The boat is 70 metres long, open to the public every day and designed by Aad Peters, a Dutch TV and theatre producer.

Inside is a museum, telling famous stories from the Bible, such as the judgement of Solomon, Moses and Adam and Eve, through woodcraft.

It was meant to visit Germany but made a last minute change of direction to England, explained Mr Peters.

He said: “I thought that we have to go to England because I want to make a statement that you guys are not alone. We’re here as friends, as brothers, and the Ark is also a sign of hope.”

“What makes me sad about England is the mistrust which creates all the discussions. You don’t see each other anymore. You get into ‘this one on this side’ and ‘that guy and that side’. We have the story here on the ark from King Solomon and I always believe that if the Bible doesn’t give a picture to you today, why should I read the Bible?”

Mr Peters said the story of Solomon threatening to kill a baby in order to find out who the baby’s true mother was, found in 1 Kings 3, is a challenge to today’s Remainers and Leavers to simply get along with each other as well as the rest of Europe.

“In the Brexit stuff, don’t forget to love each other, don’t forget to see each other because you might ‘kill the baby’. That Bible story is an amazing story, even in this complication of England or the relationship between each other.

“I’m not…

The number is comparable to the capacity of a sold-out gig at The O2 arena in London.

Centrepoint collated the data after talking to local councils about the number of 16 to 25-year-olds at risk of not having a roof over their heads this winter.

Mark Brennan, London Catalyst team leader for Christian homeless charity Housing Justice told Premier one of the problems comes down to a lack of housing.

He says the Government has continually failed to provide solutions for the country’s growing homeless population.

“There’s been plenty of lip service – all kinds of declarations and promises have been made that just haven’t come through, which is obviously tragic.”

He went on to say that although the issue of “conspicuous rough sleepers” needs to be addressed, this is just the “tip of the iceberg”.

“The bigger issue is that below the waterline is hidden homelessness,” Brennan said.

“If you look at documents and reports like the homelessness monitor, for example, they claim about 3 million people in England are hidden homeless,” he continued.

“These are people that might have a roof over their head sporadically but they haven’t got a home. They haven’t got the support network behind them in order to sustain the accommodation.”

Figures from Centrepoint found that 33 per cent of homeless young people have spent the night in a park, 27 per cent have slept in a tent and 10 per…

Filmed in front of 1,000 people at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa in California the debate is the latest episode to be released as part of The Big Conversation debate series and also featured Oxford Professor of Mathematics, Dr John Lennox. Rubin’s comments may come as a surprise to his many social media followers who have heard him state that he was an atheist.

“I’d had a series of atheists on [my show] in a row, and then people online just kept saying that I was an atheist. And then I just said it one day… it didn’t mean anything to me one way or another.” However, he went on to describe how he changed his mind recently following a period of reflection saying, “One of the thoughts that I kept having was that: I’m not an atheist. I did this live stream where I said that I just don’t like the word atheist – it doesn’t fit what I believe… I got a lot of hate for that one, because the atheists, they don’t like a converted person either.”

The host of The Rubin Report says he has been impacted by his friendship with well-known Canadian psychologist Jordan B. Peterson and that his writings were the catalyst for his beliefs to begin to shift. He commented “I’m a better person today than I was before I started this journey with Jordan, and that doesn’t mean I subscribe to the Church of Jordan Peterson –it’s just that this guy has…

The Church received complaints about Rev Richard Cameron’s social media use on Wednesday.

He tweeted in September that “homosexual behaviour is a sin” and “allowing children to change their gender is wicked”.

He also tweeted: “Christ has the power to help and change anyone. Obviously many gays hate this because want to carry on in their perversion.”

On top of that, the minister shared a series of controversial views on Islam, describing terrorism as “a problem Islam needs to deal with”, a full face veil as “oppressive and unBritish” and the prophet Muhammad as “a violent man”.

The Labour Party pointed out the tweets after Rev Cameron branded Jeremy Corbyn a “terrorist sympathiser” as he was entering the Heart of Scotstoun community centre in Glasgow on Wednesday.

The Church of Scotland rebuked the minster for his statements and said it would be reviewing complaints about the his comments.

In an update on Friday, a Church spokesperson said Rev Cameron has been suspended.

“In accordance with our procedures Rev Richard Cameron has been administratively suspended,” the spokesperson said.

“This is to allow us to carry out an enquiry in relation to the incident which took place earlier this week and the subsequent complaints about his social media use.”

 Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and…

It’s been reported Sheeran planned to use the proposed church building as a private venue for friends and family wanting to hold weddings and christenings there.

However, according to The Daily Mail, his local parish council has said the building would need to be accessible to the public for at least three years before it’s licensed and stated that the 28-year-old’s current plans are illegal.

Dennington Parish Council Clerk Lydia Kirk said: “The applicant’s statement of need describes the use of the ancillary building as a potential venue for marriages, christenings etc. for family and close friends.

“The parish council notes that additional licenses would be required under the Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Approved Premises) Regulations 2005 which would require the licensed premises to be accessible and available for public use for a period of three years.

“As such, this proposed use would be out-with the scope of the current application which is for a private use ancillary building only.”

The Daily Mail reports the proposed church would have a “sweeping boat-shaped feel with a leaf-shaped roof and a cone rather than a spire”.  The building would also have stained glass windows and a chapel with a 48 ft round tower.

Donald Insall Associates,  Sheeran’s planning agent for the project, said: “It would address an important need for a private…

Camagüey state authorities summoned Ricardo Fernandez Izaguirre on Tuesday and held him incommunicado for 29 hours.

Izaguirre’s wife, Yusleysi Gil Mauricio asked about the charges against him and was reportedly “threatened and insulted” by three state agents, and told her husband would be “judged for being a counter-revolutionary”.

Police refused to give any further information relating to Izaguirres’ detainment or well-being after family had heard nothing about his case since he was taken into custody.

Speaking to religious freedom charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) upon his release, he explained that he was held in a windowless cell that was “too small and uncomfortable for someone of my size.”

Izaguirres’ glasses were taken away from him and he was consistently transferred between his “intensely hot cell and an extremely cold interrogation room.”

According to CSW, he was repeatedly threatened by various officials, including a Lieutenant Colonel and a Major throughout his interrogation.

Izaguirre, who has documented over 60 violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) this year, was previously detained for four days in July, after meeting with members of the Ladies in White movement – who have been forcibly detained and prevented from attending church services and other religious activities by state authorities.

The Cuban government has ramped up…

According to court documents in a federal court in the state of Kentucky, Ben Hart, who identifies as an atheist, applied for the license plate in 2016 but was denied.

Back then, the state transportation department said the request went against its anti-discrimination guidelines.

After getting legal support from the Kentucky American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Hart challenged the decision in U.S. District Court in Frankfort and won.

A judge ruled that “vanity plates” are considered private speech which is protected by the US First Amendment.

The judge ruled that the state of Kentucky has violated Hart’s rights by rejecting his request for the license plate.

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.