Personal journeys, radical agendas and perplexing dilemmas.

Why is marrying-for-love so obvious to us today? There are of course many historical factors. But I wonder whether one of the most important ones isn’t a letter written many years ago.

Jan Dezort, of Generation 21, analyses the frustrations and success stories of a relocation programme for Middle Eastern Christian refugees in the Czech Republic.

The gospel we nod to today is something like: believe in yourself. Be authentic. Be you. You’re beautiful. Fulfill your dream.

Beginning in the USA and expanding then to Europe, we witness the rise of a rampant individualism where “my rights” are the primary interest.

Apparently, we all agree that the value of a person doesn’t depend as much from their doing as from their being. But, what does the world understand by being? 

Representatives of 11 countries met in the Czech Republic to discuss the present and future of theological education in Central and Eastern Europe.

The internet, smartphones, social media, instant messaging and other related technologies have had a dramatic impact on the way we communicate over the last 20 years, and therefore fundamentally how we relate to one another.

“We need a realistic, grounded sense of self that is not pre-occupied with maintaining its own importance, but serving a purpose bigger than ‘me’”, says Psychiatrist Glynn Harrison, author of ‘The Big Ego Trip’.

One in three citizens think corruption is one of the biggest problems facing their country. Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Spain are the worst judged.

In the region, almost 40% of the Protestant churches have become secret churches. “We do not want to be associated with anything illegal and our desire is to be law-abiding citizens”.

While the risk society is a secular phenomenon, it provides an opportunity for Christians to live distinctively and attractively.

National greatness in God’s eyes is outward focused, and rather than being the object of God’s blessing, any material prosperity was to be seen as an outworking of their obedience to God’s ways.

The Jubilee Centre offers an online programme that “unpacks the biblical vision for society, and introduces the idea of thinking relationally”. European students are welcomed.

Because of the paradoxical relationship between God’s freedom and human freedom, Christians need a robust “theology of surprise”.

The WEA Mission Comission Consultation was held in Panama, with the theme: Polycentric mission. One of the participants, Helder Favarin, shares his views of the gathering with Evangelical Focus.

Rebels attacked the village of Ndomete, about 220 miles north of the capital city of Bangui, and went door-to-door killing 26 Christians, according to Morning Star News.

The center has chaplains and prayer spaces, representing Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism.

A report launched by the EU Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief analyses the restrictions in 53 countries. “Human rights should not be a hobby, they should be a core task for a diplomat.”

The danger of deciding on the basis of narrow personal or national self-interest is to overlook a whole range of possible consequences to the other parties in this set of relationships – which could then rebound on us. 

“We need to develop in young leaders the ability to recognize and nurture a calling of God into the ministry, even amidst career options that are much more lucrative”, says Dr. Steve Patty after conducting a wide-ranging study.

A video by Jubilee Centre/CPFE setting out the main issues surrounding the refugee crisis, priorities for public policy and options for Christians to make a difference.

“Christians should be prepared to argue for positions which advance the international common good even at the apparent expense of their national interests”, Dr Jonathan Chaplin said in Amsterdam (May 8-9).

“The radicalisation of part of our youth is the most serious challenge we have faced since World War II”, says French Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

Syria, Central African Republic, Egypt, Iraq, and Vietnam are also among the “countries of particular concern.” For the first time, Western Europe is in the list as a place that “deserve monitoring.”