Saturday, March 30, 2024

Tomorrow We Celebrate ...

 ... the greatest day in all History!

Nightmare!

What Do You Conclude About Our Climate?


 

Love and Good Works.


 

Birdie.


 

From CSW.

 Everyone should be free to practise their faith without fear

CSW Logo

Hi,

‘He threatened to shoot me if I did not accept Islam. I refused and said if God wants me to die by your bullet, His will is above us.’

These are the words of Father Arsenius, priest of the Al-Masalma Coptic Church in Omdurman, Sudan, which was attacked by RSF gunmen last May.

Moments before his life was threatened, the attackers had shot Father Arsenius’ son in front of him and threatened to do the same to him if he did not accept Islam. In a TV interview after he fled to Egypt he said: ‘[My son] was lying down in front of me and heavily bleeding. I rushed to help him and told them this is my son, but they did not allow me and threatened me to shoot him if I tried to help him.’

Thankfully, the attackers didn’t shoot Father Arsenius. His son was treated in hospital and has now recovered.

But sadly, I hear stories like this all the time. Accounts of people who are threatened, attacked and even killed for their beliefs. 

This Easter, could you give £4 and help people who are being targeted for their beliefs around the world?

Sudan has been in a state of crisis since April 2023 when conflict broke out between two factions of the ruling military junta - the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) – days before they were due to merge as part of a planned transition to democracy.

In the year since then, it is Sudan’s civilians who have suffered the most, experiencing some of the gravest crimes under international law. Christians are particularly vulnerable, with reports of attacks on clergy, the bombing of churches by both warring parties, and the seizure of religious buildings for use as military bases.

It is critical that discrimination and attacks against religious minorities are documented and that these cases are raised in places like the United Nations and the European Union so that people in power can take action.

Make a gift today and play your part in ensuring violations against religious minorities are reported and recorded to ensure future accountability.

As we celebrate Easter, and the eternal hope we have through Christ’s sacrifice, may we remember those in need of justice and be a part of bringing hope to their lives.

Grace and Peace, 

Scot Bower
CEO

P.S. Give £4, or whatever you can, and help bring hope to people suffering for their beliefs around the world.




'Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…' (1 Peter 1:3)


Friday, March 29, 2024

Churches Being Caught Out In A Nasty Trap.

Asylum seeker interest in baptism 'melted away' after being pressed on commitment.

Staff writer  13 March 2024.

Matthew Firth addressing the Home Affairs Select Committee.(Photo: Parliament Live)

A former Church of England priest has claimed that interest in baptism among asylum seekers "melted away" after he asked them to demonstrate their commitment to the church.

Rev Matthew Firth was giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday about his experience as a priest at St Cuthbert's and Holy Trinity in Darlington, where he served between 2018 and 2020 before joining the Free Church of England.

The committee was hearing evidence on asylum seeker conversions to Christianity after it was suggested that churches - and specifically the Church of England - may be complicit in the use of fake conversions to game the system.

Rev Firth said that during his two years at St Cuthbert's, "cohorts" of around six to seven mainly young Iranian and Syrian men were being brought to him for baptism every few weeks.

He told the committee that after his arrival to the church, he honoured baptisms that had already been booked but "pressed a pause button" on any others because he found the numbers "surprising".

"You spot a pattern and you think, hang on, there's something going on here," he said.

He said that after introducing a more "rigorous" process to make sure they were coming to church regularly and getting involved in the life of the church, the numbers showing an interest in baptism "fell off a cliff".

"That was the thing that kind of made the numbers fall off a cliff in a sense because those people kind of melted away really. They weren't really wanting to get involved with the life of the church so much after I requested them to do so," he told the committee.

Speaking later at the hearing, the Bishop of Chelmsford, Guli Francis-Dehqani, denied that the Church of England was allowing asylum seekers to scam the system but said she would like to see clergy guidelines reviewed in the near future.

"It's certainly true that there are some churches that are experiencing a larger number of asylum seekers than others - places like Liverpool and others ... I believe that's largely because that's where asylum seekers are themselves placed," she said.

"Our churches respond to local needs however it presents itself and if it happens to be in an area where there are large numbers of asylum seekers - who incidentally, in the kind of increasingly hostile environment, it's perhaps not surprising that if they find a place of warmth and welcome may well be drawn to it.

"But that's a totally separate issue to saying that we are kind of quickly and easily and freely baptising large numbers in order to scam the asylum process which is properly the responsibility of the government, the Home Office, the courts, the tribunals.

"We need to play our part honestly and truthfully but with that extension of Christian warmth and hospitality and welcome that is our responsibility." CT.

Free Thought And Free Speech? - Well, NOT in The UK!

Judge upholds dismissal of Christian actress over Facebook post about homosexuality

  • Staff writer | Fri 15 Mar 2024.

    An Employment Appeal Tribunal has upheld a previous judgment ruling that a theatre was within the law when it dismissed a Christian actress over a Facebook post that was critical of homosexuality.

  • Blogger: Christians must cease criticising homosexuality and simply switch to warning that God is angered by it and that there are consequences. This will make attacks on evangelicals that little bit harder. If we add that we are explaining this entirely from a standpoint of love and care for these people - in the same way as we would warn a neighbour if we saw that his/her house is on fire - prosecutions and  dismissals would become so much harder.

Junk Science.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJLEGVysy-c

Birdie.




 

Good Friday.

What’s So Good about Good Friday?

Why do we call Good Friday “good,” when it is such a dark and bleak event commemorating a day of suffering and death for Jesus?
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
UPDATEDMAR 27, 2024
What’s So Good about Good Friday?

Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, is the Christian day to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus and His death at Calvary. This Christian holiday is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, and Black Friday.

For Christians, Good Friday is an important day of the year because it celebrates what we believe to be the most momentous weekend in the history of the world. Ever since Jesus died and was raised, Christians have proclaimed the cross and resurrection of Jesus to be the decisive turning point for all creation. Paul considered it “of first importance” that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised to life on the third day, following what God had promised in the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3).

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

On Good Friday, we remember the day Jesus willingly suffered and died by crucifixion as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins (1 John 1:10). Easter follows it, the glorious celebration of the day Jesus was raised from the dead, heralding his victory over sin and death and pointing ahead to a future resurrection for all who are united to him by faith (Romans 6:5).

Why is it called 'Good' Friday?

Still, why call the day of Jesus’ death “Good Friday” instead of “Bad Friday” or something similar? Some Christian traditions take this approach: in German, for example, the day is called Karfreitag, or “Sorrowful Friday.” In English, the origin of the term “Good” is debated: some believe it developed from an older name, “God’s Friday.” Regardless of the origin, the name Good Friday is entirely appropriate because the suffering and death of Jesus, as terrible as it was, marked the dramatic culmination of God’s plan to save his people from their sins.

For the gospel's good news to have meaning for us, we first must understand the bad news of our condition as sinful people under condemnation. The good news of deliverance only makes sense once we see how we were enslaved. Another way of saying this is that it is essential to understand and distinguish between law and gospel in Scripture. We need the law first to show us how hopeless our condition is; then, the gospel of Jesus’ grace brings us relief and salvation.

In the same way, Good Friday is “good” because as terrible as that day was, it had to happen for us to receive the joy of Easter. The wrath of God against sin had to be poured out on Jesus, the perfect sacrificial substitute, for forgiveness and salvation to be poured out to the nations. Without that awful day of suffering, sorrow, and blood at the cross, God could not be both “just and the justifier” of those who trust in Jesus (Romans 3:26). Paradoxically, the day that seemed to be the greatest triumph of evil was actually the death blow in God’s gloriously good plan to redeem the world from bondage.

The cross is where we see the convergence of great suffering and God’s forgiveness. Psalms 85:10 sings of a day when “righteousness and peace” will “kiss each other.” The cross of Jesus is where that occurred, where God’s demands, his righteousness, coincided with his mercy. We receive divine forgiveness, mercy, and peace because Jesus willingly took our divine punishment, resulting from God’s righteousness against sin. “For the joy set before him” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus endured the cross on Good Friday, knowing it led to his resurrection, our salvation, and the beginning of God’s reign of righteousness and peace.

Good Friday marked the day when wrath and mercy met at the cross. That’s why Good Friday is so dark and so Good.

Get your FREE 8-Day Prayer and Scripture Guide - Praying Through the Holy Week HERE. Print your own copy for a beautiful daily devotional leading up to Easter.

When Is Good Friday?

In 2024, Good Friday will be on Friday, March 29th.

God’s Love and Ours. 1 John 4.

God’s Love and Ours. 7)  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows G...