• Ashers Case goes to UK Supreme Court: On Tuesday and Wednesday of this coming week (1-2 May) the Supreme Court will hear the Ashers appeal. A previous appeal upheld the initial court ruling against the bakery. Read more here.

Church Issues

• Pentecost 2018: Day to Reach the Unreached: This year’s Pentecost Sunday (20 May) has been renamed to raise awareness about the number of people worldwide – c. 40% of humanity – who currently have no opportunity to hear the Gospel. Read more here.

World Scene

• 2,000 Germans join ‘kippah marches’ against anti-Semitism: The solidarity marches come as German Jews are warned by their own leaders not to wear kippahs for fear of attacks from Muslim migrants. Read more here.
  
• Czech President pledges diplomatic move to Jerusalem: The three-stage move would culminate in an embassy move – but may face opposition. Read more here.
  
• Google rejects ads that mention Jesus: A Christian publishing house has been informed by Google that their ads would be banned unless all references to Jesus and the Bible were removed. Read more here.
  
• Mass protests in Iran haven’t stopped: Popular uprisings against the Iranian regime caught press attention in December 2017. They have since been forgotten – but they have by no means lost momentum. Read more here.
  
• ISIS bombing in Afghanistan kills 57: The bomber targeted a voter registration centre in Kabul, injuring 119. Women and children were among the dead. Read more here.

Israel & Middle East

• Israel braces for a tense May: several potential escalation points are causing particular concern over the next few weeks. Read more here. Israeli jets have been retained from an Alaskan drill to remain on standby at home.
  
• Move to declassify Palestinian refugees: 51 members of Congress have signed a letter to President Trump as a prelude to a forthcoming bill which, if passed, would reject the UN definition of ‘Palestinian refugee’ as inclusive of descendants. Read more here. Meanwhile, UNWRA has not recouped its funding shortfall and so emergency food aid to Gaza may run out in June. Read more here.
  
• Flash floods in Israel claim lives: A series of tragedies has unfolded in Israel, including the death of nine students travelling in a school bus, after intense storms in the south of the country this week caused flash flooding. Read more here.

Upcoming Events

• 'The Transgenda Agenda' Book Launch and Lecture (London): Wednesday 2 May, London Institute of Contemporary Christianity. Short addresses from the authors followed by a Q&A session. Tickets £10 (£5 concessions), to include a free copy of the book 'The New Normal'. Hosted by Christian Concern. Click here to book or click here to purchase the book.
• March for Life (London): Saturday 5 May, departing Connaught Rooms, London, 1:30pm. Join the annual pro-life march, the theme of which for 2018 is 'Every Life Deserves Love'. Find out more about the march and associated events through the day by clicking here.
• Israel 70: Celebration of Land and Life (London): Wednesday 9 May, Central Hall, Westminster, 7pm. Hosted by Tim Vince, friends including Gordon Pettie, Tunji Adebayo, Jacob Vince, Canon Andrew White. Tickets £12, click here to book.
• Celebrating Israel’s 70^th (London): Saturday 12 May, Emmanuel Centre. Praise and worship, prayer and teaching, hosted by Vision for Israel. Find out more and book tickets 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:

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