A school in Finland has cancelled a concert of Handel’s “Messiah” performed by the Finnish Baroque Orchestra and the Helsinki Chamber Choir over concerns the recital’s Christian themes might offend some students.

Officials with the school hosting the concert in question made the decision after learning about a case in Hämeenlinna, a Finnish city, where a child objected to songs about the life of Jesus performed at an undisclosed school. Ultimately, the National Non-Discrimination and Equality Tribunal decided the non-Christian pupils should be compensated 1,500 euros (or $1,562) for their offense, local outlets reported.

However, on Nov. 19, the city’s Education and Welfare Committee voted 6-5 no payment was due to the offended school students.

The show in Hämeenlinna was one of three performances based on faith-filled themes. The first recital was held in 2022, with subsequent recitals in 2023 and 2024. At least one non-religious student watching the 2022 show was purportedly offended.

Finnish news outlet Helsingin Sanomat reported the “religiosity of the concert was not announced in advance, but [the school] apologized after the concert.” It was only the first show accused of being “discriminatory.”

A hymn was removed from the second performance in 2023 and some apparently voiced concerns about a parish choir at the third event.

“The board also found that the educational institution had neglected its obligation to promote equality,” Helsingin Sanomat reported of the choir singing at the performance. “It held this view, inter alia, because the educational institution did not inform that the choir’s performance had been organized jointly with the congregation.”

Given the experience in Hämeenlinna, the organizers of the yet-to-be performed concert cancelled the event, citing issues with the religious overtones in the music.

“The atmosphere in the chamber choir and baroque orchestra has been shocked by the decision,” Laura Kajander, executive director of the Baroque Orchestra, reportedly said, noting it was the first time she was aware such a cancellation happened. “If concerts are cancelled, it is the children who suffer.”

It’s worth noting some 65% of Finns still identify as Christians, belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, one of two national churches in the country, Christian Network Europe reported. Additionally, 32% said they don’t identify with any religious group, per the U.S. Department of State.

All of this comes as former Finnish PM Päivi Räsänen is embroiled in what has become a years-long legal battle after she shared a Bible verse on social media.

She weighed in on the compensation conflict in Hämeenlinna and the recent concert cancellation, arguing the decision to remove the performance from the schedule defied common sense.

“Compensation payment of 1,500 euros for discrimination when a non-religious child accidentally heard a song about Jesus,” she wrote in an X post on Oct. 31. “Has the use of common sense disappeared? At the same time, schools celebrate Halloween with witches and zombie characters. How can a song about Jesus be perceived as so dangerous?”
Sources:faithwire

http://theendtimeradio.com

ന്യൂയോര്‍ക്ക്: യേശു ക്രിസ്തുവിൻ്റെ പരസ്യജീവിതത്തെ കേന്ദ്രമാക്കിയുള്ള ഹിറ്റ് സീരീസായ ദി ചോസണിൻ്റെ ‘അന്ത്യ അത്താഴ’ ഭാഗത്തിന്റെ ഷൂട്ടിംഗ് പൂര്‍ത്തിയായി. സീസൺ 5 ൻ്റെ ചിത്രീകരണം ഔദ്യോഗികമായി അവസാനിച്ചതായും പ്രൊഡക്ഷൻ ടീം എഡിറ്റിംഗ് ഘട്ടത്തിലേക്ക് കടന്നിരിക്കുകയാണെന്നും ചോസണ്‍ ടീം പറയുന്നു. 2025-ന്റെ തുടക്കത്തിൽ റിലീസ് ഉണ്ടാകുമെന്നാണ് നിലവില്‍ പുറത്തുവരുന്ന വിവരങ്ങള്‍. ദി ചോസണിലെ അഭിനേതാക്കൾ അന്ത്യ അത്താഴ ചിത്രീകരണത്തിനായി ഒരു നീണ്ട മേശയ്ക്ക് ചുറ്റും ഒത്തുകൂടുന്നത് ഉള്‍പ്പെടെയുള്ള ദൃശ്യങ്ങളുമായി ഷൂട്ടിംഗിന്റെ ദൃശ്യങ്ങള്‍ ചോസണ്‍ ടീം നേരത്തെ പുറത്തുവിട്ടിരിന്നു.

ദി ചോസണിൻ്റെ സീസൺ 5-ൻ്റെ റിലീസ് തീയതി ഇതുവരെ പ്രഖ്യാപിച്ചിട്ടില്ലെങ്കിലും, അത് 2025 വസന്തകാലത്ത് പുറത്തിറക്കുമെന്നാണ് സൂചന. എന്നാല്‍ ഇക്കാര്യം പൂര്‍ണ്ണമായി സ്ഥിരീകരിച്ചിട്ടില്ല. കഴിഞ്ഞ സീസണുകൾക്കു സമാനമാണെങ്കില്‍ എട്ട് എപ്പിസോഡുകളും ഉൾക്കൊള്ളുന്ന വിധത്തില്‍ വിവിധ തവണകളായിട്ടായിരിക്കും സീരീസ് തിയേറ്ററുകളിൽ റിലീസ് ചെയ്യുക. പൊതുജനങ്ങളില്‍ നിന്നും ധനസമാഹരണം നടത്തി (ക്രൌഡ് ഫണ്ടിംഗ്) നിര്‍മ്മിച്ച ദി ചോസണ്‍ ലോകത്ത് ഏറ്റവുമധികം ആളുകള്‍ കണ്ടിട്ടുള്ള പരമ്പരകളില്‍ ഒന്നാണ്.

ഏതാണ്ട് 60 കോടി ആളുകളാണ് ഈ പരമ്പരയ്ക്കു പ്രേക്ഷകരായിട്ടുള്ളത്. ലോക ചരിത്രത്തില്‍ ഏറ്റവുമധികം തര്‍ജ്ജമ ചെയ്യപ്പെട്ട പരമ്പര എന്ന പദവിക്ക് അരികിലാണ് ‘ദി ചോസണ്‍’ ഇപ്പോള്‍. അറുനൂറിലധികം ഭാഷകളില്‍ സീരീസ് എത്തിക്കുവാനുള്ള ശ്രമത്തിലാണ് അണിയറ പ്രവര്‍ത്തകര്‍. ചോസണ്‍ സീരീസിന്റെ സബ്ടൈറ്റില്‍ മലയാളത്തിലും പുറത്തിറക്കിയിരിന്നു. ആദ്യത്തെ മൂന്നു സീരീസിന്റെ മലയാളം സബ്ടൈറ്റിലാണ് നിലവില്‍ ലഭ്യമായിട്ടുള്ളത്. നാലാമത്തെ സീരീസിന്റെ സബ്ടൈറ്റില്‍ ഒരുക്കങ്ങള്‍ പുരോഗമിക്കുകയാണ്.
കടപ്പാട് :പ്രവാചക ശബ്ദം

http://theendtimeradio.com

Jason “Sundance” Head, winner of season 11 of NBC’s “The Voice,” is praising God after surviving an accidental gunshot wound to the stomach.

The 46-year-old singer was out in the woods by himself for a solo camping trip on Nov. 15, when the bullet pierced his stomach, barely missing his vital organs, his agent.

In a video posted to his Facebook account, Head — the son of rockabilly singer Roy Head — recounted the harrowing incident, explaining he always travels with a .22-caliber revolver, one that “looks just like the kind of gun you’d see in a Western movie.” He said he keeps the gun in a quick-draw holster.

“I really don’t know what happened still,” he recalled, remembering putting on his backpack with the holster sitting in the passenger seat. Head said he was shot as he turned and began walking away.

“It happened that fast,” he added. “That revolver slid out of the case and it hit the doorjamb on the Jeep on the floor step and it shot me.”

After realizing he was hurt, Head said he reached into the pocket of his jeans to pull out his phone, realizing his pockets “were already full of blood.” It was then the singer-songwriter knew he needed medical attention.

He ran toward a fence and jumped it in hopes of reaching the highway.

Once the musician was alongside the road, he recalled a few cars whizzing by before someone responded to him flagging them down. It’s a miracle someone finally stopped to help.

“I also want to thank the people that were on Highway 84 that stopped to help me,” he said. “Without you, I don’t think I was going to make it, man; I was bleeding out.”

Head described the good Samaritan as “like an angel from heaven,” adding he was “never so glad to see somebody in my life.”

The entertainer’s wife, Misty, quickly took to social media to urge “prayer warriors” to pray for her husband, who was taken by medevac to the hospital at University of Texas at Tyler, where the trauma team began swiftly working to save Head.

Ultimately, Head credited the “good Lord above” and the “wonderful first responders” as well as the care specialists at the hospital for saving his life.

“I was sure I was going to die,” he said. “It was one of the craziest things that ever happened to me.”

Misty, after learning her husband was going to be OK, said, “God is awesome.”

As for Head, he said, “I want to tell everyone thank you for praying for me and my family. It was the most scary thing I’ve ever went through, and I still have the bullet in me. I’m not sure exactly what’s going to go on. All I know is I didn’t die day before yesterday, and I have another opportunity to live, and I feel like the Lord has blessed me just beyond I can even comprehend.”

In an interview with ET Online, he described the near-death experience: “I saw the light, man, and I really thought I was dying. … I just prayed a lot and I felt super peaceful. When the ambulance came, I was never so happy to be put on a stretcher in my life.”

Praise God the singer survived this scary ordeal. Please pray for his continued healing.
Sources:faithwire

http://theendtimeradio.com