Church Issues

• Church of England affiliation at record low: The British Social Attitudes survey finds that in 15 years the number declaring allegiance has halved, from 31% to 14%, dropping to just 2% among those aged 18-24. Read more here.
  
• Bishops adopt IHRA definition: The bishops have formally endorsed the full IHRA definition of anti-Semitism without addition or amendment, on behalf of the Church of England. Read more here. This follows Labour’s adoption of the definition last week with a caveat added by the NEC which some say nullifies the definition. Read more here and here.

World Scene

• Almost 2 million helped by US pro-life centres last year: A new report analysing the work of 2,600 pro-life centres shows the impact of support services including ultra-sounds, parenting classes and post-abortion support. Read more here. This positive report stands in stark contrast to Theresa May’s pledge at the end of August of £200 million funding for contraception and abortion in Africa. Read more here.
  
• Trump closes PLO office in Washington: US/Palestinian relations have hit a new low as the Trump administration ordered the closure of the Palestinian diplomatic base in Washington. Since 2015, the US has had a congressional obligation to shut the office if Palestinian officials ever target Israel at the International Criminal Court - which happened this week. Read more here and here.
  
• China’s new surveillance ‘credit’ system: By 2020 Chinese authorities will have installed a system to monitor the behaviour of citizens closely and reward or punish them based on an overall score. The Economist has described it as “the world’s first digital totalitarian state”. Read more here. China’s crack-down on believers also continues, with churches being raided and closed, Bibles being burned and Christians being pressured to renounce their faith. Read more here.

Israel & Middle East

• Idlib assault intensifies: Assad has reportedly sanctioned the use of chlorine gas in the final major assault of the civil war. 30,000 have already been displaced this month. Read more here and here. The US has promised a ‘much stronger’ response than last time should chemical weapons be used, and Germany is reportedly considering joining the Western military response. Read more here.
  
• Iran continues nuclear and military expansion: Iran continues its threats to increase nuclear enrichment if the EU cannot save the nuclear deal, despite promises of a ‘direct’ and ‘military’ response from both Israel and the USA. Netanyahu criticised the EU this week for its policy of ‘appeasement’ towards Iran. Meanwhile, Iran has launched a missile strike on Iraqi Kurdistan and is expanding its presence in Pakistan in an apparent shadow proxy war with Saudi Arabia. Read more here.
  
• US peace plan to include rights for Palestinians in other countries: Early in 2019 Trump is reportedly planning to announce a citizenship plan for Palestinian ‘refugees’ in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, incentivising their permanent settling and renouncing of any ‘right to return’. Read more here.

Upcoming Events

• European Creation Conference (Central London): 21-22 September. Creation Ministries International’s two-day conference including fascinating presentations on a range of subjects from 16 speakers, as well as a youth programme. Emmanuel Centre, Westminster. Full price £20, day tickets £12, kids go free. Click here for full details and to book, or call 01162 848999 (normal office hours).
• Foundations 10 (Devon): 29 October-2 November. Theme: Further into the Lion’s Den. Join David Andrew and Steve Maltz for Hebraic teaching and worship at the Sidholme Hotel, Sidmouth. From £280pp. Click here to find out more and for booking information.

Recommended Sources

At Prophecy Today UK we are aware that the world is moving very quickly and it is difficult to keep up with all the latest developments – especially when the material circulated by our mainstream media is increasingly far from reality and definitely not devoted to a biblical perspective!

Though we are not a news service, we want to help keep you informed by passing on updates and reports as we are led. This will be a selective, not an exhaustive, round-up, which we hope will be helpful for your prayers. Click here to browse our News archive.

We also recommend the following news services for regular updates from a Christian perspective:

• Christian Concern (UK)
• Christian Institute (UK)
• JNN News (Barry and Batya Segal, Israel)
• Worthy News (Israel)
• Family Watch International
• Barnabas Fund
• Kehila News (Israel)