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Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has apologized to fellow actor Anthony Rapp, who said Spacey made a sexual advance to him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 years old.
Spacey said in a post on Twitter on Sunday that he was “beyond horrified” to hear Rapp’s story of the encounter, which he said he did not remember. He wrote that he…
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If the Church of England is going to remain a thriving church, it may need to reevaluate how it is appealing to young people, at least according to the findings of a recent report.
According to The Christian Post, the report, titled “Statistics for Mission 2016,” found that nearly 25 percent of Church of England congregations have zero children who attend weekly worship services.
Although not many children may attend Church of England services, as Church of England spokeswoman Anna McCrum notes, the Church is reaching young people through their many Church-associated schools.
“These pupils are from all faiths and none and the provision of education is for the common good. Our pupils take part in collective worship and are educated in a Christian environment,” explained McCrum.
However, the Church of England has been concerned with its declining overall membership in recent years and is hoping to reverse this trend.
According to figures reported by The Guardian in 2016: “Numbers shot up at Christmas, with 2.4 million attending a festive service in 2014. The church conducted 130,000 baptisms in the year, down 12 percent since 2004; 50,000 marriages, down 19 percent; and 146,000 funerals, down 29 percent.”
Photo courtesy: ©Thinkstock/Borupfoto
Publication date: October 30, 2017
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A church in the southern province of Minya was one of two shut down by local authorities.
A statement by the Coptic Orthodox diocese of Minya claimed worshippers were harassed at both churches and rocks were also throws at one of them.
It read: “We have kept quiet for two weeks after the closure of one of the churches, but due to our silence the situation has worsened … it is as if prayer is a crime the Copts must be punished for.”
Rumours of a pending attack forced a third church to close, according to Reuters, however the diocese confirmed no attack has taken place since but the church remains closed.
Coptic Christians, who comprise of approximately ten per cent of the country’s population, have long complained of persecution.
Many feel the state does not take their plight seriously enough.
The diocese of Minya echoed this opinion.
Their statement added: “We have been trying to find any place to hold religious rites, while avoiding prohibitions against the (large) movements of the Copts, and potential dangers. Such places could be a hall, a house or even a simple room with poor ventilation. Even that is also prohibited.
“And although the constitution guarantees the right of worship, this right is in reality denied by the personal will of local officials. Often times, the matter has become akin to pursuing the Copts to prevent them from praying.
“In some instances, it has gone to the extent of using force against people and religious leaders.”
“We are…
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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.
“Why is Taylor doing this? Her persona has always been distinct from that of a Miley Cyrus, …
“These 139 individuals are part of the reason the sex trade is alive here in Houston. These men …
People run to Buddhism and Hinduism because they don’t realize this essential truth in the Bible.
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Topic: Prayerlessness Disallowed — Tuesday 31, October 2017.
Memorise: Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. – Matthew 26:41
Read: Mark 13:32-37 (KJV)
32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Bible in One Year: James 1-3, Hosea 8, Hymn: Sing Hymn 2 – What A Friend We Have In Jesus
MESSAGE:
Prayerlessness is a major challenge facing contemporary believers. Many refuse to pray as they ought to because they have become overconfident and proud. The more you pray to God, the less dependent on yourself you become. As young Christians, some people pray quite often. When they became workers in God’s vineyard, they sustained their prayer tempo, but the moment they became pastors, their prayer-life nosedived. Why the decline? It’s because such people began to believe that they could now do things on their own. This is the highway to ruin. Are you praying less after God has elevated you spiritually? If your answer is yes, check yourself very well, you will discover that you now have more faith in yourself to succeed by your effort than by God’s support. This is one reason why God keeps a distance from the proud: He knows if He helps them achieve a feat, at the end, they will not think twice before taking His glory.
Besides pride, another reason for prayerlessness is carelessness. In Matthew 26:41, Jesus said:
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Coming next up: Open Heavens 1 November 2017: Wednesday daily devotional by Pastor Adeboye – Overflowing Laughter
Also, in Mark 13:32-37, the Lord emphasised the need to watch. You cannot afford to be careless. You can’t afford to be cold, lukewarm or carefree in these days that we live in. Praying goes along with watching. You cannot pray effectively if you fail to watch as well. If you watch effectively, it will help to give you prayers direction. You will know what trending issues to lift before God’s throne. You will have some burdens in the place of prayer that will only be lifted after you have prayed through. Similarly, if you watch as you should, you will be able to relate events that are happening around you with the second coming of Jesus Christ. If you are keeping watch, you will be on your guard and on your toes. If you watch, you cannot be asleep. Beloved, this is not the time to sleep but the time to be spiritually awake, alert and prepared. This is the time to pray about virtually everything that crosses our path. It is a time to wholly depend on God, who knows the way, to show us the way in the midst of growing confusion and evil spreading around the world. Wake up! Pray more! Fast more! Watch more! May the Lord guide you in Jesus’ Name.
Prayer Point: Father, please silence everything in me that is working against me having an effective prayer life.
Hymn 2: What A Friend We Have In Jesus
Verse 1:
What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Verse 2:
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Verse 3:
Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge,
Take it to the Lord in prayer;
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer;
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.
iOpenHeavens is the electronic version of the Hard Copy. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.
The U.K. All Party Parliamentary Group has released a report listing 10 of the worst countries for religious freedom.
The report, “Article 18: From Rhetoric to Reality,” found that the countries had violated Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which protects religious liberty.
The countries in the report were:
The report said that nearly 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries with “high” or “very high” levels of restrictions on religious freedoms.
Offenses against Article 18 can include both direct government denial and state failures to protect the right to religious liberty.
In Eritrea, ““there are credible reports of female Christian prisoners being beaten on their wombs, allegedly to prevent them from bearing children,” the report says.
In Egypt, ISIS has killed or injured hundreds of Coptic Christians and the Egyptian government refused to approve licenses to build Christian churches.
In the U.K., Muslim attacks have increased, and in Russia, Jehovah’s Witnesses were banned earlier this year.
Muslims and atheists are being arrests and sometimes killed in Saudi Arabia, and Christians are being arrested in Iran.
The report did not include the…
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Christ church in Alexandria, Virginia told their congregation the plaques of America’s first President and that of the Confederate Robert E. Lee “may create an obstacle to our identity as a welcoming church.”
The plaques currently hang on either side of the altar inside the church and have been there since 1870. Moving them, because of their lack of religious purpose had been discussed before.
Earlier this year there were protests over the future of a Confederate statue in Charlottesville as well as violent rallies by white supremacists and neo-Nazis, prompting the discussion in Alexandria to progress.
They will most likely be moved to somewhere else within the church though. According to CNN, Emily Bryan, the Senior Warden of the church said they would be “in a place that better tells our history”.
A committee will decide the new location in the summer of 2018.
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Prophet Cindy Jacobs is on the ground in Germany to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. She took some time to talk with . about what is going on both in country and the spiritual realm.
What is happening on the ground right now?
It’s very exciting. There’s great anticipation. This…
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Two assistant pastors arrested by the Burma (Myanmar) army last December were sentenced to prison on Friday (Oct. 27) on false charges of unlawful association, defaming the military and spying, sources said.
Pastor Dom Dawng Nawng Latt, 65, received a prison term of four years and three months, and fellow pastor La Jaw Gam Hseng, 35, received two years and three months, according to sources present in court in Lashio town, in Shan state.
The two ethnic Kachin pastors, members of the Kachin Baptist Convention, were charged under the Unlawful Association Act for alleged connections with an ethnic armed group, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), and allegedly spying for it. Nawng Latt was prosecuted under a defamation statute. They deny the charges, which colleagues say are baseless.
Nawn Latt received the additional two years under the defamation charge as the military accused him of criticizing the army while speaking to media.
Pastor Zau Ra, secretary of the Kachin Baptist Convention in Mong Maung town, Shan state, told Morning Star News the two pastors were likely arrested and charged for speaking to media and helping local journalists cover army attacks on a Catholic church building, schools and houses in Shan state in November 2016.
The two pastors took local journalists to take pictures of the damaged St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church building that was bombed by Burma…
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The United Methodist Church’s highest court declined two petitions attempting to get a ruling labeling the denomination’s official stance against homosexuality unconstitutional.
In two memorandums issued last Friday, the United Methodist Judicial Council refused to rule on the requests of the California-Pacific Annual Conference and the Denmark Annual Conference.
At issue was the UMC Book of Discipline’s declaration that homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching.”
In Memorandum No. 1347 and Memorandum No. 1354, the Judicial Council concluded that it did not have the authority to rule on the constitutionality of the “incompatible” language.
“The Judicial Council has no jurisdiction to answer questions from an annual conference that do not relate to annual conference or the work therein,” read Memo 1347.
“There is no…
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