protect victims of all faiths from religious violence.

They include hosting a summit on combating anti-Semitism in July, providing humanitarian aid to help Christians and Yazidis who suffered at the hands of ISIS and helping Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing persecution.

 

He highlighted that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world and his administration is “deeply concerned” for the more than 1 million Uighurs, a minority Turkic ethnic group, interned in Chinese internment camps.

Mr Trump added: “The United States in funded on the principle that our rights do not come from government, they come from God.

“Our founders understood that no right is more fundamental to…

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Catholic priest generated money for IRA

Patrick Ryan helped secure munitions from Libya which were intercepted by the Irish navy off the coast of Ireland, according to BBC Northern Ireland’s Spotlight programme.

Ryan travelled with former IRA commander Joe Cahill to Tripoli. A five tonne shipment of weapons on board the Claudia was to follow.

 

He said: “I would have liked to have been much more effective than I was but we did not do too badly.”

The former East Africa missionary from the Republic of Ireland initially worked as a parish priest and contributed money to the republican cause while doing so.

He was approached by IRA leaders who asked him to work for them permanently. He was no longer a parish priest while associated with the Provisionals.

He told Spotlight: “They asked me to travel the world and try to get info.”

In 1973 he was sent to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s Tripoli along with IRA chief of staff Cahill.

Ryan spent the next 10 years visiting Libya and Europe, using a camper van to travel all over Europe raising money, the Spotlight programme said.

He deposited cash in a Swiss bank account for use by the IRA.

He said: “We were doing considerable business with the bank… exchanging unusual sums of money.”

He also discovered timers which made it easier for IRA men to arm their bombs without being killed themselves, Spotlight said.

Those became a component in the republican organisation’s bomb-making…

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Call to protect church’s ‘irreplaceable’ historic wall paintings from damp and decay

The artworks, some of which are older than those in the Sistine Chapel, are also often under threat because of the complexity of preserving them in the ancient, crumbling buildings they decorate.

English Heritage has launched an appeal to support the conservation of the artistic treasures in its care to stop them disappearing from view altogether.

 

The heritage charity cares for 77 wall paintings across the country, from the painted walls at Lullingstone Roman Villa in Kent to the Victorian gothic decoration at St Mary’s Church, Studley Royal in North Yorkshire.

Many decorate the walls of medieval abbeys, priories and churches, with religious scenes including the internationally-important art at St Mary’s Church, Kempley in Gloucestershire, English Heritage said.

But they are under threat of deterioration and decay for a number of reasons, not least the weather.

Unlike well-preserved paintings in France and Italy, which benefit from a warmer climate, the damp, wet conditions often found in England can cause damage to the fragile artworks.

Danny Lawson/PA Wire

English Heritage collections conservator (North) Caroline Rawson, conducts a condition audit of wall paintings at St Mary’s Church in North Yorkshire, as English Heritage launches an appeal to support the conservation of the artistic treasures in its care to stop them disappearing…

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