Prayer Alert

The Government is sending mixed messages about whether it will press ahead with plans to redefine marriage. One thing is for sure - they have been rocked by the level of public opposition. Many backbench MPs and one Government minister said redefining marriage was a factor in the parties' poor showing in the local elections. The plans for redefining marriage were not included in the Queen's Speech yesterday. Media reports suggested the Government was putting its plans to redefine marriage on the back burner. Senior politicians made it known privately, and the Chancellor George Osborne strongly hinted to the BBC, that the plans would be put on hold.

Pray: for the voice of reason to be heard as a national campaign against re-defining marriage continues to gain momentum. (Heb.13:4)

More: http://c4m.org.uk/news/

The introduction of web filters to make adults who want to view pornography ‘opt in' is to be considered by the Government. David Cameron has intervened to insist a default block on porn, deactivated only when users make an active choice to have it switched off, is put back on the table. Today he will announce a consultation on whether to introduce automatic filters, or a less stringent system which would mean people would have to make an ‘active choice' on whether or not to view explicit sites when they sign up with an internet service provider. There is growing alarm about the impact of sexual content on the internet on Britain’s children. Research suggests as many as one in three under-tens has seen pornography on the web, while four in every five children aged 14 to 16 admit regularly accessing explicit images and video footage on their home computers. (See Prayer Alert 17-2012)

Pray:for our Prime Minister and the authorities to be able to get a grip of this problem to protect the young. (Ps.12:7)

More:http://www.mediawatchuk.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=460&Itemid=117

Thousands of Baptists from across the UK gathered in London last weekend for the General Assembly of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB), which also celebrated 400 years since the founding of the first British Baptist church. The weekend was spent trying to discern God’s vision for the church going forward. Agu Irukwu the senior pastor of Jesus House, in London, said some churches were too focused on trying to make Jesus and the cross palatable. The church must put Jesus back at the centre of its message he told Baptists. ‘Thank God for advances in theology, for thinkers in the church and for churches that have to be seeker-friendly. But it seems that the more seeker-friendly we get, the less of Jesus we get so when people come to church they are not sure whether they are in church or at a gathering where someone is giving a motivational speech’.

Pray:that the message given by Agu will strike a chord with all churches and that Jesus would be at the heart of what they teach and preach. (Jn.14:6)

More:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/church.needs.more.jesus.and.less.motivational.speaking/29824.htm

Christian Aid has expressed its disappointment after the Queen’s Speech failed to make mention of legislation on aid spending. The Government has pledged to raise the aid budget to 0.7 per cent of gross national income from 2013, but Christian Aid’s chief political adviser, Sol Oyuela, is concerned by the delay to legislating on the commitment. ‘We welcome the Government’s commitment to raising the aid budget to 0.7 per cent from 2013, but we are very disappointed that it has yet to live up to its pledge to legislate on this,’ she said. All three parties promised to make the 0.7 per cent aid commitment a legal obligation in their manifestos at the last election. It was also mentioned in the Coalition Agreement between the Tories and the Lib Dems.
Pray:that our government would keep its pledges and remember those who are needy. (Pr.14:21)
More:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/disappointment.after.queens.speech.neglects.aid/29844.htm