Marriage petition passes 64,000 …and growing
In less than one week, the national petition for marriage has gathered more than 64,000 signatures. That number only includes those who have signed up online. In addition, people across the nation are signing paper petitions and posting them in. The Coalition for Marriage produced half-a-million paper petition forms for distribution throughout the UK. Reacting to news the online petition passed the 64,000 mark, campaign director Colin Hart said: ‘In just our first week, 64,000 people have signed the campaign’s petition. They are from all walks of life, religious and non religious, but they all share one thing, a belief that the Government should not redefine the current definition of marriage, which has been the bedrock of society for thousands of years’.
Praise: God for the response to this petition and pray that numbers will continue to increase. (Ro.8:31)
More: http://c4m.org.uk/
INSIGHT: Praying for the Olympics
An awful lot of planning has taken place for the security of the Olympic Games. The planning started before we won the bid in 2005 and it has carried on. Last week a mock July-7-style terror attack took place in London, to test responses to attack during Games. Behind the scenes the Government Police and the Church are working together with full programmes of
planning, training and extra recruitment. For insights into how to pray during the months leading up to the Olympic Games go to the ‘More’ link below. For further insights into the pagan roots of the Olympics go to: Click Here
Pray:for Olympic prayer rooms and prayer events to grow in power and number in the coming months.(2Ch.7:13-15)
Info: http://site.prayer-alert.net/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=51&Itemid=93
Mock Jesus but not Mohammed, says BBC boss
The BBC's director general said the broadcaster would never mock Mohammed like it mocks Jesus. He justified the astonishing admission of religious bias by suggesting that mocking Mohammed has the ‘emotional force of grotesque child pornography’. But Jesus is fair game, he said, because Christianity has broad shoulders and fewer ties to ethnicity. Mr Thompson says the BBC would never have broadcast Jerry Springer The Opera – a controversial musical that mocked Jesus – if its target had been Mohammed. He made the remarks in an interview for a research project at the University of Oxford. Mr Thompson said: ‘The point is that for a Muslim, a depiction, particularly a comic or demeaning depiction, of the Prophet Mohammed might have the emotional force of a piece of grotesque child pornography.’ The BBC director general admits Christianity gets tougher treatmen than other religions because it has ‘pretty broad shoulders’.
Pray: for greater understanding that all faiths are important to their followers and all should be treated equally and with respect. (1Pe.2:17)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/well-mock-jesus-but-not-mohammed-says-bbc-boss/
Christian financial advisers welcome review into payday loans
The Association of Christian Financial Advisers (ACFA) has welcomed the Government's decision to investigate payday loans. The Office of Fair Trading is to investigate payday lenders amid claims that they are taking advantage of people in financial difficulty and providing loans without checking that borrowers can afford to repay them. The ACFA is calling for legislation to cap interest rates. The group outlined its concerns in a letter to Chancellor George Osborne last December in which it expressed 'increasing dismay' over the manner in which payday loan companies were allowed to trade. The letter criticised the 'unfair and unreasonable' interest rates charged by lenders. According to the Independent, the typical APR charged by a payday lender is 4,000%. The ACFA is calling upon the Chancellor to introduce legislation to cap interest rates for all personal lending, including unauthorised bank overdrafts. 'There should be no place for the extortion of the desperate and vulnerable.'
Pray: for an end to what amounts to usury targeted at the financially most vulnerable. (Pr.28:8)
