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News in Brief, 27 October 2017

27 Oct 2017 General
News in Brief, 27 October 2017

Some of the week's happenings to inform your prayers.

 

Society & Politics

  • The 6 commandments? A recent YouGov poll shows that most Britons – including a significant proportion of Christians – now think that four of the 10 commandments are no longer important today. Read more here.
  • 1 in 4 Anglican churches have no children: The new figures from the CofE assessed congregations through October 2016. The majority of churches reported three children or less attending worship services. Read more here.
  • BBC abortion documentary shows ‘brazen pro-abortion bias’: The programme, which was supposedly ‘fair’ and ‘impartial’, spun selective figures and suppressed others in order to argue for decriminalisation of abortion. Read more here.

Church Issues

  • North Korean pastor shares about life inside prison camps: Choi Kwanghyuk now lives in the US after being granted asylum and has opened up in a recent interview about what life is like for Christians in North Korea. An international day of prayer for North Korea, held in Westminster this week, urged Christians to pray against the regime.
  • USA to bypass UN to help persecuted church: US funding for persecuted Christians in the Middle East will no longer be routed through UN bodies, which have a track record of bias and inefficiency, but sent directly through USAID. Read more here.

World Scene

  • Journalists told to avoid referring to transsexual’s birth gender: The Associated Press has hold its journalists to avoid saying transsexuals were ‘born’ into a specific gender. Read more here. Meanwhile, a Daily Telegraph columnist has spoken out against the power of the LGBT lobby in Government.
  • Puerto Rico still in the dark: Five weeks after Hurricane Maria, the island is still without power and residents are being forced to collect water from roadside streams as water plants are still out of commission. Read more here. Samaritan’s Purse are running an urgent appeal for donations.
  • Vandalised Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia restored: After about 275 headstones were damaged in February, local volunteers helped clean up and overwhelming worldwide donations have more than paid for restoration. Read more here.

Israel & Middle East

  • Hezbollah to withdraw from Syria, preparing for conflict with Israel: The proposed 2018 withdrawal, announced in Lebanese media, will allow the terror group to concentrate on preparing for war along Israel’s northern border. Read more here.
  • Iraq announces final offensive against Islamic State: The area along the Syrian border will be the final patch of Iraqi land to be taken back from the terror group. ISIS still has a presence in Syria but its stronghold in Raqqa fell to US-backed forces last week. Many of ISIS’s 40,000 fighters have started to head home to their native countries. Meanwhile, an Iraqi pastor has spoken out about what life is like for Christians in the region.

 

Upcoming Events

  • Commemorating 50 years of the abortion act, London: 2-5pm, Saturday 28 October, Emmanuel Centre, Westminster. Join CARE to commemorate the 8.8 million lives lost since the Abortion Act was introduced in 1967. The event will include speakers, music, theatre and prayer. Attendance is free but registration is requested – click here for more details.
  • ‘Explore Hebrew’ day course, Oxfordshire: 10am-3:30pm, Saturday 28 October, Wantage. Intensive introductory course to the Hebrew language, for beginners. Led by Melissa Briggs. Registration required by 21 October and spaces are limited. £28 for the day - register by contacting This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
  • 'Balfour 100' Centenary celebration, London: 7:30-10pm on 7 November, the Royal Albert Hall. A wonderful evening of music and drama celebrating the Balfour Declaration. Tickets from £10 - click here for more details and to book.
  • Foundations North Conference, Matlock: 24-26 November, Willersley Castle Hotel. Theme: The Hebraic Jesus. Speakers to include Prophecy Today's Paul Luckraft. For more details and to book, click here.
 

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: