MP suggests archbishop led delegation to ask for mercy for imprisoned Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Labour’s Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Kilburn) used an urgent question in the Commons to raise concerns over her constituent Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, including how the Australian government was able to secure the release of dual British-Australian citizen Jolie King.

 

Ms King, a dual British-Australian citizen, and her Australian boyfriend Mark Firkin were returned to Australia last week, some three months after being arrested.

The couple, who had been blogging and vlogging on their extended journey across Asia, were arrested on spying charges after flying a drone near a military base, Iranian officials confirmed.

MPs have now called for the UK Government to do “everything it possibly can” to secure Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release, with some even calling for a religious delegation led by the Archbishop of Canterbury to appeal to Iranian leaders.

Labour former minister Chris Bryant said the UK should appeal to the religious beliefs of those in power in Iran.

He asked whether the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York or the former archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, could lead a religious delegation to Iran to “see whether there might be a way of them asking that the quality of mercy be not strained”.

Foreign Office minister Andrew Murrison said the idea has been discussed, but would be “a bit of a challenge” if any religious delegation went with…

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Church youth groups urged to tackle loneliness as NHS starts gaming addiction treatment

Adam Brennan’s comments come after the NHS announced on Tuesday it is opening a clinic to help young people who are seriously addicted to computer games.

GPs will be able to refer 13 to 24 year-olds in England to get help from professionals over Skype.

 

Brennan said as a teenager he would spend around 12 hours a day on video games and noticed that the problem stemmed from feeling isolated.

“We all have a longing to belong, but I felt kind of isolated.

“My childhood wasn’t exactly the best. My parents got divorced when I was very young and there was a lot of abuse in the house. For me, video games provided that outlet to just escape from reality.”

Brennan said the more he played, the more he became isolated.

“I started to lose track of what was real from what was just fantasy. You’re kind of almost able to become someone else in these video games and it’s fine when you’re playing it, but when you go back out into society, it’s a bit of a shock to the system because you no longer have that illusion of power that you have in these video games.

“You have to face real life and I think it got to the point where it became too much and I had to reassess whether or not I wanted to keep doing this.”

Brennan said when he became a Christian he gave gaming cold turkey for a few years and now plays occasionally without any problem.

He explained that learning about his “identity in…

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Texas cheerleader saves choking boy: The motivating power of gratitude

Tyra Winters is a cheerleader at Rockwall High School east of Dallas. She was riding on a homecoming parade float when she saw a desperate mother and a little boy in trouble.

She later told a reporter, “I see the kid. I see a little bright red face and his mom’s holding him up, begging for help, screaming, asking ‘someone help me someone help me.’” Tyra received CPR training in the eighth grade because her mother works in the medical field. So she jumped off the float, ran to the boy, and gave him three strong back thrusts that made him spit up the candy he was choking on. 

The incident happened on September 18, but the mother, Nicole Hornback, brought her two-year-old son, Clarke, to Winter’s school last week to thank her. “I commend her for being a teenager and being trained,” Hornback said. “She saved my baby.” 

The latest on Alex Trebek 

It’s not hard to find challenges in the news today. For instance, a woman managed to board a Delta Airlines jet with no ID or boarding pass. An investigation into the security breach is ongoing and the FBI has been notified. 

Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek says his ongoing battle with pancreatic cancer may lead to the end of his run as host of the game show. In other health news, a hospital in Pennsylvania has announced that it will transfer some babies to nearby medical facilities after three premature infants contracted a bacterial infection and died

Isaiah 9:2 describes a day when “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” In response, Frederick Buechner writes:

In one respect if in no other this metaphor of Isaiah’s is a very relevant one for us and our age because we are also, God knows, a people who walk in darkness. There seems little need to explain. 

If darkness is meant to suggest a world where nobody can see very well—either themselves, or each other, or where they are heading, or even where they are standing at the moment; if…

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Bible tops list of books Brits lie about reading

A survey from Sky Arts found 56 per cent of people claim they’re better read than they really are.

In the study of 2,000 people, 31 per cent said they lied about the books they’ve read to seem smarter, and 37 per cent said they did so in order to join in a conversation about a particular book.

 

The book second in line in that’s most fibbed about it To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Phil Edgar-Jones, director of Sky Arts, said: “We say we are a nation of readers, but it turns out we’re also a nation of fibbers when it comes to getting stuck into a book.”

The survey also revealed that people put specific books on their book shelves to seem cultured, and post photos of them holding an “intellectual” book on social media that they’ve never read.

Here’s the full list of the top 20 books Brits lie about reading:

1. The Bible 12%

2. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee 10%

3. Romeo And Juliet by William Shakespeare 10%

4. 1984 by George Orwell 9%

5. Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen 8%

6. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 7%

7. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville 7%

8. War And Peace by Leo Tolstoy 6%

9. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson 6%

10. The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain 5%

11. A Brief History Of Time by Steven Hawking 5%

12. Crime And Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky 5%

13. The Odyssey by Homer 5%

14. The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway 4%

15. Lolita by…

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Five Church Membership Models

Podcast Episode #578

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Every church has varying membership requirements. In today’s podcast Thom and Sam discuss membership classes and the strengths and weaknesses of church expectations.

Some highlights from today’s episode –

  • Church membership is the lived out metaphor of being a part of the body in 1 Corinthians 12.
  • Follow up is critical and often the missing component of assimilation.
  • The membership class is the starting line and follow up is the next immediate step.
  • If people come to a class to learn about membership, they expect you to follow up with the expectations you set.
  • If you can’t tell someone in an hour your church’s expectations, then you should be more succinct in what you are communicating.

Five Membership Models:

  1. Membership through an entry class without significant follow-up
  2. Membership by request and affirmation
  3. Membership through an entry class with significant follow-up
  4. Membership renewal
  5. Avoidance of membership terminology

Resources mentioned in today’s podcast


Episode Sponsors

Vanderbloemen has been serving churches for nine years, but did you know that Vanderbloemen also serves Christian schools, nonprofits, and Christian businesses? So if you’re listening, and you know a Christian school, nonprofit, or values-based business that is hiring, contact our friends at Vanderbloemen for your staffing needs.

For more information, visit Vanderbloemen.com.


The…

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Star Wars Children’s Series Features Gay Couple: ‘We’re Proud of That,’ Producer Says

Star Wars Children’s Series Features Gay Couple: ‘We’re Proud of That,’ Producer Says



The Star Wars universe now has an openly gay couple on screen, although it involves characters in a children’s animated series instead of the iconic live-action films.


Star Wars Resistance executive producer and director Justin Ridge told media members last week that alien characters Orka and Flix are a gay couple – thus confirming a fan theory from Season 1 when the two characters traveled together to visit Flix’s mother. 


The Emmy-nominated Star Wars Resistance airs on Disney Channel and Disney XD. Season 2 debuted this month. It features CGI animation and is rated TV-Y7.


“I think it’s safe to say they’re an item,” Ridge said, as first reported by the Coffee with Kenobi podcast. “They’re absolutely a gay couple and we’re proud of that.”


Actor Bobby Moynihan, who voices Orka, said he knew his character was gay throughout Season 1.


“Oh, I’m so happy we’re allowed to say it,” Moynihan said. “I have had a sentence prepared for a year-and-a-half if someone would finally ask me. 


“I would say, ‘All I can say is when Flix says, ‘I love you,’ Orca says, ‘I know.’”


The line is a reference to a conversation between Han Solo and Princess Leia in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back.


The group One Million Moms criticized Disney, saying the company “is sacrificing children’s…

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Christian Florist Sued for Turning Down Same-Sex Couple Appeals Case to U.S. Supreme Court

Christian Florist Sued for Turning Down Same-Sex Couple Appeals Case to U.S. Supreme Court



A 74-year-old Christian florist in Washington is fighting for her religious freedom by asking the Supreme Court to once again take up her case.


Barronelle Stutzman, the owner of Arlene’s Flowers, told a long-time gay customer that she could not arrange flowers for his wedding because of her religious convictions. 


“We hugged and I told Rob about other florists he could use,” Stutzman shared with Fox News.


But several weeks later, the Attorney General with the ACLU sued Stutzman for refusing services.


“It was exceptionally hurtful to our clients,” Jack Ewart, attorney for the same-sex couple, said to K5 News. “And after thinking about it for some time, they got in touch with the ACLU of Washington, who got in touch with us. We filed a lawsuit under the Washington law against discrimination and the consumer protection act.”


The court agreed with the same-sex couple in 2017, as did the Washington Supreme Court when the decision was appealed. Stutzman appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but failed when the court pushed the case back to the state level. She’s trying again.


“Your religious liberty is in danger if I lose mine,” she wrote in an opinion piece for Fox News.


She continued: “In June, my state Supreme Court reaffirmed what it said just over two years ago: that I must use my skills as a creative professional…

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Thousands Show Up for Kanye West’s Sunday Service in Salt Lake City

Thousands Show Up for Kanye West’s Sunday Service in Salt Lake City



At least 7,000 people filled in a Salt Lake City outdoor mall on Saturday to listen and participate in Kanye West’s “Sunday Service,” according to Deseret News.


As part of his tour around the country, West has brought free worship services featuring a choir to several cities. He only sang “Jesus Walks,” one of his biggest hits, during the service, and used the rest of his time to preach on topics such as social media and race.


“Do not read comments on the internet,” he said to the crowd. “These people don’t know you like that. Social media is designed to make you think slower … They want to slow you down and control you.”


“I ain’t never make a decision based only on my color,” he continued. “That’s a form of slavery—mental slavery. I ain’t drink from the white person foundation. … I ain’t playing with them. All these mind controllers, the media, all of these mind controllers. I find that wherever Christ is where I’ve got my mind at. We find that the love of Christ is where I’ve got my mind back.”


According to CBN, the rapper even defended his support of President Donald Trump, arguing that the Republicans freed the slaves.


West’s new album, called “Jesus is King”, will feature several worship songs imploring listeners to focus on Jesus and religion.


“By having the luxury of having an amazing choir around me…

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Israeli Research Team Discovers Massive Bronze Age City, Dub it ‘New York’ of the Middle East

Israeli Research Team Discovers Massive Bronze Age City, Dub it ‘New York’ of the Middle East



Israeli archaeologists have discovered a sprawling 5000-year-old city so enormous that it has been dubbed the “New York” of the Bronze Age.


The massive town, which was uncovered during an excavation funded by the Netivei Israel Company, was located in northern Israel’s Ein Iron area as workers prepared to undergo roadwork construction in the area. It is thought to have been home to some 6,000 people and featured public roads, neighborhoods, a ritual temple and fortifications, according to the BBC.


“This is the Early Bronze Age New York of our region; a cosmopolitan and planned city where thousands of inhabitants lived,” the excavation directors explained in a statement.


“There is no doubt that this site dramatically changes what we know about the character of the period and the beginning of urbanization in Israel.”


The city is roughly 161 acres and offers researchers a distinct insight into the lives and culture of the people living in the area at the time. Indeed, amongst the treasure trove of ancient artifacts was a huge stone basin for liquids, thought to be used during religious ceremonies in the temple courtyard.


“What we are calling a temple is a very unique building, we don’t know of anything like it,” said Israeli Antiquities Authority archaeologist, Dina Shalem, according to Bloomberg.


“Even in our wildest…

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NFL’s Benjamin Watson Shares How He Uses His Career to Bring Glory to God: ‘We Do Exist for His Glory’

NFL’s Benjamin Watson Shares How He Uses His Career to Bring Glory to God: ‘We Do Exist for His Glory’



NFL player Benjamin Watson told the senior pastor at a church in Rhode Island that his faith has made a significant impact on his life.


“We attach our value to our performance, and God is saying ‘No, you have value because I’ve created you in my own image and you have dignity because of that,’” he said, according to CBN News.


Watson was speaking with senior pastor Jordan Boyce as part of an interview at the church. In the interview, Boyce asked the football player how he uses his platform as an NFL star to point to Jesus.


“I think the biggest part of that is realizing that we must decrease, and he must increase,” Watson said. “We do exist for His glory, God created man and woman to glorify Him. Our ultimate purpose in life is to glorify God. He’s given us all talents and abilities, which we use, but ultimately, He created us to glorify Himself because He is God and He can do that.


“Ultimately we need to realize that. While we do exist to make Him famous and glorify Him, we also realize on the flip side that He doesn’t need us. That we are part of a larger body, globally, internationally, and it’s simply our turn to carry the torch,” he added.


He said Christians are meant to “carry the torch” in the same way the disciples and early church members did.


He also spoke about the idea of celebrities and…

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