A selection of the week's happenings for your prayers.
Society & Politics
- Tory vice-chair quits over Asia Bibi: Rehman Chishti resigned this week, citing not only the proposed Brexit deal, but also profound disagreement with the UK’s lack of offer of asylum to the persecuted Pakistani Christian. Read more here. Church leaders have joined politicians including Boris Johnson and Sajid Javid in urging the Government to offer Bibi and her family a place of safety. Read more here.
- Calls to gambling helplines up 30% since 2013: It is estimated that there are 430,000 gambling addicts in the UK, with a further 2 million at risk. Hundreds of gamblers commit suicide every year. The Government has deferred fulfilment of its pledge to cut the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals. Read more here.
- Welsh government pledges NI abortions against public will: The Welsh Government has overridden its own consultation to promise free abortions to women from Northern Ireland. 98.3% of consultation participants opposed the move. Read more here.
Church Issues
- Archbishop Welby calls Prince Charles a ‘prophet’: Paying tribute to the Prince of Wales on his 70th birthday, the Archbishop of Canterbury hailed him as a modern-day ‘prophet’ because of his environmental campaigning. Read more here.
World Scene
- 631 still missing after California’s deadliest fire: The devastating wildfire that reduced the town of Paradise to ashes has claimed 63 lives so far with many more still missing. Around 9,700 homes have been destroyed. Read more here and here.
- Merkel joins call for European army: The German Chancellor has joined her French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, in voicing desire for an EU military force. Macron stated last week that protection is needed from “China, Russia and even the United States of America”. Read more here.
- Hate crimes against US Jews up 37% last year: While Jews make up 2% of the US population, anti-Semitic attacks accounted for 58% of faith-based hate crimes in 2017, according to new statistics from the FBI. Read more here.
- New book exposes Germany’s unwillingness to convict Nazis: A British Holocaust historian digs into why lenient sentences were handed to Nazi war criminals and so few were prosecuted for murder, when at least 200,000 were actively involved in killing Jews. Read more here.
Israel & Middle East
- Israel in political crisis over Gaza: Over the weekend Israel was battered with 400+ Hamas shells from Gaza. Civilian complaints to the Israeli government and the resignation of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman have catapulted Israel into an internal political crisis which may lead to early elections. Read more here, here and here.
Upcoming Events
- Christmas Moedim meeting (London): Friday 14 December, 6:30-9:30pm, All Souls Clubhouse (W1T 6QG). To include a telling of the story of Messiah’s birth inspired by the format of a Passover seder. Free/on donation, but bring nibbles to share. Confirm your attendance by emailing Steve Maltz at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
- Day of Prayer for Britain (London): Saturday 5 January, Wembley Arena. Led by David Hathaway. More details to be released soon.
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)
