I've written an academic article about Joseph Conrad's novel Nostromo and how it works as moral and ethical narrative. I outline the need to understand narrative comprehension and semantics as theologically based.
https://t.co/xVU8yXJXgn
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13) #VerseOfTheDay
One day to go until the World Cup kicks off – are you ready to pray as they play?
The first game features co-host Mexico (playing South Africa), one of 14 participating nations which are on the World Watch List. This is a ranking of the countries where it's hardest to follow Jesus.
We'll be sharing prayer cards on our social media channels over the coming weeks, to tie in with when the different countries are playing. These can be downloaded for you to print and give to your family, friends, church and youth group. #FWC26
Download cards: https://t.co/qxx3tg4JE8
This is the most detailed MRI scan of an unborn baby.
At just 20 weeks, she is moving, turning her head, kicking—even standing. Her beating heart is also visible.
Children are a gift from God.
🚨(1)BREAKING: Christian community police officer wins settlement after being forced out of his role for questioning and criticising Islam during diversity training.
Luke Salmons, who has been supported by the Christian Legal Centre, was suspended for six months, forced to resign and put on a police barring list after he had questioned radical Islam in a training session.
He had been told that the session was a 'safe place' for discussion, but after expressing his beliefs, the consequences were devastating.
After taking legal action, his case has now been settled on confidential terms, however his story raises serious concerns about free speech and religious freedom in UK policing.
See more in this thread 🧵on our website and breaking in the media:
https://t.co/Ed9elAMIKa
https://t.co/sAkxcVf9PW
"A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want…. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psa 23:0-1, 5-6).
One of the greatest obstacles to understanding Psalm 23 is its popularity. We often think about what this psalm means to us before considering what it means in context. To read Psalm 23 for all it is worth, we must meditate on its meaning in light of the psalms before and after it.
In this light, Psalm 23 praises God for hearing the cries and answering the prayers of the crucified king in Psalm 22. The confession that the Great Shepherd leads the psalmist through the valley of death (Psa 23:4) takes on deeper meaning when we see the metaphorical beasts of Psalm 22, bulls, lions, and dogs, attacking a despised and defenseless worm. In context, the “walk through the valley of the shadow of the death” is nothing less than the Messiah’s Via Dolorosa.
The imagery then unfolds further. Psalm 23 moves from God as the Good Shepherd who leads his sheep through the wilderness (Psa 23:1-4) to God as the Good Host who invites the king to feast in his house forever (Psa 23:5-6). This vision takes on an eschatological dimension when read alongside the Wedding Feast of the Lamb (Rev 19:6-9), where the King of Glory rules over God’s people in the LORD’s mountain-like temple forever (see Psa 24:3-10).
Because Psalm 23 is praise to God celebrating the Messiah’s victory, and because that victory is for all of God’s people, we too may appropriate its truths for ourselves. Even now, we find comfort in the Good Shepherd who faithfully leads us through the wilderness of life. And one day we will know him as the Good Host, celebrating the riches of his gracious hospitality in his house forever. Since God’s goodness and lovingkindness pursue us, it is not a matter of “if,” but only “when” he welcomes us to his table forever.
Your prayers are urgently needed for Century New City Church in Yunnan province, #China.
On 12 April, the church was raided by the police and three believers detained, including Pastor Yu Shaolin (his arrest notice pictured). The authorities have since formally charged the three arrested with organising illegal gatherings.
Century New City Church is a small congregation of around 30 Christians, beset with illness and suffering. For them, the church is a refuge. Now, they await in uncertainty for what might happen next. Pastor Yu's own health is fragile and getting worse whilst in prison, as well as his wife's.
Since the raid, the church has released an open letter calling for prayer and is also seeking legal aid.
"'Organising illegal gatherings’ is a charge frequently used by the authorities against unregistered house churches in China, creating fear and pressure among Christians," says 'Caleb', Open Doors partner in the region. "The ongoing crackdown on house church gatherings has not spared even small and vulnerable Christian communities like Century New City Church. It really needs our prayer.”
Please pray for Pastor Yu, the two other believers in prison and the rest of the church – that the Lord would comfort, guide and protect them in their time of need.
A single strand of DNA stretched out is ~6.5ft long.
If you stretched out all the DNA in your body end-to-end, it could stretch across the entire solar system, from the Sun to Pluto - seventeen times.
It could wrap around the Earth like a rubber band ball over 2 million times.
The entire world's total digital data could be stored in just 178lbs of DNA.
Imagine, one single DNA server for the entire world, instead of acres of server farms.
If one strand of your DNA was written into books, it would fill about 300 textbooks, at about 500-600 pages per book.
That's 150,000-180,000 pages.
And yet it's packed & organized so efficiently that all of this fits into a microscopic cell nucleus.
In fact, this precise system of organization is necessary for DNA to function.
Without this specialized organizational structure, all your DNA would be a useless mess.
That means DNA can't exist without this organizational structure.
But that structure can't exist without the information found in DNA.
DNA might be the most obvious and undeniable signature of the Divine Design in Life.
Scientists mapped a piece of brain the size of half a grain of rice.
One-millionth the size of the human brain.
It took them a year and over 1.4 million gigabytes to scan it.
They found over 57,000 cells, 150 million synapses, and even some new structures they didn't know existed.
Mapping the entire human brain in this level of detail would require all the data storage generated on Earth in a year + a 140-acre data center.
But the human brain itself can hold up to ~2.5 million gigabytes of information - enough for ~3 million hours of HD video or 342 years of continuous viewing.
It can process roughly 10 quadrillion calculations per second - enough processing power to run over 4,000 high-end gaming PCs all operating at peak ability.
And it only runs on the amount of power needed for a single dim light bulb.
No technology even comes close to doing what the brain can do.
The more we learn about biology, the more complex it becomes.
This is God's Glory on display.
In Britain today, Christian preachers can get a criminal conviction for preaching the truth.
In this case, the judge said the preacher "tested the law to the point of breaking it". In reality, the preacher showed that the law itself is broken.
"Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression" (Isaiah 10:1)
When a nation rejects the Word of God, it is actively deciding to stop building on the rock, and to shift its foundations to the sand. When that happens uninterrupted for long enough, after a while you cease to be a serious nation and soon find yourself legislating good things as "bad", true things as "false", vagrants as "victims", anarchists as "heroes", and saints as "criminals".
"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20)
That's why we need faithful Christian preachers who speak truth when and where it really matters. That's why we shouldn't be arresting and criminalising them!
Without the faithful preaching and application of Christian truth in this land, this nation will descend into further chaos and darkness. Our laws will become more unjust, our politics will become more corrupt, our heritage will be eaten by moths, our fruitfulness will shrivel up, and all we hold dear will sink into the sand on which we so confidently built.
Christ is the only way back to the sure foundation because He is the sure foundation; He is the rock. The people of this nation need to wake up and turn back to the One who is their only hope in life and death.
I'm glad he spoke personally of Christianity. But he needs to acknowledge more that it is Christian values underpinning all the good shared values he spoke of. He ought to be bravely emphasising this.
King Charles makes historic address to US Congress https://t.co/OwCyVsTq45 via @YouTube
@SkyNews I'm glad he spoke personally of Christianity. But he needs to acknowledge more that it is Christian values underpinning all the good shared values he spoke of. He ought to be bravely emphasising this.
Please pray urgently – believers from a Hindu background in Chhattisgarh state, #India, have been given until Thursday (30 April) to renounce their faith in Jesus, or face significant consequences.
The threats are being made by a prominent organisation that represents tribal communities in Chhattisgarh, which is one of India’s states with the most restrictive anti-conversion laws.
Please stand with our brothers and sisters in prayer, asking the Lord to act on behalf of His people and protect them. https://t.co/aoez89qjiY
"I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side." (Psalm 3:5-6) #VerseOfTheDay
Morning all🌞
⛪️Whose "Quiet Revival" is it anyway?
Over at @TheCriticMag, I argue that certain types of churches are clearly booming, but that it clearly doesn't touch the sides of the bust elsewhere
Read now 👇👇👇
@BijanOmrani@Telegraph Thanks, a good article. And what is the moral and spiritual effect when this knowledge is lacking? If children never learn about Daniel in the Lion's den, or Jesus feeding the five thousand, they miss the lessons of faith and God's miraculous, just rule.
After his village was raided by Al-Shabaab, 'Ernesto' from #Mozambique was taken to a forest and nailed to a tree. They even set alight to his clothes.
Miraculously, Ernesto survived, and Open Doors partners are helping to find healing for his body and mind.
https://t.co/5S7FlOyi7w