General
A selection of the week's happenings for your prayers.
Society & Politics
- Approval for same-sex relationships drops: The British Social Attitudes survey suggests that there has been a dip in public support for same-sex sexual relations, down 2% on 2017 (an all-time high), prompting Christian Concern to suggest we might have reached ‘peak rainbow’. Read more here.
- Pro-life SNP MP threatened, fears de-selection: Scottish MP Lisa Cameron has received a barrage of abuse and fears deselection after daring to vote against the legislation imposing abortion on Northern Ireland. Read more here. A Catholic Bishop has written to Nicola Sturgeon on Cameron’s behalf.
- Library bans Christian playgroup: A West Sussex library has banned a church-run playgroup from meeting there, after a complaint was made about them singing songs about God. Read more here.
- Abortion Act author regrets number of abortions: Lord Steel, who introduced the 1967 Act, has said that he ‘never imagined’ how many abortions it would allow, and is ‘increasingly drawn’ to a reduced upper limit. However, he still supported the recent move to impose legalised abortion on Northern Ireland. Read more here.
World Scene
- Sarah Halimi murderer may be let off: In 2017, a 65-year-old French Jewish widow was viciously murdered by a Malian Muslim man in a vehemently anti-Semitic attack. This week, a preliminary court investigation deemed him not culpable for his behaviour because he had smoked marijuana hours before the murder. Read more here.
- Canadian screenings of Unplanned proceed despite death threats: Pro-abortion campaigners have been levelling violent threats at cinema owners and their families, causing some to drop their planned screenings of the film. One chain has stood firm. Read more here.
- US holds largest ever religious freedom summit: The three-day event held by the US State Department this week featured testimonies from survivors of persecution around the world. Read more here. In the same week, a quote from St Augustine was temporarily banned by Facebook as ‘hate speech’. Read more here.
- Ilhan Omar introduces pro-BDS resolution: Democratic Rep. Omar, who Trump described this week as one of “the four horsewomen of the apocalypse”, has a history of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel rhetoric. The resolution is in support of the anti-Israel boycott movement, prompting some to ask whether or not Omar will be welcomed to Israel on her trip planned for later this year. Read more here.
Israel & Middle East
- US Navy ship shoots down Iranian drone: Gulf tensions remain high as the USS Boxer shot down an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week. Iran is also suspected of seizing a foreign oil tanker with its crew of 12, which, if true, would be the latest in a string of regional provocations. Read more here. Also this week, Britain has brought forward its sending of a second warship to the Gulf. Read more here.
- Bibi becomes Israel’s longest-serving PM: This weekend Netanyahu overtakes David Ben-Gurion to become Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister. Read more here.
Events
- 'I Am John Wesley' performance, Saturday 31 August, Lincolnshire: A free Gospel-centred play by Sh'ma Kingdom Drama, using drama and dance to tell the story of the Wesley brothers. Broughton Village Hall. Click here to find out more.
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 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)
For regular news briefings about Israel, the Jewish News Syndicate is also recommended.
