Gospel fit for a King
Year 5 & 6 children from St Mary’s CE Primary School in York are seen here with their headteacher, after contributing to a set of gilt-edged Gospels which the children had written for the King’s Coronation in May.
Their headteacher is showing John 2, which the children had written out.
Upon receiving a letter of thanks from Buckingham Palace, the uniquely written Gospels were again displayed for the King’s 75th birthday on 14 November.
‘York Gospels 2023’ involved over 2,000 residents of all ages, including 14 local primary schools, three secondary schools and both universities, with each participant writing one or more of the 3,778 verses in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Project co-ordinator Keith Hayden said, “A special page was included with each chapter for an illustration, which led to a wide range of imaginative personal artwork.”
Keith added, “The word ‘Gospel’ means ‘Good News!’ So many of us are praying that these handwritten Gospels, now in royal hands, will be a source of inspiration to King Charles. May they also be enjoyed by other members of the royal family, especially the younger ones.”
Christian politician cleared of all charges
Finnish politician Päivi Räsänen, whose court battles HEART has been following, has been acquitted on all four counts of ‘hate speech’.
Along with Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola, Dr Räsänen was unanimously vindicated by the Helsinki Court of Appeal in November. The pair had been accused of hate speech merely for sharing the Bible’s teaching on marriage and sexuality. The verdict marks the second time that Räsänen has been taken to court for her beliefs and won her case.
The second time she has been sued for her beliefs and won her case Paul Coleman, Executive Director of religious freedom campaign group ADF International which gave them legal support, commented: “The fact that their free speech case dragged on for over four years and came to trial twice is an outrageous abuse of process and weaponisation of the law to punish peaceful expression.
“Whether by governments or institutions, the public sharing of faith-based beliefs is met with increasing hostility… We proudly support courageous people like Päivi and Bishop Juhana, who have tirelessly stood up against censorship, so speech can remain free.”
Fire-breathing ‘rabbi’ saves soldiers
Soldiers entering Gaza’s terror tunnels have been praying fervently and some reports of divine intervention have been reported. Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein relates that soldiers entering one of Hamas’ tunnels to seek out hostages were warned by what appeared to be a rabbi to leave at once. When they refused, because their commanding officer was still in there, and tried to push past him, they “freaked out” because they were able to walk through the ‘rabbi’, who then started breathing fire! At that point the officer returned and they all exited, just before a bomb went off.
In Lebanon some soldiers were taking refuge in a building when an old woman appeared and warned them to flee, moments before the building blew up.