The sorry saga of Christian teachers being sacked for mentioning their faith in public

Home schooling in Britain is growing rapidly - and with good reason.

It is August and the schools are closed for the holidays. Traditionally, this has been a time when children are with their parents, whether at home or on holiday – that special time of the year that offers opportunities for families to be together.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 comes to mind: a mandate given by God long ago, that all might go well with us. We can picture parents and children considering the beauty of God’s Creation on summer days when, walking and talking, they learn together about him.

Yet in this continuing season of political tension and upheaval, it is much more likely that we will be encouraged to dwell on the new Prime Minister’s tactics to win parliamentary battles (especially the battle to come out of Europe) than on how we might bring up the nation’s children in the ways of God.

Indeed, when September comes round and the schools re-open, for Christian parents the prospect of what will be taught to their children is of ever-growing concern. Watchmen in our nation, such as our own team at Prophecy Today and Issachar Ministries and others such as Christian Concern, inform us of more and more examples of the danger posed to our children through agendas at work within our educational establishments.

Godless Agendas

Unbiblical agendas such as those that have been imposed by the LGBTQ+ movement are impacting even the youngest primary school children, who are being driven to question their God-given biological gender.¹ The movement to eradicate belief in the God of Creation has long imposed itself and now we move on to the consequences, clearly outlined in Romans 1.

For Christian parents the prospect of what is being taught to their children in schools is of ever-growing concern.

Ungodly forces are being allowed to influence the teaching of our children and take them off that wonderful, God-given path for each one. “Train a child in the way he should go” (Prov 22:6) is the mandate given to parents, for which a sensitive, protected, God-given educational programme is needed whereby a child, nurtured first by parents and helped by teachers, learns how to walk with God themselves. Woe to those who perpetuate godless agendas in our schools. Jesus had these words of warning for them:

If anyone causes one of these little ones, those who believe in me, to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. (Matt 18:6)

Pressure Upon Pressure

The latest LGBTQ+ pressures on children add to others already well-established and highlighted in Prophecy Today for many years. The bigger picture, over the longer term, is of powers of darkness at work to divide up families and destroy the faith of an entire generation.

For example, before our eyes are growing numbers of teenagers being drawn into gang warfare and knife crime, to the extent that MPs are now recommending police officers in schools.² Does this not illustrate a society that is increasingly unguarded against the seductive powers of evil?

Even Christian schools are under pressure, as central Government has taken it upon itself to impose pressures to conform to secular humanist ideals, especially through Ofsted. If Ofsted were encouraging biblically-based curricula and putting in measures to protect our children by reinforcing the God-given mandate that parents have been given, then we could be grateful. If instead, we find an increasing departure and enforcement of ungodly educational content and strategy (dubbed ‘muscular liberalism’ by Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman), then it is time to be very concerned.

The bigger picture, over the longer term, is of powers of darkness at work to divide up families and destroy the faith of an entire generation.

Enough is Enough?

Many Christian parents are alarmed at what is happening in schools because of Government pressures to conform, and are saying, ‘enough is enough’. According to Ephesians 6:4 and elsewhere in the Bible, it is parents who have responsibility for their children. In the coming days, I do not doubt that many will seek to withdraw from or avoid the growing corruption of the world, including that which is in many schools.

Home education of children is an obvious, and still legal, option, that has much support in the USA and which many Christian families in the UK are already pursuing with great success. The number of home-schooled children in Britain has doubled in the last four years.³ It could become even more widespread here if those of us with experience in education can help make it an attractive and meaningful possibility.

If there is not a major move of repentance across the nation as a whole, home education could be a vital means to strengthen Christian families for the days ahead. Education of our children in a Christ-centred way should be a central priority in this, and will require those with expertise to seek the Lord in considering how to provide support. Could this be part of God’s strategy for safeguarding faithful families in future? What part might you play?

References

1 It is interesting to note the furore which has broken out in Birmingham primary schools between school staff intent on imposing a radical LGBTQ+ agenda and concerned parents. Most of the parents protesting are Muslim, prompting some difficult questions for the Government on how to negotiate the competing demands of these two minority groups, Islam and LGBTQ+.

2 MPs call for police in schools to cut youth violence. BBC News, 31 July 2019.

3 See here. This is for a variety of reasons, one of which is undoubtedly the impulse of Christian parents to protect their children.

Whom will it serve?

You don’t have to be a prophet, or even a believer, to recognise that deep divisions are wracking Britain today. The 2016 Referendum exposed some of these. People are starting to realise that ‘politics as usual’ is no longer possible: we have entered a period of unprecedented turmoil and upheaval: what we have frequently referred to on Prophecy Today UK as part of the ‘shaking of the nations’.

While the spiritual forces underneath this shaking may be black and white, so to speak, how all this bears out in individual thinking and behaviour was never going to be clear-cut, because human beings are complicated. For instance, the unforgiving binary options of the Referendum masked complex concerns and ideological standpoints on both sides, which has been a point of frustration for many.

But despite this complexity, the oppositional worldviews underlying the battle for the soul of the West are gradually becoming more and more apparent. At the polls and in virtually every sphere of daily life, people are increasingly being forced to choose, one way or the other.

Political Polarisation

It may have taken a generation for the cultural Marxism being preached in universities to filter down into mainstream culture, but that project is now nearly complete, enabled and encouraged by a political establishment purporting to take the centre ground. Those who accept this radical left-wing worldview are lining up on one side of the debate; those who react against it on the other. Because the worldviews at stake are vastly opposing, we are witnessing a general movement away from the political centre towards the extremes.

This polarisation is visible in the recent EU election results, which saw centrist parties lose considerable ground to parties both farther to the left (e.g. greens, ultra-liberals) and farther to the right (e.g. nationalists). Whether ordinary citizens are becoming more radical in their politics, or simply expressing frustration, the result is an empowering of parties farther outwards on the political spectrum.

We are witnessing a general movement away from the political centre towards the extremes, underlain by worldviews that are vastly opposing.

Dig a little deeper than left-right divisions, however, and the battle lines are really being drawn up either around the defence of the ‘old order’ that emerged from Christendom (including the nation-state system, a strong family unit and the importance of individual freedom from state interference), notwithstanding its imperfections, or around its destruction and replacement with the inverse (i.e. globalism, anti-life and anti-family movements including LGBTQ+/radical feminism/abortion/euthanasia, and the subjection of the individual to increasing state control).

All this means that wherever one sits on a variety of hot-button issues, it is increasingly difficult to forge a compromise path or remain neutral. This is especially the case for Christian institutions and ministries, who ostensibly hold the truth. The time has come to nail some colours to the mast.

Oceans Apart

The reality of this was exposed strongly this week with news of a vicar in Essex resigning, from both his positions as governor of a CofE primary school and local vicar, over the promotion of transgender ideology. The school had allowed a child under 12 to announce his gender transition to his class, without any agreed procedures and without informing other parents, but with the full support of the diocese. The Revd John Parker submitted his resignation letter, in which he expressed concerns that children are being “sacrificed on the altar of trans ideology”.¹

Mr Parker is one of many clergy and lay Anglicans who have borne the CofE’s drift away from biblical principles and into radical left-wing identity politics (the schools issue being just one manifestation of this) for as long as they can, hoping and praying for change from the inside, but who have finally decided that enough is enough.

These defectors are seeking spiritual safe havens in other denominations or breakaway Anglican groups, including GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference, an international Anglican body championing traditional biblical teaching), while the CofE establishment has drifted ever farther out to sea, lured by siren calls of ‘compassion’, ‘tolerance’ and ‘welcome’.

Across the vast distance that has opened up in between, calls for unity, dialogue and peaceful disagreement sound ever-more faint and hollow. It is difficult to see any other future for the CofE than one of disintegration, barring some drastic repentance, especially within the upper tiers of its leadership.

Mr Parker is one of many clergy and lay Anglicans who have borne the CofE’s drift away from biblical principles for as long as they can, but have finally decided that enough is enough.

However, there is yet a sense that the CofE has not capitulated completely, but is still being pulled in both directions. The Lambeth 2020 international meeting of bishops, for example, is being boycotted by both conservative GAFCON members and ultra-liberal bishops who think the Church is not going far enough in its ‘welcome’ of gays and lesbians.

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s weak attempts to appease both sides in the sexuality debate have failed to give strong leadership one way or the other, permitting the gradual permeation of the Church with LGBTQ+ ideology in a way that has angered both pro-LGBTQ+ activists (for not being fast or far-reaching enough) and those trying to remain faithful to Scripture. In other words, attempts to forge a middle-ground, compromise position have only made matters worse, fuelling polarisation – just as we have seen more widely in national politics.

The Time is Now

All this is really to say that the era of easy ways out – of fudging compromises, of appeasement and of sitting on the fence – is all but over. But perhaps that is not a bad thing, for, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm…I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15-16).

The Church in all quarters badly needs to choose whom it will serve (Deut 30:19; Josh 24:15), heeding James’s warning that “whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God” (4:4). The disagreements in which the CofE is mired result from it befriending a worldly ideology that stands in total opposition to God. This ideology cannot save, and only leads to division and disintegration. As with the Church, so with the nation.

Our study this week looks at Jeremiah, the ‘weeping prophet’, and expresses hope that in our day we will see people who humbly cleave to the Lord’s council, grieving over the nation and daring to speak prophetically from that place to both king and priest. If ever Britain needed such prophets, it is now.

Meanwhile, may the faithful continue to rally – not primarily to one political party or another, but to the Lord and his word, just as the Levites rallied to Moses (Ex 32). Therein we will find salvation, security, hope and light which will radiate out through us to the nation.

References

1 Read more at Christian Concern.

Primary pupils awestruck by popular Easter project

It was an awesome privilege once again this Easter to find myself sharing the Gospel message with many hundreds of primary schoolchildren here in Doncaster.

With regard to the commandments of God which formed the bedrock of our national life today as well as that of Israel long ago, we are told: “Teach them to your children and to their children after them” (Deut 4:9).

As for keeping the Passover (fulfilled at Easter), we are similarly urged to pass on the message to the next generation: “In days to come when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery’” (Ex 13:14).

The Easter Journey

Though much of what we share is unfamiliar to this new generation, many schools warmly welcome our so-called ‘Easter Journey’ project. This involves a group of volunteers virtually taking over school premises for a morning, during which the children are invited to explore the meaning of what Christians believe.

With the aid of scenery, props, costumes and key roles being acted out, pupils are imaginatively transported to Jerusalem as they travel from Palm Sunday to the Passover meal known as the Last Supper, followed by the Garden of Gethsemane and the Good Friday crucifixion, before finally witnessing the wonder of the resurrection on Easter Sunday.

With regard to the commandments of God, we are told: “Teach them to your children and to their children after them”.

In setting the scene for the Upper Room meal, it’s been a sheer delight to explain the significance of the occasion to so many children over the past ten days. Most of them are polite and well behaved – and some of the schools are in quite tough areas.

Volunteers work hard to get the right table setting for the Last Supper for each of up to nine groups of children. Photo: Charles GardnerJudging by the wide-eyed attention of these seven to eleven-year-old pupils, the words and pictures conveyed will no doubt have found much good soil for seeds of faith to germinate.

The Fields are Ripe!

This is the tenth year of the project, for which schools are queuing up; unfortunately, we have to turn down invitations for lack of resources. The feedback from teachers accompanying the groups on the journey is invariably upbeat, speaking of the sense of wonder being captured.

Indeed, the fields are ripe for harvest, yet many Christians are under the mistaken impression that schools are closed to the Gospel. We know there are aggressive atheists working towards that end, but the national curriculum still encourages Christian visitors to share what they believe in the classroom.

Linda Gardner, who became a Christian herself through a Gideon Bible received in school, has been engaging Doncaster’s primary pupils with the Gospel message for the past 24 years, through assemblies and RE lessons as well as special projects such as Christmas and Easter Journeys.

Employed by a trust¹ supported by churches, her diary is bulging with appointments at schools straddling a wide geographical area. About half the borough’s 100 primary schools have been reached on a regular basis over the years, while Linda’s colleague Dan Budhi is making an impact in the secondary schools.

Many Christians are under the mistaken impression that schools are closed to the Gospel, but the fields are ripe for harvest.

The message – particularly of the Easter Journey – is of a loving God who has come to rescue us from slavery to sin and degradation, and whose sacrificial blood cleanses and sets us free. It’s a message that brought freedom to an ancient people who had been slaves for 430 years, and that brought freedom to us in Britain as we turned from paganism to the living God and became world leaders.

Linda Gardner, heading up Christian work in Doncaster’s primary schools. Photo: Charles GardnerMost importantly, in the schools, it’s a message that can change lives. And we pray they will never forget it. This is, after all, why we are urged to celebrate the major festivals – for the crucial lesson they teach us to remember about the path to freedom.

Remembering Hope

Young people have never been so helpless, fatherless and without love, care and discipline. My prayer is that – should darkness, despair or loneliness threaten to lead them astray – these children will remember the lesson of the rescuing servant King who died because he loves each and every one of them; and how, like the Red Sea opening up to let the Israelites cross to freedom, he was raised from the dead to be with us forever.

I pray also that, if ever any of them should be caught up in a web of violence, drugs or sexual abuse, they will recall the hope we shared with them. For no-one is beyond the reach, and help, of Jesus, as the powerful testimony of Bishop Ron Archer forcefully brings home.

As a distraught ten-year-old, he held a gun to his head wanting to end his short life. But something stopped him, and God soon began speaking to him through the scriptures.

This is a message that can change lives – and we pray that the children will never forget it.

From Pain to Power

Addressing an international conference of the Bible-distributing Gideon movement, the bishop shared how – as a so-called ‘trick baby’ born to a prostitute and one of her clients – he had come to that dark moment.

His mum became pregnant at 16. It wasn’t supposed to happen and the pimps to whom she was indebted did everything they could to kill the unborn child with drugs, alcohol and repeated kicking and stabbing.

But the baby refused to die and was born two months prematurely with neither pancreas nor bladder, unable to function properly and later developing a severe stutter as he grew up being physically abused.

“That baby was me. Life was so horrific with so much vitriol and pain that by the age of ten I had had enough and wanted to die,” Ron recalled.

Then the miracle happened. “There was a teacher with a Gideon Bible who came to my school and saw dysfunctional kids like me as her mission field. She would read me stories of dysfunctional characters whom God used – like Moses, who was also a stutterer. She said, ‘Ronaldo, God will turn your pain into power.’

“And I began to understand there was hope for me. I began to memorise the Bible, I stopped stuttering, stopped wetting my bed…and eventually became a pastor until everyone in my family got saved.”

He said everything changes “when a child begins to understand the love of God and the power of his Word,” adding: “I may have been a ‘trick baby’, but the trick was on the devil because of you [Gideons] and the power of the Word of God.”

For Ron’s full testimony, click here.

References

1 Doncaster Schools Worker Trust, in association with Scripture Union.

Pupils play truant in protest against climate change

Thousands of children are set to walk out of school today in a nationwide protest over ‘climate change’.

Militant eco-warriors have apparently fuelled this bizarre action which seems to have the unofficial support of many teachers and even Christian charities.¹

So while parents are fined for taking their children out of school during term time, usually for the understandable reason of avoiding the high cost of holidays when schools are normally closed, teachers are given a free ride. Or will they too be fined? We shall wait and see.

One teachers’ union initially backed the idea by suggesting it would be “a valuable life experience”² before re-thinking its position along the lines that missing lessons would be detrimental to children’s education.

But both statements miss the point, which is that by letting pupils become obsessively politicised in this way undermines the entire structure of society and is tantamount to inciting rebellion, not to say revolution.

Exceptional Circumstances?

Our charge is to “train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov 22:6). Discipline is essential, but now we have children being encouraged to call the shots – all in the name of equality, I suppose. Leaving such ‘decisions’ to impressionable youngsters is a gross abdication of our responsibility. But it’s an upside-down world.

Discipline is essential, but now we have children being encouraged to call the shots.

The Department for Education said it was a matter for individual schools, but stressed that pupils could take time off only in ‘exceptional circumstances’ – apparently including illness, a family funeral or a religious day of observance – and then only when authorised by a headteacher.³

As Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn put it, “if parents can be punished for taking children out of school, then why can’t those we entrust to act in loco parentis?”⁴

The question is surely whether such a strike falls into the above ‘exceptional’ category, though Littlejohn, with tongue in cheek, suggests it is “undoubtedly a quasi-religious event”.

Teaching Rebellion

It would be a little more reasonable if they were being urged to protest over child abuse, or some other issue that affected pupils directly – although I can already hear a wailing chorus declaring that they are marching for their future under a carbon-free sky.

In reality, supporting such outright rebellion against authority is a recipe for disaster that could lead to widespread anarchy and chaos. In the words of the 16-year-old striker from Sweden who started the campaign, “We can’t save the world by playing by the rules because the rules have to be changed. Everything needs to change”.⁵

As for the issue itself that has gripped their attention, it is a classic example of the fake news that has swamped the media and political environment in recent decades.

And it was shocking to witness the laid-back attitude to these protests displayed by media commentators on Sunday morning TV as they swapped nostalgic anecdotes of similar action they took when young.

Supporting such outright rebellion against authority is a recipe for disaster that could lead to widespread anarchy.

Spiritual Vacuum

A key factor in all this is the spiritual vacuum into which such political activity is being played out. With depression and suicide rife among young people living in a make-believe world awash with dark messages of hopelessness, and all too few evangelists available to point them to a Saviour, it is entirely understandable that they should feel the need to be part of something meaningful.

They are thus easy prey for the false gospel of man-made global warming, based on the humanistic idea that everything depends on us because, with this thinking, God did not create the world. And if we want to save the planet, we must do everything we can to preach the need for humans to do what God is apparently incapable of doing.

I believe it is not only a gigantic hoax, but a massive distraction from the real problems facing our world – like the crisis in the Middle East which could well lead to World War III, or the torture of Christians in Muslim nations which provokes little sympathy or action from the West.

I also believe that much of the stress of today’s society – which results in millions of working days lost each year – is down to the same humanistic ideology trapping people into believing there is no way out of their fearful predicaments; that there is no-one to call on for help.

Who Do We Trust?

But there is a God upon whom we can depend and in whom we can trust for our lives and our futures. The Book of Proverbs also says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him; and he will direct your paths” (Prov 3:5f).

Trusting in God is not an abrogation of personal responsibility, but provides you with the ability to act with true wisdom. As the Bible also says (on several occasions), “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Trusting in God is not an abrogation of personal responsibility, but provides you with the ability to act with true wisdom.

This doesn’t mean the Bible has nothing to say about climate change. For it was when Jesus was asked about the signs that would indicate his imminent return that our Lord replied: “There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.”

And he added: “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:11, 25-28).

Clearly, from that last comment, we should be looking to God at this time, and not to man’s inadequate solutions.

References

1 Christian Aid: Let's hear the voices of schoolchildren striking over climate change. Christian Today, 15 February 2019.

2 The Times, 11 February 2019.

3 Ibid.

4 Daily Mail, 12 February 2019.

5 School strike for climate. TedxStockholm talk.

Turmoil on the streets, in schools and in matters of state: what has gone wrong?

Two chaotic scenes shown on television this week speak volumes about the state of the British nation today. One was a short film about a school for excluded pupils showing young people whose behaviour was so disruptive they had been banned from mainstream education. They were some of nearly 50,000 dysfunctional or ill pupils taught in alternative provision schools.

The second was Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons with 600 representatives of the people all shouting at the same time and no-one listening to anyone else. This was the Mother of Parliaments in action – the oldest and most respected political institution in Western democracy. Brexit fever had spread its pernicious toxin across the House and sanity had fled the building. Chaos reigned supreme.

I went into my study and wept. What has gone wrong with the nation I have loved and served throughout my working life? Is there any word from the Lord? Isaiah 31 came to me. The Assyrian Empire was at its height and many in Israel feared invasion. In Jerusalem there was a strong pro-Egyptian party who had persuaded the king to send emissaries with lavish gifts to sign a treaty binding them with Egypt. The word of the Lord came to the Prophet Isaiah,

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strengths of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord…But the Egyptians are men and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, he who helps will stumble, he who is helped will fall; both will perish together.

How apposite this is for our current situation! When do we ever hear any of our political leaders ask if there is any word from the Lord? Of course, it should be obvious that if M. Barnier and the European Union are happy with the deal, it must raise doubts as whether it will be good for Britain. But the greatest need among our Members of Parliament is for spiritual discernment, which is woefully lacking at present.

When do we ever hear any of our political leaders ask if there is any word from the Lord?

Facing Turmoil

No-one, however, could fail to admire the resilience of the Prime Minister facing a baying pack of critics in the House of Commons with insults and jibes thrown at her from all sides, yet she answered each one with dignity and confidence. At the end of the day she held a televised press conference in the full view of the nation and defended the deal she had struck with Brussels, saying that her major objectives had been achieved and Britain would be leaving the European Union on 29 March 2019.

Her objective has been to seek an arrangement that would ensure frictionless trade with the rest of Europe while at the same time taking back responsibility for our borders; but safeguarding the position of EU workers in Britain and British citizens resident in Europe.

Her objective has also been to get out of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fishing Policy which have favoured foreign producers. Above all, a major objective has been to ensure that Britain is free from the rules and regulations of the European Court of Justice and all the other legal impositions of Brussels. This is where there are major doubts among those who have fought for many years to be free from the EU and return sovereignty to the British Parliament.

Anti-Brexit protestors in Westminster this week. NurPhoto/SIPA USA/PA ImagesAlongside all these objectives has been the complication of the border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. No one wants to return to a hard border, but the DUP, whose 10 votes in the House of Commons are needed for a Government majority, do not want Ulster to be treated any different from other parts of the UK.

Most of the politicians shouting abuse at Theresa May had not read the 580-page document jointly agreed by the negotiators from Britain and Brussels. It will no doubt be argued over for a long time and there will still be hardline Brexiteers who will prefer Britain to leave the EU with no deal than one that keeps Britain tied to European laws and customs-regulations for an ill-defined period.

The weakness of all those opposing the EU deal is that they have no rational alternative. They all appear to be a bunch of individuals peddling their own political ambitions - in contrast to the statesmanlike conviction of the Prime Minister.

The greatest need among our MPs is for spiritual discernment, which is woefully lacking at present.

Nation Under Judgment

The turmoil in the House of Commons and out on the streets of Westminster is something never before seen in my lifetime. There is a simple reason for this: we are a nation under judgment. Since the 1950s, one law after another has been passed in our Parliament that violates biblical values and teaching. The final red line was the passing of The Same-Sex Marriage Act in 2013.

This was not only directly against God’s act of creation in making human beings male and female in his own image, but it also further undermined the central importance of marriage and family in the social structure of the nation. This, together with all of the other laws which have enabled and encouraged family breakdown, is why we are now seeing so many children and young people who have no understanding of right and wrong and whose behaviour is uncontrollable. And this is why so many young people are dying on our city streets in a wave of knife crime, drugs and gang warfare.

Our politicians are infected with the same spirit of rebellion that we see among young people. Once you reject the word of God, ultimate standards of truth and righteousness disappear from the nation. If Parliament rejects the deal offered by the EU and agreed with the Prime Minister, the only alternatives are a ‘No Deal’ or another referendum. But a second referendum would only increase division and bring utter disaster, releasing uncontrollable anarchy on the streets.

It is important to remember that the European Union is also under judgment for having rejected the word of the Lord and scorned its centuries of Judeo-Christian heritage. In the near future, I believe we will see one nation after another enveloped in turmoil across Europe with rising nationalism tearing aside the false unity created by Brussels with their one-size-fits-all, secular-pagan politics.

The turmoil in Westminster is for one simple reason: we are a nation under judgment.

Pray for Mercy

If Britain were a godly nation we should simply leave the European Union, with or without a deal, and put our trust in the Lord, who would undoubtedly respond with protection and prosperity. But without faith we are likely to be driven by spirits of darkness.

The future of Britain is at greater risk today than at any time since the darkest days of Dunkirk in 1940. Will God have mercy upon us for the sake of our godly heritage and the faithful remnant of believers who are still interceding at the throne of grace?

Christians: Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong (1 Cor 16:13). And pray: pray for a spirit of repentance to fall among our politicians. Pray for eyes to be opened to the realities of what has gone wrong. Pray for prophetic voices to arise to call the nation back to God. Pray for mercy in the midst of judgment.

The nationwide attempt to re-programme young minds.

Last week we received a letter from one of our readers describing what is happening in an infant school where she was assisting the reception class teacher. The school used the occasion of Prince Harry’s wedding to do a project on marriage. But the whole focus was upon the marriage of two men! She said that she did not dare to complain because she would lose her job and no other school would employ her.

This is part of the strategy in infant schools of normalising the abnormal to create a ‘new normal’. In other words, brainwashing the children to accept the new standards of British values.

Earlier this month we heard of a Primary School in Croydon where parents were informed that their children would be taking part in a ‘Pride’ march to celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lifestyles. The school decreed that it would be compulsory for the children to take part and there was ‘no opt out’ for parents. Even the reception class of the youngest children were to be forced to take part in this march on the public streets of Croydon.

Many of the parents at the Heavers Farm Primary School voiced their objection but the school refused to change their plans, so on the day 110 pupils were absent in a display of parent power - forcing the school to cancel the parade and instead to hold a themed assembly for the children who did attend.

Concerned Parents Now ‘Extremists’

This is part of the moral and spiritual war that is taking place in Britain to try to force the nation to accept a new set of ‘British values’. Dame Louise Casey, who has led a Government inquiry into so-called ‘extremism and integration’, reported to the Housing Communities and Local Government Committee that parents at the Croydon Primary School who objected to what was happening to their children were ‘extremists’.

A moral and spiritual war is taking place in Britain to try to force the nation to accept a new set of ‘values’

She also said that all holders of public office should be forced to swear allegiance to the new set of British values, including same-sex marriage, because this is now the law of the land which has to be enforced. This sounds very much like what Paul foresaw when people give up believing in the God of Creation:

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… (Rom 1:28-29).

Are we now becoming a totalitarian state? Will we soon have morality police enforcing the law? It was reported on BBC News this week (18 July) that there is to be a new drive to enforce the so-called ‘hate laws’. Police are to be retrained so that anyone who complains of being abused must be seen by the police within one hour!

Emotional Conditioning

Britain today is rapidly becoming a fully secular society. It has taken only 50 years, since the 1960s, to destroy almost completely the Judeo-Christian heritage of 1,000 years. The process of normalising the abnormal¹ has been extended right down to the primary school and the nursery. It uses a curriculum known as CHIPS – ‘Challenging Homophobia In Primary Schools’.

Brian Hadley says that CHIPS uses “heart-warming stories about lovable, cute and cuddly animals (e.g. the rabbits in ‘Rabbityness’; penguins in ‘And Tango makes Three’; and cats and kittens in ‘The Whisperer’) to plant and entrench ideas about ‘difference’ and ‘homosexuality’.”² It uses certain words frequently to implant them into the minds of small children. This is part of a process of ‘emotional conditioning’ to indoctrinate the children to accept homosexuality and gender transition as normal conditions of human existence.

It has taken only 50 years, since the 1960s, to destroy almost completely the Judeo-Christian heritage of 1,000 years.

Hadley states, “CHIPS starts to deconstruct the true meaning of ‘male’ and ‘female’ as being a person’s biological sex, by planting the idea in young children’s minds that they can create for themselves any gender and sexuality they wish.”³

But the great danger of what is being done to children in our schools is that they are disturbing their emotional balance at a formative time in a child’s life when they are just learning basic things such as how to read and write and tell the time. At this stage in development, children are also learning their own identity and how to cope with other children outside their own family.

Grooming Now Government Policy

This policy of deconstruction is creating enormous emotional strain upon children that will affect them for the rest of their lives. Already, in Britain our Health Services are almost at crisis point in dealing with the vast numbers of people in the population who are suffering from depression and various forms of mental illness. Last year, 300,000 people left employment due to mental health problems, according to Government statistics.

If our schools are allowed to continue deconstructing the emotional lives of small children in the nurseries and infant schools, the resultant level of mental health problems in the nation will be unbearable.

Those are the practical problems: but what about the moral and spiritual significance of Government education policy? There has been a huge public outcry at the revelations of gangs grooming of vulnerable young girls for sex and warnings have been given to children about paedophiles using the internet to target children and begin grooming them. As a nation we hate this kind of abuse. Yet it is now becoming Government education policy to groom the nation’s children in nurseries and primary schools to force them to accept new definitions of sexual relationships, marriage and family.

If our schools continue deconstructing the emotional lives of small children, the resultant level of mental health problems in the nation will be unbearable.

Moreover, all those who wish to hold on to traditional values are labelled “extremists” and made liable to prosecution. Are we becoming a nation of child abusers?

As Billy Graham once said, “If God does not bring down judgment on such a nation he will have to apologise to Sodom and Gomorrah”.

References

1 See: Nolland, L et al, 2018. The New Normal: The Transgender Agenda. Wilberforce Publications, London.

2 Hadley, B. ‘EDUCATION OR INDOCTRINATION? An assessment of CHIPS’, in Rose, L (ed), 2016, What Are They Teaching The Children? Wilberforce Publications, London, p140.

3 Ibid.

A warning sign to the nation.

Carillion’s collapse is not only a disaster for its 43,000 employees but a blow to the whole national economy, with up to 30,000 businesses affected in Carillion’s wider network. Of course, all our politicians have gone into ‘blame game’ mode.

The only MPs who can claim to be guiltless of the policy that led to this Private Finance Initiative (PFI) are those on the far left who opposed this dangerous venture into the state trying to get its public services on the cheap.

The short answer is – it is not possible! There is no such thing as free money.

PFI was an idea generated in John Major’s Government but implemented when Gordon Brown was in charge of the Treasury in Tony Blair’s New Labour Government. So, both our main political parties have egg on their faces for the monstrous folly that has put millions of pounds into the pockets of venture capitalists at the expense of the British taxpayer.

Reckless Debt

At a time when interest rates were high and the Government wished to keep borrowing to a minimum it must have seemed attractive to let private investors put up the capital for big construction projects and to delay purchase of the assets over a period of many years. But buying anything on the ‘never-never’ only delays the pain. We are now told that projects valued at £60 billion are costing the British taxpayer £199 billion.

Both our main political parties have egg on their faces for this monstrous folly

It seems almost beyond belief that our politicians could be so incredibly naive to put our hospitals and schools in the hands of these greedy rogues, who have lined their own pockets at public expense. In simple terms, the Government handed out contracts for the building of hospitals and schools paid for largely by foreign investors, who have leased them back to the Government at exorbitant rates of interest in conditions that make vast profits for the investors.

Even after Carillion had issued ‘profits warnings’ indicating that it was in financial difficulties, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling awarded them a contract on part of the High-Speed Rail (HS2) construction.

Carillion have been in trouble for a long time but instead of following a policy of clearing their debts on each project before moving onto the next, they recklessly increased their debts in a kind of commercial Ponzi scheme, by taking on more contracts to help pay off the interest on earlier commitments. Eventually the point was reached where their debt mountain became so massive, and the profits had all been squirrelled away by greedy management, that it became impossible to pay off the debts and the banks would not lend any more.

Day of Reckoning

This has all the feel of the darker side of capitalism and was probably the kind of operation that Marx had in mind when he said that capitalism contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction. I’m not making a case for Marxism, but simply pointing out that there were some things that he got right.

The fundamental weakness of Marxism lies in its dogma of ‘economic determinism’ which sees all human beings as products of their environment. All thought thereby becomes conditioned by matter, because it is a product of matter in motion, which philosophically sets aside the whole notion of human accountability.

It is beyond belief that our politicians put our hospitals and schools in the hands of these greedy rogues, who have lined their own pockets at public expense.

It was this conviction of human accountability to God that was the driving force behind the ministry exercised by the prophets of Israel recorded in the Bible. Listen to this from the Prophet Amos:

You hate the one who reproves in court and despise him who tells the truth. You trample on the poor…You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts. (Amos 5:10-12)

Amos then goes on to tell the leaders of the nation who are eagerly awaiting the Day of the Lord that it will be a day of darkness not light, because God is a God of truth and justice who holds human beings accountable for their actions.

It is this accountability to a higher authority that is missing in our secular humanist society today. The very existence of these concepts of truth and justice depend upon our recognition of the God of Creation who built these values into the fabric of the universe. When we take God out of the equation we actually destroy the whole structure of society because there are no ultimate values or accountability. Without God we human beings are on our own to make up our own rules that suit our particular needs at the time.

The Underlying Problem

But we live in a moral universe that we ignore at our peril, as the Carillion debacle vividly portrays. The big question now is whether or not our political masters will have the courage not only to take responsibility for clearing up the mess of the disastrous policy of former Governments, but to recognise the reason why the nation is having to bear the huge cost of this folly.

We live in a moral universe that we ignore at our peril.

Will we recognise that by departing from the ‘gold standard’ of the word of God we have brought all this trouble upon ourselves? And will we come humbly before God seeking his ways that lead to blessing and prosperity?

It may be that God has allowed the Carillion economic disaster to come upon us as a warning sign to the nation that all is not well; and that unless we face up to the bigger moral and spiritual problems in the nation we will never get the economy right or solve the nation’s social problems.

Schools are queuing to hear the message of Easter creatively told in an interactive, child-friendly way.

Some 10,000 primary pupils in the South Yorkshire town of Doncaster – statistically at the bottom of the church attendance league table at just 2% – have been discovering the amazing story of the death and resurrection of Jesus over the past seven years.

Christians around the country have been taken by surprise at the openness to the Gospel now found in the teaching establishments of this northern metropolitan borough – geographically the largest outside London but with a population of only 300,000.

Eye-Catching Atmosphere

For the eighth successive year a project known as the ‘Easter Journey’ is being offered to Key Stage 2 pupils of the town, with Tuxford in north Nottinghamshire also now benefitting.

A total of 1,300 pupils from eight schools will experience the unique journey this year, taking them through five stages of the Easter story – Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Cross and the Resurrection – each told by volunteers (some in costume) in different classrooms specially set up with appropriate props and backdrops, creating a peaceful, eye-catching atmosphere in which the children are encouraged to interact with the story and think about what they are hearing.

Over the last seven years, some 10,000 primary pupils in Doncaster have been discovering the amazing story of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

At the Last Supper, for example, the children are asked to gather round a long table laden with jars of water and ‘wine’ along with bowls of grapes and pitta bread, candles and serviettes – and even a money-bag (for Judas). We explain something of the significance of the feast of Passover and, with the help of a bowl and towel, enact the servant nature of Jesus in washing the disciples’ feet, though due to practicalities and time constraints we usually invite just one pupil to have his or her hands washed instead!

Wide-Eyed and Excited Pupils, Enthusiastic Staff

Often spell-bound by what they see and hear as they are transported to the Holy Land at the time of Jesus, the pupils leave the 75-minute experience wide-eyed and excited while matching enthusiasm from staff means there is always a waiting list of schools wanting to host the event.

Because there are simply not enough volunteers to meet the need – “the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few” – a rota ensures that those missing out get priority the following year or instead have the chance of hosting a ‘Christmas Journey’, which is restricted to Key Stage 1 pupils.

Backed by the Doncaster Schools Worker Trust, supported by a number of local churches and in associating with Scripture Union, the project is headed up by Linda Gardner, who has been teaching Christianity in the town’s primary schools for over 20 years through RE lessons, Bible classes and assemblies. With the addition of a secondary school worker, Dan Budhi, and a host of teams taking assemblies using the Open the Book (Lion’s Storyteller Bible) method, the Trust is currently supporting over 50 of the town’s schools.

The pupils leave the 75-minute experience wide-eyed and excited and there is always a waiting list of schools wanting to host the event.

Spreading the Gospel

The Easter and Christmas journeys follow the success of a project celebrating the Pilgrim Fathers when coach-loads of pupils enjoyed a day of discovery in the nearby village of Scrooby, where the founding fathers of the United States first gathered 400 years ago before being hounded out of the country for their passionate faith.

Along with all the other regular school visits throughout the year, the journeys allow the Trust not only to help schools meet their curriculum requirements on religious education and outside visitors, but also to carry out the Great Commission in spreading the Gospel.

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘What Are They Teaching the Children?’, edited by Lynda Rose (Wilberforce Publications, 2016).

This very pertinent and important question for our age is thoroughly explored in this collection of 12 essays written by a wide-ranging group of well-qualified contributors and skilfully put together by Lynda Rose, CEO of Voice for Justice UK, who have published this volume in conjunction with Wilberforce Publications.

Much Food for Thought

Lynda herself has written a key chapter, entitled Battle for the Soul of our Nation. Other topics covered include the role of parents as primary educators, the relevance of Christian assemblies and the issue of indoctrination, especially in the areas of sexual morality and scientism (the way in which scientific investigation has been turned into a belief system). The collection concludes with a personal reflection by Baroness Cox, called Holding the Line.

If you are concerned about the ways in which state education has become a vehicle for promoting secular and liberal beliefs about religion, morality and the family, often overriding the wishes and values of parents, then this is a book that will give you much food for thought.

Vital Resource

It is not a book to be dipped into lightly. Every chapter has been thoroughly researched and is well-documented with many endnotes. The overall contention of the book is that education today has become an ideological battleground.

There has been a revolution, a bloodless coup that has been consciously planned and instigated by secular activists committed to the overthrow of the Judeo-Christian foundations on which our educational system was built. Given this scenario, this book is a vital resource for teachers, parents and all those concerned with the wellbeing of our nation’s children.

What Are They Teaching the Children? (352 pages) is available from Amazon for £12.