Mental illness is becoming the go-to explanation in the press for the recent spate of terror attacks. But this approach is not without problems.

Have you noticed that media coverage of the recent terror attacks across Europe has been littered with references to the mental health of the perpetrators? Without necessarily denying links to Islamic extremism, reports also keenly stress the role of psychological instability.

To take a few recent examples, according to the BBC, Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, the man responsible for the Nice lorry attack, reportedly "had a history of violence and mental instability".¹ Omar Mateen, the 29-year old responsible for the Orlando nightclub attack in June, "was violent and mentally unstable".²

The Ansbach suicide bomber (27-year old Syrian refugee Mohammad Daleel) was reported as having previously received psychiatric care following two suicide attempts, and Adel Kermiche, who murdered French priest Jacques Hamel in the Rouen attack, had apparently received treatment for mental disorders as a teenager.³

London Stabbings

Most recently, this week's stabbing in London led the Met Police very quickly to point to "mental health issues" as a possible explanation, whilst repeatedly emphasising that terrorism is just one of many possible lines of enquiry and that so far there is "no evidence of radicalisation".⁴

Of course, not all recent attacks have been described in this manner. Nevertheless, a cross-media narrative is certainly emerging which holds 'mental health issues' as the go-to explanation for the recent spate of terror attacks in Europe. Only in the last few days have others begun to point out the problems with this approach.⁵

A cross-media narrative is emerging which holds 'mental health issues' as the go-to explanation for the recent spate of terror attacks in Europe.

Complex Concept – Not Catch-All Explanation

The highly complex relationship between mental health and violent behaviour is not well understood. Individuals driven to such terrible actions as we have witnessed in recent weeks must themselves be severely disturbed – mentally deluded, corrupted or oppressed. To deny the presence of psychological problems in this context could be dangerous.

For Christians, belief in the existence of a spiritual realm necessarily provokes questions about the influence of demonic spirits. But the secular press ignores such things and rushes to explain away what is going on purely by a catch-all reference to mental health problems, which though convenient, can be severely misleading.

Will Gore of The Independent has argued that "The media glosses over the specifics in favour of creating a kind of homogenised bogeyman figure: a religious fundamentalist afflicted by mental illness and immune to rationality".⁶ His argument is that the media's first response to any attack is to suspect jihadism, the second response is to expect mental health issues, and the third response is to conflate the two, oversimplifying and demonising them both.

This is visible in the term 'Islamopsychosis', which is gaining traction online, and also in yesterday's Daily Express, which claimed that ISIS might be deliberately targeting mentally unstable people to encourage them to carry out attacks.⁷

The complex relationship between mental health and violent behaviour is not well understood, but the secular press ignores such things.

Explanation or Distraction?

So, whilst our security services are working around the clock to try to understand the complex processes behind radicalisation, the general public are being sold a different and much simpler narrative – these attackers are just crazy religious people!

This sits neatly with the 'Islam is a religion of peace' doctrine; any Muslim who turns to terror is not practising a true form of their faith – they are simply mentally unstable. So the public is deceived and deluded about the incursion of jihad (radical Islam) into Europe. The secular humanist values of multi-faith 'tolerance' remain intact.

But if we ignore the links of attackers to radical Islam, we close down proper debate and divert attention away from the real reasons behind the attacks. We end up blaming mental health for the things we do not understand and dismissing anything beyond our comprehension or in discord with our own worldview.

Mark Brown of The Independent commented yesterday:

When such events break the reasoned quiet and order of our lives, we look for ways to make ourselves safe, ways to fit the shock of such attacks into our existing ways of thinking and understanding of the world. We want an explanation for what feels beyond comprehension...⁸

The 'mental health' narrative is fast becoming the pacifying response that somehow makes us feel more comfortable and in control of a threatening and unpredictable situation. But this leaves us deceived about the full truth and irrationally prejudiced about both Muslims and those suffering from mental health problems.

The 'mental health' narrative is fast becoming the pacifying response that somehow makes us feel more in control of a threatening situation.

Danger for Christians

The great danger of all this cover-up for Christians will be the next stage in the deception. As the secular media begin dismissing all terrorism as the action of crazy religious fundamentalists, this will only be a stepping stone to saying that all religious people are mentally deluded – especially those who can be labelled 'fundamentalist'. This is the final goal of our secular humanist society.

Paul warned about the coming of a great delusion in the last days. In the first chapter of Romans, he spoke of people suppressing the truth about God and creation, leading God to give them over to a depraved mind and them becoming filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, depravity and violence.

When writing to the Thessalonians, in reference to the 'man of lawlessness' being let loose into the world, Paul said that people perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. He said "For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness" (2 Thess 2:11).

As terrorism is increasingly dismissed as the action of crazy religious fundamentalists, it will then be easy to assert that all religious people are mentally deluded.

Shine Like Stars

Only a lost and broken world would try to explain away one terrifying problem it doesn't understand with another it understands even less – shifting fear from one base to another.

For Christians, it is important that we guard our hearts, so we do not allow ourselves to be drawn under the powerful, delusional influence of fear currently shrouding Europe. It is also important that we brace ourselves and learn the full truth about Islam – because we're not going to get it from the BBC.

In an increasingly panic-stricken time we are given the opportunity to shine like stars in the universe (Phil 2:15), holding out the beautiful gifts for which the entire world is searching: TRUTH, HOPE and PEACE. It is time for the Church to stop hiding its light under a bowl – the world needs it now.

References

1 Attack on Nice: Who was Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel? BBC News, 18 July 2016.

2 Orlando nightclub shooting: How the attack unfolded. BBC News, 15 June 2016.

3 Knife attack raises fears of Isis targeting people with mental health problems. The Express, 4 August 2016.

4 Russell Square stabbings: Man arrested on suspicion of murder. BBC News, 4 August 2016.

5 E.g. Brown, M. Mentally ill people are the collateral damage of news reports about the Russell Square stabbings. The Independent, 4 August 2016.

6 Gore, W. Mental illness has become a convenient scapegoat for terrorism – but the causes of terror are rarely so simple. The Independent, 25 July 2016.

7 See note 3.

8 See note 5.

Whilst there are usually other big world issues demanding our attention, anti-Semitism is never far from the front pages of our newspapers.

For the UK, the big issue for the coming months will be the EU referendum, but whilst responding to our personal and national priorities we must be careful not to lose a broader perspective. What else is going on that may bring balance to our understanding and prayers?

Terror Attacks in Paris

In January 2015, world attention was drawn to the terror attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Following this came the assault on a Jewish Kosher supermarket in the east of the city, where four Jews were killed and where the surrounding Jewish neighbourhood was shocked by this act of terror.

These may have seemed like two simultaneous but independent incidents, with Charlie Hebdo taking highest priority in the media. To gain a more balanced perspective, one had to look outside of this and make extra effort to search for other news that would shed biblical light on the overall picture.

Doing this, one would have discovered a growing unease in French Jewish communities. According to the Jewish Agency for Israel, due to growing anti-Semitism about 7,000 French Jews had left the country during 2014 (many emigrating to Israel); double the figure for 2013.¹ The attack on the Paris market was connected to developing anti-Semitism across the nation and not an isolated incident to be sidelined by other news of the day.

Anti-Semitism is never far from the front pages of our newspapers – but it is easily obscured by other big world issues that demand our attention.

Other Recent CasesIsraeli IDs for new immigrants from France.

Anti-Semitic feeling² is erupting in many corners of society and in countries across the world. On Holocaust Memorial Day Martin Schulz, the German head of the European parliament, warned that anti-Semitism was prominent in the whole of Europe, with many European Jews living in fear and afraid to wear their religious garments on the streets of the continent's major cities.³

Anti-Semitism has become so bad in Malmo, the Swedish city where the popular television drama The Bridge is set, that it contributed to actor Kim Bodnia's decision to leave the show.⁴

Another incident in France occurred on Tuesday 12 January, when a Jewish politician was found stabbed and beaten to death at his home in the suburbs of Paris, prompting fears of yet another anti-Semitic attack.⁵

Recently the German head of the European parliament warned that anti-Semitism is rife across Europe, with many European Jews living in fear.

In Britain

Recently there have been anti-Semitic acts in British football.⁶ In London, there was an incident sparked by the sale of t-shirts with slogans designed to provoke Jewish fans of Tottenham. There has also been frequent anti-Semitic chanting from visiting supporters of rival teams.

Only last week an incident was highlighted when Oxford University was ordered by the government to investigate allegations of widespread anti-Semitism. The university's Jewish society had reported eight separate racism allegations levelled against the Oxford University Labour Club. This followed the resignation of co-chairman Alex Chalmers, who said a large proportion of members of OULC "have some kind of problem with Jews".⁷

This was also linked to concerns about trends in the Labour Party, whose leader Jeremy Corbyn has expressed strong sympathy for Hamas and Hezbollah. He failed to apologise for past links to these organisations in his first meeting with representatives of the Jewish community since becoming Labour leader.⁸ Is there a danger of growing anti-Semitism subtly infiltrating the ranks of one of the UK's main political parties?

The Bigger Picture

These examples of continuing anti-Semitism in the world should cause us to consider our world from a biblical perspective. It is so easy to get diverted into the politics of the day and forget what is happening behind the scenes.

Closer to home, anti-Semitic feeling has been noted recently in such diverse arenas as British football, universities and political parties.

Learning from Another Era

I was privileged to be on the staff at the Bible College of Wales during its latter years, when Rev Samuel Howells was Director. I would talk with him in his study and he would tell me something of the war years, when he was part of the team led by his father Rees Howells. In their commitment to prayer through those years they saw clearly that underlying the intent of Hitler to bring in the Nazi regime to dominate both Europe and the world was a spiritual battle for the survival of the Jews.

The account of these years is set out in Rees Howells: Intercessor (2003, Lutterworth Press). Samuel told me of the time when his father came out of the prayer room, ashen faced, saying that the Lord had asked him to take responsibility for the Jews in the Nazi death camps – and he had accepted. The ministry of intercession deepened in the college from that time on, as the deeper issues of the war were understood.

After the war the UN was to vote on the partition plan for Palestine. Dr Kingsley Priddy was Rees Howells' deputy at the time and he told me that they had visions of angels around the UN building as the vote took place. Samuel also said to me once something I still try to understand. Speaking of the intercessory team, he said "We lost six million Jews in the war, but the nation of Israel was reborn." This is perhaps how someone who takes responsibility in intercession will describe the battle and its results.

Samuel also told me that his father, once a strong man, died at a relatively young age in 1950 - strained by those years of spiritual warfare. That indicates the depth of the issues that we will face in future struggles of a similar kind.

During WWII, Rees Howells and his intercessory team saw clearly that underlying Hitler's intent to dominate the world was a spiritual battle for the survival of the Jews.

Same Battle, Different Manifestation

Our spiritual adversary dragged the entire world into a physical conflict in Europe in 1939. There is, similarly, a spiritual dimension to the UK's relation to Europe in our day. The door is now open for us to untangle ourselves from the EU. After that we will have an opportunity to regroup as a nation under God, according to our constitutional position expressed most clearly in the Queen's Coronation Oath.

Now more than ever, we need to understand the spiritual nature of this battle, whilst remembering the central purposes of God's end-time covenant plan. We must take care not to become pre-occupied fighting on one front while neglecting central issues on other, seemingly peripheral fronts.

Growing anti-Semitism is a symptom of an important front of the spiritual battle today, just as it has been through the entire history of Israel. God has a plan for Israel that will be resisted by our spiritual adversary in many ways, erupting in diverse places in what we call anti-Semitism.

Now more than ever, we need to understand the spiritual dimension of the battles we face today, including the UK's relationship with Europe.

One day this battle will be clearer to discern, with an overt turning against Israel stirred up among the rising world coalitions. For now, it may seem a more peripheral issue, but those with understanding will perceive the danger signs and the priorities for our prayers.

Interested in learning more about anti-Semitic trends around the world, or catching up on the latest incidents? You might benefit from looking at the following secular websites:

• The Anti-Defamation League: The ADL has recently produced an index of world anti-Semitism, presented as a useful map. It also catalogues selected anti-Semitic events from 2015.
• The Co-ordination Forum for Countering Anti-Semitism: the CFCA publishes trend reports, articles and news items (see their website here).

Notes

1 Aliyah Hits Ten-Year High: Approximately 26,500 New Immigrants Arrived in Israel in 2014. Jewish Agency for Israel, 2 January 2015.

2 There are a number of attempts at a precise definition of the term anti-Semitism. This one is useful.

3 See, for example, Sanchez, R, Europe's Jews are 'living in fear', warns head of EU parliament. The Telegraph, 27 January 2016.

4 Danish TV star says anti-Semitism made him uncomfortable in Sweden. Jerusalem Post, 17 February 2016.

5 Samuel, H, Killing of Jewish politician near Paris prompts fears of anti-Semitic attacks. The Telegraph, 13 January 2016.

6 See, for example, Telegraph Sport, Chelsea crack down on sales of abusive Arsene Wenger and Harry Kane T-shirts. The Telegraph, 9 February 2016. 7 Ali, A, Oxford University Labour Club co-chair, Alex Chalmers, resigns amid anti-Semitism row. The Independent, 17 February 2016. 8 See, for example, Riley-Smith, B and McCann, K, Jeremy Corbyn fails to apologise for links to Hamas and Hezbollah in first meeting with Jewish leaders. The Telegraph, 9 February 2016.

Two more attacks in the name of the so-called 'religion of peace' have been carried out in the past week in predominantly Muslim countries by Islamic State fighters.

Turkey and Indonesia are both in shock from deadly blasts in their capital cities where innocent civilians going about their daily tasks have been murdered.

Although they are targeting Westerners, the aim is also to hurt Islamic countries who they don't regard as true Muslims. So who are the true Muslims: Islamic State fighters or the ordinary Muslims of Turkey and Indonesia?

True Disciples

A similar question was asked about Christians in New Testament times. Who are the true Christians? The Apostle John wrestled with this question when he was living in Ephesus surrounded by many different religions and some Christians defected. His answer was to point to the life and the teaching of Jesus. He says "The man who says, 'I know him', (Jesus) but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:4).

People flee the attacks in Istanbul, which killed at least 10. See Photo Credits.

Jesus himself strictly forbade violence. When a Samaritan village did not welcome him his disciples asked "Lord do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them? But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village" (Luke 9:54).

If you apply the same test of truth to Muslims, you have to examine the life and teaching of Muhammad.

The whole subject of his treatment of the people of Mecca is controversial in the history of Islam in terms of the reason why Muhammad slaughtered them, but what is undeniable is the teaching recorded in the Qur'an that he used as justification when some of his supporters were reluctant to carry out his orders. He claimed that Allah had revealed a command making fighting a binding duty for all Muslims:

Fighting is prescribed for you, and you dislike it. But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows, and you know not (Qur'an 2:216)

According to the Apostle John, true Christians are those whose lives point to the life and teaching of Jesus. If you apply the same test of truth to Muslims, you have to examine the life and teaching of Muhammad.

God's Purpose: Salvation

So why has the God of Creation who holds the nations in his hands "like a drop in a bucket" (Isa 40:15) allowed these two atrocities to take place? It is surely because the time has come in world history for God to expose the great deception that has held many nations enslaved in darkness for centuries. From the middle of the last century there have been prophecies of a great Muslim harvest, releasing people from the fear and violence of Islam and it is in Indonesia, the largest Muslim population in the world, that this is happening on a massive scale.

People flee attackers in Jakarta. AP/Press Association.

We reported in Prophecy Today last year that the imams in Indonesia were anxious because some 2 million Muslims a year are converting to Christianity. The Prophecy Today team have visited Indonesia a number of times and seen at first hand the rapid growth of the church there.

We have seen thousands accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour in Jakarta, Surabaya and other cities in Sumatra where a kind of spontaneous outpouring of the Holy Spirit is still bringing whole communities into faith in Jesus.

One church leader, whose fellowship had only been founded six months, asked for advice on the right time to invite a pastor to lead the fellowship. He said they were already up to 500 but they thought they should wait until there were 1,000 in the congregation before appointing a minister.

Struggle Ahead

One church in Surabaya we have seen grow from 200 to more than 25,000. It is this kind of growth that could be seen in many other countries in the near future as the great deception of the so-called 'religion of peace' is exposed and the violence practised by Muhammad - endemic in the history of Islam - is recognised.

Why has God allowed these atrocities to take place? Surely the time has come for him to expose the great deception that has held many nations enslaved in darkness for centuries.

But this will not happen without a struggle in which many innocent people like those in Paris will lose their lives; and many Christians will be martyred - like those in Syria and Iraq and other parts of the Middle East. Islam will not release its hold upon the nations of the Middle East without a struggle and acts of terrorism are also likely to spread across the Western nations including Britain.

The Coming Disillusionment

The key to the future lies with the millions of Muslims spread across Europe and America as they begin to ask serious questions about whether the Islamic State are the true representatives of Muhammad. Once the serious study of the Qur'an and the historic documents of Islam begins, in the same way as the Bible has been subjected to intense academic scrutiny, the true nature of Islam and Allah, its god, will be revealed which will result in multitudes left disillusioned.

The great danger then will be who - or what - will fill the spiritual vacuum. Will the secular humanists win the disillusioned: or will those who seek the truth find Jesus as their Lord and Saviour? Much depends upon the ordinary Christians in the Western nations who are in daily contact with their Muslim neighbours. So many nominal Christians have imbibed the secular humanist values of a greedy corrupt and godless civilisation that they are no longer witnesses to the love and moral purity of Jesus.

If multitudes of Muslims become disillusioned with their faith, who – or what – will fill the spiritual vacuum?

Need for Repentance

Perhaps the greatest need right now in the West is for a wave of repentance to sweep across the nations, beginning with the churches who have failed to stem the tide of corruption that has engulfed whole generations. It may be that only some great catastrophe will open eyes that are blind to the reality of Western civilisation that is surely a stench in the nostrils of the God of Creation. But surely he who so loved the world that he sent Jesus to bring the light of life to humanity will find a way of steering the history of the nations to the point where there is openness to the Truth – the Truth that sets us free.

Clifford Hill responds to the widespread sex attacks in Germany on New Year's Eve.

This was the headline news in Germany that has shaken the nation which has opened its borders to more than 1,000,000 migrants and refugees during the past year. It is particularly disturbing for the President Angela Merkel whose personal policy has been to provide an open door for those escaping the war in Syria and Iraq. She has been foremost among European leaders in expressing compassion, both in deeds and in words, for the victims of the violence and atrocities causing so much suffering in the Middle East.

The reports from a number of German cities show that similar incidents occurred to those in Cologne where it is reported on the BBC News website that "around 1000 young men arrived in large groups, seemingly with the specific intention of carrying out attacks on women."¹ More than 100 women have reported being subjected to sexual harassment and have complained that the police deployed outside the Central Station to control the New Year crowds did not come to their aid.

Organised Harassment

Newspaper reports say that the police were overwhelmed by the crowds of aggressive young men, many of whom were intoxicated, who surrounded women and girls intent on making sexual advances. There have been numerous reports of girls suffering unwelcome assaults that have left them traumatised. The Hamburg police said that many similar incidents had been reported on New Year's Eve and similar reports from other German cities indicate that this was part of an organised event.

The attacks have been particularly disturbing news for Angela Merkel, who has been foremost among European leaders in expressing compassion to refugees fleeing war-torn nations.

Link to Migrants

The most disturbing fact to come from these incidents is that many of the young men involved were migrants or asylum seekers. Many did not even speak German or English. The inevitable conclusion from this is that Germany has been foolish in taking so many newcomers in such a short period of time and not providing for their acculturation into German society.

It would be very sad if the events in Cologne and Hamburg triggered widespread anti-migrant activities, but it is hard to see how such sentiment can be avoided in view of the public outrage at the attacks upon defenceless women and girls simply out to enjoy a New Year party atmosphere.

Lack of Cultural Understanding

This is a clear demonstration of the danger of policies devised by well-meaning politicians who have no understanding of the culture and social values of Islam that have moulded the upbringing of these young men. To them, women on the streets, scantily dressed and not under the authority of a man are nothing more than prostitutes and are therefore fair game.

Well-meaning politicians in the West may have no understanding of the cultural and social values that will have moulded the upbringing of these young men.

In Islam, all women are second-class citizens. In Saudi Arabia they are not even allowed to drive a car, let alone appear on the streets unaccompanied by a man. Legally their testimony is not equal to that of a man and they do not have equal human rights. A girl who is raped in a town can be stoned for adultery because it is assumed that she should have cried out for help, therefore she is guilty of complicity. The men often escape punishment.

Inevitable Repercussions

Until European leaders study the teaching of Islam they will continue to blunder by forming policies that can only lead to violent confrontation and social disorder, even if they successfully filter out the migrants who come into Europe with the deliberate intention of carrying out acts of terrorism.

Until European leaders study the teaching and culture of Islamic countries, they will continue to blunder with policies that foster social disorder and not successful integration.

The New Year events in Germany will have repercussions throughout Europe and we can only hope and pray that the German authorities will act quickly to instigate educational courses to teach their one million newcomers about the Christian heritage of Europe and the social values that are rooted in our faith.

What is God Doing?

Prophetically, we have to ask the question of whether God has sent all these people of North African and Arab descent as the 'rod of his anger', in judgement upon Europe for the way we have scorned our spiritual heritage and despised our Christian birthright - as he sent the Assyrians against Judah in the time of Isaiah. On the other hand, it may be that in his love and mercy, remembering the faith of our forefathers, God may be sending this great influx of Muslims into Europe as the greatest opportunity for evangelism we have ever had.

After hundreds of years of missionary activity in North Africa and the Middle East, our Western missionaries have made little impact. Could it be that God is allowing the terrible conflict in the Middle East as the means of opening up those nations that have been closed to the gospel for hundreds of years? The major question we have to face is: does Europe have sufficient commitment to the gospel which declares that salvation is only to be found in the name of Jesus? And can the churches in Europe rise to the challenge to be witnesses for Jesus, forthrightly and fearlessly showing his love and declaring his word? The future of world peace may depend upon the answer to these questions.

References

1 Germany shocked by Cologne New Year gang assaults on women, BBC News, 5 January 2016.

Dark fantasies become reality as hell breaks loose on earth.

Even before I learnt that the main target of the Paris massacre was a theatre that until recently was owned by Jews,¹ I had been wondering whether we Westerners were reaping the consequences of 'dancing with the devil'.

Dark Concert

That so many civilians enjoying an evening out should suddenly find themselves face to face with a virtual firing squad almost defies the imagination. It was an appalling attack on unsuspecting individuals which had all the hallmarks of Satan. But there was evidently an elephant in the room, a great unmentionable that dare not speak its name.

London Mayor Boris Johnson referred to the perpetrators – Islamic State terrorists – as a 'death cult',² which it certainly is. But what commentators seem deliberately to have missed – along with the Bataclan concert hall's Jewish connection – was the link between such evil extremism and the dark nature of the concert that claimed most of the lives lost last Friday night.

The Eagles of Death Metal band had apparently just started a song called Kiss the devil³ when the gunmen opened fire and the auditorium morphed into the devil's domain. Fantasy became reality, with one witness describing it as "hell". I am not suggesting in any way that the victims had brought this disaster on themselves, but I am saying that Western society as a whole is partly responsible. For we have collectively lowered our guard against the demonic forces now unleashed with such ferocity, by betraying our Judeo-Christian foundations.

We have collectively lowered our guard against the demonic forces no unleashed with such ferocity.

'Prophetic' Media?

There was mention of prophecy in the Mail on Sunday, who recalled their "prophetic" report in May headlined "Med boats' secret cargo: jihadis bound for Britain". The same paper also reported the "chilling prophecy" of a controversial film about a terrorist rampage in Paris – about to open in French cinemas – that has now had to be withdrawn twice in the wake of the actual thing happening instead (it was also due to be screened earlier this year, but was pulled following the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and the Jewish supermarket).

Hardly anyone in the media talks of biblical prophecy, however. Yet that would shed an awful lot of light on this dark subject! Just one example of this is that the world would be full of violence – as in the days of Noah – in the time immediately preceding the return of Jesus to set up his kingdom of peace.

What 'Civilisation'?

Politicians have referred to the Paris massacre as an 'attack on civilisation'. But my response is: what civilisation? We seem obsessed with dark and lurid fantasy, and with images of violence in our living rooms. We congratulate ourselves on our culture of 'freedom', bought at a great price in two world wars and, before that, with the blood of Christian martyrs. They went to the stake for the cause of publishing God's word, which has now been discarded and thrown to the winds, only to be replaced by moral relativism where there are virtually no rules for living; where we promote death (through abortion and euthanasia, for example) and set about 'redefining' marriage, family and society as a whole.

We congratulate ourselves on our culture of 'freedom', but this freedom was bought at a great price and built on the word of God, which has now been discarded.

Homophobia and Islamaphobia are among the many politically correct don'ts to have replaced the Ten Commandments. As I write, a highly respected Northern Ireland preacher is facing trial on allegations of breaking the latter rule. It's possibly only a matter of time before we are denied the freedom of saying that Jesus is the only way to God (a claim he made about himself) for fear of offending other religions. But our civilisation was built on this very statement! We believed him, because he was totally authentic, and rose from the dead. We don't have to force anyone else to believe him; we simply declare the truth about him.

Defences Down

Tragically, however, our moral defences are down, our walls have been breached, and the foundations of our Judeo-Christian civilisation have been undermined. That is why we are wobbling as a society in grave danger of collapse.

I can't speak for France and the rest of Europe, but as far as Britain is concerned, time is running out. The iconic Big Ben clock, which has become a symbol of the UK throughout the globe, has recently undergone repairs amidst fears that it is rapidly becoming beyond repair. It is, of course, part of the complex comprising our famous Houses of Parliament, which is itself in danger from crumbling foundations with talk of MPs possibly having to move out.

Building on Sand

We were once a great nation sending missionaries around the world to share the life-changing (indeed, nation-changing) good news about Jesus. But now we have thrown out what was once most precious to us. Jesus told us to build on the rock. But we have built on sand.

Instead of building on the Rock that has stood the test of time, the sure and certain foundation that is Christ, the certainty of his resurrection from the dead and his coming again to set up an everlasting kingdom, we have built on the shifting sand of appeasement, uncertainty and short-term comfort.

Instead of building on the Rock that has stood the test of time, we have built on the shifting sand of appeasement, uncertainty and short-term comfort.

But there is still hope. Our loving Saviour holds out arms of love, willing us to return from our self-imposed exile and, with Him, repair the walls that have broken down. Oh, that one of our leaders would call a national day of prayer! That is my prayer.

References

1 According to JNN News, quoting the Arutz-7 news site, a member of the radical group Army of Islam told French security services back in 2011 that "we had planned an attack against the Bataclan because its owners are Jewish". It seems the perpetrators may not have known that the venue has recently changed hands. I have consistently stated in earlier articles that the ultimate target of Islamic State is the Jewish nation, referred to in a new video as Muslims' No 1 enemy.

2 Johnson, B. Islamic State? This death cult is not a state and it's certainly not Islamic. The Telegraph, 28 June 2015.

3 Lyrics include: "Who'll love the devil? Who'll sing his song? I will love the devil and his song." Horton, H. Photos show the excitement at the Bataclan minutes before 89 audience members were killed in the Paris attackaclan minutes before 89 audience members were killed in the Paris attack. The Telegraph, 17 November 2015.