You may or may not be aware that a campaign has been launched to extend Great Britain’s abortion law to Northern Ireland even though the move is opposed by all four of our major political parties in our Province. A number of MPs in Great Britain with the support of the Progressive Unionist Party here have tabled an amendment to the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill which would impose legalized abortion here.

I am writing this to ask you to pray about this issue and also to consider
signing the petition at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Anti-Abortion/?showall=1

Also there is a National Day of Prayer about abortion on Monday 27th October on the date of the 41st Anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act. See the web site www.imagenet.org.uk

Introduction:
This is a word that I was given by God in 2002 but I feel to re-release it now. I believe this to be a word initially for Ireland, but will also apply to other countries.

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There is a new monasticism coming to the Church in Ireland.

It is first of all a monasticism of the heart - a heart that communes deeply with God - not superficial throwaway prayers, but an intimacy that transcends lifestyle and culture. It is a return to the ‘Practise of the Presence of God‘, as it has been called; that intimacy that is born out of many hours of solitude and soaking in the very presence of God. This in turn will lead to a quickened awareness of the presence of God in everyday situations - at work, at school, in the home and in the community. It is deep communion with God even in the midst of chaos.
This new Monasticism will operate on 2 levels:

1) An Attitude of Heart

In the hearts of all believers who will commit themselves to the changes necessary in lifestyle:

- more time spent in the presence of God, saturating in his very life,
- a shift from petition to waiting and listening,
- embracing fasting as a way of life,
- dealing with the impurities that impede his holiness.

In essence, this entails embracing all of the qualities and strengths of the former monks, yet living them out within the cultural context.

Qualities and Strengths:

Solitude
Community
Discipline
Hard Working Attitude
Mercy and Justice
Holiness
Sacrifice,
Simple lifestyle,
etc.

I felt the Lord highlight 2 key strengths of the former monastic lifestyle - Solitude and Community. These seem to be almost opposites yet when put together make up a whole. Solitude - spending many hours alone with God is complimented by the strength in unity of many others who have been alone with God too. Those who commit their lives to this solitude of heart will need the support and fellowship of others to enable them to translate their experience into the living reality needed to live it out in their everyday lives.

For the majority of believers the call is to a deeper level and walk with God within their existing situations.

2) An Actual, Literal Monastic Lifestyle

Yet I believe that God will call some to an actual physical monastic lifestyle, seeing the re-establishment of residential community life that embraces all of the qualities of the former monasteries, yet living within the modern cultural context. This will involve an embracing, not rejection, of culture and society, working with what is good and right, and seeking to redeem cultural ways that are not forbidden by the Lord. Thus, it will be common to see a fusion of inner city communities, marrying up of modern forms of music, art and culture with the spiritual disciplines such as solitude and silence, worship, service and fellowship. This will produce a dynamic expression of God incarnating in the culture, permeating, sanctifying and redeeming all around. This will be a very attractive expression to those who don’t yet know Jesus. These communities will only happen though if those who are called to live in them will first embrace wholeheartedly the call to adopt the Attitude of Heart.

The primary purpose of these modern day monasteries is to be Houses of Prayer with God calling many to give themselves to worship and prayer on 24 hour a day cycles. Prayer and worship will be the powerhouse of these communities yet they will be holistic centres, embracing the call to redeem the whole of creation from its bondage to decay (Romans 8). So works of mercy, care for those in poverty, speaking up for justice, healing of the sick, mission and teaching will all be part of the whole package.

On Sun 7th Sept footage of 60 Psalm Drummers & Movement in Worship dancers marching the streets of Windsor (including me at this year’s Psalm Drummers Summer School) along with an interview with Psalm Drummer’s founder Terl Bryant will be aired on the BBC’s Songs of Praise programme.

Check out www.psalmdrummers.org for more info on the Psalm Drummers.

I’m really chuffed to have been asked to be part of the Psalm Drummers team that’s participating in this year’s Global Day of Prayer in London. If you’re around it’s on May 11th at Millwall Football Stadium. Doors open and worship: 2.00pm, Main programme: 3.00-5.30pm. See the GDOP London web site for more details.

Gateway Ministries was formed in September 2000 and is based in Northern Ireland.

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PLEASE NOTE:

Gateway Ministries is NOT currently active but we are keeping this web site online in the meantime as there are resources, such as teachings and downloads that we would like to keep making available. This includes amalgamating archived posts from 2 blogs into the one blog.

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The vision is to see a literal 24 hours a day, 365 days a year Worship and Prayer Centre (like the Tabernacle of David [Acts 15]) established in Ireland.

In these End Times God is restoring the order of worship established in the Tabernacle of David as prophesied by the prophet Amos (Chapter 9). We are but one part of this restoration. There are many on this island who have the same vision. We seek to network with other ministries, individuals, groups and churches, and lead worship at other venues.

This web site will give you a feel of the vision, perspectives and goals.

We refer to our worship gatherings as Worship Watches.

Our Definition:

A Worship Watch is an extended time of worship, praise and prayer. Extended in the sense that it is more than a few minutes of random songs and prayers. The term ‘Watch’ comes from the Biblical concept of the Watchman. Perhaps the most well known verse using this concept is Isaiah 62 vs. 6-7:

“I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the LORD,
give yourselves no rest,
and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem
and makes her the praise of the earth.”

Whilst this verse does initially speak of God appointing Watchmen over the physical walls of Jerusalem’s old city, we can apply this to what God is doing in restoring night and day worship and prayer all across the world today.

Jesus said in Mark 14 v.38 “watch and pray”.

Colossians 4 v. 2 says: “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful”

(This article is reproduced from an e-mail sent by the Lawyers Christian Fellowship (www.lawcf.org) and Christian Concern For Our Nation www.christianconcernforournation.co.uk)

The Draft Human Tissue and Embryology Bill has now been published. Within it the Government propose to remove the requirement for doctors to have regard for the need of any child they assist in bringing into the world through assisted reproductive technology for a father (clause 21).

This proposal flies in the face of the wealth of research that demonstrates that a father is central to a child’s welfare. This role is different but complementary to that of the mother. Children deprived of a father often experience psychological, social and community disadvantages. This proposal is all about the alleged rights and demands of adults and nothing about the needs of children. In the Bible the fatherless are pictured as weak and defenceless, but our great and compassionate God defends the cause of the fatherless (Deut. 10:18). We are now called to do that too.

This Bill has many other concerning features as summarised below:

• The Bill will allow scientists to create any variety of animal-human hybrid embryos for research purposes (clause 17);

• It is proposed that the Reproductive Cloning Act 2001, which banned reproductive cloning, be repealed and replaced by something far less clear cut (clause 16, para 15.5);

• It is proposed that non-profit making bodies be allowed to advertise in order facilitate surrogacy arrangements (clause 66)

The Government has invited written evidence by 15th June. Please pray about this Bill and consider writing to the Government with your views. You can find the draft Bill and details of the Government’s request for evidence by following the link below:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsLegislation/DH_074718

Please choose one or two of the above issues that you feel most strongly about and make one or two points about each. Here are some suggested points you could make about the other issues:

• The human embryo is human life. It is unethical to use them as a means to an end

• The animal/human hybrid embryos are alleged to be needed to conduct embryonic stem cell research but adult stem cell research has far greater potential to create useful therapies and is ethically sound. It has already produced real medical advances when embryonic stem cell research has produced none (for further information, see the cloning and embryology pages of the Care website at www.care.org.uk/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=58254 and www.bioethics.ac.uk)

• The mixing of human and non-human biological material involves an unnatural crossing of the species barrier. We do not know what the consequences could be in terms of tumour formation or disease transmission.

• The creation of animal/human hybrids is banned in many countries.

• Cloning human embryos is unethical because it uses human life as a means to an end

• Reproductive cloning or the creation of designer babies is totally unethical

• Adult stem cell technology has already made great advances in providing therapies and is an ethically sound alternative to embryonic cloning

• Surrogacy involves risks to all involved and is not the simple solution to childlessness that it may appear.

For further information on these issues the website of the Christian Medical Fellowship is highly recommended (www.cmf.org.uk).

Your letters should be addressed to:

Kate Lawrence
Clerk to the Joint Committee on the Draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill
House of Lords
London SW1A 0PW
and preferably by email to htedraftbill@parliament.uk

If you would like to write to individual members of the committee, they are as follows:

In the House of Commons (write to them at the following address: House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA )

Phil Willis (Chair), David Burrows MP, Katie Clark MP, Dr Ian Gibson MP, Chris Mole MP, Dr Doug May Smith MP, Geraldine Smith MP, Dari Taylor MP

In the House of Lords (write to them at the following address: The House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW)

Baroness Deech, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, Lord Jenkin of Reading, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, Baroness Neuberger, Bishop of St Albans, Lord Selsdon, Lord Turnberg, Lord Winston

Test your knowledge on photo journalism bias.

http://www.honestreporting.com/quiz/takeQuiz.asp

Check this out - photograph manipulated by Reuters to make the situation look worse. http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/Bold_Distortions_and_Outright_Lies.asp
As Christians, who believe in truth, we must be prepared to expose lies in the media!

Are you fed up with the world media’s biased coverage of the current Middle Eastern situation? Want to know the truth? Check out this short video http://www.aish.com/movies/JP/Lebanon.asp