Christian Renewal Centre

- a House of Prayer for Ireland

 URGENT CALL TO PRAYER!

Using power they gave themselves through the Equality Act 2006, the government have already pushed through a new law (the Sexual Orientation Regulations) which will make it illegal for anyone who provides goods, services, facilities, premises, education or public functions to someone else, to discriminate against that person on the grounds of their sexual orientation i.e. whether they are homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual. The Northern Ireland SORs came into force on the 1st January 2007. The England, Wales and Scotland SORs are due to come into force in April 2007.

A Small Window of Opportunity:

The High Court in Belfast has been given permission for a judicial review of the Sexual Orientation Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006. The judicial review will examine whether the public consultation for the Regulations was faulty and whether the Regulations themselves break the Human Rights Act in relation to religious liberty. The review could result in the Regulations being struck down by the court. The Judicial Review of the Regulations will take place on March 1st and 2nd. (The above was adapted from www.christianconcernforournation.co.uk/sor/index.php) ... Please pray for this judicial review.

As a community the Lord has really been emphasising this matter to us over the last couple of weeks and asking us to respond. The 2 passages of Scripture the Lord has emphasised are Ezekiel 33 vs. 1-7 and Joel 2 vs. 12-17.

As a community we are holding a day of prayer and fasting on Wednesday 21st February (Ash Wednesday). We are asking that if you sense the Lord calling you to do so you join with us in prayer and fasting on this day, wherever you are. We will be holding an evening meeting at 8pm to pray specifically about this issue and would like to invite you to come and join us. You are also very welcome to come and use 1 of our prayer rooms throughout the day to pray into this issue.

We do encourage you to pass this call to prayer and fasting on to others, and wherever possible to ask your Church Minister to include it in Services and Prayer Meetings in your area.

“Son of man, if I bring a sword upon a land, and the watchman … blows on the trumpet and warns the people and he who hears … does not take warning and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head… but if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.” (Ezekiel 33: 1-7)

Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people....let the priests, who minister to the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD....why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” (Joel 2 vs.15-17)