Father Martin Magill, the Parish Priest at St John’s Parish, Belfast, has spoken about the life of Lyra McKee at her funeral.
Ms McKee, an award-winning young journalist, was killed by indiscriminate fire as she observed clashes between police and New IRA dissidents on the Creggan estate in Londonderry on April 18.
The Priest said: “For those of us who follow Jesus, we believe that the shedding of his innocent blood on the cross was enough – in the words of the hymn: ‘the cross has said it all’.
“We don’t need any more innocent blood to be shed. The irony could not be more poignant when we consider the signing of the Good Friday agreement which was about ensuring there would be no more deaths like Lyra’s.”
The service of thanksgiving was held in the Church of Ireland’s St Anne’s Cathedral, a short distance from her north Belfast home.
He referenced the Beatitudes, saying: “The beatitude ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God’ is very timely. Many of us will be praying that Lyra’s death in its own way will not have been in vain and will contribute in some way to building peace here.
“Since Thursday night we have seen the coming together of many people in various places and the unifying of the community against violence. I commend our political leaders for standing together in Creggan on Good Friday.
In 1983, nearly half of sixteen-year-olds had a driver’s license; in 2017, only a quarter did.
What explains this phenomenon?
Teenagers can call for an Uber or Lyft to shuttle them around. Social media and video chat allow them to spend time with friends without actually leaving the house. Then, when they reach their twenties, many are moving to large cities with mass transit, where owning a car is neither essential nor practical.
In addition, American automakers are jettisoning many of their lower-priced compact and subcompact cars in favor of sport-utility vehicles and trucks with much bigger profit margins. And schools are either not offering drivers’ education or charging as much as a thousand dollars per course.
“A lot of my friends tease me.” she told the May issue of Vanity Fair, in which she features on the cover.
The Moulin Rouge actor is married to Keith Urban, a singer and music producer who does world tours with his country music and the couple have two children – Faith, 8, and Sunday, 10, who attend church with their parents.
Nicole Kidman told the magazine: “That’s how we are raising our children. Keith has his own beliefs but he comes, too.
“I had a very Catholic grandmother, and I was raised praying, so that had massive impact. I wouldn’t say it’s absolutism, there’s constant questioning – I’m a willful, feisty girl.
“For me it’s very important that I don’t have judgment. My dad would always say, ‘Tolerance is the most important thing.’”
Kidman has previously spoken about how she considered being a nun when she was younger and received critcism for acting in The Golden Compass because of it’s anti-Catholic themes.
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Christian campaigners urged the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to “confirm that it is willing to engage players who agree with this view about marriage” following disciplinary action against Billy Vunipola.
Mr Vunipola was sanctioned earlier this month after he defended comments made by fellow Christian rugby star Israel Folau, who said “hell awaits” homosexuals unless they repents.
The Saracens player wrote about Folau: “What he’s saying isn’t that he doesn’t like or love those people. He’s saying how we live our lives needs to be closer to how God intended them to be.
“Man was made for woman to pro create. That was the goal, no?”
In a letter to the RFU, director of the Christian Institute, Colin Hart said the belief that sex is only for heterosexual marriage was “worthy of respect in a democratic society”.
Vunipola “holds to the Easter message of hope that sins can be forgiven through trusting in Christ’s death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead”.https://t.co/BbRDhLqzZu
— The Christian Institute (@christianorguk) April 23, 2019
The note, addressed to head of discipline at the RFU, said: “Vunipola believes himself to have fallen short of God’s standards.
“He holds to mainstream Christian teaching that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23).
“He holds to the Easter message of hope that sins can be forgiven through trusting in…
Islamic State has claimed responsibility and released images that purported to show the seven bombers who blew themselves up at three churches and three hotels on Sunday.
It was the worst violence the South Asian island nation had seen since its civil war ended a decade ago.
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said she had not received any official advice from Sri Lanka or seen any intelligence to corroborate the claims.
Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said investigators were still working to determine the extent of the bombers’ foreign links.
Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said on Wednesday that 18 suspects were arrested overnight, raising the total detained to 58.
The prime minister had warned on Tuesday that several suspects armed with explosives were still at large.
IS has lost all the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria and has made a series of unsupported claims of responsibility around the world.
Sri Lankan authorities have blamed a local extremist group, National Towheed Jamaar (NTJ), whose leader, alternately known as Mohammed Zahran or Zahran Hashmi, became known to Muslim…
The Church of England said that the celebration of the nation’s patron saint would instead be marked on 29th April this year, rather than the usual 23rd, due to the timing of Easter.
According to the Church’s rules: “When St George’s Day or St Mark’s Day falls between Palm Sunday and the Second Sunday of Easter inclusive, it is transferred to the Monday after the Second Sunday of Easter.
“If both fall in this period, St George’s Day is transferred to the Monday and St Mark’s Day to the Tuesday.”
However, that appeared to be news to York Minster, which tweeted: “The flag of #StGeorge is lofted high up in the Stoneyard just across the way from York Minster this #StGeorgesDay.”
Questioned about whether its staff knew the date had been moved, the account replied: “We do but we love him so much we thought we’d celebrate him twice this year.”
Topic: God Will Brighten Your Day [Joyce Meyer Devotional 24 April 2019]
Read Previous MESSAGES HERE
He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper. — 2 Chronicles 26:5
Jesus got up early in the morning, long before daylight, and went out to a deserted place and prayed—He got alone (see Mark 1:35). There were so many people who followed Jesus everywhere He went that He probably wouldn’t have had any time alone if He hadn’t gotten up really early.
If you aren’t a morning person, the thought of getting up early may make you nervous. But you can decipher for yourself what “early” means for you. Nine o’clock is early if you are used to staying in bed until noon. Even if you only get up 15 minutes earlier than usual to have some time alone with God, you will still honor Him, and that time with Him will make your whole day brighter.
Prayer Starter: Father, I need Your strength to have success today. Help me to make a habit of spending time with You and keeping You first in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
The way light handles darkness is the same way that honour handles shame.
SCRIPTURE: Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. 1 Chronicles 29:12
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The way light handles darkness is the same way that honour handles shame.
God designed and created man for a destiny of honour. God’s intention for His children is a life of glory and honour. It is clear from Scriptures that God’s desire for His people is glory and honour, and not shame and reproach. The way light handles darkness is the same way that honour handles shame.
Now, if it is God’s Will to honour His people, what then are some of the secrets of this life of honour?
i. The Presence of God (Psalm 96:6): The Presence of God carries glory and honour. Any carrier of the Presence of God is a possessor of honour. You do not need to beg for honour if you carry God’s Presence. God’s Presence on your life is a stamp of honour. People honour you without knowing because there is something you carry – the Presence of God.
ii. The right mind-set (Psalm 49:20): It is mindset that determines outcome in life. You must understand that you are in honour; a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar person, that should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). But when you do not have this understanding, you perish like the beast of the field.
Beloved, my counsel is, camp around the Presence of God at all times. Change your mind-set; develop a sense of value and self-worth for yourself, and I see glory and honour coming your way, in Jesus’ Name.
REMEMBER THIS: The way light handles darkness is the same way that honour handles shame.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Always camp around the Presence of God through the study of the Word, prayer and worship.
Develop a sense of self-worth; do not allow anyone to look down on you.
PRAYER: O Lord, I ask that You envelop me with Your Presence at all times. I declare that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, a victor and not a victim, Lord in Jesus’ Name.
FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: THE SECRETS OF A LIFE OF HONOUR
QUOTE: Every time a person meets God, something in him comes out! The Presence of God is the birthplace of potential! Culled from GO IN THIS THY MIGHT! by Dr Paul Enenche
DAILY READING: Judges 2:10 to 3:31, Luke 22:14 to 34, Psalm 92:1 to 93:5, Proverbs 14:1 to 2
AMAZING FACT: Strawberries are the only fruits with seeds on the outside.
TODAY IN HISTORY: 24/04/1953 – Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
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.
“Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.” – 1 Samuel 16:13 KJV
David was the successor to Saul; the son of Kish and the first king of Israel. Saul had disobeyed God. Each time God instructed him to do something, he would rather do what he wanted. For this reason, God rejected him and said He had found for Himself a man in Jesse’s house, after His heart. David was busy minding his business, not even counted among the potential kings. He didn’t smell like a king. He didn’t talk like one nor behaved like one. But he was chosen. His father didn’t even want to call him up because he didn’t see him as qualified. Have you been there? You were not among the chosen, yet you are now chosen?
David was at the back side of the desert, tending his father’s sheep and the Holy Ghost zeroed in on him and brought him out while others were parading and presenting themselves. You had better not show up until the Holy Ghost shows you up. Anytime you show up when the Holy Ghost has not shown you up, get ready for a fall, and a woeful fall for that matter. That is the challenge with so many people who go about parading themselves for what they are not. I have found out that people who are ‘something’ hide. It is people who are ‘nothing’ that parade themselves.
All of David’s brothers came to Samuel, putting down their heads for the anointing, but the oil refused to flow. Beloved, you don’t need to struggle to become. When it is your time, God will show you up. I learnt that longest time in ministry, that if God does not give it to you, you don’t have it. What God has not given to you, you cannot keep. But if He gives it to you, He also gives you the keeping grace.
Further Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13; 2:8
Daily Bible Reading: Morning- 2 Samuel 19-20; Evening- Luke 18:1-23
Written by Dr. Mike Okonkwo; Is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); a versatile man of God with over 30 years of dedicated service unto the Lord.
Don’t Give Life to a Complaint by Joel and Victoria Osteen
Topic: Don’t Give Life to a Complaint
It’s interesting that soon after the people of Israel had been freed from slavery in Egypt, they started complaining about their hardships in the wilderness. One of their complaints was that they were tired of the manna, the bread that God provided supernaturally for them every single day. They grumbled, “Now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” (Numbers 11:6). That complaint got them thinking about “the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic” they used to eat in captivity. They let the food they had become tired of become more important than their freedom from slavery.
God is taking all of us somewhere, and like the people of Israel, we have everything we need right now to get to where He’s taking us. But that’s where the Israelites missed it. They were only looking at their circumstances and what they thought they didn’t have. They forgot to look to their God! It’s so easy to see out of natural eyes that look for problems rather than see out of supernatural eyes that behold the hand of God working behind the scenes, the almighty God who’s providing for all our needs.
Today, you’re going to have many opportunities to find faults because there’s no perfect friend, no perfect spouse, and no perfect job. Life is filled with imperfections, so we can’t escape the fact that there will be much to criticize. What I want to suggest is that rather than enter into faultfinding that we figure out a way to be the solution to problems rather than complain about problems and find a way to act properly when we feel negative.
You can’t stop all the negative thoughts you have about people and situations, but you can stop giving those thoughts life by speaking them out. You can watch what you say by stepping back and reminding yourself that complaining only finds the worst in situations and other people, never the best, and speaking them out only makes things worse. Don’t give it life! Don’t ruin relationships and situations.
So what should you do? The apostle Paul says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29). Let’s keep our mouths closed, stay the course, and be grateful to God. Let’s not be faultfinders. Let’s be those who “rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18).
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