Church of Scotland ‘deeply uncomfortable’ about Glasgow weapons conference, covener says

Faith groups will join members of the Sink the Arms Fair Coalition to call for an end to such events.

Around 1,100 people from more than 40 countries are expected at the three-day Undersea Defence Techology conference at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) which will discuss new subsea weaponry and technology.

 

A protest is planned for 10am and a prayer calling for peace is due to take place at noon.

The convention team for Glasgow City Council arm’s length organisation Glasgow Life has provided practical support for the event and campaigners have written an open letter of protest to the council and other politicans.

The venue for the event is run by a company 90 per cent owned by the local authority.

Rev Dr Richard Frazer (pictured above), convener of the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland, said: “We are disappointed that Glasgow City Council has chosen to support an international festival of the arms trade.

“To facilitate such a gathering is deeply uncomfortable at a time when so many innocent people around the world are suffering from effects of war and the damage and destruction caused by weapons.

“Such a venture may bring income for some Scottish businesses, but we should be investing in a future that brings conflict and the need for…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

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Six Ways the #MeToo Movement Has Affected Local Church Life – Rainer on Leadership #444

Podcast Episode #444

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Sexual abuse in the Church has become a major issue for pastors and church leaders. Today, we discuss why this is an important moment for the Church to get right in the way things are handled.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

  • Because of so many sexual abuse coverups in the past, the Church has lost respect and trust of many.
  • Every church is vulnerable to a potential sexual abuse case. Don’t think it can’t happen in your church.
  • Churches should stand with victims of sexual abuse, not against them.
  • Churches have a responsibility to do everything within their power to prevent sexual abuse, harassment, and assault.

Six ways #MeToo has affected churches are:

  1. Local church leaders are often the first line of communication on issues of abuse.
  2. Leaders must not hesitate in responding with urgency.
  3. The unchurched world trusts church leaders less.
  4. Greater awareness is healthier for local churches.
  5. Local church leaders need female input.
  6. The issues will only grow, creating greater time and resource demands for churches.

Episode Sponsors

Applications are now open for Vanderbloemen’s fall pastor coaching network at their Houston headquarters in September and November. There are two networks – one for Lead Pastors and one for Executive Pastors. Each group is limited to 16 people. It’s a roundtable, close-knit network where you will grow as a leader so that you can grow…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Thom Rainer.

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UK Parliament Approves Big Expansion for Heathrow Airport – Urban Christian News

Parliament approved plans to make Europe’s biggest airport even bigger, backing on Monday what the government described as the most important transportation decision in a generation.

The House of Commons voted overwhelmingly, 415-119, to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport after hours of debate on the 14 billion-pound ($18.6 billion) project. The decision follows decades of study and argument over how to expand airport capacity in southeastern England, and it is certain to be challenged in the courts.

Prime Minister Theresa May believes the project will boost economic growth while signaling the country’s commitment to expand international trade and transport links as it prepares to leave the European Union.

Neighbors and environmentalists object because of concerns about pollution, noise and the communities — some dating back hundreds of years — that will be destroyed.

Business groups strongly backed the government. They argued that increasing the capacity at Heathrow would be tantamount to putting out an “open for business” sign as Britain prepares to leave the European Union.

“This is a really important moment in the history of this House and the history of this country,” Transport Secretary Chris Grayling told the House of Commons as he appealed for lawmakers to “move on from decades of debate and set, to my mind, a clear path to our future as a global nation in the post-Brexit world.”

Opponents object to the third runway on environmental, noise and financial grounds. Friends of the Earth described it as a “morally reprehensible” move that would…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Urban Christian News

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Joyce Meyer Daily 26 June 2018 — Dreams and Visions

Topic: Dreams and Visions [Joyce Meyer’s Devotional Tuesday June 26, 2018]

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. — Hebrews 12:1 (KJV)

The Israelites had no positive vision for their lives—no dreams. They knew where they came from, but they did not know where they were going. Everything was based on what they had already seen and could see. They did not know how to see with “the eye of faith.”

Jesus came to open the prison doors and set the captives free. You will only begin to progress when you start to believe you can experience freedom. You must have a positive vision for your life—a vision for a future that is not determined by your past or even your present circumstances.

Exercise your faith tonight and take a positive look at the possibilities God has planned for you. Begin to “call those things that be not as though they are” (see Romans 4:17). Think and speak about your future in a positive way, according to what God has placed in your heart.

Prayer Starter: Father, I thank You for the wonderful things You have planned for my future. Help me to see beyond where I am right now. Help me to take hold of the dreams You have placed in my heart and move forward with faith and expectation. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Joyce Meyer Daily Devotional HERE’’ 

From Joyce Meyer’s Ministries.

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Detainees Released From UAE-Run Prisons Days After AP Report on Abuse – Urban Christian News

With hugs and kisses, family and friends of a Yemeni actor celebrated Monday after he and at least three other detainees were freed from prisons controlled by the United Arab Emirates in southern Yemen where they had been held without charges for nearly a year.

The actor, Nasser al-Anbari, a well-known comedian who appeared in TV shows and online videos, grinned and waved as he walked among the well-wishers in the southern city of Aden and motorists honked their car horns, a video filmed by his family shows.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was filming him while in disbelief,” said one of al-Anbari’s sons. When al-Anbari met with his wife, who has cancer, “the two wept,” the son said, speaking on condition of anonymity out of security concerns.

The release on Monday came days after The Associated Press revealed that hundreds of Yemeni prisoners swept up in anti-terror raids by Emirati-backed forces have been subjected to torture and sexual abuse. In Aden’s Beir Ahmed prison, where al-Anbari was held, hundreds of inmates were forced to undress and Emirati officers searched their anal cavities March 10, claiming to be looking for contraband cellphones.

At least three others were also freed from various Emirati-linked facilities. One was an elder called Mahmoud al-Baydani, who used to work for the International Committee of the Red Cross to help mediate releases of hostages held by al-Qaida. He had been held at Beir Ahmed and another UAE-controlled prison in Buriqa. One of the others was held in a lockup in the house of Aden’s Emirati-backed security chief Shalal…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Urban Christian News

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Power Line Extended Into Flooded Thai Cave to Help Search for Missing Boys & Soccer Coach – Urban Christian News

Electricians are extending a power line into a flooded cave in northern Thailand to help the search and rescue efforts for 12 boys and their soccer coach stranded three nights in the sprawling caverns and cut off by rising water.

Rescuers led by elite navy divers were forced to suspend their search Monday night due to flooding but were to resume Tuesday.

The boys, aged 11-15, and their 25-year-old coach were believed to have entered the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province late Saturday afternoon. A mother reported that her son did not return from soccer practice that day, setting off the search.

The rising water frustrated efforts by the rescuers, including navy SEALs, to search farther in the cave, which is thought to be about 6-8 kilometers (4-5 miles) long and contain some large chambers. By Monday evening, officials decided to pull out temporarily.

Around midnight, Chiang Rai Gov. Narongsak Osottanakorn was with rescue teams and electricians working on extending a power line 1 kilometer (.6 miles) into the cave.

“We hope this would provide lights for work and fans for ventilation for the SEAL team,” Narongsak said. “Also, it means we can use electric engines to pump water out from the cave as well.”

Parents waited overnight in tents outside the cave entrance as rain continued to pour. Medics sat in a nearby tent as a few floodlights burned in the front chambers of the cave. The boys’ bicycles, backpacks and soccer cleats remained at the entrance.

“We went in a few kilometers and were able to enter a second chamber behind the entrance. In that chamber,…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Urban Christian News

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Watch Winners’ Chapel LIVE Service with David Oyedepo

You are watching the Covenant Hour of Prayer Service , June 26, 2018 with Bishop David Oyedepo at Living Faith Church aka Winners’ Chapel, Faith Tabernacle Canaan Land Ota Nigeria. (Please, reload this page for the latest live event)

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Positioning for Favour by David Ibiyeomie

Topic: Positioning for Favour

Positioning for Favour means positioning yourself for an act of kindness. As a child of God, if you position yourself rightly, you will enjoy long-lasting favour. If you want lasting favour, you must work on your character. Character is doing what is right even when it is not convenient. Character deficiency leads to favour deficiency.

Character is mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual; it is a particular combination of a person that makes him/her different from others. Those who mar their character will never be made in life. No matter how gifted you are, when you lack character you will lose favour. Uphold integrity and withstand dishonesty. Proverbs 3:3-4, 11:27, 12:2; Ecclesiastes 7:1.

When your Christianity lacks character, it ends in disaster; character protects your talents and potentials. One’s true character is revealed when you are under pressure.

Biblical Examples of Favour Beneficiaries:
1. Joseph — Genesis 37:2-3, 39:4-6, 21-23. Joseph was favour personified. He enjoyed all-round favour despite all odds. His character catapulted him to a very high position in the land of Egypt.
2. Daniel – Daniel 1:8, 20.
3. Esther – God made Esther to be favoured because she followed every instruction from Mordecai.
4. Virgin Mary – Luke 1:26-28. If you have character, you have a future.
5. Jesus – Philippians 2:5-11. God exalted Jesus because He had impeccable character. Character demands humility.

How to Develop Godly Character:
1. Let God’s Word be your guide and standard (Psalm 119:11).
2. Stand only for the truth – Psalm 101:7
3. Maintain a healthy conscience – Conscience is the moral being within a human being – 1 Timothy 4:2.: When you are rightly positioned in life, you shine and your blessings come without struggle.
4. Have the fear of God – Psalm 112:1-3.: Those who fear God end up with wealth and riches in their houses.
5. Have values –
God measures the heart, man measures the head.
You must not sacrifice your belief system to please any man.
Never compromise your integrity. Have values.
A man of integrity prefers his name over profit.
You cannot bury a man of character.
6. You must set boundaries. When liberty lacks control it becomes captivity. You need to become a law to yourself.
7. Have posterity in view – Proverbs 13:22: always think of your future legacy in everything you do.

Benefits of Having a Godly Character:
1. You will be trusted – Matthew 25:21.
2. You will make heaven – Matthew 25:21.

The pathway that guarantees unending favour is godly character:
Godly Character:
Godly character is the will to do the right thing in a wrong environment.
Character is to be predictable to do the right thing when no one is watching. Integrity is the mother of dignity. Christianity without character is disaster. Integrity is to be one with self – 1 Samuel 2:26,1 Samuel 12:3.
God wants us to enjoy favour but we need to possess godly character to maintain the favour; Godly character sets the pace for divine favour.

Below are some Key Points:

Who you are is more important than what you do.
You do not wait for favour, you make favour to happen in your life.
Favour is your heritage as a child of God. It is the free gift of God we receive to function in life – Psalm 102:13.
When a man builds his character, he builds his future.
Your future is not a function of what you do but a function of who you are.
If you desire to enjoy lasting favour, work on your character.
The greatest test of character/integrity is how trust worthy you are when handling funds.
A life without character ends in disaster.
Character is the bedrock for lasting success.
Favour singles a person of character out and distinguishes them.
Favour is the heritage of believers.
Character is the sustainer of favour.
Favour is the heritage of the children of God – Psalm 5:12.
Every child of God is meant to enjoy favour.

Click HERE to read other Inspiring Messages by Pastor David Ibiyeomie

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.

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US Report Says Colombia Coca Production Has Risen to Record High – Urban Christian News

The amount of land where peasants and drug traffickers harvest the plant used to make cocaine has surged to a record high in Colombia, a White House report said Monday, a boom that could further test historically close relations with the United States.

Annual data for 2017 says coca cultivation rose 11 percent to 209,000 hectares (516,450 acres), a level unseen in more than two decades of record keeping and $10 billion in U.S. counter-narcotics work. Estimated cocaine production increased 19 percent to 921 metric tons.

“President Trump’s message to Colombia is clear: The record growth in cocaine production must be reversed,” said Jim Carroll, deputy director for the drug policy office.

Coca production in Colombia has been steadily increasing since 2013, when negotiations with the now demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia got underway. The FARC had been one of Colombia’s biggest drug trafficking organizations, and many had hoped after the signing of the peace accord in 2016 that the country would put an end to the scourge for good.

Instead, new illegal armed groups have moved into the desolate jungle previously controlled by the rebel band and taken control of drug trafficking routes. Parts of the peace accord dedicated to eradicating coca and providing poor Colombians who make a living growing coca with a viable alternative also have struggled to get off the ground.

Combined with Colombia’s decision to end aerial spraying of herbicides on illicit crops in 2015 over health concerns, the amount of coca in the countryside continues to grow.

President-elect Ivan…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Urban Christian News

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The Family: God’s Delightful Place (Part 4) by Pastor Faith Oyedepo

Topic — The Family: God’s Delightful Place (Part 4)

Dear Reader,

Welcome once again to this column. It has been indeed a great time of refreshing. This week, I shall be looking at: Satan’s Loopholes in the Family.

Every successful home is a threat to satan’s kingdom, which is why he would do anything to destroy it. Unfortunately, he gains entrance to many homes often through the woman. Remember, he gained access into the first home through Eve, and history always repeats itself.God’s Word says:But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).

For this reason, men should protect their wives spiritually, to ensure that they do not engage in private discussions with hell, which can send them out of their “garden”. Once the woman is effectively shielded from satan, he will have difficulty in trying to penetrate the home.

Women are more susceptible to the attacks of satan, because of their roles in the home. She is usually more at home than the man, so she is more available to satan. He creeps in on her and tells her, “What makes you different from the man? Are you a slave? Have you forgotten that you are also educated as he (husband) is? Have you forgotten your placement in your office? There is no Jew nor Greek, male or female; the same Lord is rich over all.” If unguarded, the woman would be tempted to agree with him.

Somehow, satan is able to easily secure the attention of women, particularly when they are idle. He barrages them with all sorts of negative information, which in turn makes them unhappy. He often arrests them by painting a deadly picture of calamity and woe, which they readily accept. But unfortunately, some women claim that it was God that revealed such information to them, not recognizing that it came through “the prince of the power of the air.”

Woman, please learn to prove the source of the information that comes to you. Find things out for yourself from the Word of God, because nothing anybody says can make the Word of no effect. The destruction many families have experienced today came from information that had satanic sources.

Man, it is time to awake and chase satan out of your garden! Until you say, “Get thee behind this family, satan”, he will keep hanging around. As man’s eternal enemy, satan has vowed to pull down the family unit. God’s Word says: How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up? (Deuteronomy 32:30). He wants to stop you from destroying his kingdom.

In the covenant, one can deal with 1,000, two, especially in marriage, are empowered to put 10,000 to flight! Satan knows this and wants to keep his kingdom, so he launches attacks on the family, to prevent them from destroying his kingdom. Since one family can destroy 1,000 demons, satan aims at destroying the 10,000 capacity destroyers. If he succeeds, he has preserved more demons to run errands for him.

Another reason the devil wants to gain entrance into families is found in I Peter 3:7; Likewise, ye husband, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

When a man and his wife are at variance with each other, their prayers are hindered, and they are disconnected from God. They may pray all the time, but there will be no response from heaven. Heaven will be shut, making it impossible for them to enjoy the harvest of whatever seed they may have sown.

The man, who opens up his home to malice or discord, has blocked his access to God’s blessing. Satan knows this, so he does all he can to see that there is rancour and strife between a man and his wife. Anytime you sense any animosity rising within you against your spouse, know that satan is seeking an inroad. Therefore, resist him steadfastly in the faith. Tell yourself that since you have no intention of having another home, you will not give satan a foothold in your family!

If you want to overcome satanic loopholes in your family this year, don’t miss this golden opportunity for salvation. If you are already born again, rejoice because your case is settled. If you are not yet born again and you desire to do so right now, please pray this prayer with faith in your heart: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me my sins and cleanse me with Your Blood. I accept You as my Lord and personal Saviour. Make me a child of God today. Thank You for delivering me from sin and satan to serve the living God and thank You for accepting me into Your Kingdom.

Congratulations! If you prayed this simple prayer of faith with me, you are now born again and a child of God. He loves you and will never leave you. Read your Bible daily, obey God’s Word and seek Christian fellowship (John 14:21).

With this, you are guaranteed all-round rest and peace in Jesus’ Name! Call or write to share your testimonies with me through [email protected], 07026385437 OR 08141320204.

For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores: Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work, Building a Successful Home and Success in Marriage (Co-Authored).

“Please click HERE to read other inspiring articles by Pastor Faith Oyedepo

Pastor Faith Oyedepo is the wife of Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide a.k.a. Winners’ Chapel, and Senior Pastor of Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, Nigeria.

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