Reflections on Trump’s historic US electoral victory

Political earthquake strikes the north of England

A new era has begun in British politics.

Frances Rabbitts reviews Samuel Burgess’ timely defence of Britain’s political heritage.

Mention the word ‘conservatism’ these days in the context of politics and many will automatically assume you are referring to the Conservative Party. The word may also trigger an adverse reaction, as it has gathered some negative connotations: unfettered greed, elitism, obstinate refusal to accept change.

In this timely, concise volume from Wilberforce Publications, Samuel Burgess pares away the vagaries and peculiarities of party politics from the much longer-standing (even ancient) political/philosophical tradition of conservatism, acknowledging where the former and the latter have coincided over the years, but also where they have parted company.

In so doing, Burgess ‘rediscovers’ conservatism as a rich heritage of principles and values with a huge amount to offer in modern-day Britain. His contention is that politics is a moral endeavour (being concerned with the bettering of individual, civic and national life) and that only conservatism is morally substantial enough to guide us in the days ahead.

A Valid Philosophy for Our Time

At 190 pages this is a relatively slim volume, but the prose is considered, eloquent and thought-provoking. Complex subjects are dealt with cogently, though it is by no means a light read.

Burgess starts by dispelling the myth that conservatism is just about preserving the status quo, unpacking its substantive principles, its historic roots in English common law and its debt to the ‘father’ of modern conservatism, Edmund Burke, who is quoted regularly thereafter. Eight subsequent chapters consider matters of civic importance in Britain today, including the idea of the nation-state, the market, freedom under law, culture, religion, the environment and even the idea of beauty, showcasing in relation to each the virtues of a truly conservative approach.

Burgess does not provide comprehensive accounts of these subjects (or the book would be far longer than it is) but offers succinct outlines in accordance with his core argument. As such, this is a book that will start conversations more than finish them. But Burgess undoubtedly achieves his overall goal: to set conservatism back on the table as a valid philosophy for our time (and, presumably, to remind those who ally themselves with the ‘Conservative’ Party what they ought to be standing for).

Burgess ‘rediscovers’ conservatism as a rich heritage of principles and values with a huge amount to offer in modern-day Britain.

Refreshingly Constructive

In unpacking the goods of conservatism it is obviously necessary to highlight how and why other approaches have failed. Burgess strikes a good balance, not indulging in excessive debunking of philosophies like liberalism and socialism but letting the virtues of conservatism speak for themselves. As such, the book is a refreshingly constructive, uplifting read.

The beauty of conservatism, according to Burgess, is that it is not so much a grand political project as a common-sense set of principles, rooted in an objective view of reality and morality (i.e. truth really exists, as do objective standards of good and evil). These principles can be applied to the specifics of any issue or circumstance. Conservatism is therefore a creative, flexible philosophy which allows for society to develop according to the uniqueness of individual places and people – provided they remain rooted in the soil of morality. Conservatism is, according to Burgess, “a political expression of a belief in moral order” (p162).

Unlike liberalism and socialism, conservatism recognises that human nature contains both good and evil and seeks to harness this complex, messy moral reality for the betterment of society. This realism gives conservatism appeal to everyone, not just to Christians. However, throughout the book we catch glimpses of conservatism’s Christian roots – for instance its understanding that true freedom is not about license and permissiveness, but about deference to legitimate authority and flourishing within good moral boundaries.

As the chapters unfold, we discover that conservatism is a friend of gradual, organic change (rather than overnight revolution) and is innately social, recognising the importance of kinship and community. Indeed, we discover that conservatism has people and their best interests at its heart.

Because each chapter is relatively brief given the depth of the subject material, it would have been good to have some further reading recommended at chapter ends. In places, Burgess could also do more to connect his comments back into his main argument about conservatism, especially for readers without a grounding in political philosophy. But these criticisms are minor and do not detract from the overall worth of the book.

Unlike liberalism and socialism, conservatism recognises that human nature contains both good and evil and seeks to harness this complex, messy moral reality for the betterment of society.

High Stakes

Today, the stakes are high. Transnational governance threatens to supersede the nation-state, libertarian individualism is leading to community disintegration and aggressive secular liberalism is stifling freedom of speech. We desperately need to recover a more reasonable, positive, common-sense approach. More than this, we need to have the confidence to put morality and belief back at the heart of politics, recognising that this is the only route to social order and true flourishing.

These are complex issues, but Burgess provides a robust, hopeful defence of why conservatism’s framework for a flourishing society is unparalleled. Today, we seem intent on throwing away its hard-won benefits, accrued over centuries, and these will not be recouped overnight. Our challenge is not to recreate the past, however, but to learn from it and look to the future. The first step is to re-envision ourselves, strengthening our confidence in values which have been much derided and ‘deconstructed’ in recent years. In this, Burgess has done us all a great service.

Whether or not we can recover what has been lost without wholesale repentance and return to belief in God, Burgess leaves unanswered. Nevertheless, the book remains an empowering reminder that Christian beliefs birthed a rich political tradition in Britain with much to commend itself to our modern age. Conservative principles are grounded in timeless truths and will still be standing when all other ideologies have crumbled.

This book is a must-read for those in government, for anyone concerned about how to blend faith with politics and for all who seek a better understanding of how Judeo-Christianity has blessed our politics in the past and could yet do so again.

‘The Moral Case for Conservatism’ (2019, Wilberforce Publications, paperback, e-book) is available online for £10 (£5.49 on Kindle).

You may also be interested in Samuel Burgess’s first book:

‘Edmund Burke’s Battle with Liberalism’ by Samuel Burgess (2017, Wilberforce Publications)

The British people benefit from an extraordinary political heritage, but few know very much about it, or about the debt we owe to the faithful individuals who went before us and helped to create it. 18^th-Century Irish statesman Edmund Burke is one such giant, on whose shoulders we now stand.

In this, Samuel Burgess’s first book, we are treated to an in-depth look at the ‘father’ of modern conservatism and his political legacy. Edmund Burke sought to uphold a biblical approach to politics at a time when the tyranny and moral anarchy of the French Revolution were threatening to spill across the Channel into Britain, ideologically and physically.

Burke’s political defence of the realm was influential at the time, but his was also a prophetic voice. Though libertarianism was rejected in the 18^th Century as too radical, it enjoyed a resurgence in the late 20^th Century and now dominates our politics, media, language and culture, paving the way once again to coercion and authoritarianism.

Burke’s political defence of the realm was influential at the time, but his was also a prophetic voice.

In seven chapters, Burgess unpacks Burke’s Christian beliefs and how they shaped his approach to politics. As he goes, Burgess shows how unique the Christian conservative tradition is in its beliefs about humanity and the world and what it offers in an era of political turbulence and confusion.

In the latter part of the book, there is some similarity with material in ‘The Moral Case for Conservatism’, but the difference in focus between the two means that both books are still worthwhile purchases. ‘Edmund Burke’s Battle with Liberalism’ lays a good historical foundation for ‘The Moral Case for Conservatism’ and the books can be seen as companion volumes.

Burgess’s first book is perhaps a little less accessible and more academic than his second, but no less important. Apart from anything else, it is a solid encouragement that the path we tread today has been trodden before: that great men of faith have gone before us, battling the same powers, learning the same lessons and shining a light on the way forward which we would do well to heed. Edmund Burke is not a well-known name outside the realm of political theory, but it ought to be. We owe him much.

‘Edmund Burke’s Battle with Liberalism’ (180pp) is available from Amazon for £9.99 (paperback) or £4.99 (Kindle). Find out more on the Wilberforce Publications website.

Is this the start of a new era of hope?

Mr Boris Johnson fulfilled his lifelong ambition this week to become British Prime Minister. The rogue old Etonian began in his usual breezy style of easy optimism. But however much we may wish him well in tackling the multiple crises in the nation, realistically the challenge facing any new Prime Minister is no different from that which plagued – and overcame - Theresa May’s administration. The question is: can a new government do anything new?

The challenge of which I speak is that we have an elected parliament that defies the electorate. Whatever deal the new PM does with Brussels in order to fulfil his promise to leave the European Union by 31 October 2019, the possibility of getting the approval of this Parliament (without divine intervention!) is virtually nil. He not only faces the opposition of Labour, the LibDems and the Scottish Nationalist Party, but he also faces the threats of rebels on the Tory backbenches who say they are willing to bring down the Government rather than agree to leave the EU without a deal.

Today, Britain is a more divided nation than it has ever been since the days of the Civil War between Cromwell’s Parliament and supporters of Charles I. How should Christians understand what is going on in the nation? And are there any signs of hope?

Reflecting on the Past

In last week’s editorial we were asking “Is there any word from the Lord?” This led us to some of the things Britain has done wrong on the international scene and especially the need to recognise and say we are sorry for the dreadful things we did to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust back in 1947. Recognising that injustice would be an act of righteousness that I believe would be pleasing to the Lord.

I believe there is a real message of hope and good news in the midst of all the doom and gloom we’ve been hearing for a long time. But we ought also to recognise where we have gone wrong: not only abroad, but also in the things we have done at home in Britain. As we have said many times in these editorials – turning away from biblical values has led to the present days of crisis. This era of great cultural change began with a political Act of Parliament in 1951.

Today, Britain is a more divided nation than it has ever been since the days of the Civil War. What is going on – and is there any hope?

Political Decisions, Cultural Consequences

It was the Fraudulent Mediums Act which abolished the Witchcraft Act that had been on the Statute Book of Britain for centuries. In 1951 witchcraft was legalised. All occult activities were made legal, in direct defiance of biblical teaching:

Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or is a medium or spiritist or consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord… (Deut 18:10-12)

This political decision to defy the Bible was taken by the Government led by Clement Attlee, a Jew-hating atheist, and paved the way for other major policy turnarounds which precipitated great cultural changes in the nation.

The first great cultural change was in the 1959 Obscene Publications Act which paved the way for the legalisation of obscenity in publications, film, video and the internet.

The second cultural change was in the Abortion Act (1967) which made it legally acceptable to kill unborn babies. Currently, about 450 babies a day are killed in British hospitals, bringing the total since 1967 to over 9 million. 2018 saw the number of UK abortions reach an all-time high, and our dysfunctional, rebellious Parliament has now ruled to impose abortion on the only part of the British Isles that still upholds biblical values, defying the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland – as we noted last week in an excellent article from our Managing Editor.

These changes follow the classic path to the corruption of civilisation noted by the Apostle Paul in the first chapter of his letter to Rome. He says that once we stop believing in the God of Creation and start suppressing the truth, we believe anything. We “exchange the truth of God for a lie” and then we abandon all restraints upon our behaviour.

The Apostle Paul says that once we stop believing in the God of Creation, we believe anything and abandon all restraints upon our behaviour.

Church Leaders Responsible

But God does not expect an ungodly nation to repent of things that are not even publicly recognised as being wrong! The history of Israel in the Bible teaches us that God holds the religious leaders responsible for the moral and spiritual state of the nation – it was they who had the truth and the responsibility of declaring it to the people, who otherwise remained ignorant.

Applying that teaching today, God holds church leaders responsible for the nation. But can we expect repentance from them? The bishops in the House of Lords didn’t even bother to turn up for the vote on forcing same-sex marriage and abortion upon the people of Northern Ireland last week. If they had been there, they would probably have voted in favour of imposing LGBTQ+ values upon Ulster.

Hope for the Future

Amidst this seemingly lost situation, God is doing two things: he is blessing the many thousands of local fellowships, large and small, where the word of God is faithfully preached and taught. And he is withdrawing his blessing from those churches that have turned away from the word – including churches within the traditional denominations, which are crumbling, losing members and closing buildings as a result.

The hope for the future lies with the faithful remnant in Britain of Bible-believing, praying people who refuse to be driven by the values of the world and are prepared to take a stand for truth whatever the cost. God is faithful to hear and to heed the prayers of the faithful remnant who grieve over the state of the nation; who repent for our silence when ungodly laws were being passed in our Parliament; but who nevertheless cry out to the Lord to have mercy and to bless the new Government.

We should be appealing to God to remember his covenant relationship with our forefathers, who placed the Bible at the centre of the British legal system, governing the nation, and made it part of the Coronation Oath sworn by our Queen, whom God has wonderfully preserved for these perilous times.

We should be appealing to God to remember his covenant relationship with our forefathers.

There is a solid biblical principle for such an appeal to God on behalf of the nation. Paul says that as far as the Gospel is concerned the people of Israel put themselves outside God’s protection, although he himself would never break his covenant promises “on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29).

This is undoubtedly a special passage concerning Israel, but it also shows that God respects the spiritual heritage of a nation. As he has blessed Britain in the past, using Britain to get the gospel to many nations, we can call upon him to bring us through this time of trial and to restore faith and belief – especially among young people in the United Kingdom – to give us “a hope and a future” (Jer 29:11) as he promised to the people of Jerusalem enslaved in Babylon at the worst moment in their history.

Pray he will follow our Queen in acknowledging a far greater authority

As a Christian who believes in God’s great eternal purposes for Israel as spelled out in the Bible, I welcome the choice of Boris Johnson as Britain’s new Prime Minister. And I will pray for him; he certainly needs it.

He has indicated strong support for the Jewish state – in sharp contrast to the message from the official opposition – describing himself as a “passionate Zionist” for whom wild horses wouldn’t keep him away from visiting Israel as British premier.¹

But there are other factors that leave cause for concern, not least the unprecedented move into No. 10 of a Prime Minister setting up home with his live-in girlfriend – hardly a suitable role model for family life in a country already beset by major problems in this area.

No-nonsense Politics

I warmed to him when he first appeared on the political scene in his jovial, gung-ho, ‘can do’ style, and I am particularly encouraged by his apparently unequivocal rhetoric on Brexit – always on the important basis of regaining our national sovereignty. It’s fudging on the issue that has caused much of the division in the nation.

And I would hope that his no-nonsense attitude on Europe would be extended to wider horizons in order better to deal with irksome regimes like Iran which will no doubt be one of his big tests, in light of the oil tanker crisis.

We have been tainted and weakened for too long as a soft target due to our constant appeasement of dictators over the past century – first the Arabs, then the Nazis and now Iran.

Britain has been tainted and weakened for too long as a soft target due to our constant appeasement of dictators.

The Best Candidate for Years?

Humanly-speaking, Boris seems the best candidate for years to turn the tide of Britain’s propensity for pussy-footing about with dictators. But again, he will need our prayers for the wisdom, strength and authority to deliver. And as one who loves to be loved, and hates to be hated – no doubt the effects of an insecure childhood – this is obviously no guarantee.

As a light-hearted (if a little worrying) aside, I have three times read in recent days of his childhood ambition to be ‘World King’, the infamous role played by the so-called Anti-Christ in the last days before Christ’s return.²

But Londoners assure me that he performed extremely well as Mayor of that great city, except in the case of the buses carrying adverts supporting gay lifestyles, when he apparently intervened to prevent Christians from responding with an ad campaign of their own.

Many Distractions

I don’t know Boris, but have met several members of his delightful family, including his father Stanley who I heard on the radio suggesting that climate change would be an even bigger issue than Brexit for his son to deal with.

But this would be such a distraction from reality. I note that former Education Secretary Damian Hinds encouraged pupils to berate parents for leaving their car engines running at the school gates, in view of the adverse effects on children of the fumes.³ Though I commend Johnson’s general optimism, he must distance himself from this sort of politically correct nonsense if he is to impact the real world.

Israel is also infected by godless cultural changes that have swept the West, but these are merely signs of coming judgment on such sin and lawlessness, as with the increasing violence that preceded the great flood through which only the righteous Noah and his family were saved (Gen 6:11).

Humanly-speaking, Boris seems the best candidate for years - but he will need our prayers for the wisdom, strength and authority to deliver.

Inspiration from the Queen

At some stage the likes of Boris will have to give an account to God for their actions (2 Cor 5:10), which are better based on faith than human wisdom. I am not talking of merely assenting to a set of beliefs, as he might have done many times in Eton’s school chapel, but of acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Saviour, and humbly bowing the knee to the Suffering Servant who will soon return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Humility is required. Jesus, though he was God, became man and humbled himself, even to death on a cruel execution stake. Boris should follow the lead of our Queen in acknowledging the awesome authority and power of someone far greater than her. The most important decision the new Prime Minister will ever make is whether or not he bows the knee to Christ as his redeemer and Lord!

References

1 World Israel News, 23 July 2019, quoting Jewish News.

2 Sebastian Shakespeare’s Saturday Essay, Daily Mail, 20 July 2019.

3 The Times, 22 July 2019.

An opportunity is approaching that our new PM would do well to take.

Next week Britain will have a new Prime Minister and the first question he should be asking is, “Is there any word from the Lord?” This was the question King Zedekiah put to the Prophet Jeremiah shortly before the Babylonians broke through the walls of Jerusalem and began its destruction. What is God saying to Britain in these incredible days as the Brexit saga races towards the final conflict or consummation?

Several things have come to my notice in the last few days that may be significant. I was looking through some old papers and came across my notes of visiting the elderly leader (Mother Barbara) of the Russian convent in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem back in the early 1980s. I heard how, as a young lady of 22 in Russia, she had met with Bishop Aristocoli who had given her the now-famous prophecy known as The 1911 Mother Barbara Prophecy (reprinted below).

I had not read it for many years but I remembered that some of its remarkable predictions have already come true, particularly the prophecy that Great Britain, whose empire covered one third of the world’s land space, would lose all her colonies and “come to almost total ruin”.

In last week’s editorial I spoke about the astonishing collapse of the British Empire, saying that it was largely due to the abandonment of our Judeo-Christian heritage. Then on Monday a friend telephoned from Italy. She lives in San Remo and reminded me that next April will be the centenary of the San Remo Resolution, which established in international law the legitimacy of the Arab states and Britain’s Balfour Declaration, heralding the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in what is now the State of Israel. 

Britain’s Sacred Trust

San Remo delegates, 1920, including David Lloyd George.

The San Remo Conference of Allied leaders and international lawyers was an extension of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. The purpose was to set up three Mandates, one over Syria and Lebanon, one over Mesopotamia (Iraq/Iran) and one over Palestine – both East and West of the River Jordon. The Mandate for Palestine was entrusted to Great Britain as a “sacred trust of civilisation”¹ in respect of “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.²

This was a binding resolution with all the force of international law. It was affirmed the following year by Winston Churchill, who told an Arab delegation in Jerusalem:

It is manifestly right that the Jews who are scattered all over the world should have a national centre and a national home where some of them may be reunited. And where else could that be but in the land of Palestine, with which for more than 3000 years they have been intimately and profoundly associated?³

The San Remo resolution was a binding resolution with all the force of international law.

Churchill also issued the following statement in 1922, as British Secretary of State for the Colonies:

When it is asked what is meant by the development of the Jewish National Home in Palestine, it may be answered that it is not the imposition of a Jewish nationality upon the inhabitants of Palestine as a whole, but the further development of the existing Jewish community, with the assistance of Jews in other parts of the world, in order that it may become a centre in which the Jewish people as a whole may take, on grounds of religion and race, an interest and a pride. But in order that this community should have the best prospect of free development and provide a full opportunity for the Jewish people to display its capacities, it is essential that it should know that it is in Palestine as of right and not on sufferance. That is the reason why it is necessary that the existence of a Jewish National Home in Palestine should be internationally guaranteed and that it should be formally recognized to rest upon ancient historic connection.

Is it just a coincidence that the steep decline in the fortunes of Great Britain began in the 1920s (with the Great Depression and the General Strike) when Britain failed to meet its 'sacred trust' for a Jewish homeland by establishing the State of Israel?

Britain not only reneged on its promises in the 1920s and throughout the 1930s,⁴ but was still favouring the Arabs and resisting Jewish settlement in the early days after the Second World War – turning away leaking old ships loaded with Holocaust survivors seeking refuge in what had been promised as their new homeland – ships that sank in the Mediterranean with the loss of all those on board! Other Jewish would-be-immigrants were actually forcibly sent back to Germany, which was surely the height of inhumanity!

Having sold the Jewish people for barrels of oil, Britain under Prime Minister Clement Attlee (a Jew-hating atheist, like some in the modern Labour Party) actually refused to vote for the establishment of the State of Israel in the United Nations in 1947. We did not dare to vote against the resolution and offend the USA – but in order not to offend the Arabs and endanger our oil supplies, we abstained!!! From that day the British Empire rapidly disappeared from the map of the world.

No! I’m not making a case for colonialism! It was right that ex-colonial countries should have their independence and the freedom to develop in accordance with their own cultures, and I think we should applaud and do all we can to strengthen the ties between nations in the British Commonwealth. But I also think that the fortunes of the United Kingdom have been adversely affected by breaking our promises to Israel and the Jewish people, which were a ‘sacred trust’.

Is it just a coincidence that the steep decline in the fortunes of Great Britain began when we failed to meet our 'sacred trust' for a Jewish homeland by establishing the State of Israel?

Testing Times Ahead

I also believe that the next six or nine months are going to be times of incredible turmoil in the UK when we may indeed, as foretold in The Mother Barbara Prophecy, come perilously close to ‘total ruin’.

But the centenary of the San Remo Resolution in April 2020 will provide an opportunity for Britain to repent publicly of her broken promises and the anti-Semitism that has driven our Foreign Office since the 1920s (brilliantly portrayed in one of the 1990s TV episodes of Yes, Prime Minister⁵). Will our new Government, under a new Prime Minister, have the courage to confess the sins of the past? 

Theresa May, at her last Prime Minister’s Question Time this week, called upon Jeremy Corbyn to clear anti-Semitism out of the Labour Party – but will our new Prime Minister have the courage to risk the wrath of the Arab world and send a delegation to San Remo to clear the conscience of the nation? I believe the Lord may be saying that such repentance, though not enough to save Britain from the consequences of our unrighteous laws, would nevertheless be a vital step in the right direction.

Please join us in prayer as we seek the right way forward in this issue. Maybe someone will start a petition calling upon the Government to send an official British delegation to attend the 2020 San Remo Centenary to acknowledge publicly our historic wrongs.

The 1911 Mother Barbara Prophecy

This prophecy was given to Mother Barbara in 1911 by Bishop Aristocoli in Russia, shortly before his death and before she settled in Jerusalem:

“Tell the women they must belong absolutely to God. They must believe in the great things that are happening and that God is doing on the earth. They must prepare their souls, their children and their husbands. And they will have very much work to do for God. Oh, what a great work the women will have to do in the end times, and the men will follow them.

Not one country will be without trial – do not be frightened of anything you will hear. An evil will shortly take Russia and wherever this evil goes, rivers of blood will flow. This evil will take the whole world and where ever it goes, rivers of blood will flow because of it. It is not the Russian soul, but an imposition on the Russian soul. It is not an ideology, or philosophy, but a spirit from hell.

In the last days Germany will be divided in two. France will just be nothing. Italy will be judged by natural disasters. Britain will lose her empire and all her colonies and will come to almost total ruin, but will be saved by praying women. America will feed the world, but will finally collapse. Russia and China will destroy each other. Finally, Russia will be free and from her, believers will go forth and turn many from the nations to God.”

Cover of Eli Hertz's book on the legal aspects of the Jewish claim to the Land. Maps show the region before and after the division of British Mandate land to create Transjordan.

References

1 Article 22, Covenant of the League of Nations, signed in Paris, 1919.

2 San Remo Resolution, 1920. Read the full text here.

3 Taken from ‘Winston Churchill in Jerusalem, 1921’, Manchester Conservatives.

4 E.g. ceding 70% of the Mandate land to the Arabs (Transjordan, now Jordan). We recommend The Forsaken Promise (DVD) from Hatikvah Films for a fuller exploration of this issue.

5 ‘A Victory for Democracy’. Watch in full here.

What are we to make of the would-be Prime Minister’s claims?

Why is the joker leading the pack?

To the despair of my wife and me, our middle daughter, when she was at primary school, used to invite all the naughty boys in her class to her birthday party. We took all necessary precautions of removing vulnerable artefacts but they were usually riotous events! We survived these birthday celebrations with minimum damage (apart from the odd broken window) and usually the household returned to normality after an intensive clear-up.

Reflecting upon these annual hijinks I became convinced that there is something in our human nature that likes living dangerously – flirting with risk, enjoying adventure tinged with the threat of the unknown.

It’s what I now call the ‘Boris Factor’, because I believe it accounts for the popularity of the front-runner in the Conservative Party’s race for our next Prime Minister – Boris Johnson. His popularity in the country, despite his well-publicised imperfections, is quite remarkable.

Promises, Promises

I cannot claim to know Boris very well, although I have met him a few times. On one occasion when he was canvassing support for his first term as Mayor of London, I spent two hours alone with him. His team had been chasing me around London for several months, keen to exploit my links with African-Caribbean community and church leaders. They coveted the black vote in inner-city boroughs, but I was not keen to be involved in a political campaign.

And then there were six: the Tory leadership hopefuls. Photo: AP/Press Association ImagesEventually I agreed to a meeting with Boris, provided I could talk about the special needs in these communities. We had a very good and frank conversation, particularly on what he would do with issues such as guns, drugs and knife crime. I was even able to quiz him on his personal faith (with dubious results!). After receiving a lot of promises I subsequently helped to bring some 80 leaders to meet with him, although I have to say that he did not keep his promises once he was in power.

I was nevertheless impressed by the way he addressed the black leaders using a mixture of humour and serious social policy strategy, while also acknowledging their particular community needs. He is an excellent communicator which probably accounts for his popularity in the country across widely different communities. But it is still surprising that so many are willing to overlook his blunders and alleged moral deficiencies and take the risk of making him Prime Minister.

There is something in our human nature that likes living dangerously – flirting with risk, enjoying adventure tinged with the threat of the unknown.

No Discernment

Why is this? Is it like the childhood fascination with the naughty boy? Do we like to take a risk and go for the charisma factor rather than the drab, boring, safe, pinstripe type of politician? The country certainly fell in love with Tony Blair as an exciting contrast to John Major, though the Blair factor only lasted a few years.

Public opinion, of course, is notoriously fickle, but it is surely surprising that there are some characters whose misbehaviours will be overlooked and who will be supported even though people know it is a risk. There is a telling statement made by the Prophet Jeremiah during the reign of the notoriously immoral King Jehoiakim in Jerusalem in the late 6^th Century BC. Jeremiah was having one of his prayer-time conversations with God and reporting on the state of the nation. He said “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land! The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way” (Jer 5:30-31).

Jeremiah was used to false prophets promising “Peace! Peace!” when the Lord was saying “There is no Peace!”. He was constantly countering the lies of these popular prophets who told the people there was nothing to worry about in the rumours that the Babylonian army was on the march. They said that no enemy would ever get into Jerusalem, because God would defend the city.

The priests confirmed the lies of the prophets and instead of rightly teaching the people and giving judgments in accord with the teaching given by God to Moses, they made up their own rules and their own interpretations of the word of God. Sadly, the people had no discernment; they loved things as they were – lies and deception were quite acceptable to them.

In Jeremiah’s day, the people had no discernment; lies and deception were quite acceptable to them.

Self-interest vs. Righteousness

Once the word of God is discarded, anything becomes acceptable. This is the situation in Britain today. The public are disgusted with the antics of the politicians in recent months: they have lost trust in their MPs, who have been seen on TV day after day arguing but never agreeing on anything. The business of governing the country seems to have been grossly neglected while Brexit issues have dominated everything. People of all political leanings want resolution. They also want a leader who will tell them what they want to hear, to make them feel comfortable, just like the people in Jeremiah’s day before disaster befell Jerusalem!

The public are looking for a strong leader and there are few outstanding characters on either side of the House. This is why Boris is very likely to be chosen as the next Prime Minister, despite the reservations of discerning people.

Conservative MPs are well aware of the unpopularity that their Party has suffered through three years of weak leadership under Theresa May, whose stubbornness was not matched with political skill. This is where the ‘Boris Factor’ may influence those MPs who have no love for him, but are still willing to vote for him: he is widely regarded as the only one who can both hold Nigel Farage at bay and defeat Jeremy Corbyn. Under these circumstances self-interest takes precedence over righteousness, especially when MPs know that the public have long ago discarded values of righteousness.

People want a strong leader who will tell them what they want to hear, to make them feel comfortable.

Prospects for Britain

Will Britain get a Prime Minister who is able to exercise righteous government? Certainly, mature Christians know that Britain does not deserve godly government and there are many signs that we are a nation already under judgment. But God is merciful and I believe he still has a purpose for Britain. Could he use Boris? Of course he could! God used Cyrus to do his will and bless his people even though Cyrus did not even know the name of the Lord. But is it God’s intention to bless the nation, or to allow us bring judgment upon ourselves?

Boris at least professes a faith in God, but is that enough to provide Britain with a God-fearing Government? If the Conservative Party installs Boris and his partner in No. 10, will he lead a Government that can restore standards of righteousness in the nation?

How to pray in a time of upheaval.

The nations of Europe are still reeling from the results of the EU parliamentary elections. It is not only Britain that has produced surprise results; all over Europe people have expressed their frustration with the establishment and looked for alternatives. The battle for power between Macron and Merkel may now be in full swing, but in both their countries voters have expressed their discontent with their rulers and their desire for change.

In Britain the Brexit battle continues relentlessly with more Conservative hopefuls throwing their hats into the ring to be the next Prime Minister – even though the role is a poisoned chalice. No doubt each of them thinks they could do better than Theresa May, who bravely went to Brussels this week to greet other crestfallen leaders facing uncertain futures.

Tory leadership hopefuls. PA/PA Wire/PA ImagesUndoubtedly the Lord is fulfilling his promise to shake all the nations! The prophecy in Haggai 2 includes shaking the physical universe as well as the structures and foundations of the nations. I’ve quoted it many times, but it is so central to contemporary issues that we need to keep it in the forefront of our discussion of what’s happening today:

This is what the Lord Almighty says: in a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord Almighty. (Hag 2:6-7)

I know that our political masters don’t recognise that God has any place in what is happening among the nations, but God actually laughs at their stupidity and blindness. It would do all our leaders good to read Psalm 2 and meditate on it for a few minutes each day before they open their mouths in public.

The plain fact is that God is not only in charge of the climate upheavals that are causing such anxiety to many people (witness the unprecedented 500 tornadoes that have ripped through the USA just in the past 30 days¹), but he is also allowing the incredible levels of uncertainty and anxiety in the social and political lives of the nations.

Undoubtedly the Lord is fulfilling his promise to shake all the nations!

Admitting the Problem

If we share the beliefs of the biblical prophets, who saw the hand of God in everything that happened around them, we have to ask: why is God shaking everything? – from our weather patterns to the major institutions in society: our familiar high street stores, our banks and post offices, our social services and our health services, our political parties and even our churches, where we see ‘For Sale’ notices on great old buildings where our parents were married and their children were blessed.

With all the familiar things in life being shaken, it is small wonder that the levels of mental health problems are overwhelming our health authorities. In Britain we have such a crisis of mental health that even Royalty have joined in to share their stories in an attempt to reassure the public that there is really nothing wrong - that we all have times when our minds are sick, when we are unable to think clearly and give way to our fears and anxieties.

When are we going to wake up to the fact that there is something seriously wrong, and we ought to be concerned? We ought to be asking major questions about what is happening in our lifetime. Why is there such dissatisfaction, such anger, such disagreement and such division in society? The dissatisfaction is not just among the deprived who envy the rich and the powerful. It is also among those who have plenty and who have good jobs and homes and cars and multitudes of gadgets, none of which gives them real satisfaction.

The uncomfortable truth is that there is something in our human nature, put there by the God of Creation, that makes us long for a relationship with the Creator. We are lonely in the universe without any connection with its Maker. But, collectively, Europeans have abandoned that connection. They have chosen to discard their spiritual heritage and to go it alone, so they are at the mercy of the spiritual forces of darkness that roam the universe and plague its occupants.

When are we going to wake up to the fact that there is something seriously wrong, and we ought to be concerned?

Deserving of Judgment

In Britain the European Parliamentary election (that we did not want!) has dramatically highlighted the division in the nation. We may expect to see an increase in conflict during the next five months as those who are determined to prevent Britain leaving the European Union intensify their activities.

As we get nearer to the deadline of 31 October and the parliamentary battle advances, it will be reflected upon the streets. The worst possible outcome would be the revoking of Article 50 and a second referendum, which would undoubtedly inject further hatred and violence into the public sphere.

Let’s face the facts: we are part of a nation richly deserving judgment. Every working day a black bag full of babies is taken out of the back door of our hospitals and thrown into the incinerator. We are just like the Moabites, who threw their babies into the fire - a heinous sin that God roundly condemned.

The latest sin is the grooming of our children, which is a national act of child abuse! Just last month an Education Bill was nodded through our Parliament, too occupied with Brexit to study it carefully, which brainwashes juniors and presents pornography to senior students; even advocating ‘threesomes’ for getting the most exciting sexual experience – with cartoon illustrations.²

We may be near the final point of depravity described by Paul:

Since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity…they invent ways of doing evil… (Rom 1:28-32)

Nevertheless, there is still a powerful remnant of Bible-believing Christians in Britain who could stand in the gap between God and the coming disaster if they were fully aware of the situation and understood how to pray into it.

There is still a powerful remnant of Bible-believing Christians in Britain who could stand in the gap between God and the coming disaster if they were fully aware of the situation and understood how to pray into it.

How to Pray

We must not ask God to stop shaking the nations just because we don’t like what’s happening today. We have to recognise why God is shaking the nations.

It surely has to be to warn the nations that we are heading for self-destruction, and that only repentance and turning that can save humanity from unbelievable disaster. Perhaps it was with this in mind that Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, saying: “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8).

All Christians in the Western nations can see (if they open their eyes) that our civilisation is crumbling. But we have yet to realise that there are no political solutions to the problems facing humanity! Only God can heal the nations! But the greatest fault lies in the blindness of the Church, whose silent leaders do not declare the word of the Lord with the first call to Christians to repent. The writing is on the wall and judgment is already starting at the household of God.

As we approach the season of Pentecost, we should all be praying for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God to open eyes that are blind and bring a fresh spiritual awakening – beginning with ourselves.

References

1 Read more at Sky News.

2 This can be seen online, though I will not give the link here.