The AS series focuses on the LoveNorthernRivers Festival artists for September beginning with River Movement, with NM by Valley Worship Aus, Darren Coggan and Toria Grace plus Justin Michael, Rebecca Willis, Phil Spence and Zoe Elliot.
Now with 90 songs running over 5 hours, check out the AGR Artists New Music playlist on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3tb3Nt3dbJewVzOWjnGF7O
Vote for your favourite(s) below.
#AussieGrown #CCM #AussieChristian #ChristianMusic

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c158939pz4do
Christian festival 'devastated' after man's death

A Blessed Prayer Festival

We were blessed to welcome a sister and two brothers from Canada who came to join us in ministry. Together with our full ministry team, we organized a large Prayer Festival Program where many people gathered to worship, pray, and hear the Word of God. We thank God for this beautiful opportunity to serve people and share the love of Jesus Christ.

"Yes, Paul, I read what you wrote, what the Holy Spirit inspired you to write, but...."
Even in our day a lot of well-meaning people would want to try to convince people that we have to keep part of the law to be pleasing to God. Don't be led astray, and certainly don't let someone tried to control you with the law. Read the verse below.

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
Colossians 2:16-17 ESV

We are celebrating 'Onam' festival, today

HAPPY 'ONAM' TO ALL MY DEAR FRIENDS, ALL OVER THE WORLD .

Onam is the official state festival of Kerala, India, celebrating the annual harvest and the mythical homecoming of the generous king Mahabali. Onam is celebrated by all communities in Kerala regardless of their background, standing as a symbol of unity, joy, and shared cultural heritage .

Daily devotion for August 25th
How To Celebrate
At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres.

Nehemiah 12:27
It is proper to dedicate. And it is proper also to celebrate when God has brought us to a place of achievement. The Holy Spirit has been careful to include in this account the three aspects that make up true celebration. One of the primary elements of true celebration is the expression of joy. It is amazing to me how many Christians never appear to be joyful. They are always gloomy and grim. I am reminded of what a little girl said upon seeing a mule for the first time: I don't know what you are, but you must be a Christian because you look just like Grandpa! There are a lot of long-faced Christians around. There are times of sorrow and sadness, of course, but Christians ought frequently to exude a sense of joy because they have something to be joyful about. Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is liking the present moment because it pleases us. But joy is much deeper and more long-range. Joy appreciates the past, the present, and the future, not because the circumstances are pleasing, but because the heart is right with God. These people were happy because the wall was finished. But they were joyful because God had helped them to finish it. Aware of God's love and acceptance, they therefore were joyful.

There is another clue hidden in this paragraph that tells us what celebration should be based on. Verse 30 tells us that purification is necessary to celebrate. You cannot do it with a hypocritical heart. It becomes a festival of empty words. Many people seem to be afraid of this word purity. They think it describes a self-righteous kind of person. But purification in the Christian life stems from the same philosophy that motivates us when we wash dishes. You do not set your table with dirty dishes, do you? God does not do His work with dirty vessels! We need a periodic cleansing of our lives and hearts. In the New Testament, it is a simple process. It is not by ritual but by confessing our faults and believing that God has forgiven them. Confess your sins. Then believe that God cleanses you, that He forgives you, that He has restored you to His favor. This is what fills the heart with joy.

There is still a third element in this that is found in verse 31. Thankfulness is always part of true celebration. These people were thankful. Are we properly thankful? Do we give thanks every day to God for the blessings we are enjoying at the moment? We are so trained by the media to grumble and complain, to insist on something we do not have, to focus on that instead of on all we do have. One of the first signs of a growing, maturing spirit in young Christians is that they begin to give thanks to God for what He has poured into their life; for the opportunities that are before them; and for the present blessings and liberties that they do enjoy. So there are the elements that make up celebration: joyfulness, purity, and thanksgiving.

Lord, forgive me for so often forgetting all that I have to celebrate. Teach me to celebrate all You have done for me with joy, purity, and thanksgiving.

A Brief Timeline of Halloween
1000 BC and previous
Pre-Christian Celts celebrate November 1 as their New Year (Samhain) and practice the night before as the evening where the veil between the living and the dead was opened.
AD 43
The Romans conquer the Celts and the Roman harvest festival, Pomona (celebrated on November 1), eventually merges with Samhain.
609 or 610
Pope Boniface IV designates November 1 as All Saints’ Day.
835
Pope Gregory III rules that All Saints’ Day always falls on the same day as Samhain. He also declares that young men can go door to door to collect food for the poor and that villagers can dress in costumes as saints to celebrate the holiday.
1517
On October 31, Martin Luther posts the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Church.
1600s
New England Puritans ban Halloween since it is Catholic in origin. Only Catholics and Episcopalians continue to observe the holiday.
1840s
A surge in Irish immigration to the United States sparks growth in Halloween traditions.
1912
The Dennison Manufacturing Company begins publishing Halloween books with party, decoration, and costume ideas. (It first began publishing Halloween materials in 1909.)
1921
Anoka, Minnesota, becomes the first American city to officially sanction Halloween as a holiday.
1923
New York City begins Halloween celebrations.
1925
Los Angeles begins citywide Halloween celebrations.
2004
The Puyallup, Washington, school district bans Halloween from schools out of fear of offending local Wiccans.

The greater sabbats are: Samhain (Halloween or November Eve), the Celtic New Year; the days when the walls between the worlds were said to be thinnest and when contact with one’s ancestors took place; Oimelc (February 1), the winter purification festival…Beltane (May 1), the great fertility festival…. Different Craft traditions…treat the festivals in diverse ways. But almost all traditions at least celebrate Samhain and Beltane.

In the Dark Ages and Early Middle Ages, the Catholic Church attempted to oppose the paganism involved in the Samhain festival by making November 1 All Saints’ Day and November 2 All Souls’ Day. As noted, All Saints’ Day was a remembrance and celebration of the saints, especially the ones who were heroic martyrs (people who died for their faith). All Souls’ Day became a day on which Roman Catholics prayed for the dead in order to help them escape the torments of purgatory.
In the year AD 609 or 610, Pope Boniface IV grievously strayed from biblical teaching by dedicating the Roman Pantheon, formerly a pagan temple to every known god, to the Virgin Mary and all Christian martyrs. This was done on May 13, a day that became a feast day. In 835 Pope Gregory IV transferred this feast to November 1 and extended it to include all of the saints. As a result, November 1, All Saints’ Day, the day after Halloween (Hallows’ Eve or All Saints’ Eve), became a day dedicated by the Catholic Church to the Virgin Mary and the saints. Eventually, November 2 evolved into All Souls’ Day, a special day to pray for the dead. As we will see, this custom supposedly originated with a mystical vision of the Catholic Saint Odilo, who died in 1048. - JOHN ANKERBERG

For the most part, then, our modern Halloween appears to trace its initial origin to the practices of the ancient Druids at their winter festival on October 31. - JOHN ANKERBERG