CIG represent church organisations with combined investment assets of approximately £21 billion including the investments of the Church of England and the Methodist Church.
They invest in various companies and therefore have a say on decisions the companies make.
However, they will now vote against various companies if they do not appear to be progressing on issues like climate change and pay ratios.
They particularly cite issues such as gender diversity on boards and tax transparency.
The ‘tougher stance’ will be evident in their voting patterns, with the group threatening to vote against plans that don’t fall in line with their standards.
For example, CIG members will vote against Chairs of FTSE 350 and Russell 50 companies with a score of zero for tax transparency in the FTSE ESG ratings and against Chairs who have a poor score when it comes to trying to reduce their emissions.
Christian organisations will also vote against Chairs who do not have at least one female director on their board and companies which do not disclose the pay ratio between their CEO and the average employee.
They’ll also require FTSE 100 companies to be a Living Wage acredited employer if they’re going to support their remuneration reports and will not support remuneration reports where the CEO receives a pension payment of more than 30% of salary.
A tornado warning was issued when a “confirmed large and destructive tornado” twisted out of the sky in Birmingham, Alabama around 2:00 p.m. on Sunday the outlet reports.
According to Fox News, all 23 deaths and the more than 50 reported injuries came from the Beauregard community in Lee County, AL. Authorities are anticipating the number of casualties to rise as search and rescue efforts start back up Monday Morning.
Among the reported damage in Lee County are flattened homes, overturned mobile homes, damage to the local elementary school, a toppled phone tower across Interstate U.S. 280, destroyed businesses and a damaged gas station.
CNN reports Alabama’s Governor Kay Ivey extended last month’s state of emergency which was issued because of tornadoes and severe weather.
Ivey released a statement on Twitter saying, “Our hearts go out to those who lost their lives in the storms that hit Lee County today. Praying for their families…
The 32-year-old suspect is to be brought to Northern Ireland for questioning.
Mr Ogle, 45, died after being stabbed 11 times shortly after praying with a pastor near his home on Cluan Place in east Belfast on January 27.
On Sunday evening, PSNI Detective Chief Inspector Peter McKenna said: “Following excellent partnership working with UK and international partners, the man was detained in Manchester Airport this evening.
“He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder and will be conveyed to Northern Ireland to be questioned by Major Investigation Team detectives.
“At this time, I would also reiterate my appeal for witnesses to this horrific murder. Ian Ogle was subjected to a brutal attack.
“His skull was fractured and he was savagely stabbed 11 times in the back before being left to die on the street. His family deserve justice.”
One man has already been charged with Mr Ogle’s murder.
Jonathan Brown, 33, of McArthur Court, Belfast, was remanded in custody last month after appearing before Belfast Magistrates’ Court.
His solicitor said he denied planning, preparing and committing the offence.
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Gospel for Asia Reaches Settlement in Class-Action Lawsuit
Non-Profit missions organization Gospel for Asia announced on Thursday that after three years in court, they will be settling a class-action lawsuit levied against them by paying $37 million and offering up a board seat.
According to a statement released by GFA, the organization was accused of “racketeering, fraud and financial mismanagement.” Christianity Today notes that the organization was facing two lawsuits which claimed that GFA was only sending “13 percent of its donations to the field instead of the oft-promised 100 percent.”
The two suits eventually merged and became a class action suit with more than 200,000 people – those who donated to GFA between January 2009 and September 2018 – looking for reimbursement. Christianity Today reports that the suit originally requested $376 million from GFA. The settlement, however, will require GFA to pay 10 percent of the requested amount – $37 million – to the plaintiffs and surrender a board seat to plaintiff Garland Murphy.
GFA will also be required to remove the founder K.P. Yohannan’s wife Gisela from the board to be replaced by someone approved by both Murphy and Yohannan.
Despite settling in court, GFA is maintaining their innocence. A statement released by the organization reads: “The settlement is not an acknowledgment of guilt by Gospel for Asia and, in fact, the settlement agreement reads in…
These words of John Lennon, published on this day in 1966, have become a famous—or infamous—part of cultural history.
Here’s the larger context: Lennon told an interviewer for the London Evening Standard that “Christianity will go.” He added: “It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first—rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.”
Lennon later apologized at a press conference in Chicago: “I’m not anti-God, anti-Christ or anti-religion. I was not saying we are greater or better. I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky.”
However, Lennon began his most famous song, “Imagine,” with the lyrics, “Imagine there’s no heaven / It’s easy if you try / No hell below us / Above us only sky.” Later he asked us to imagine that there’s “no religion, too.”
Why parents are selling their children
In a world like ours, it’s easy to wonder if God is real or relevant.
Alex has spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic condition that makes his muscles weaker and causes problems with movement.
He is a residential sports student at National Star College for young people with complex disabilities and learning difficulties in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
He wanted to be baptised and immersed in water but the challenge was that he needed support to transfer him from his electric wheelchair.
Due to his disability, Mr Smith, from Plymouth in Devon, needed a hoist and specialist support to access a pool.
“Often if a person who has disabilities wants to be baptised, the only way to do it is by covering the wheelchair with plastic protection and pouring water over his head,” said Polly White, multi-faith support worker and physiotherapist at National Star.
“But wheelchairs are expensive and Alex wanted to be immersed in water.”
Mr Smith worked with the National Star staff and was baptised in the charity’s aqua therapy pool on Sunday, watched by family and friends.
Ollie Bennett, pastor of Kingfisher Church in Gloucester which Mr Smith attends, carried out the baptism and admits it was the first one he had ever done in an aqua therapy pool.
“Alex was determined to be baptised in water and it has been a real privilege to be part of this special service,” he said.
I received yet another inquiry today: “Do you have any recommendations for a student minister? We just can’t seem to find one. We’ve been looking for over six months.”
For several years, I would get similar inquiries about worship leaders or worship pastors. Today, there seems to be a dearth of both worship pastors and student pastors. So, where have all the student pastors gone? I asked some key leaders I trust on this issue. Here are their and my perspectives:
A number of young leaders decided to plant a church rather than enter into or continue in youth ministry. Youth ministry traditionally has been a field dominated by young males. Many of these young males began narrowing their vocational choices to student ministry or church planting. A large number decided to plant churches. On the one hand, that’s a really good development. We definitely need more church planters. On the other hand, many churches are now pleading for student pastors.
Fewer schools are offering training in student ministry. It’s a chicken or egg question. Are fewer schools offering this training and, as a consequence, fewer young people are becoming student pastors? Or, are fewer young people seeking the training and, thus, the schools are closing the programs because of diminished demand? Either way, there are fewer trained youth ministers.
It is becoming increasingly common for many churches to call a student pastor from their own congregations. These youth ministers then do not always seek training from a…
Topic: Looking at the Whole Picture [Joyce Meyer Devotional 4 March 2019]
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. — Philippians 4:8
When we focus on what has gone wrong in our lives, it can start to seem that nothing ever goes right, but that is simply not true. You may have had difficult things take place over the course of your life, but the mindset of gratitude realizes that the good times have outnumbered the bad.
Look at your life as a whole rather than focusing on tragedies, trials, and disappointments. Looking at the good will give you courage to deal with the bad things and avoid living in fear.
Realizing that God is with you, helping you along the way, provides the courage you need to face the future boldly, knowing that you truly can overcome any obstacle in the strength and power of the Lord.
Prayer Starter: Father, when I am feeling discouraged or overwhelmed by life, help me to see all the good things You have done. I thank You that the good outweighs the bad. And I thank You that there are many more good things to come. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Prayer Points on Today’s Open Heaven 4 March 2019 – Jehovah-Jireh
1.Jehovah – Jireh, the great provider, I worship You; the All Sufficient God, I adore You. (Click HERE for Open Heaven 4 March 2019)
2.Thank You, Father, for the forgiveness of my sin and the salvation of soul.
3.Father, in anyway I have fallen short of your glory, please, have mercy and forgive me, in Jesus name.
4.Father, let me never compromise my faith or trust, in You, by going outside Your Will and promises, for favour and help, in Jesus name.
5.Father, help me to trust You, who paid my debt of sin, with Your life, to be able to pay my debts of money and meet all other personal needs, in Jesus name.
6.Father, empower me to look unto Jesus alone, for all my daily and long term needs and challenges, in Jesus name.
7.Father, give me the grace, to teach and train my children in Your way, so that, when they grow up, they will never depart from it, in Jesus name.
8.Father, let every power that has vowed that I will not get to the top, or hinder my promotion, be the ladder that I will use to reach my destination at the top, in Jesus name.
9.Father, release upon my life, the spirit of obedience and sacrificial giving, that I may be a perpetual candidate for Your unceasing provisions, in Jesus name.
10.Father, cover my life with Your secret garment of provisions; let me never beg or toil before I will eat, in Jesus name.
11.Father, please, meet Your son, Pastor E.A. Adeboye, at the points of his needs today and everyday, in Jesus name.
12.Father, bless Your son, that You have been using to prepare these prayer points, beyond measures, and all those who have been rebroadcasting them, in Jesus name!
13.Father, let every challenge, hindrance and obstacle of getting these prayer points across to Your children, timely, and on daily basis be removed, in Jesus name.
14.Your Personal petitions. (Philippians 4:6)
15.In Jesus name I pray. (John 14:13-14; 15:16)
16.Thank you Father for answered prayers. (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
These prayers have no expiry date! Please, pray them, irrespective of the time they get to you. Remain blessed, in Jesus name.
Kindly, purchase your own hard copy or online version of the Open Heavens devotional & buy for your friends too, as a potent evangelism tool. God bless you, as you sow, into Pastor E.A. Adeboye’s book Ministry, in Jesus name.
Prayer Points on Today’s Open Heaven 4 March 2019 – Jehovah-Jireh
What is in The Word that Endangers Dominion? By David Oyedepo
Topic: What is in The Word that Endangers Dominion?
Welcome to March! I believe that we all had specific encounters with God as individuals all through the month of February, 2019. I pray that everyone’s experience shall be a spiritual asset for life! This month, we shall examine our dominion rights in redemption. To start with, this week, we shall examine the topic: What is in the Word that Endangers Dominion?
We discover from Scriptures that the Bible is the most valuable volume of all times. For it is written: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:1-3).It is the oldest, yet the most current book. It is also the most ancient, yet the bestseller of all times. It is the most widely quoted book and its principles still rule most of the civilised societies today. Its content touches all aspects of human existence, and that is what makes it the key to our unending turnarounds. The Bible is a living force and there is something unique about it. God’s Word is ever-reliable, ever-dependable, and eternally functional. His integrity backs His Word; therefore, we can count on Him.
However, what we do with the Word largely determines our destiny. That means, it is our value for the Word that defines what becomes of our lives. This is because the contents of the Bible are spiritual laws that confer us with dominion in our earthly walk. The light of God’s Word does not only enlighten; it also lightens us (John 1:1/4/9).The Word puts us in command of everything, because all things were created by the Word, and everything remains under the command of the Word forever (John1:3). Therefore, having potentials or skills is not a substitute for gaining command over our desired turnarounds. We must have the consciousness that the devil is not as powerful as we think he is; rather, it is our ignorance of the dominion we have over him, through the Word, that makes him torment us.
Too many people approach the Bible like a motivational or a religious text, where they draw religious principles. That makes them relegated day in, day out, because they don’t know what it carries. The Bible is the only “charm” that does not lose its potency. The application of God’s Word works any day and at anytime. Also, Jesus is the wisdom and the power of God, and He is the Word of God. Thus, God’s Word is also the wisdom of God; thus, when we eat the Word, which is the Knowledge of truth, there is bound to be a reward because our expectations shall not be cut off (Proverbs 24:13-14). We might not know the efficacy of the Word until we begin to put it to work in faith, delightedly, cheerfully, excitedly, lovingly, passionately, zealously and selflessly. This is because the Bible cannot be re-written. We either connect with what is written or we are disconnected from it.
What then, is in the Word that Endangers Dominion?
1. The Spirit Power of the Word: God’s Word is Spirit and life, and it is able to quicken. The Bible says: It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63). It can also invigorate everything that is dying. Thus, the Bible enables us to partake of that divine nature of God that gives us dominion over the things that corrupt the world.
2. Empowerment in the Word: God’s Word is self-anointed and it is divinely empowered (John 6:63). This can be understood particularly when we know that God is omnipotent, which means that He is All-powerful. For it is written: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). If the Word is God and God is Omnipotent, that means God’s Word is all-powerful. Therefore, every genuine encounter with the Word empowers people to do the impossible (Romans 1:16; John 1:12).
3. The Healing Power of the Word: God’s Word carries His nature, which is immune to sicknesses and diseases. The Centurion said to Jesus: …but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed (Matthew 8:8). Hence, when we receive and believe the Word, we buy into divine nature that establishes our dominion over every assault on our bodies. Every time God’s Word goes forth, God’s healing power goes forth. That is why we are told that Jesus, the living Word, went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil (Luke 5:17).
4. Deliverance in the Word: There is deliverance power in the Word and its light empowers us for dominion over the powers of darkness. As it is written: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). We must recognise that we are contending with invisible forces on a daily basis, but revelation of the Word is our guarantee for victory. Darkness is the highest realm that the enemy operates in to perform his wicked works. However, when we put on the armour of light, we disarm him as if nothing ever existed before. Thus, walking in the light of the Word empowers us to always triumph over darkness. When there is light in us, we cannot stumble because darkness flees at our instance and the entrance of God’s Word gives light (Psalm 119:130).
In conclusion, most times, what we hear is powerless until we believe it, and what we receive is helpless until we believe it. It is a combination of receiving and believing that empowers our full-scale manifestation. Thus, it is not enough to receive the Word; we must go a little further to believe the Word and then, we dominate our circumstances. However, you must be born again. Are you born again? If you are not, this is an opportunity to do so. Simply say the following prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Today, I accept You as my Lord and personal Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now, I know I am born again!” For further reading, please get my books: Turnaround Power of the Word, The Force of Freedom, Walking in Dominion, Satan Get Lost, Born to Win and Fulfilling your Days.
I invite you to fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have four services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:50 a.m., 9:40 a.m., and 11:30 a.m. respectively. I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 01-4548070, 01-4548280; or E-mail:[email protected]; Face book: www.facebook.com/davidoyedepoministries/; Twitter: @DavidOyedepoMin
David O. Oyedepo is a Nigerian Christian author, architect, preacher, and the founder and presiding bishop of the mega church, Living Faith Church Worldwide, also known as Winners’ Chapel
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