Oklahoma recently decided to allow a Ten Commandments monument on the state Capitol’s lawn. This is the type of thing that typically puts radical atheist activists up in arms, with billboards and lawsuits aimed at removing any reminder of God and His Son from the public square.
It’s hardly the abomination of desolation that Jesus warned about when He taught about signs of the end times (Matt. 24:15). But it’s nevertheless a disturbing sign of how hard antichrist spirits are pushing to push Jesus out of our minds.
Oklahoma recently decided to allow a Ten Commandments monument on the state Capitol’s lawn. This is the type of thing that typically puts radical atheist activists up in arms, with billboards and lawsuits aimed at removing any reminder of God and His Son from the public square.
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The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) has released a comprehensive report proposing reform to Canada’s prostitution laws entitled Out of Business: Prostitution in Canada – Putting an End to Demand. One of the EFC’s goals is the elimination of all forms of sexual exploitation in Canada. To that end, in Out of Business the EFC proposes a Canadian adaptation of the Nordic model of law and policy on prostitution. “A change in law that criminalizes the purchase of sexual services will help reshape attitudes about prostitution, making a stronger statement that in Canada we will not tolerate or condone sexual exploitation,” says Don Hutchinson, EFC Vice-President and General Legal Counsel. “Still, more than that is needed to put an end to sexual exploitation, so in Out of Business we have adapted law and policies that have proven successful elsewhere to work within Canada’s constitutional requirements.” Local sources are reporting that almost 1,000 people have been killed in the last week after fighting broke out between the Seleka rebel coalition and anti-Balaka groups in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR). On 9 December the Red Cross had confirmed 400 deaths in Bangui. However, local eyewitnesses report a number of unburied or uncollected bodies in many parts of the city. Seleka, a predominantly Muslim rebel coalition, took power in a coup in March 2013, suspending the constitution, dissolving the government and National Assembly, and eventually installing one of its leaders, Michael Djotodia, as president. In September, Djotodia officially disbanded Seleka; however many rebels refused to disarm and began sectarian killings, looting and burning villages, with worrying reports in November of an influx of extremists from other countries. The sustained and severe human rights violations eventually resulted in retributive violence following the emergence of anti-Seleka groups commonly referred to as ‘anti–Balaka’ (anti-machete), and largely composed of ex-Seleka members, vigilante villagers and former members of the national army. Duck Dynasty is coming to the big screen next year. Two stars of the popular A&E television series Duck Dynasty will make their big screen debut in the spring of 2014. Willie Robertson and his wife, Korie, are featured in the new movie God's Not Dead. God's Not Dead is a new Christian movie about faith and the lengths one young man will go to defend his belief in God. his morning TIME magazine named Pope Francis its person of the year, hailing the head of the Catholic Church as a new voice of global conscience since taking office in March. He is the first non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years, the first Latin American head of the Church and a leading voice for the dispossessed. TIME says he took on a Church beset by scandal and signs of deep internal dysfunction, but there are signs that his popularity is revitalizing it. TIME managing editor Nancy Gibbs said they chose Francis "for pulling the papacy out of the palace and into the streets, for committing the world's largest church to confronting its deepest needs and for balancing judgment with mercy." The plight of Christians around the world was discussed in a three-hour debate at the Houses of Parliament in London Tuesday. Members of the House of Commons were told that the persecution of Christians is increasing, that one Christian is killed about every 11 minutes around the world, and that Christianity is the “most persecuted religion globally.” A long list of countries in which life as a Christian is most difficult was discussed, including Syria, North Korea, Eritrea, Nigeria, Iraq and Egypt. Coptic Solidarity is extremely alarmed that the Egyptian committee tasked with constitutional revisions may be succumbing to intense pressure by Islamists to even further enshrine Sharia as the basis of the constitution. The effect will be only to institutionalize discrimination and persecution of all religious minorities such as Copts, Baha'i, Shia Muslims, and Jews. Research presented in the The Price of Freedom Denied, and published by PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life confirm that less women's empowerment, less economic development, more terrorism, conflict, violent extremism, and political instability are all found in places with less religious freedom. This was clearly demonstrated in Egypt under Morsi's Islamist-agenda rule. Shining Star is ramping-up its sixth Christian vocal competition for early 2014. The competition is open to budding Christian solo artists who have not recorded an album that is currently for sale. All contestants perform publicly, where they are judged by well known artists including Ali Matthews, Dan Macaulay, Marcel Preston and Joel Auge. "The challenges [contestants] face can be quite wide depending on their past experience of performing live in front of an audience," says event producer Eric Spath. "We see the experience as a growing and maturing period for each contestant with many coming back from previous years stronger each time." Last week—for the second and third time—some nefarious false prophetic voice hijacked my photos, my name and my very words and set out to do serious damage to believing saints in the name of Jesus. The experience got me thinking about how false prophetic voices are actively merchandising sincere believers looking for a breakthrough online, on TV and radio, and in churches. Here’s the background: Some hijacking merchandiser created two fake Facebook accounts with my face, name, books and prophetic words plastered all over them. This false prophetic voice then started sending friend invitations to people who were commenting on my real page. (Click here to see my real Facebook page.) One woman—we’ll call her “Sally” to protect her identity—shared her experience with me: An expert on human rights in China suggests that country's latest edict claiming it is easing up on the one-child policy shouldn't be believed. In most instances, couples in the People's Republic of China can only have one baby – but there are some exceptions. China now says it's changing the policy to permit two children, but only under certain circumstances – such as at least one parent being an only child. Previously, both parents had to be an only child to qualify for the exemption. |
Walter Blackwood
Associate Pastor with The Bridge Community of Faith in Kelowna BC Canada. Archives
May 2017
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