SENSATIONAL and lyricist afro-pop singer Austin-Jerry Adebiyi Akingbolu aka Jerry Pay has said that his song ‘Red Bible’ is not pro-cultism or anti-religious.
In a recent chat, JerryPay said the song is an inspirational song that speaks more about religion and how religion has damaged the whole universe.
According to him, the song is a very strong and touchy soul music with inspiring messages. “When people listen to the song, they do understand my message, and what most of them first ask as a question is why did you make this kind of a song? Do you think you have the heart to push this kind of a song, but like I used to tell them, I’ve got everything that is because I took my time, it took me almost 10 years to get to this place, and it took me 10 years to be in this place I am now, listen to me, I have to do something that when people listen to me, they must look for that damage. So this Red Bible, it talks about religion, and it does not glorify any religion, it talks about how our religion has damaged the society, and the universe we’re living in today,” JerryPay said.
A music writer and performer based in Paris, Jerry Pay hails from Ekiti State, South-west Nigeria.
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JerryPay’s new EP has songs like 9490; Celebrity; Evidence; No One Is Dying and How Do You Know.
The singer recently hosted top personalities in the entertainment industry to the listening party of his new six tracks EP titled ‘Sun Beneath The Sea.’
EU, US Exert Pressure On Mnangagwa To Probe Violation Of Human Rights
20 January 2021
The European Union (EU) and the United States of America have both expressed concern over the Zimbabwean government’s failure to probe the disproportionate use of force by security personnel against civilians in January 2009.
In a statement posted on its Twitter handle, the EU in Zimbabwe demanded an end to impunity and the prosecution of human rights violators. It said:
Two years on, investigations are lacking and impunity continues to prevail on human rights violations perpetrated in #Zimbabwe in January 2019. #NoZIMpunity.
In a related development, the U.S. Embassy in Harare queried why Zimbabwe has not yet prosecuted and convicted the security forces accused of rape, torture, and killing civilians in January 2019. It said in a tweet:
Two years. When will Zimbabwe investigate, prosecute, and convict government security forces accused of rape, torture, and killing civilians in Jan 2019? Two years is too long to seek justice/answers/accountability.
Zimbabwe descended into anarchy characterised by the looting of businesses and barricading of roads in January 2019 after the government unilaterally hiked the price of fuel by over 150 per cent.
In response to the fuel riots, the government blocked the internet for several days and unleashed security forces on civilians resulting in the death of over 20 people and serious injuries to hundreds.
There were also allegations of some rogue members of the security services moving from door-to-door raping women who were too terrified to report the abuse for fear of victimisation.
The Zimbabwean government denied the reports insisting that “terrorists” and a “third force” were responsible for the violence.- Pindula News
Jobs and investment are likely to continue to leave the City of London for the European Union due to Brexit, Ireland’s EU commissioner Mairead McGuinness said as she launched a plan to strengthen the bloc’s financial system.
<p class="no_name">“There has been this discussion around movement of employment and investment. Already some has happened and it is likely that more will follow,” Ms McGuinness said.</p>
<p class="no_name">“While that is happening, it isn’t our objective that we’re trying to take some of the one million people’s jobs that are in the <a class="search" href="/topics/topics-7.1213540?article=true&tag_location=United+Kingdom" rel="nofollow">United Kingdom</a>. But we are trying to take account of Brexit,” she added.</p>
<p class="no_name">The <a class="search" href="/topics/topics-7.1213540?article=true&tag_organisation=European+Commission" rel="nofollow">European Commission</a> has not yet made a series of equivalence decisions on British financial services, which would ease access for UK banks and financial firms to the single market by effectively deeming British regulations to be on par with those of the EU.</p>
<p class="no_name">Ms McGuinness, who is in charge of financial markets and services, said that the commission was still lacking clarity on the British government’s intentions regarding regulation, and on how much it will seek to diverge from its past alignment with the bloc.</p>
<h4 class="crosshead">Equivalence</h4><p class="no_name">The commission would only grant equivalence where it is in the EU’s strategic interest, she added.</p>
<p class="no_name">It comes after the biggest political group in the EU called for a strategy to encourage crucial sectors of the financial industry to relocate into the bloc.</p>
<p class="no_name">“We need a clear step-by-step masterplan that helps key financial sector businesses move from the United Kingdom to the European Union,” said MEP <a class="search" href="/topics/topics-7.1213540?article=true&tag_person=Markus+Ferber" rel="nofollow">Markus Ferber</a>, who is finance spokesman for the right-wing European People’s Party, which includes <a class="search" href="/topics/topics-7.1213540?article=true&tag_organisation=Fine+Gael" rel="nofollow">Fine Gael</a> in its grouping.</p>
<p class="no_name">This week, mayor of London <a class="search" href="/topics/topics-7.1213540?article=true&tag_person=Sadiq+Khan" rel="nofollow">Sadiq Khan</a> wrote in the Financial Times that the City of London had been “sidelined” in the Brexit talks and that Britain’s trade deal with the EU was “effectively a no-deal Brexit for finance”.</p>
<p class="no_name">A new strategy unveiled by Ms McGuinness on Tuesday aims to reduce the bloc’s dependence on financial services outside its jurisdiction.</p>
<p class="no_name">The plan seeks to develop greater capacity within the EU in financial market infrastructure and to bolster the international role of the euro as a currency.</p>
<p class="no_name">This is important to “shield our economy and financial system from foreign exchange shocks, reduce reliance on other currencies and ensure lower transaction, hedging and financing costs for EU firms,” commissioner for the economy <a class="search" href="/topics/topics-7.1213540?article=true&tag_person=Paolo+Gentiloni" rel="nofollow">Paolo Gentiloni</a> said.</p>
Renewable energy growth has reduced greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution and delivered a range of other co-benefits since 2005, according to a new briefing document released by the European Union’s (EU) European Environment Agency (EEA) on Monday.
Renewables, which include biomass in this report, have risen to 34% of all electricity generation, doubling since 2005, but fossil fuels still produce the largest share, at 38% of total generation in 2019. One quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions come from the electricity sector in the EU.
The briefing cites a detailed life-cycle analysis of renewable energy conducted by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), published in late December 2020.
The research compares the impacts of renewable energy, both positive and negative, to a counterfactual scenario in which no new renewables were built. Emissions, air pollution, acidification and eutrophication (in which bodies of water become excessively oxygenated, damaging ecosystems) were all improved by renewable energy growth.
The outcomes for freshwater eco-toxicity were a net decrease, because “solar PV has a relatively high impact intensity for ecotoxicity because of the emissions of metal, related to mining and smelting operations, and chlorine from the purification of solar-grade silicon,” however some of thsse impacts were offset by wind.
Land impacts were greater due to renewable use, but the vast majority of this had come from the high usage of biomass in the EU. The bulk of emissions reductions from the use of renewables came from onshore wind power, follower by rooftop and utility scale solar, and then by biomass.
The growth of renewable energy resulted in avoiding the use of 145 mega-tonnes of oil equivalent of fossil fuels 2018; roughly equivalent to the gross final energy consumption of France. Of this amount, 39% was solid fuels and 31% was gaseous fuels. Similarly, the emissions avoided due to the growth of renewables in the EU was roughly equivalent to the total GHG emissions of France, for the year of 2018.
The full report finds that offshore and onshore wind, and solar PV energy avoided 30, 161 and 79 megatonnes of CO2, respectively, and 270 in total for the year 2019. This compares to 38 MTCO2 from biogas and 33 MTCO2 from solid biomass, for renewable electricity.
For the EU’s climate pledges to be met, renewable energy must grow to nearly 70% of all EU generation by 2030 and to more than 80% by 2050, which in turn allows other sectors to reduce emissions through electrification, such as road transport.
The EU proposes several pathways for reducing the impacts of this growth in renewable energy, such as prioritising better end of life material recovery for solar PV. Among renewable technologies, PV has a relatively high emissions impact in the manufacturing process, and as such, the EU proposes increases the proportion of clean electricity used in PV manufacturing to bring down this emissions intensity.
Demand-side management, such as energy and resource efficiency, circular business models and lifetime extensions for non-combustible power sources can all help, as can improved effort to site and design large-scale renewable projects to better suit local and broader ecosystem needs.
“STOP THE STEAL” 2020 PRESIDENTIAL WRITE IN CANDIDATE PETER W SHERRILL JOINS FORCES TO “HALT” THE AFRICAN UNION ELECTION – Book Publishing Industry Today – EIN Presswire
The March for Life, bringing many thousands of people to Washington DC each year to protest abortion, is to be virtual this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and security concerns.
A statement posted at marchforlife.org asks participants to stay home this year and join the march virtually, The Alabama Baptist reported.
“For the first time since 1974, when it first began, the message of the national March for Life to participants is: Stay home,” Catholic News Service reported.
The announcement was made after the National Park Service announced it is closing the National Mall through Inauguration Day on Jan. 20 due to security concerns following riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
A statement posted at marchforlife.org asked participants to stay home this year and join the march virtually.
America Magazine, the Jesuit Review ran a story headlined, “Dear March for Life organizers: Thank you for canceling the in-person march.”
The march protests the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, the mantra of the prochoice movement, that supports the right to abortion.
The Jan. 29 march, which has been held each January since 1974 on the Mall, will be streamed online, except for a small group of antiabortion leaders who will march to the Supreme Court that day, the group said in a statement, The Washington Post reported.
The marchers “will represent pro-life Americans everywhere who, each in their own unique ways, work to make abortion unthinkable and build a culture where every human life is valued and protected.”
Groups like the March for Life have been strong supporters of President Donald Trump and believe his selection of three conservative Supreme Court justices — as well as hundreds of conservative lower court judges — will lead to significant legal limits on abortion.
In one of his last official acts as president, Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 18 identifying scores of historical figures to be honored in the new National Garden of American Heroes, among them March for Life founder Nellie Gray and famous radio and television preacher Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Lifesite News reported.
Trump ordered the creation of the new national park in July 2020, announcing that it would be a “vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans to ever live.”
The March for Life statement said, “The protection of all of those who participate in the annual March, as well as the many law enforcement personnel and others who work tirelessly each year to ensure a safe and peaceful event, is a top priority of the March for Life.
“In light of the fact that we are in the midst of a pandemic which may be peaking, and in view of the heightened pressures that law enforcement officers and others are currently facing in and around the Capitol, this year’s March for Life will look different.”
Driscoll and daughter, Real Faith Ministries Director, Ashley Chase, release book today, January 19, in partnership with Charisma House Publishing
ORLANDO, Fla. — As a young father, bestselling author and pastor, Mark Driscoll, remembers reading Bible stories and teaching his first-born daughter, Ashley, how to pray the way God’s children talk to their dad. Today, at a time when Americans may feel isolated, anxious, or disconnected, Driscoll and daughter, Real Faith Ministries Director, Ashley Chase, believe prayer can be a powerful, life-changing vehicle for help.
But all too often, especially during uncertain times, prayer does not come easy. There are many books on prayer and about Jesus, but there are very few on Jesus’ prayer life. His was the perfect prayer life and a model for how to pray. So, why, how, and where did Jesus pray?
Driscoll and Chase answer these questions and invite readers to experience the presence of God through an ever-deepening, life-giving, burden-relieving, and hope-lifting relationship with Jesus Christ in their new book, “Pray Like Jesus: Learn to Pray to God as Father,” ISBN-13: 978-1-62999-926-5, releasing today (January 19), in partnership with Charisma House Publishing. Watch a message from Driscoll and Chase here.
“Whether you find yourself relating more to one or the other of us, our prayer is that by the end of this book, you’ll discover that you’ll have a new perspective of your relationship with God,” says Driscoll. “Once you know who your Dad is, it’s a lot easier to talk to Him.”
Many people seeking God statistically value prayer and try to have a richer prayer life. However, most people struggle to build any momentum in their prayer lives when they fall into a rut or do not understand how easy it is. In “Pray Like Jesus,” the father/daughter duo looks at Jesus’ teachings about prayer and how he modeled talking to God. The discussion is biblical, practical, and easy to read.
“It is an honor to be able to share stories of how God has used prayer to grow my faith and mold me as a believer. I love that prayer requires us to be dependent on God, much like a child who is helpless without a parent,” says Chase. “God loves to bless His children, and since He is the only one who truly knows and can fill our needs, who better to go to in this often-tumultuous life?”
Driscoll and Chase’s book teaches how to pray more earnestly, more joyously, more humbly, more frequently, more naturally, and more fruitfully. It will help readers understand how to make prayer a central part of life and direct each day. The book includes a sermon series for churches, ministries, and small groups, daily devotionals, a small-group study guide with discussion questions, and suggested prayer activities.
For additional information, including a free sample chapter of “Pray Like Jesus,” visit driscollbooks.com.
About Mark Driscoll Mark Driscoll is a Jesus- following, mission-leading, church-serving, people-loving, Bible-preaching pastor, and the author of many books, including “Real Marriage” and “Who Do You Think You Are?” He is the pastor of The Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. With a skillful mix of bold presentation, accessible teaching, and unrelenting compassion for those who are hurting the most, Pastor Mark has taken biblical Christianity into cultural corners rarely explored by Evangelicals. He and his wife and ministry partner, Grace, have three sons and two daughters.
About Ashley Chase Ashley Chase is the Driscolls’ oldest of five children. She studied theology at Capenwray Bible College in Costa Rica, is a graduate with honors from the master’s program at the Barrett Honors College, and a gifted Bible teacher. She is the Missions Director at The Trinity Church, Ministry Director for Real Faith, and was a campus leader for the prayer tent that prayed day and night for an entire school year at Arizona State University, one of the largest universities in America.
About Charisma House Charisma House empowers people through Spirit-inspired resources. It is the leading publisher of diversified Christian resources motivating people to fulfill God’s purpose. For more than 20 years Charisma House has published books, including 14 New York Times bestsellers that challenge, encourage, teach, and equip Christians.
Publicity Department Charisma House Publishing [email protected] (615) 331-8538
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Religion News Service or Religion News Foundation.
The News Tribune has published letters recently asserting that Christianity provides the yardstick and measure for what is good government policy. Phrases used have included “a Christian nation” and “God-given rights.”
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<p>This whole approach is wrong on two counts.</p> <p>First, we are not a Christian nation. We are a nation founded on the principle of church-and-state separation, commonly phrased as “freedom of religion.” This means the government cannot impose (establish) a national religion, be it Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, or any other. Invoking Christian arguments for government policy is not only incorrect, it is a departure from or violation of the intentions of our Founders.</p> <p>The invocation of Christian principles in secular policy is wrong on a second count. We can all agree that one of the great woes of our current political landscape is extreme partisanship. We should reflect on the roots of this partisanship. In large part, it is due to the use of a good-versus-evil dichotomy in our political discourse. We are encouraged by cable news (read “Fox News”) to vilify, demonize, and fear our adversaries. We are told, directly or indirectly, that we do not just disagree with our adversaries, they are actually evil. Therefore, we cannot negotiate or compromise with them. This is religious thinking and religious language.</p> <p>In fact, our political disagreements are not, by and large, matters of good and evil. They are matters of emphasis. We all value family, security, prosperity, and a healthy environment. While some emphasize lower taxes and the decreased regulation of business, others emphasize compassion and support for the least fortunate of our fellows. These are matters of emphasis, not matters of good and evil.</p>
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</div> <p>We will do well to dispense with religious language and imagery in our political discourse.</p> <p><b>Charles Gessert</b></p> <p><b>Duluth</b></p> </div>
The civil components of the Lost Cause were combined with Christian mythology. The South played the part of Christ in the Christian drama — crucified, yet unrisen. The saints in this Lost Cause theology were the heroes of the Confederacy — most notably Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. A scholar of Southern religion, Paul Harvey, put it this way: “Key to this mythology was the exalting of southern war heroes as Christian evangelical gentlemen. Evangelists of the New South era immortalized the Christian heroism of the Confederate leaders and soldiers and dovetailed them into revivals of the era.” No matter one’s denominational affiliation, it offered a story and a set of high holy days every white Southerner could celebrate.
The Lost Cause is an example of how collective memory works. Collective memory is not concerned with historical accuracy; its preoccupation with the past is based on a desire to mobilize a vision for the present and create a prospect for the future. Heather Cox Richardson argues persuasively in her recent book “How the South Won the Civil War” that even though the Union defeated the Confederacy on the battlefield, the South won the war by creating a Southern identity that led to the emergence and re-emergence of the Ku Klux Klan and the institution of Jim Crow laws, and then spread west to provide fuel for the Chinese Exclusion Act and acts of violence against Native Americans — all on the basis of resentment, myth and symbol, rather than facts or truth.
Make America Great Again is a politics of grievance complete with its own myths and symbols. Mr. Trump’s rallies have been the ritual locus of his brand of nationalism. They create a collective effervescence in attendees that leaves them seething at their political enemies and ready to follow the president down any authoritarian road he takes them. Moreover, Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry have shown that Mr. Trump’s religious support comes from Christian nationalists who believe the United States was built for and by white Christians.
Like the Lost Cause, MAGAism is buttressed by religious narratives and imagery, and its gospel is spread through houses of worship every Sunday. For some evangelicals, Mr. Trump is a divinely ordained savior uniquely able to save the nation from ruin at the hands of godless socialists, Black Lives Matter activists and antifa. So it’s no surprise that as insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, they waved a mix of Confederate, Christian and Trump flags.
MAGAism also has an eschatology based on conspiracy. As Marc-André Argentino, who studies QAnon, told me by email, for many Trump supporters, including growing numbers of white evangelicals, Jan. 6 figures as “the start of the long awaited period of tribulation that will announce the arrival of the promised golden age.” In other words, Jan. 6 is both a beginning point and a sign of the end, a rebirth for the dangerous delusions of extremists who see violence as an appropriate means for finishing what they started in order to usher in a new world.
The lasting legacy of the Jan. 6 insurrection is the myth and symbol of Mr. Trump’s lost cause. He has successfully nurtured a feeling in the 74 million Americans who voted for him that they can trust neither their government nor the electoral process. By encouraging them to question the validity of votes in some of the Blackest cities in the country, such as Detroit, and stoking anger that such constituencies would have the power to swing an election, he convinced them that the process is rigged, thus giving his supporters the moral high ground. This creates the foundation for a collective memory based on a separate national identity held together by the tragic stealing of his presidency and the evil of his opponents.
The Lost Cause provides a blueprint for winning the war, even though Mr. Trump has lost this election. After Mr. Biden’s inauguration, if prominent Republican figures encourage their followers to accept the results, but not defeat; if they pick up Mr. Trump’s leadership mantle by fostering resentment and the desire for revenge through their Twitter feeds; if they perpetually call into question the legitimacy of the U.S. government through an army of evangelical pastors less concerned with reality than with disseminating the myths and symbols of Make America Great Again as a vehicle for Christian nationalism, it’s not hard to see how they will become heirs of the Lost Cause. That should frighten us all.
