Brits uninspired by Bishop Michael Curry’s royal wedding sermon, poll finds

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Brits uninspired by Bishop Michael Curry’s royal wedding sermon, poll finds

A poll by Christian Think Tank Theos explored what people really thought about the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church’s address, once the media bandwagon had moved on.

Paul Bickley, director of political studies at Theos told Premier what inspired them to do the poll.

 

“We wanted to get beyond the initial frenzy. Lots of reactions that came immediately following the sermon perceived on social media and in the news headlines as a really significant moment.

“We found something different from that… certainly there was a great deal of ambivalence and that’s the bad news.”

Only 16 per cent of respondents said they would be more likely to go to church if the preaching was similar to Bishop Michael’s and 12 per cent thought the sermon improved their understanding of Christianity.

However, Bickley highlighted that there were also positive results from the poll.

Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

 

“There’s a very, very positive minority and those aren’t just Christians – even amongst religious-nons – even among people that don’t identify with faith, there was a significant minority whose perceptions were changed by the sermon.”

The 14 minute sermon was the most tweeted about moment of the ceremony, receiving 40,000 tweets per-minute.

Listen to Paul Bickley speaking with Premier’s Alex Williams:

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Seeds of Destiny 20 June 2018 by Pastor Paul Enenche – Thoughts On Time

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Seeds of Destiny 20 June 2018 by Pastor Paul Enenche – Thoughts On Time

Topic: Thoughts On Time [Seeds of Destiny Wednesday June 20, 2018]

Scripture: Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should. Psalm 90:12 (TLB)

Thought For The Day: Where you spent most of your time determines where you will get most of your results in life.

It has been confirmed that one major secret of great people is effective use of time. On the other hand, poor and mediocre people have no regard for time. Our God is the God of times and seasons; He does everything according to time.

Now, let me give you some key thoughts on time:
1. Where you spend most of your time determines where you will get most of your results in life
The person, who spends most of his time at alcoholic joint, for instance, would get red eyes, confusion, stagnation, calamities, poverty, family crises as his results. When a person spends time on the unprofitable, he gets zero result in life.

2. Anyone who encroaches on your time is encroaching on your life
Do not respect anyone enough to allow them take or waste your time; anyone taking your time is taking your life and future unprofitably. That is the pathway to wasteful living.

3. When time is passing and it is not engaged in profitable activity, it is life that is wasting.
Anyone who does not value seconds will not value minutes; and if you do not value minutes, you will not value hours. Similarly, if you do not value hours, you will not value the day, and if you do not value the day, you will not value the week. If you do not value the week, you will not value the month, and valueless months will result in a useless year; a combination of valueless years will culminate in a wasted lifetime.

5. Until time is well spent, life is not well lived.
The proof that you are living well is spending your time well.

Beloved, decide not to waste your time. Let every second of your life be invested into profitable living.

Remember this: Where you spent most of your time determines where you will get most of your results in life.

Assignments:
1. Do not allow time to pass without engaging in profitable activity.
2. Do not allow anyone to encroach on your time to waste it.

Prayer: O Lord, I ask that You give me the grace to engage every passing time of my life with profitable and productive activity. Help me never to allow time wasters in my life, Lord, in Jesus’ Name.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: PROFITABLE USE OF TIME.

Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 22:1 to 53, Acts 13:16 to 41, Psalm 138:1 to 8, Proverbs 17:17 to 18

Amazing Fact: A snail can sleep for three years

Today In History: 20/06/1941 – The U.S. Army Air Forces was established, replacing the Army Air Corps.

Quote: If you understand the times, you will end up as a commander in your generation. Culled from 30 SECRETS TO THE TOP by Dr Paul Enenche.

“If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read Seeds of Destiny by Pastor Paul Enenche“

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.

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Andrew Wommack’s Devotional 20 June 2018 – What Pleases God

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Andrew Wommack’s Devotional 20 June 2018 – What Pleases God

Topic: What Pleases God [Andrew Wommack Wednesday June 20, 2018]

John 8:56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.”

Text: John 8:53-56

Jesus is referring to the day when men would be justified by putting faith in God and not in their own works. Abraham had this truth revealed to him (Rom. 4:13), and he believed it and was himself justified by faith (Rom. 4:3-4, 9).

Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him.” It was Abraham’s faith that pleased God. The Lord promised Abraham that his seed would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore and Abraham believed God. That pleased Him so much that he counted Abraham righteous right then, even though Abraham had not yet fulfilled the rite of circumcision and he was not living a holy life.

According to Leviticus 18:9, it was an abomination (Lev. 18:26) for a man to marry a half sister. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was his half sister (Gen. 20:12). Therefore, Abraham’s marriage to Sarah was not what pleased God. Abraham had already lied about Sarah not being his wife so that he could save his own neck. He was willing to let a man commit adultery with his wife with no objections from him. Immediately after this instance is when the Lord counted Abraham’s faith for righteousness (Gen. 15:6). Abraham tried to accomplish God’s will in the flesh with Hagar (Gen. 16) and then repeated the terrible sin of denying that Sarah was his wife again (Gen. 20).

Anyone who really studies the life of Abraham and the favor that he found with God would have to conclude that it was Abraham’s faith that pleased God. It’s the same with any of us. The only thing that we can do to please God is put faith in Jesus as our Savior.

“If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read Andrew Wommack’s Daily Devotional HERE

This message was written by The Association of Related Ministries International (ARMI) is an extension of Andrew Wommack Ministries (AWM). ARMI is a unique partnership committed to providing resources to help like-minded ministers succeed in a spirit of excellence and to draw from the experience and expertise of both the AWM and Charis Bible College staff. (www.awmi.net).

The post Andrew Wommack’s Devotional 20 June 2018 – What Pleases God appeared first on Flatimes.

Child Advocates Say Men Using Surrogacy to Become Single Dads Is ‘Unthinkably Cruel’

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Child Advocates Say Men Using Surrogacy to Become Single Dads Is ‘Unthinkably Cruel’

An increasing number of single men are procuring surrogacy services to have children for themselves, with no mother in the picture whatsoever.

NBC’s “Today” show and The Chicago Tribune both reported last week separate stories of single men who wanted children but for various reasons never got married.

“Four years from 50, I thought I would never have a family,” said 48-year old CEO Tom Garden in an interview with “Today.”

“I had been married to my business for 10 years so I was really never thinking about kids and I didn’t have time to date or do anything else.”

Being Jewish, he deliberately sought out an Israeli egg donor and then selected a surrogate. Using his sperm and the Israeli donor egg plus the surrogate mother, who is referred to in the article as a “gestational carrier,” his first child, a son, was born in June 2016. His second child, a daughter, also through the use of a surrogate, was born in March.

Similarly, Bill Guest, 40, of the Chicago suburb Villa Park, explained to the Tribune that he wanted a baby and “wanted to experience all of the stages of life” of the child. His friends were all having kids “and suddenly being a doting uncle wasn’t enough.” Guest was not interested in marriage nor interested in older kids; he had tried to adopt through the foster system but the only available children were 6 or 7 years of age.

He wound up on a website called Men Having Babies, a nonprofit groups that helps homosexual men become fathers. Guest successfully applied for financial assistance — surrogacy services can cost as much or more than $100,000, the article notes — and is…

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Catholics’ Support for Female Priests May Be Exaggerated, Researchers Say

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Catholics’ Support for Female Priests May Be Exaggerated, Researchers Say

(Photo: Reuters/Giampiero Sposito)Faithful react as Pope Francis arrives to lead his weekly audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican City, August 5, 2015.

Polls indicating strong support among American Catholics for opening up the priesthood to women might be overstated, according to researchers.

In 2015, the Pew Research Center released a report indicating that 59 percent of Catholics in America supported female ordination.

However, associate professor Benjamin Knoll of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, and Cammie Jo Bolin of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., have said they believe actual support for female ordination is lower.

In an entry posted to the website Religion in Public on Monday, Knoll and Bolin noted that they believe that past polling indicating strong support for female ordination suffers from respondents wanting to give a popular answer rather than what they actually believe.

Knoll and Bolin opted for a “list experiment,” in which they would provide respondents with a list of statements and ask them how many they agree with rather than which specific ones they agreed with.

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Pastor released after spending decade in prison

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Pastor released after spending decade in prison

Pastor Oqbamichel Haiminot was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison back in 2007 after spending years of harassment and arrests because of his Christian faith.

According to charity International Christian Concern (ICC), no charges were ever filed against him.

 

One of ICC’s sources shared: “There are only four legalized religions allowed in the country, which include Eritrean Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, and Sunni Islam.

“The regime touts this as religious freedom, however, to join any of these religions, people must first make four pledges.”

People in the African nation are made to pledge to never be “born again,” that his or her loyalty is to the government, not God or the Church, to never carry a Bible outside of church or the home and to turn in any missionaries or evangelists to the government.

Reporting a missionary or evangelist is rewarded with the equivalent of three months’ wages.

An underground pastor in Eritrea told the ICC: “There are false brothers among us, who gather information. [He comes] to you, believing in the name of Jesus, you baptize him, but he is a spy.”

 

The charity claimed these spies are sent by the government to find those who are not part of the four legal religions, in order to arrest them.

Responding to the pastor’s release, Nathan Johnson, ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, stated: “We are rejoicing for the release of a faithful…

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Billy Graham Devotional 20 June 2018 – Forgiveness in Marriage

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Topic: Forgiveness in Marriage [Billy Graham’s Devotional Wednesday June 20, 2018]

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. —1 John 1:9

It is unfortunate in a marriage if there is an array of sordid memories of past sins on the part of either partner. If young people could only realize that a happy marriage depends not only on the present, but upon the past, they would be more reluctant to enter into loose, intimate relations with anyone and everyone. Many a marriage has been imperiled by the backlash of past sins, which were not just confessed, but “found out.”

As to the necessity of confessing past sins to one’s mate, I don’t think it is always advisable or necessary. I have known of homes that were wrecked by such confessions. The main thing is to confess any past wrongs to God, resolve to be true to your marriage vows; and absolve the black past by a spotless present.

Prayer for the day: Thank You for forgiving and forgetting the past. Help me to do the same, Lord.

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read Billy Graham’s Daily Devotional HERE

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.

The post Billy Graham Devotional 20 June 2018 – Forgiveness in Marriage appeared first on Flatimes.

Women’s Ministry Speaker Says It’s Not Cruel to Teach Kids They’re Sinners

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Women’s Ministry Speaker Says It’s Not Cruel to Teach Kids They’re Sinners

Pexels.com

A Christian blogger and women’s ministry speaker has insisted that teaching young children that they’re sinners isn’t cruel, but part of biblical understanding.

“I vividly remember my 4-year-old trying to work out the effects of sin. There were a few weeks when every day he’d say, ‘Mom, can we talk about sin?’ Sin is disobedience, he’d tell me, like when you say you washed your hands after you went potty, but you really didn’t. He’d explain the consequence for sin is death, but Jesus took the consequence,” Hannah Baehr of Temple Baptist Church in Newport News, Virginia, wrote on Monday in The Gospel Coalition.

The mother writes that, at first, her son wasn’t willing to give up his autonomy in asking Jesus to be his “boss.”

“This conversation wasn’t born out of my son’s sense of self-worth; it was a direct result of grappling with his badness. He was faced with a serious problem. He knew about the reality of sin and believed in the consequence of his disobedience. He even knew the cure for sin was a relationship with Jesus,” she added.

“But he didn’t know how to accept this cure while still loving his sin. The weight of the dilemma pressed on him, so he worked through it, having this same conversation with me as many times as it occurred to him.”

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Christian Institute say don’t change cannabis law

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Christian Institute say don’t change cannabis law

A review will take place into the current legal position of cannabis. The Home Secretary Sajid Javid says a ban on recreational use will remain but the medicinal use will be looked at. 

The announcement comes just days after a decision to grant 12-year-old Billy Caldwell – who has epilepsy – permission to be treated with cannabis oil.

The Christian Institute take the view that further legalisation could lead to increased uses outside of medicine. 

Colin Hart, Director of the Christian Institute, said: “There are all sorts of powerful drugs that are used in medicine – that’s fine as long as there’s proper testing and drug trials. Some derivatives of cannabis have been used for years in the treatment of sickness that comes from people having chemotherapy so that’s not new.”

“There is a system in place, the system doesn’t always work, as we’ve seen in this recent example “

Hart explained why he wouldn’t want to see any further law change: “We need to be careful here – a medical use argument can easily lead to legalisation and that exactly what’s happened in Colorado in the United States where really cannabis is being sold just like tobacco or a can of coke really.”

He claimed: “Use has shot through the roof, cannabis is far more addictive than tobacco, far more carcinogenic.”

Hart argued that around 50 people every year are killed by…

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New Research Into Earth’s Formation Aligns With Day 4 in Genesis: Christian Astronomer Hugh Ross

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New Research Into Earth’s Formation Aligns With Day 4 in Genesis: Christian Astronomer Hugh Ross

NOAA/NASAA composite image of Earth taken at 1:07 p.m. ET on Jan. 15 by the GOES-16 satellite.

Old Earth Creationist and Christian astronomer Hugh Ross has argued that a new scientific study into the stages of Earth’s formation aligns with the creation story in Genesis in the Bible, particularly when it comes to day four and the light in the sky.

“A new research study published in Astrophysical Journal affirms that a haze was at least partly responsible for the pervasive translucent skies that shrouded Earth during the first part of its history,” Ross wrote on his Reasons to Believe website on Monday.

“Genesis 1 and other biblical passages also describe the early atmosphere as hazy and clouded. The same study demonstrates through a series of experiments how Earth’s atmospheric haze lessened greatly,” he added.

The study, published by The American Astronomical Society in May, explains that it investigated “the effect of O2 on the formation and composition of aerosols to improve our understanding of haze formation on the Neoproterozoic Earth.”

It noted that that the presence of oxygen-bearing molecules and nitrogen fixation also played a role on the energy balance and climate on the planet — something which, as Ross points out, is mentioned in Genesis.

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