Assisted suicide: MPs set to vote on new bill
Labour MP Rob Marris has taken up the campaign to introduce assisted suicide and will bring a Private Member's Bill to Westminster in the coming weeks. He wants to see a ‘compassionate’ assisted suicide law passed by Parliament; pro-life Christian charities say caring is always better than killing. Downing Street said the Bill would not be given Government support, with David Cameron’s spokesman saying he was ‘concerned that legislation may push people into things they do not actually want for themselves’. SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon voted against assisted suicide in Scotland last month, and former Liberal Democrat party leader Nick Clegg has spoken out against the practice. Dignity in Dying, formerly known as the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, is supporting the proposals. Although MPs are expected to vote on the issue in September many are praying now that this bill will not pick up momentum in the coming months.
Hospital chapel to lose its Christian distinctiveness
The Spiritual Care Chaplaincy team at North Manchester General Hospital intends to change the way the Catholic Chapel of Saint Raphael is currently used in order to create a Muslim prayer room, but nearly 5,000 people have signed a petition protesting against the plans. Worship space will also be provided for Jewish people and Christians and there will in addition be a ‘quiet room’ for people of no faith at all. However there will be no space that is specifically Catholic. St Raphael's Chapel currently contains the Blessed Sacrament, and Mass is celebrated weekly. According to a petition launched by Father Ged Murphy of St Patrick's and St Malachy's parish in Collyhurst, the chapel is well-used and highly valued by patients, staff and visitors as a ‘valued resource which is much needed when people are at their lowest ebb.’
TWO DAYS TILL TRUMPET CALL 2015 - a day to unite in prayer for our nation
This is your chance to stand in prayer for our nations. Online bookings are now closed but you can still book by phone on 0121 633 7393. Come and join with brothers and sisters in Christ at the ICC in Birmingham this Saturday, 4 July, and pray for revival. ARE YOU READY FOR REVIVAL? Revival has to start in our hearts first. As TRUMPET CALL 2015 approaches, the team at the World Prayer Centre have a growing sense of excitement and expectation. It will be a momentous day - a memorable meeting with God. Yesterday, they had a word about rain clouds on the mountains. Read more at http://www.worldprayer.org.uk/event-registration/?ee=15 and pray with us.
Travel info: allow plenty of time to park, walk to the ICC, find the venue and get yourself prepared for this time with God. Please be aware that access to the car parks around the ICC is more difficult than usual due to significant city centre roadworks. Find out more and where to park at the link below.
He made $1000 a week stealing cars, then Jesus stole his heart
By age 14, Rosario ‘Chayo’ Perez was stealing pickup trucks from Tucson and bringing them across the border, where mafiosos paid him $1,000 each. When Chayo was 16, his best friend was murdered at his house on Christmas Day. ‘Life was such a haze,’ he recalls. He reached a point where he was living like an animal – just partying, drinking, using drugs and fighting. Then his older brother got saved at a church that street-preached and started to witness to him but he asked to be left alone. Then one day his brother said, ‘OK, I’ll leave you alone, but first let me pray for you. If nothing happens, I’ll leave you alone.’ Chao said, ‘I put my beer down. He prayed for me, and the Holy Ghost came down. I started weeping. My friends were freaking out because I was weeping. It was something supernatural. Even to this day, I can’t explain it.’