Christian News Bulletin

POPE BLESSES EUROPE As reported by Premier in the UK, Pope Francis has blessed Europe in the same speech he warned that the European Union risks "dying", without a fresh sense of direction. The Pope welcomed the prime ministers and presidents of 27 EU member countries to the Vatican as part of commemorations marking the bloc's 60th birthday. COMMEMORATIONS IN DARWIN Uniting Church President Stuart McMillan preached recently at Darwin Memorial Uniting Church to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin - and an act of reconciliation by the Japanese salvage merchant Mr. Ryugo Fujita. At the conclusion of the service, Mr McMillan dedicated the Memorial Reflection Pool in the Church’s Peace Garden which features a number of plaques commemorating the ships salvaged from Darwin Harbour in the late 1950s and early 1960s. ‘MESSIAH’ ON NETFLIX? Eternity News reports that the biggest online streaming service in the world, Netflix, is developing a new show about the second coming of Jesus Christ. Messiah is being produced by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, who brought The Bible mini-series to television around the world in 2013. According to Deadline Hollywood, Messiah will chronicle “the modern world’s reaction to a man who first appears in the Middle East and seems to be performing miracles.”​

PRAYER WALL FOR THE UK New Life reports that a Christian 'prayer wall' is being designed as a major British landmark, built out of a million bricks – each representing a prayer said to have been answered by Jesus. Some 134 entries from 24 countries were received and following two judging panels, the entries were whittled down to four plus the winner of a public vote. A million people are being invited to pay £10 towards a brick and tell a story about their experience. For each brick built into the wall, a brick will also be donated for social housing both in the UK and abroad. Any excess funds from the project will be donated to charity. POPE SUPPORTS BIBLE READING Speaking on the first Sunday of Lent at St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis urged all Christians to carry and read the Bible with the same dedication and frequency as they do their mobile phones, according to a story in The Christian Post. A LENTEN REFLECTION In a Lenten reflection in The New York Times, María de Lourdes Ruiz Scaperlanda writes, “The question for me is not whether there’s a point to giving things up during Lent, but whether I should ever stop fasting from all that numbs, dulls, and deadens me to life, all of life, as it is today—the good and the bad. Fasting makes me willing to try.”

CHURCH LEADERS CALL FOR COMPASSION New Life newspaper reports that church leaders representing 12 major denominations have written to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, calling for Australia to set a more compassionate direction for future foreign policy. The Church Leaders Statement on Foreign Policy is endorsed by signatories from the Adventist, Anglican, Apostolic, Baptist, Catholic, Chinese Methodist, Churches of Christ, Congregational, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Salvation Army and Uniting churches. PRIEST STABBED IN CHURCH A 72-year-old man has been charged after a priest was stabbed in the neck in front of 100 parishioners at a church in Melbourne, Australia. Rev Tommy Kalathoor Matther needed urgent first aid from parishioners after an armed man entered the Italian-language service at St Matthew's Church and attacked him. REVIEW OF ‘THE SHACK’ The Christian Post has reported on a review of The Shack by Roger E. Olsen, professor of Christian Theology of Ethics at Baylor University. "May I just say that I am very disappointed in some evangelical Christians' responses to both the book and the movie; in my opinion some of them are extremely shallow and dismissive," Olsen said in the review. He also criticized people who are complaining about the film without even seeing it, and pushed back against Calvinists that are offended by The Shack because it makes God visible. "Of course, I don't expect Calvinists to like the theology of the movie, but I do expect them to at least view it before talking about it," he wrote.

COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL CLOSES IN INDIA The Christian Post reports that U.S.-based Christian child sponsorship organization Compassion International has announced it is finishing up its programs in India amid an ongoing crackdown by the country's Hindu nationalist government on non-profit organisations that receive foreign funds to stop conversions of Hindus to Christianity. PUBS BOYCOTT COOPERS ‘BIBLE’ BEER Some hotels in Sydney and Melbourne have stopped serving Coopers beer after the company produced 10,000 commemorative light beers to celebrate 200 years of the Australian Bible Society. Coopers have withdrawn the product from sale after a backlash on social media. DARLENE ZSCHECH RELEASES NEW ALBUM Eternity Magazine reports on the release of Darlene Zschech’s first album in four years. “Worship pushes back the noise of life,” the singer told the magazine, explaining why she began to write her latest album extolling God’s greatness in the dark days after her diagnosis with breast cancer in 2014. And she added, “Worship has more to do with what comes from our lives, not just our mouths.”

WORLD VISION CONCERNED FOR CITIZENS IN MOSUL Premier.org.uk reports that World Vision has warned that emergency aid will be needed to assist civilians trapped inside western Mosul. The charity fears that 650,000 civilians will be caught up in the fighting. Mosul was once the home to most of Iraq's Christians. The Christian charity wants to avoid a repeat of civilian deaths during last year's operation. NATIONAL CELEBRATION OF THE BIBLE The Bible Society in Australia has announced a national celebration of The Bible in 2017. On Sunday March 5th a special event will be live streamed in churches across the nation. Key speakers include Anglican Archbishop Glenn Davies and Hillsong’s Brian Houston. NEW HILLSONG CHURCHES Pastor Brian Houston of Sydney’s Hillsong church has announced the launch of three new church sites, including one in Tel Aviv, Israel. If the Tel Aviv congregation thrives the church will probably open another campus in Jerusalem, according to Christian Today. Along with the opening of their Tel Aviv campus, the two other site locations will be in Perth, Australia, and Bali, Indonesia.

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