Mark Driscoll's Books Yanked From Baptist's LifeWay Stores, Charisma Magazine

The nation's second-largest Christian book retailer has pulled megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll's books from its website and 186 stores.

Leaders at the Southern Baptist Convention's LifeWay Christian Resources informed stores on Friday to stop selling books by the Seattle pastor who has been in hot water.

Last week, leaders of the church-planting network Acts 29 removed Driscoll and his churches from the group he helped found and asked that he "step down from ministry for an extended time and seek help."

Driscoll has been an influential but edgy pastor within conservative evangelical circles for several years. His Mars Hill Church, based in Seattle, attracts some 14,000 people at 15 locations across five states. He has been provocative, occasionally profane and has faced allegations of plagiarism and inflating book sales.

The mushrooming set of allegations led the publishing arm to suspend sales while it "monitors the developments of his ministry," said LifeWay media-relations manager Marty King.

"It was a cumulative effect," King said. "The Acts 29 leadership asking him to step down was certainly a part of that."

At the time of the decision, LifeWay's stores were selling just one of Driscoll's titles, A Call to Resurgence, King said.

A spokesperson for Mars Hill did not respond to LifeWay's decision

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Elim Missions, Iraq Appeal

MANY WILL HAVE SEEN NEWS REPORTS ABOUT THE TREATMENT OF CHRISTIANS IN IRAQ BY THE MILITANT GROUP ISIS. WE STAND ALONGSIDE OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN IRAQ, PRAYING FOR GOD’S PROTECTION AND STRENGTH TO BE WITH THEM.

A statement by CSW, our partners for persecuted Christians, says: “We are deeply saddened by the appalling treatment of the Christians in Mosul, which clearly constitutes religious cleansing. We are also concerned at news that Turkoman, Yazidi and Shabak Iraqis are facing abductions, murder and the destruction of property in areas controlled by IS. Despite its religious pretensions, the so called Caliphate is no different from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. It has enacted its own “Year Zero” by erasing every ancient monument or community that predates its own. Whilst IS can destroy buildings, seize property and intimidate, humiliate, extort or even kill unarmed civilians, it will ultimately discover that it is impossible to extinguish faith from the human heart through the use of force.”

Join with us in praying and giving to those who are caught up in those horrendous situation.

Follow this Link to donate or for further information

http://www.elimmissions.co.uk/iraqappeal

'We are outnumbered 285-1': Calais police admit they cannot prevent UK migrant surge, Daily Express

FRENCH police today admitted they were "powerless" to prevent thousands of migrants attempting to enter Britain illegally.

The border crisis is now so severe one officer shrugged, saying: "We are overstretched and there is not much we can do."

Experts estimate as many as 12,000 refugees make a bolt for Britain through Calais each year.

Today the Daily Express witnessed chaotic scenes as gangs of vagrants risked their lives attempting to jump on the back of moving freight trucks.

The migrant epidemic is now so bad officials believe at least 30 attempts to make it to the UK as stowaways every day.

The 2,000 who have congregated in the port town from a variety of countries including Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Ethiopia outnumber police by 285-to-one.

One exasperated officer said the blue line policing the perimeter of the port is so thin border guards are overrun by the migrant tide.

Giving the first detailed account from the front line of the fight, the unnamed officer aid: "There are just two or three patrols - just seven of us maximum - and hundreds of them trying to get to the UK. We are powerless to do anything.

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Britain considers sending Chinook helicopters to aid fleeing Yazidi refugees in Iraq as the public swings behind air strikes on rampaging Islamic State fighters, Daily Mail

  Ministers are considering deploying top-of-the-range Chinook helicopters

  Tornado fighter jets are also on their way to the region to help aid effort

  Three aid drops have been carried out - one on Saturday and two last night

  A mission had to be aborted on Sunday as too many refugees crowded plane

  Poll shows narrow public support for air strikes on ISIS fighters in Iraq

  David Cameron is still on holiday in Portugal and Nick Clegg is in Spain

Britain is considering sending Chinook helicopters to Iraq, as the Government rapidly ramps up its response to the sweeping advance of Islamist extremist threatening to massacre thousands of non-Muslims.

The military helicopters, which could be used to rescue Yazidi refugees trapped on Mount Sinjar after fleeing rampaging Islamic State fighters, would join two RAF C130 Hercules planes already carrying out aid drops.

A squadron of six to eight Tornado jets are also on their way to the region amid growing alarm over the plight of up to a quarter of a million people trapped in northern Iraq.

The proposal to send the Chinook helicopters was being discussed in a meeting of Government’s emergency Cobra committee this afternoon.

The meeting was chaired by the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, with David Cameron still on holiday in Portugal and the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg with his family in Spain.

Defence sources said the helicopters could be sent to the region in case they were needed at short notice.

The RAF Hercules and Tornado aircraft are flying aid missions from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, but the Chinooks may need to operate from a much closer base.

Up to a quarter of a million people have fled the advances of Islamic State fighters who crossed the border from Syria to create an Islamic ‘Caliphate’ stretching across the region.

Iraqi Christians and members of the Yazidi sect have been given an ultimatum to convert to Islam or die. 

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Peter Jones: Independence or the pound - which?. The Scotsman by Peter Jones

WHEN POLITICIANS accuse each other of desperation and panic, I tend not to listen, reckoning that it is the usual campaign hyperbole that tries to turn a minor slip of the tongue into a monumental credibility-destroying gaffe.

But I begin to think that it is an accusation that can be fairly levelled at Alex Salmond over the currency issue in this referendum.

There are certain tools that can be used to make the political equivalent of a clinical diagnosis of desperation. One is whether the arguments being used to shore up a position that has come under attack are robust or fatuous. And Mr Salmond is now making claims which, under any serious inspection, are complete nonsense.

In an article in a Sunday newspaper, he wrote that Labour leader Ed Miliband’s “hasty gambit to include a block on Scotland’s continued use of the pound in Labour’s next Westminster manifesto” would be “saying to Scots ‘I will defy the sovereign wish of the people in a referendum’”.

On umpteen grounds, this is gibberish. Actually, the only sovereign wish that will be expressed in the referendum will be the answer to the question: “Should Scotland be an independent country?” If it is Yes, the sovereign will of the people will be that Scotland becomes independent.

If Mr Miliband said he would prevent Scotland from becoming independent, then that would certainly defy Scotland’s sovereign will. But he isn’t saying that at all. He is saying that Scotland can be an independent country if that’s what people want, but they won’t get a sterling currency union.

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Further Reading:

Beyond the Scottish Independence Question, Looking at a Greater Devolution in The United Kingdom, A Perspective,

Promise of £348m shipyard contract for No vote

Independence issues: Financial, economy & currency

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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Number of Scottish people who described themselves as British on the increase as campaign for independence turns off voters. Daily Mail

  Survey finds number of people saying they are British has increased to 23%

  The Scottish Social Attitudes study revealed that the figure was 15% in 2011

  Those who describe themselves as Scottish has dropped from 75 to 65% 

  Figures come five weeks before Scottish independence vote in September 

More people in Scotland are describing themselves as British - and fewer as Scottish - as the campaign for independence turns off voters.

The Scottish Social Attitudes survey found that the number of people who say they are British has increased from 15 per cent in 2011 to 23 per cent, while those who say they are Scottish has dropped from 75 to 65 per cent.

The rekindling of a sense of British identity is the latest blow to Alex Salmond’s independence bid, just five weeks before the referendum on September 18.

It appears to be most pronounced in women, just 27 per cent of whom back separation, compared to 39 per cent of men. This 12 point gap between the sexes is double that of 2013.

The First Minister was routed in a TV debate against former chancellor Alistair Darling last Tuesday and has been struggling to turn around opinion polls that predict Scots will vote against breaking up the UK.

When respondents to the survey were presented with a range of options from ‘Scottish, not British’ to ‘British, not Scottish’, the most popular choice was ‘equally Scottish and British’ (32 per cent) – its highest level since 1999.

The number of people who said they were ‘British, not Scottish’, fell to 23 per cent, its lowest level in 15 years.

The annual survey of 1,339 people saw a small increase in support for independence in the last year, from 36 per cent to 39 per cent, but revealed growing anxiety about how a Yes vote would affect Scotland..

Some 38 per cent fear its voice in world would be weaker – up from a quarter in 2013 and 22 per cent in 2012.

While 44 per cent believe the economy would be worse – up from 34 per cent in both 2013 and 2012.

Mr Salmond’s blokeish attitude has been widely cited as a reason that women have been put off voting for independence.

Read more here:

Further Reading

Beyond the Scottish Independence Question, Looking at a Greater Devolution in The United Kingdom, A Perspective,