Revival falls on Ilford church

It seems the only way is indeed Essex as a church in Ilford is experiencing a renewal which has drawn visitors from all over the country and abroad

Since June this year, meetings at Capstone Church, Ilford, have continued every week from Wednesday to Saturday in addition to their Sunday services.

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Persecution Watch Oct – Nov 2017

Rebuilding hope in Iraq

Christians are slowly returning to the town of Karamles in Iraq after Islamic State (ISIS) was ousted.

Over half of the houses in the town are either piles of rubble or completely burnt out, but 250 families have signed up to return. With the help of Christian charity Open Doors, 30 houses have so far been restored, with 20 more in the pipeline. However, the returnees get no help from the government. Read More

President calls Day of Prayer for Texas

For the second issue running HEART is able to show a photo of US President Trump being prayed for, although some Christians and the secular media voice their disapproval of his past persona and current style.

This time he is shown after asking for prayer from pastors when he had declared a National Day of Prayer for the victims of Hurricane Harvey, which took place on Sunday 3 September.

The storm devastated Texas, particularly Houston, followed by another hurricane, Irma, which cut off power to 6.5 million people in Florida, after ripping through the Caribbean islands. Read More

Too Lidl faith

The digitally-altered Santorini church as it appeared on Lidl packaging (Credit: Stacy Cashman at RamblingTraveler.com)

Lidl has been caught out deleting crosses from packaging photos.

The supermarket chain digitally removed the crosses from photos used to illustrate their Eirdanous range of Greek food. The pictures were of a Greek Orthodox church in Santorini.

After disgruntled shoppers drew attention to the Photoshopped images, Lidl UK told Premier Radio: “We are sincerely sorry for any offence caused by the artwork on our Eridanous product range and can confirm that we will be revising the packaging design as soon as possible.” Read More

The business of multiplication

The man who has helped Britain’s courts go paperless began his business five years ago on a corner of his Sussex dining table. After years of prayer and financial difficulty, Paul Sachs’s brainchild is transforming the nation’s legal system. Roger Greene tells the miraculous story of multiplication in the lives of Paul and Bev Sachs

It all began in a conversation in 2008 between Paul Sachs and his brother on the Victoria line train between Billingshurst and Horsham. Read More

Australia votes on gay marriage

Hillsong founder Brian Houston – standing up for biblical teaching on marriage
Credit: Hillsong

The results of a national ballot on same-sex marriage in Australia will be announced on 15 November.

The voluntary postal voting (a mandatory vote had been considered) runs from 23 September to 27 October. The ballot, costing $122 million, asks: “Do you support a change in the law to allow same-sex couples to marry?”  Read More

‘Disturbing’ graphic images outside abortion clinic

The pro-life education project, Abort67, sparked controversy again when they announced plans to show disturbing abortion victim photographs outside an abortion provider’s premises in Eastbourne.

Of the 200,000 abortions carried out in the UK each year, 489 were performed in … Read More

Fun and miracles in the Midlands

Miracles of healing and salvation were the order of the day when teams of Christians hit the streets of a West Midlands town

Legs grew and symptoms disappeared after prayer from members of various churches in Dudley, West Midlands.

The church members had come for evangelism training led by Ben Fitzgerald of Awakening Europe and hosted by Trevor and Sharon Baker of Revival Fires Church, Dudley. Read More

Forgotten floods: Nepalese churches damaged

Members of Mahima Baptist Church. Sarju Rijal is the tall man on the far left

While hurricanes hitting the Caribbean and the US in August and September rightly gained widespread media coverage, the much greater loss of life from monsoon flooding and landslides across Asia received little attention.

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US State backs Christian baker

The US administration has given its support to Christian baker Jack Phillips, who refused to make a cake for a gay wedding and was found guilty of discriminating against the same-sex couple.

Addressing the Supreme Court, which is to make a decision on Phillips’ appeal against his conviction, Acting Solicitor General Jeff Wall wrote: “Forcing Phillips to create expression for and participate in a ceremony that violates his sincerely held religious beliefs invades his First Amendment rights…  An artist cannot be forced to paint, a musician cannot be forced to play, and a poet cannot be forced to write.”  Read More

Letters Oct – Nov 2017

HEART’s letters page provides a forum for Christian opinion. Concise letters of up to 100 words long giving your name and town are more likely to be printed. Letters may be shortened and edited to improve clarity. Long letters written on paper, while read with interest, are unlikely to be printed due to lack of staff to copy type.

Deadline for the December/January 2018 letters page: 31 October.

If you have an idea for an article, check with the editor before sending it. Opinions can often be expressed in a short, sharply written letter.

Grenfell and man-made disasters

Disasters are often caused by greed, because financial considerations get priority over health and safety. This breaks God’s law of care for others. Read More

Piers Morgan humiliates Christian on live TV

Far from conducting an objective interview, Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan ridiculed a Christian therapist on the ITV show in September.

Dr Mike Davidson helps those who wish to be free from unwanted same sex attractions. This fact alone … Read More

New pastor for ‘relaxed, charismatic’ Bognor church

An English teacher has become pastor of King’s Gate Church in Bognor Regis. On 2 September, pastor John France, 67, handed over to Ben Leney, 39. John has pastored the church since 1984, and Ben has been an elder since … Read More

Other National News

Courage at the Carnival National Trust faces backlash

CitizenGo have organised a petition against the recent politicisation of the National Trust, in advance of the Trust’s AGM on 21 October.

Earlier this year the Trust removed the word ‘Easter’ from … Read More

Day of prayer for Britain

8 September 2017, Emmanuel Centre, Westminster

Around 1900 believers packed out the available space in the Emmanuel Centre to unite in prayer for the nation.

There was a strong sense of occasion as the visitors were reminded that the King … Read More