NewsWatch informs you about current events so that you can pray effectively .

Your prayer today has the power to impact the headlines of tomorrow .

Kurdistan opens massive church for displaced Christians Christians in the Kurdish town of Ainkawa will be able to attend mass after the government opened a massive church with seating for over 1,000 people . The Church of St . Petrous and Pols , one of the largest churches in the Middle East , was opened in summer after about eight years of construction .

While the church is not completely finished , and while only the prayer hall has been completed , it is expected to accommodate as many as 1,300 people . “ When finished this will be one of the biggest such projects in the Middle East . It can accommodate 1,300 parishioners at one time ,” said Khalid Jamal , head of Christian Affairs department at the Kurdistan Regional Government ( KRG ) religious affairs ministry .

The foundation stone was laid in 2009 , and the necessary funds for the construction of the church amounting to $ 4 million were released by the KRG religious affairs ministry in 2013 .

Source : christiantimes . com

Archaeologists find more evidence of Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem Israeli archaeologists recently discovered 2,600-year-old artefacts they say offer further concrete evidence of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem around 586 B . C . The Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery just daysbefore Tisha B ’ Av , a Jewish fast day commemorating the anniversary of the destruction of both the First Temple by the Babylonians and the 2nd Temple by the Romans in the year 70 .

Among the most important finds were dozens of storage jars , several of them with handles stamped with the image of a petalled rose , or rosette . “ These seals are characteristic of the end of the First Temple Period and were used for the administrative system that developed towards the end of the Judean dynasty ,” according to dig directors Joe Uziel and Ortal Chalaf .

Source : religionnews . com

Government moves closer to enforcing pornography age checks The government has moved closer to enforcing age verification for the use of online pornography in the UK . Ministers have announced it ’ ll bring about the change from next spring . Under new powers contained in the Digital Economy Act , which passed through Parliament earlier this year , a regulator will be able to block porn websites that fail to show that they are denying access to under-18s , for instance by demanding credit card details .

Digital economy minister Matt Hancock has now signed an order allowing the designation of the regulator , expected to be the British Board of Film Classification , to put the new protections into effect from April next year .

Source : premier . org . uk

Conservative Evangelical group speak of alternative ‘ structures ’ to rival C of E A group of disaffected conservative Evangelicals has expressed a wish for an alternative Anglican structure in Britain . In a statement issued in July , the group — of which several members no longer belong to the C of E — expresses dismay at recent decisions by the General Synod about sexuality , and reveals that they have been meeting to discuss how to “ ensure a faithful ecclesial future ”.

In a letter in Daily Telegraph , the group goes further , and declares that there are two kinds of Anglicanism in Britain : “ One has capitulated to secular values , and one continues to hold the faith ‘ once delivered to the saints ’.”

Source : premier . org . uk

Royal Mail features ‘ lifesaving Bible ’ on stamp The Royal Mail has released a stamp featuring the image of a Bible that saved the life of a World War 1 soldier . It comes as part of a set of six stamps - the fourth set of stamps in its series marking the centenary of each year of the First World War . Private Lemuel Thomas Rees ’ life-saving Bible was specially photographed for the stamp issue .

In 1917 , Lemuel Rees was conscripted into the 6th Battalion , South Wales Borderers . During the Battle of Passchendaele , an exploding German shell landed close by , and although Rees was hit , he was saved by a small Bible that he kept in his breast pocket .

Source : premier . org . uk

Uplifting pro-life ad backed by watchdog after complaints are investigated An advert highlighting the estimated 100,000 lives saved under Northern Ireland ’ s abortion law has been cleared of ‘ misleading the public ’. The Advertising Standards Authority ( ASA ) undertook a thorough investigation after receiving 14 complaints , but said in August the number is legitimate .

In its report , published on 2 August , the ASA said : “ On balance , we concluded that the evidence indicated that there was a reasonable probability that around 100,000 people were alive in Northern Ireland today who would have otherwise been aborted had it been legal to do so .”

Pro-life group Both Lives Matter created the advert for billboards in Northern Ireland , and says it is “ delighted ” with the result . Unlike in England , Scotland and Wales – where abortion is widespread – in Northern Ireland abortion is not allowed , except to preserve the life of the mother .

Source : christian . org . uk

28 Revival Times September 2017