"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." Northwoods is a ministry dedicated to refreshing Christians and challenging them to search for the truth in Christianity, politics, sociology, and science
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"
Father God, thank you for the love of the truth you have given me. Please bless me with the wisdom, knowledge and discernment needed to always present the truth in an attitude of grace and love. Use this blog and Northwoods Ministries for your glory. Help us all to read and to study Your Word without preconceived notions, but rather, let scripture interpret scripture in the presence of the Holy Spirit. All praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Please note: All my writings and comments appear in bold italics in this colour
Britain’s National Secular Society is a bunch of communists who want to eradicate religion altogether, and are resolutely unable to see the threat of Islam, jihad, and Sharia as any greater than that of the alleged “Christian nationalism.” Britain actually has an established Christian religion, but its established Church has abandoned Christianity, and the king is abandoning the establishment of that religion, and those who fight against Islamization are expected to discard Christianity as well, and so the non-Muslim forces will tear each other apart while the Muslims steadily advance toward total power and control in British society. Reform simply doesn’t want Islamic prayers beginning council meetings in what is ostensibly a Christian country, but while other countries can take great pains to establish their national identity, in the West, to do so is “racist.”
The Council Chamber, Bolton Town Hall, David Dixon, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
Reform UK councillors try to end Islamic prayers before meetings
Reform UK councillors have attempted to end prayers before meetings at Bolton Council – despite Reform introducing Christian prayers at other councils.
At a council meeting on Wednesday, Reform group leader Cllr Trevor Jones moved a motion to “review the practice of including prayers as part of the formal proceedings of Full Council meetings”.
Labour-run Bolton Council holds prayers according to the religion of the chaplain appointed by the mayor. The current mayor Mohammed Iqbal is Muslim and the prayers recited at meetings are Islamic. The chaplains of past mayors have also recited Christian and Hindu prayers.
The motion was defeated, with several councillors pointing out the inconsistency that Reform councillors elsewhere have recently introduced Christian prayers as part of their councils’ meeting agendas.
Reform councillors also recently objected to Islamic prayers said in Arabic at Birmingham City Council.
Reform UK group leader: “We want to keep religion separate”
In the agenda, Cllr Jones said the motion “is not directed towards any individual, any faith group, or any religious tradition” and his concerns “relate solely to the role of the Council as a public authority representing the whole community”.
He said “we serve residents from a wide range of backgrounds” and that in such a “diverse society”, it is “increasingly difficult for any single religious observance to reflect the convictions of all Councillors and residents”.
He added: “whilst faith undoubtedly plays an important role in the lives of many people, I believe there is an important distinction between individual religious practice and the formal conduct of council business”.
Therefore, “the formal proceedings of the Council should be conducted in a manner that is religiously neutral,” he said.
The motion called on the council to consider replacing prayers “with a short period of silent reflection” or moving “any prayers or religious observance to a voluntary session immediately prior to the formal commencement of Council meetings”.
Wednesday’s meeting began with an Islamic prayer from the mayor’s chaplain, beginning with “Bismillah hir rahman nir raheem, in the name of Lord God Allah, the most merciful, the most kind, master of the Day of Judgement, you alone we worship and you alone we ask for help”.
Reform councillors were not present for the prayers and only entered after they finished….
Syria: Christian mayor who defended his town from the Islamic State is imprisoned
Does this have anything to do with the fact that Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa has a long history as a jihadi? Will Trump, who has professed his tremendous admiration for al-Sharaa, pressure his friend to release Suleiman Khalil? Or might that harm the relationship between the U.S. and its Syrian jihadi proteges?
Coalition Asks U.S. to Intervene in Case of Syrian Christian
Advocacy groups recently wrote Thomas Barrack, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Türkiye and Envoy to Syria and Iraq, asking the U.S. to intervene in the detention of a Syrian Christian.
The letter, sent on June 25, was penned by In Defense of Christians (IDC) and co-signed by leaders from Christians Solidarity International (CSI); International Religious Freedom Summit (IRF); Institute for Global Engagement (IGE); Shai Fund; American Syriac Union (ASU); and Alawite Association of the United States (AAUS).
Suleiman Khalil is the former mayor of Sadad, one of the world’s oldest Christian towns. On Feb. 8, forces belonging to the Syrian Transitional Government arrested Khalil at his home and have held him without formal charges, a right to a lawyer, medical care, and access to biblical resources. His family has been left without communication as to the state of his health, leaving them to believe that he is being tortured….
During the Syrian Civil War in 2015, the Islamic State group (ISIS) attacked Sadad. Khalil organized strong defenses for his town and prevented the terrorist group from killing and kidnapping residents — as they did in al-Qaryatayn, a neighboring Christian town.
“Mr. Khalil’s actions in defending his town against ISIS should be celebrated by all Syrians, especially the new government, which has officially joined the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS,” the letter said. “Instead, Syria’s government appears to be punishing him for it.”
Holding Khalil is not an individual issue — the coalition argued that the government is sending a message to other Christians in the country, saying, “You have no future here.”
IDC’s executive director, Richard Ghazal, spoke individually on the matter.
“The detention of Suleiman Khalil is not simply about an individual,” Ghazal said. “Mr. Khalil risked his life defending his community against ISIS. This moment stands as a test of whether Syria’s new government intends to protect those who defended their communities against the Islamist terror group, and whether Christians can have confidence in their future in Syria.”…
Angela Merkel has ADMITTED on camera that she deliberately flooded Germany with third-world immigrants to "stop the far right."
She imported voters to KILL OFF THE RIGHT (literally, judging by the crime statistics).
SHE MUST BE TRIED FOR TREASON
The leftists Merkel and Von der Leyen destroyed Europe in two decades after centuries of growth, evolution, and expansion!, they ruined industry, the economy, and energy. They lied to Europeans, saying that the EU was destined to improve Europe, today it's worse!
Marine Le Pen arrives at the Paris courthouse on the opening day of the appeal trial in her embezzlement case in Paris in January. Her appeal was denied Tuesday, but her ban on running for office was shortened, paving the way for her to run again. File Photo by Yoan Valat/EPA
July 7 (UPI) -- Marine Le Pen's appeal verdict Tuesday has cleared the way for her to run for president of France again, but whether she will isn't clear.
Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Rally party who was convicted on charges of embezzlement for misusing European Parliament funds, lost the appeal. But the court shortened the ban on running for office from five years to 15 months, which have already been served. So, she could run for office now. She was a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017.
Le Pen, 57, has said running for president of France would be too difficult because she is required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet for a year -- instead of two years in prison -- that would restrict her movements, making campaigning too difficult.
She could still appeal to France's highest court, the Court of Cassation, and she has 10 days to decide. That would also prevent her from campaigning because of the time it would take, likely several months.
Le Pen is the daughter of the lateJean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the far-right party that his daughter now runs.
She and 10 other party members were convicted in a fake jobs scheme.
The group was found guilty in March of diverting more than $3.4 million of European Parliament funds that was supposed to be used to hire aides for MEPs to pay people to work on internal National Rally party matters in France, instead of for the EP itself.
She was sentenced to four years in prison, two of which were suspended, fined $117,000 and banned from running for public office for five years. She had planned to make a fourth attempt to run for president of France in 2027.
The 11 co-defendants must pay about $2.29 million to reimburse the contracts they paid to assistants, plus more than $171,000 in moral damages to the European Union, plus legal fees.
The co-defendants all have individual fines, including $114,377 for Le Pen.
