Football team tragedy is a parable for our times

The World Cup, Brexit and what really matters!

They say that if you can’t beat them, you should join them! So if you don’t mind, I’m taking a little rest from ‘important matters of state’ to indulge in fond reminiscing over the joys of sport. But there is a serious point to it – a goal even! So bear with me.

I was a sports journalist for much of my career and know how incredibly addictive it can be. So when I stood up to lead a workshop at a recent Christian conference, I was in direct competition with Harry Kane and his heroes – as we kicked off at similar times – and I guess I was no match for the Three Lions.

I was later informed that half of those who had earlier indicated interest in my seminar had absconded to watch the football instead – in the chapel of all places! Which surely blows away any lingering doubts that football has become a religion in our country.

But back then I was delighted to hear the quarter-final result, rendering England a clear winner over Sweden. And I feel I contributed to that by virtue of my absence as the only game I had watched until then was against Belgium (in the group stage), which we lost 1-0.

Faith on the Pitch?

The national excitement stirred by a game which the churches of England helped launch into the stratosphere is amazing indeed. Many of our major football teams began life as church youth clubs to foster fellowship and healthy exercise as an alternative to drinking!

What on earth did we start? Many have become so passionate for the sport that they have forgotten about the source of all goodness. And yet good has still come out of it. For many of today’s football stars have come to know the Lord of glory and put him first in their lives.

In recent years, the world-beating Brazilians have made no secret of their faith, though this is likely to become less evident now - not only due to their shock exit from this year’s competition, but because FIFA, the game’s ruling body, has handed a ‘red card’ to expressions of faith on the pitch – in order not to give offence (at least six members of Brazil’s current squad are born-again Christians and, in 1994, the Brazilian team publicly honoured the Lord following their win)!

Many of our major football teams began life as church youth clubs to foster fellowship and healthy exercise as an alternative to drinking!

But when all the hoopla has finally died down, as worship leader Robin Mark puts it in one of his songs, “There is just one thing that matters: did I do my best to live for truth; did I live my life for you?”

As I said to my depleted audience last Saturday, there is something more important than the World Cup. There is also a world waiting to see if Britain will again take up the baton she dropped several generations ago when she forsook her love for the Gospel.

Meanwhile, in Westminster

But with the serious matter of Brexit still not finally, or effectively, resolved, Prime Minister Theresa May held a reception for LGBTQ+ supporters, assuring them that the Government would ease the path for those who want to change their gender.¹

Cabinet ministers who resigned this week over the Government's Brexit plans.

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic springs to mind. I don’t blame David Davis and Boris Johnson for rocking the boat by resigning over Mrs May’s plan to keep us at least partially moored to the godless EU monstrosity. Was this perhaps a bid to bury bad news – Mrs May’s betrayal of the 17.4 million people who voted Leave in the 2016 Referendum – while everyone is glued to the football?

Undermining her ministers, as she has clearly done with David Davis,² and threatening them with the suggestion that they would have to take taxis home (rather than their chauffeured cars) if they didn’t toe the line, is no way to run a democracy.

She even stands accused of being a Judas. In his Daily Mail column, Richard Littlejohn said she had turned Britain into an international laughing stock, and asked: “How does she square that with her Christian conscience? How can she live with the knowledge that she has betrayed the British people? Every week this vicar’s daughter parades her piety, pictured leaving the Sunday service at her local church in Berkshire. Who knew her role model here on earth was Judas Iscariot?”³

Enough of Compromise!

If we wish to ‘rule the waves’ again as a global power worthy of respect, we need to rediscover our godly heritage.

And we can’t do that by being ‘unequally yoked’ with Europe (see 1 Cor 6:17). I appreciate this Scripture relates specifically to believers not being ‘hitched’ in marriage or business with unbelievers, but our nation does have an exceptional Judeo-Christian heritage, which has inspired all its great institutions and is unmatched in the rest of Europe. Witness, for example, the Latin inscription on the floor of our Parliament – itself the envy of the world – which translates: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain” (Ps 127:1).

If we wish to ‘rule the waves’ again as a global power worthy of respect, we need to rediscover our godly heritage – and we can’t do that whilst ‘unequally yoked’ with Europe.

Enough of compromise, dilly-dallying and appeasement of Brussels bullies who, when push comes to shove, have no teeth anyway. For the truth is, Europe needs Britain more than Britain needs Europe.

It’s time to break off from our European moorings – we are island people after all – or the ship of state will sink, just as the house of sand collapsed for those who heard the words of Jesus and failed to put them into practice (see Matt 7:24-27).

Heavenly Priorities

In conclusion, I return to my point about the importance, or otherwise, of the World Cup. A family member, presently going through the mill, rang me up from the other side of the world to congratulate me on getting through to the semi-finals – as if I had anything to do with it, apart from not watching it, that is!

But when he told me that he and his wife were trusting Jesus in their difficulties, I was filled with a joy no amount of sporting glory could ever give me. As Jesus said, heaven holds a party each time someone turns to the Lord (Luke 15:7, 10).

He also said: “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet lose his soul?” (Mark 8:36).

Notes

1 Daily Mail, 5 July 2018.

2 John Stevens in the Daily Mail, 9 July 2018, pages 1 & 2.

3 Daily Mail, 10 July 2018.

Now’s the time for Christians to nail their colours to the mast

Bearing in mind the obvious success of President Trump’s ‘Don’t mess with me’ strategy in getting dictators to the negotiating table, surely lessons can be learnt from this. It certainly gives a whole new meaning to ‘playing the trump card’.

But the stubborn Europeans refuse to take note, or even learn from history. Did not Jesus say that wisdom - and recognition of his Lordship in particular - was hidden from “the wise”, but revealed to “little children” (Matt 11:25)?

I am more staggered than ever at the lengths to which the British Government will go to appease dictators since learning for the first time last Saturday that the England football team had, in 1938, raised a Nazi salute to Hitler in front of a crowd of 105,000 before a friendly match against Germany in Berlin – on the orders of the Foreign Office!¹

This was apparently designed to pave the way for Neville Chamberlain’s efforts to appease the Fuehrer, instead of squaring up to him as Churchill was later to do.

Fearing Man, Not God

This shameful (1938) episode in Britain’s history was a natural progression of her foreign policy in bending over backwards to keep the Arabs happy throughout the 1920s and 30s when she was supposed to be preparing a home for the Jewish people.

Buckling under the pressure of Muslim-inspired riots over the prospect of a Jewish nation in their midst, Britain betrayed both her international obligation and her own Balfour Declaration promising to do all she could to ensure that Zionist aspirations were met.

I am more staggered than ever at the lengths to which the British Government will go to appease dictators.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict could well have been nipped in the bud if we had acted with more integrity and courage. And after all these years, Britain is still batting for the wrong side by refusing to follow President Trump’s lead in recognising Jerusalem as the Jewish capital.

Fear of Muslim-Arab fury, rather than pleasing God in blessing Israel, once again turns us into cowards presiding over the potential ruin of our country (see Isa 60:12).

Not Taking Danger Seriously

Theresa May and her European allies are also refusing to take President Trump (and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu) seriously over the danger posed by Iran, insisting on sticking to the Obama-led nuclear deal designed to keep the lid on the rogue state’s weapons build-up.

The Ayatollah’s threat of removing and eradicating the “malignant cancerous tumour” he calls Israel² is shrugged off in a manner reminiscent of the 1930s, when Hitler’s rantings were not taken seriously.

Mr Netanyahu says it is “amazing that at the beginning of the 21^st century, somebody talks about destroying Israel – that means destroying another six million-plus Jews…”³

This is the same country that was behind the bombing of the Buenos Aires Jewish community centre in 1994, leaving 85 dead, an atrocity that has blighted Argentina ever since.

Our weakness with Iran seems to chime with our stance on its terrorist proxy Hezbollah who, last Sunday, were once again free to parade their hate-filled views on Israel through the streets of London despite ongoing calls for a ban.

Refusing to apply an outright ban on the organization (in recognising separate political and military wings which Hezbollah itself does not acknowledge) is not only encouraging ‘hate speech’ which is supposed to be illegal, but is obviously against the interests of our 300,000-strong Jewish community, as well as Israel.⁴

Fear of Muslim-Arab fury, rather than pleasing God in blessing Israel, turns us into cowards presiding over the potential ruin of our country. 

Lessons from East and West

By sanctioning the belligerence of those who seek Israel’s demise, we are certainly not being a blessing to the seed of Abraham, and are thus in grave danger of bringing a curse upon our nation (Gen 12:3). We at least have a chance to begin putting things right later this month when Prince William makes the first ever official visit to Israel from a British royal.

Can we not learn from Brazil where, just a fortnight ago, two million Christians took to the streets of Sao Paulo for their annual March for Jesus? According to one report, the crowd were waving Israeli flags while cheering and praying for the Jewish state.⁵

For the first time in nearly 20 years of the event, Jewish officials were invited to attend. Addressing the gathering, Israel’s consul Dori Goren said: “Attending the march is our way to express our gratitude for the evangelical people and the Brazilian people.”

Argentinian evangelist Andrew Palau, son of Luis, preached the Gospel and a “sea of hands” were raised in response to his call to faith and repentance.

We can also learn from ordinary Iranians, tens of thousands of who have also expressed support for Israel in a Twitter campaign to distance themselves from the opinions of their own regime.⁶

Standing Up for Truth

Christians who know their Bible and are committed to following Jesus are also serious about their love for Jews. For it was they who gave us the patriarchs, the prophets, the Bible itself and indeed the Lord Jesus.

Since God consistently proclaims his unfailing love for his chosen people despite their repeated backsliding, Bible believers naturally follow the same path so that it becomes the case that if you love Jesus, you find yourself also loving the Jew.

Christians are those who follow Jesus – “despised and rejected of men” (Isa 53:3) – and are thus prepared to suffer abuse and ridicule as he did. In the same way they will also be ready to wave Israeli flags, which is to swim very much against the tide in almost every generation.

True Christians are happy to nail their colours to the mast – and to support the real victims of society, not necessarily those groups beloved of our politically-correct world.

True Christians are happy to nail their colours to the mast – and to support the real victims of society, not necessarily those groups beloved of our politically-correct world.

So why do British Christians (on the whole) not get the connection between following Jesus and befriending the Jews? Could it perhaps be something to do with Pentecost, which I touched on last week? For Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit, poured out at Pentecost, would “guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).

And he also said: “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).

Notes

1 Daily Mail, 8 June 2018. A copy of the infamous ‘Nazi salute’ photo, reproduced in last Saturday’s Daily Mail, was sent to Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson from his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in response to Johnson’s suggestion that Russia was using the World Cup for propaganda purposes in the same way that Hitler had done with the 1936 Olympics.

2 Jerusalem News Network, quoting Medialine/Jerusalem Post, 6 June 2018. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, later sought to clarify his position by saying that the conflict should be resolved through a referendum among “all real Palestinians including Muslims, Jews and Christians” who trace their roots back to before the creation of Israel in 1948. World Israel News & Associated Press, 11 June 2018.

3 An obvious reference to the Holocaust and the fact that more than six million Jews now live in Israel – Ibid.

4 Reports that Home Secretary Sajid Javid is to “proscribe Hezbollah in full later this year” have raised hopes that the terrorist group will be completely banned in the UK in response to a 17,000-strong petition. Christians United for Israel UK, 13 June 2018.

5 Gateway News, South Africa, 7 June 2018.

6 Jewish News Syndicate, 13 June 2018.

As remembrance events are held today to mark the end of World War II and the sacrifice of so many millions, FIFA is still making headlines for banning players from wearing commemorative poppies.

Today is Armistice Day, and England and Wales are this evening set to defy FIFA's long-standing ban on all "political, religious or commercial messages", and allow their players to wear poppies on their shirts during the World Cup Qualifier match.

This is not a new row – it erupted in 2011, resulting in players being allowed to wear poppies emblazoned on armbands, but not on their shirts.¹ Nevertheless, this year FIFA has stood its ground, and debate has once again erupted in the media over the politics of the poppy. Meanwhile, the rest of the British populace rolls their eyes at political correctness gone mad, wondering when it became unacceptable to commemorate the ultimate sacrifice made by so many millions during the two world wars. How have we got to this point?

The Race to Escape Politics

The debate over whether or not the poppy is a political symbol is an interesting one, but not what I wish to focus on here. Instead, I would like to draw attention to a different, but no less key, aspect of the whole incident: FIFA's blanket refusal to make what could be construed as a political statement.

Like so many institutions and establishments today, FIFA would rather keep its nose (at least, its public nose) out of politics, religion and commerce, even to the point of avoiding any cause that could possibly be construed as such. Contrary to media headlines, FIFA has not deliberately banned the poppy – but they have refused to "pre-judge" whether or not it counts as a political symbol, instead referring the case to a disciplinary committee, which will decide whether or not the rules have been broken.²

Perhaps this is understandable in the light of FIFA's recent political scandals. But ironically, the poppy 'ban' is probably causing more controversy than it prevents. Whether the primary driver here is a fear of losing mass support or a fear of inciting a lawsuit from some avid poppy-haters, it is a sorry state of affairs when concern for self-protection leads an organisation to pass up the opportunity to support a good cause, just because it could be labelled 'political'.

The Poppy Appeal has become collateral damage in a rather inconsistent attempt to erase all trace of politics from football (or at least from its public face). What does this say about the state of our society?

It is a sorry state of affairs when concern for self-protection leads an organisation to pass up the opportunity to support a good cause, just because it could be labelled 'political'.

The Postmodern Hatred of Politics

This may be a controversial point to make, but I personally believe that the essence of all politics is actually moral – since politics is about making arguments, statements and rulings about the good (and the bad) of society. It involves saying what we believe is good and worth pursuing (/legalising/promoting), and what we believe is evil and needing to be fought (/prohibited/eradicated), not just for ourselves but for the collective. When one shows support for a political symbol, message or cause, one is effectively making a moral statement about what one believes is good (or bad) for society. A political statement is a moral statement (and the reverse is also true).

The trouble is, in today's world, we have cut ourselves loose from the objective morality given to us by God – the true word of Scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit which help us to distinguish right from wrong. We have rejected the Ultimate Source of morality. And so in Western culture, in the absence of a true, objective definition of right and wrong, morality has become relative – what's right for you might not be so for me. We each 'do as we see fit' (Judg 17:16, 21:25).

And as morality has become an individual, private matter, so has politics. They are two sides of the same coin. Declarations of right and wrong – declarations about what is objectively good and bad – are increasingly unwelcome in the public realm, because public means that which is shared, communal, universal, applicable to all. And how can there be a morality that is universally applicable (or a politics that is universally beneficial) if there is no higher moral authority than the individual? How can anyone 'pre-judge' what is good for all?

Public Declarations of the Good Increasingly Difficult

By rejecting God, we have argued ourselves into a corner – and our establishments are in a bind, increasingly unable to enforce one moral law for all. We lose our ability to distinguish between the immovable, universal rights and wrongs God has instituted, and our personal preferences that arise chiefly from taste and character – God-given diversity. As man becomes god, so we conflate the two.

This is why our entire society is suffering from a lack of direction, a lack of convicted leadership and an unwillingness amongst the establishment to engage with controversial issues: because the tyranny of political correctness stops us from standing up, above the crowd, and making a broader statement about what is morally right and good for everyone. Those who are brave enough are usually sued – because our legal system has become about protecting the individual, above all else.

The upshot of this is that the moral pillars of society become judged by and subjected to the moral vagaries of the individual, not the other way around (e.g. FIFA avoids all political or religious messages because they might upset or disagree with some individuals). And because these shifting sands are such a nightmare, it becomes easier to put a blanket ban on everything that might be controversial.

When the moral pillars of society are subjected to the shifting sands of individual hearts, it becomes easier to put a blanket ban on everything that might be controversial.

Should Christians Care?

Let's go back to the humble poppy. FIFA will not publicly endorse the Poppy Appeal, presumably for fear of being branded 'political' – of making a statement about something other than football that splits people and causes it to lose support. Players may be allowed to wear poppies on armbands (i.e. a matter of personal choice – individual politics/morality), but not on their shirts (collective uniforms, symbolising the position of FIFA as an organisation).

In this particular instance, it takes something as seemingly innocuous as the Poppy Appeal to open our eyes, albeit briefly, to the realities of the political correctness nightmare. But it isn't about the poppy, or about war, or about showing respect for bravery and sacrifice in the face of horror. It's about a much bigger, more endemic cultural disease: amorality.

The problem, of course, is that life is inescapably political and religious. Just as attempts to erase religion from the public realm are doomed to fail (as atheism is itself a faith, and secularism itself a religion, rather than the absence of one), so attempts to depoliticise football are also futile.

But that doesn't mean that attempts to enforce the semblance of political and moral neutrality won't be pushed through – with this false neutrality becoming a Trojan horse for the promotion of unGodly values and ethics. Because again, this isn't about the poppy, and it isn't about FIFA. It is about a growing prohibition of public statements of morality – which is already extending to include expressions of Christian truth in schools, on the streets and even in churches.

That's why Christians should take notice of the poppy debate – and refused to be cowed by the spirit of the age.

"They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old; age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them." ~ For the Fallen, Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

References

1 Is the poppy a political symbol? Who, What, Why, BBC Magazine, 1 November 2016.

2 Conway, R. England v Scotland: Fifa says Poppy ban reports a 'distortion of facts'. BBC Sport, 11 November 2016.

3 One might also point out FIFA's symbolic inconsistency in featuring the logos of ethically dubious corporate sponsors – such as the Nike logo that adorns all England shirts and the Adidas logo graces the shirts of Scottish players. The poppy is apparently a step too far, however (or perhaps not lucrative enough?).

With greed and corruption becoming an everyday part of life, Britain is looking more and more like it did in the 18^th Century - just before revival happened.

The sudden departure of England's much heralded football manager transferred sports news from the back page to the front page of our newspapers.

Sam Allardyce had only been in the job 67 days before he was forced to resign following a sting set up by the Daily Telegraph with men posing as businessmen from the Far East. They recorded him agreeing to a £400,000 deal in which he would help "get around" strict bans on third party transfer regulations.

Allardyce left his employment with the Football Association with a reported half £1 million payoff for just over two month's work, during which he organised just one international football match - which England won, giving him a 100% record for his England career!

It is astonishing that a man who was being paid a salary of £3 million a year could fall for such an entrapment. Why would he risk everything for an additional £400,000 on top of the immense salary he was receiving? It is surely an example of the incredible power of greed. However large the salary, greed will always try to get a bit more.

Greed is Now Normal

Greed is the driving force in so many people's lives today; it has become a banal part of our culture, affecting every area of life - from banking and the growth of vast international business conglomerates to sport and entertainment. It seems that no area of society is free from greed and corruption, with the result that the gap between rich and poor is getting ever wider.

The rich are growing richer and the poor are growing poorer, leaving the way open for injustice and exploitation of the powerless. The greatest health problem facing the rich nations is obesity while millions in the poorer nations go to bed hungry every night. Yet the vast injustice of this situation leaves most people in the Western nations untroubled. Why is this in nations that have had the Gospel for centuries, where biblical values of justice are part of the foundations of their civilisation?

Greed has become a banal part of our culture, affecting every area of life.

Abandonment of 'Traditional' Morality

Surely the reason has to be connected with our turning away from our biblical foundations. In Britain children are no longer taught basic biblical morality in state schools and we now have a generation of parents who have virtually no knowledge of the Bible, leaving many children growing up with no ultimate standards of right and wrong.

George Whitfield

What can change the nation? Can we learn from the past?

Revisiting 18^th Century Britain

A similar situation existed in the latter part of the 18^th Century and the beginning of the 19^th Century. Crime, lawlessness, adultery and drunkenness were the foremost characteristics in all ranks of society, as Hogarth's pictures of London vividly illustrate. Violence and unrest were everywhere and there were frequent riots, as well as fears that the French Revolution might spread across the Channel and engulf the nation.

Church attendance was the lowest it had been for centuries. In 1800, just six people took communion on Easter day in St Paul's Cathedral. It was at this stage that the Evangelical Revival began to change everything, with the Methodists and Nonconformists reaching the working classes and the evangelical Anglicans reaching the upper echelons and the burgeoning middle classes produced by the Industrial Revolution.

Today, many children are growing up with no ultimate standards of right and wrong.

Gospel-Driven Cultural ChangeJohn Wesley

A striking example of their success in changing the nation can be seen in the social statistics. Throughout the 19^th Century, crime rates fell dramatically. By 1870 there were only 10,000 in the jails of England and Wales. But even more remarkable was the continuing fall over the next 30 years. By 1910 there were only 3,000 prisoners in the nation's jails, despite the population rising from 25 million to 35 million!

Social historians attribute this astonishing fall in the crime rate to the success of the Evangelical Revival in transforming the moral and spiritual life of the nation. It all began with a small group of Christians, like Wilberforce, Wesley and Whitfield, in the dark days of the late 18^th Century. They had a passion for the Gospel and cared deeply about people.

In addition to preaching the truth, they also applied the Gospel to the great social issues of their day, working for causes such as the abolition of colonial slavery and the end of child exploitation in the mines, mills and factories of England. It was through their faith in God that the nation was transformed.

Dramatic Loss of Faith

Today, there are many similarities with the early 19^th Century. The latest British Attitude Survey (published May 2016) shows that 48% of the population say they have 'no religion'. It is remarkable that 50 years of immigration has not resulted in significant numbers converting to other religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism - the British people have simply lost faith in any religion, so they have nothing to hold onto when difficult times come.

The mission field is wide open for Christians with a passion for the gospel to share their faith with their non-Christian friends and neighbours. An even greater Evangelical Revival could happen in 21^st Century Britain!

The British people have lost faith in any religion, so they have nothing to hold onto when difficult times come.

Revival Happening Now?

Churches in Reading have been sharing their faith on the streets since May this year with some amazing results - and a similar movement has been happening this month in Liverpool, where Christians report an astonishing new openness to the Gospel and hundreds of ordinary people giving their lives to Christ on the streets.

People are fed up with the greed and corruption they see everywhere. The fields are ripe for harvest. We hope to publish details of the developments in Liverpool next week. Maybe the only thing holding back revival in Britain is that many people in churches have not yet woken up to the spiritual hunger of people around them!

Jesus said, "The time has come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15)

Truth and justice have at last prevailed with the Hillsborough enquiry verdict. But where was God in the terrible events in Sheffield 27 years ago?

Everyone in Liverpool is relieved that truth and justice have at last prevailed with the enquiry verdict that 96 football fans were not responsible for their own deaths. But where was God when the terrible events in Sheffield happened, 27 years ago?

Clifford Hill looks back at his own ministry notes of a team event in Sheffield 28 years ago to shed some light on this. This is what he recorded:

MINISTRY NOTES: SHEFFIELD 1988

In the autumn of 1988 we did a week's ministry in Sheffield, with meetings at a number of different churches as well as some united events. On the final day the organisers had arranged a gathering of ministers, pastors and leaders of all the churches in the city who had been participating in the mission. Several other clergy whose churches had not participated in the meetings also accepted invitations to attend this team event - either out of curiosity or possibly to confirm how right they had been not to participate! There were about 80 clergy and lay leaders present for this final session.

Members of the team had been staying at various addresses in and around Sheffield. Monica and I stayed in the home of a suburban vicar. On the morning of the final meeting I drove the Ministry car to pick up some of the team who were staying in other houses. Edmund Heddle took the front passenger seat and David Noakes and Monica were in the backseats. Edmund usually occupied the front seat as he was rather large and needed the additional room, but he was hopeless at navigation so Monica usually had the map and gave back seat directions. On this occasion we were driving through heavy rush hour morning traffic when suddenly Edmund said, "Stop the car! Stop the car!"

I was busy thinking of what I should say at the forthcoming meeting and I was quite startled to hear his voice. Moreover, I had no idea why he should give such a command. It was not easy to respond as we were in the outside lane surrounded by slow-moving traffic but there was an urgency I could not ignore. I assumed he was unwell. I stopped as soon as possible, putting on the hazard lights at the same time. We were right opposite the Hillsborough football ground.

Edmund was making strange groaning noises which convinced me that he was ill. All three of us looked at him anxiously and asked what was the matter. He was unable to reply and appeared to be robbed of the power of speech, which increased our concern for his health. He signalled us to be quiet and after what seemed to be ages, but was probably no more than a minute or two, he indicated that he was seeing a picture and receiving a message.

It was not unusual for Edmund, an elderly Baptist minister, to see pictures with a message and after a number of years working together we had learned to respect his integrity. When Edmund said he was receiving something from the Lord we gave him space and we paid attention. On this occasion he was clearly going through a deeply traumatic experience that had a strangely emotional effect upon him. He was groaning and weeping and breathing heavily. He was trying to describe what he was seeing but he simply could not articulate the experience. Eventually he began falteringly:

I see a most terrible tragedy in that football ground. There is an immense crowd that overflows the stands. I see people stumbling and others treading upon each other in the crush. There is panic! There are bodies, children, young people and adults being trampled upon. The noise of their cries and their suffering and fear and panic is unbelievable and indescribable. I hear such a tumult and see such disorder and bewilderment. No one knows what to do. Everywhere there is panic and many lives are being lost. The authorities are powerless to deal with the situation and no one knows what to do. The cries of the dying are too much to bear.

His voice tailed off and he lapsed into a heavy silence; his whole body being shaken with emotion. For a long time, he could do no more than groan and weep helplessly. We had never seen Edmund so disturbed in all the years that we had worked together as a team. We knew that he was not given to emotional outbursts and this was something very special. So we simply sat there in the car surrounded by traffic with no words spoken. We didn't even look at each other. We were in silent prayer, trying to deal with something we didn't understand.

We must have sat there for at least 10 minutes listening to Edmund's dramatic description; then asking the Lord to show us what to do. Eventually we remembered that we had a large number of church leaders from across Sheffield waiting for us. We all agreed that Edmund must report his experience to the local church leaders. We moved out into the traffic heading for the church where the meeting was to take place.

The meeting began with worship: we gave our report on the previous week's meetings and there was a good time of feedback followed by intercession. We then briefly described our journey that morning and told them that Edmund had received a picture with a message which we believed to be a significant revelation.

Having set the scene, I asked Edmund to describe his experience. He did so without the dramatic emotion that he had experienced in the car outside the football ground and everyone listened intently. It was difficult to gauge the reaction but no doubt many were sceptical and others simply felt that there was nothing they could do about it. We had a time of open prayer when many voices were raised asking God to show us the significance of this picture and that if it were a true word of warning, God would show what action should be taken. We returned to London leaving them to seek further guidance.

On Saturday 15^th April 1989, the nation was stunned by news of the worst tragedy in the history of British football. Liverpool Football Club was due to play a semi-final match in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough Sheffield ground. Thousands travelled from Liverpool to support their team in this important match and many thousands also travelled from Nottingham. The Liverpool end of the ground was vastly overcrowded and insufficient precautions were taken to limit the number of fans entering that section. The crush was so great that barriers collapsed and metal fencing was broken down. People stumbled and were trodden upon. The resulting panic increased the problem. 96 people lost their lives. The youngest was a boy only 10 years old. Five boys were aged 14. Most of the casualties were young men in the age range 17 to 24 while the oldest were two men in their 60s. The sense of bereavement and loss in the City of Liverpool was intense. The whole City mourned the loss of their children, young men and fathers.

Immediately after this event many of the clergy in Sheffield telephoned our Ministry office or wrote letters recalling the vivid picture that Edmund had received. There were many expressions of regret that no action had been taken. No one had gone to the football authorities and warned them of the danger that God had revealed. Of course, it is quite likely that the football authorities would have dismissed the warning but many of the ministers expressed a sense of guilt that they had not taken the warning seriously.

An Important Lesson

The people of Liverpool have had to wait 27 years to hear the truth about what happened on that fateful Saturday. At last the lies and cover-ups have been exposed: truth and justice have been established. But the ministry notes above show that there is another revelation which ought to be made known to the people of Liverpool: it is that God cared so much for their sons and daughters and husbands and fathers that he gave a special revelation to one of his servants – one who was listening to him regularly and was sensitive enough to the Holy Spirit that God was able to speak to him as we drove past that football ground some six months before the event.

God gave that revelation to Edmund so that lives could have been saved! I am not blaming the Sheffield clergy for their lack of action because I too did nothing more. As team leader I should have followed up our visit by ensuring that the football authorities were contacted and given the warning. I was busy going on to other meetings around the country; but that is not a valid reason for not taking the revelation seriously enough.

There are lessons here – for those in church leadership and for ordinary believers. If church leaders do not take prophetic warnings seriously we cannot expect secular authorities to do so.

All committed Christians have access to God through the Holy Spirit and all can learn to listen. At Prophecy Today UK we often hear of believers receiving words from the Lord, giving them to their pastor but having them rejected or not taken seriously. Leaders should take care not to dismiss words of revelation lightly, but to weigh them carefully and thereby encourage the whole fellowship to be a listening as well as a praying people.

Is there deeper significance in events on and off the football field?

The dramatic arrest of FIFA officials in the luxury Baur au Lac hotel, overlooking Lake Zurich on charges of corruption took the football world by surprise. But allegations of corruption have been levelled at FIFA for many years. In 2011 an independent panel convened to deal with these allegations proposed a number of measures, but their recommendations were ignored. The surprise this time was due to the intervention of American law enforcement agencies investigating crimes of money laundering and corruption involving banks based in America.

Controversy and Injustice

The refusal of 79 year old Sepp Blatter to step down as President of FIFA after 17 years in office is, perhaps, the greatest scandal. Even if he himself is totally innocent of corrupt practices, he has presided over an organisation that has a terrible reputation. It would seem logical to say that as head of the multibillion-dollar organisation he ought to have known what was going on. He is either corrupt or incompetent and in either case he is not the man to clean up such an influential International Association.

Football is no longer just a game: it is a highly lucrative international industry offering huge wealth to both sponsors and players, and is therefore vulnerable to massive corruption. But there are also enormous differences in the rewards paid to players. In some of the developing countries such as Uruguay and Costa Rica professional players earn only a $150 a month¹ whereas in Europe they can earn $150,000 a week! FIFA should be addressing such vast injustices.

The controversy surrounding the President of FIFA has highlighted differences in economics, culture and practices between European nations and those in the developing nations. Sepp Blatter has spent the past 17 years promoting high-level international football (with its huge financial rewards) in Africa and South America, where he has won many friends who have benefited and want him to continue as President.

FIFA already presides over huge injustices, such as massive global disparities in footballers' wages. The latest allegations of bribery and corruption just add insult to injury.

'Shrewd' Business in the Bible

Jesus told a parable in Luke 16 about a shrewd businessman who knew that he was going to be dismissed for incompetence so he called a meeting of all the firm's debtors and reduced their debts so that when he lost his job he would have many friends who owed him favours. The point of the parable Jesus said was that worldly people know how to manipulate financial transactions to their own advantage. Righteous people should take a lesson from this and make sure that their lives produce spiritual fruit for eternal life. This is of far greater importance than ensuring a comfortable lifestyle on earth.

Shaking the Establishment

Daily Herald article, 1963

For Christians, it is important to note the spiritual significance of what is happening in the commercial world, and especially how it throws light on how God is working out his purposes today. We have already seen the shaking of the banks and the exposure of corrupt practices, the shaking of the political establishment in the Western nations, the shaking of newspapers and journalists, celebrities and many others. Now football is the latest of the world's big institutions to be shaken.

For many fans, football plays a large part in their lives and has almost become a religion. When Spurs won the league and European Cup double in 1963, the team paraded through the streets of Tottenham North London, with their fans displaying placards saying "HALLOWED BE THEIR NAMES" and "O COME LET US ADORE THEM" (see right). At the Wembley cup final it is traditional to sing the Christian hymn 'Abide with me', though it is doubtful if many in the crowd sing it to the glory of God. Maybe this is the reason why football is the first major sport to come under judgement!

What we are seeing today is in line with the Bible's prophecy of a great shaking of the nations recorded in Haggai 2:6-7, where it is said that this will be accompanied by a great shaking in the world of nature. In the New Testament the writer to the Hebrews interpreted this great shaking as preparing the way for the Kingdom of God; the end of the age, which is generally believed to be the second coming of Jesus (Heb 12:26).

We are living in an incredible period of world history with nations in every part of the world being shaken. As each great event hits the headlines, corruption is revealed as the norm, and dishonour the standard, in the lives and careers of many. As we make a stand for faith, let us stand in the love and strength of Christ, which provides a new way- a way of justice and righteousness -for those who choose to accept him.

References

1 Reuters, 'This should've happened long ago', First Post, 28 May 2015.