Under-10s in Scots hospitals for illegal drug use, The Scotsman Newspaper

A SOARING number of children are being hospitalised in Scotland as a result of drug-taking, official figures have revealed. Some youngsters under the age of ten have been treated by doctors in Scottish wards in the past year.

The increase is causing “real damage” to Scotland’s younger generation say 
opposition parties, who are demanding government action to address the rise.

Cannabis is the most common type of drug offered to teenagers, followed by stimulants such as cocaine and speed, then psychedelics including LSD and magic mushrooms.

It has now emerged that the number of times youngsters were admitted to hospital after taking illegal substances has increased by more than a third in two years, according to statistics obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

There were 119 incidents where youngsters aged between ten and 18 required hospital attention after taking drugs in 2013.

The figures, uncovered using freedom of information legislation, revealed an increase of 35 per cent on 2011, when the total across Scotland was 88.

Awareness of the dangers of drug-taking also appears to be falling among teenagers, a recent report found.

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Not called!' did you say? 'Not heard the call,' I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there. And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish his mercy to the world." 

William Booth.

“While women weep, as they do now,

I'll fight

While little children go hungry, as they do now,

I'll fight

While men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now,

I'll fight

While there is a drunkard left,

While there is a poor lost girl upon the streets,

While there remains one dark soul without the light of God,

I'll fight-I'll fight to the very end!”

William Booth

Discipleship is the Key, Thought for the Day

"Key to the mission of the Church is not “evangelism” but discipleship. We are not to evangelize and colonize the world, but to influence our neighbors, co-workers, and relatives in such a way that they pattern their life and lifestyle after Jesus. Our goal as the presence of Jesus in the world is to influence people to follow Him as Messiah, Rescuer, and Restorer. Of course, in this process we will proclaim, explain, and bear witness to the amazing, (un)offensive news that is found in Jesus and His teachings. The mission of the ekklesia, though, is to step into people’s lives and show them a better way of living and being human through Jesus. We are not simply to talk at them about their sin, Jesus’ death and resurrection, and possible heavenly bliss (or other place) after they die." Jeremy Bouma

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Controversial American evangelist Morris Cerullo returns to Britain for one final 'crusade', Independent Newspaper

Audrey Reynolds suffered from epilepsy all her life. A congenital brain abnormality meant she would suffer seizures if she did not take three tablets a day. It proved a constant frustration that nothing could be done to cure her, but the devout Christian lived in hope that one day her condition would improve.

In the summer of 1992 a poster advertising the imminent arrival in London of American TV evangelist Morris Cerullo caught the 25-year-old’s eye. “Some will see miracles for the first time” it claimed.

Audrey was intrigued and joined 80,000 people who went to Cerullo’s eight-day "crusade" at the Earls Court exhibition centre. Having queued patiently for her chance to meet Cerullo, Audrey took the stage telling the preacher she believed his message of healing power had cured her. Six days later she had an epileptic fit and drowned in her bath.

The inquest into Audrey’s death heard that only 2.2mg per litre of the lifesaving drug she needed was found in her body - the dose should have been 7.2mg. Recording a verdict of accidental death, Southwark coroner Sir Montague Levine said: “It is a tragedy that she went to this meeting and thought she was cured of everything. Sadly, it led to her death.”

A spokesman for San Diego-based Morris Cerullo World Evangelism (MCWE) called it “a very sad situation” but two weeks later the preacher held a press conference raging at the “total injustice” of being blamed for having any role in Audrey’s death. Referring to Sir Montague’s comments, the televangelist said: “I think it was a mischaracterisation, a total injustice. I think conclusions were drawn too quickly. The coroner did not have evidence of the attitude of the person’s mind and he decided what he thought of the matter.”

Dr Cerullo said his crusade to London had been a success and that he had received 746 testimonies from people saying they had been cured of various ailments after attending the rally. Now the controversial preacher is about to return to England, aged 82, for the last time.

His final "Mission to London" posters advertise a six-day residency at Earls Court next week and again make promises of miracles. On promotional material he boasts: “I am expecting 1,000+ people to be saved every night for six nights during August 2014.”

Audrey’s mother, Belzie, is furious. “Cerullo is a dangerous man but I can’t stop him, much as I’d like to,” she told The Independent from her home in Clapham, south London. “His shows are all about money. I remember when my daughter went there all those years ago looking for hope, believing something might happen. I didn’t go. I watched it on TV and saw there were people with buckets collecting money throughout the event. They are all in it for the money.”

Audrey’s story is not the only tragic one associated with Cerullo’s trips to England. Great efforts have been made to remove video footage from the internet of him "healing" his audience, but some remain. Audrey can be seen in one clip face to face with Cerullo, declaring that she feels fine “because I can jump”. Cerullo asks to see her jump. Audrey obliges and Cerullo screams his delight at the audience at the "miracle".

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What we talk about when we talk about evangelism, Christian Today, Justin Welby

Evangelism is such a word. For Christians, it's the name for an activity that some love and others hate – it's a passion for some and an embarrassment for others. For non-Christians, it's a word that can send them running to the hills, feeling they are in danger of having something 'done' to them. (I wonder which of these descriptions fits you – and what you've experienced in the name of evangelism to make you feel this way?)

Given all this controversy around the word, it was no surprise that when, on taking office last year, I declared evangelism as one of the three priorities for my ministry.  Some people thought I was profoundly misguided, while others jumped for joy.

However, it's my belief that if only we truly 'got' evangelism, we, the Church would live to show what it meant. And to 'get' it means to receive it, and to give it. Continually. And if we lived what we spoke of, and spoke of what we lived, no-one would have to point at the Church and wonder what it was for.

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Further Reading

                    1)     Kingdom Evangelism

2)   The Church, God’s Agent of Transformation

3)    Some thoughts on Evangelism and Mission

                    4) A View on the Church