Where is the prophetic voice that is so desperately needed?

We should not be surprised at the scenes of chaos in Parliament. Each of the MPs has been voted as a representative of the people. A rebellious Parliament is a reflection of a rebellious nation. The chaotic scenes are simply a reflection of a nation in chaos. We have rejected the venerated heritage of our fathers and what we are seeing is the result of our own folly.

The House of Commons is a reflection of family life in the nation. There is hardly a family in Britain that has not been affected by breakdown. Millions of children suffer from the disruptive behaviour of their parents; they lose the security of home life and they lose their friends, their education is disrupted and their life chances lessened. Millions of children now suffer mental and emotional problems because the nation has lost its moral and spiritual compass.

The Bible that provided the basis for personal and corporate behaviour is no longer taught in our schools to all children and is absent from the vast majority of homes; so family life no longer reflects the values of truth, integrity, faithfulness and loyalty.

This is why we have a chaotic and dysfunctional Parliament. It all starts in the family! If children are brought up in loving, stable and secure families and taught biblical values at a young age, the chances are very high that they will grow up to be stable and trustworthy adults, speaking the truth and making a good contribution to the community.

The House of Commons is a reflection of family life in the nation: dysfunctional, rebellious, chaotic.

50 Years of Change

For 50 years this nation has been steadily eroding its biblical foundation that made it a great nation and what we now see in our dysfunctional, rebellious Parliament is the result. Both the Leader of the Opposition and our Prime Minister have been notorious rebels throughout their political careers. They now shout at each other across the despatch box, the world looking on with amazement to see the famous ‘Mother of Parliaments’ torn asunder by 650 rebels in utter disarray.

For the older generation who were brought up with biblical values of gentleness, respect and unselfishness – (God first, others second, self last) – it is simply excruciating to watch this generation of overgrown, unruly infants tearing the nation apart with their mindless behaviour. I can echo the words of the Prophet Ezekiel: “Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people” (Ezek 12:2).

Who is to Blame?

When everything goes wrong in the nation, the biblical principle is not to blame the politicians but to blame the religious leaders. Listen to this, also from Ezekiel: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves” (Ezek 34:10).

And from Jeremiah: “Among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: they commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his wickedness” (Jer 23:14).

As a senior churchman who has worked alongside the last four archbishops of Canterbury (Donald Coggan, Robert Runcie, George Carey and Rowan Williams), I have been a close observer of church leadership in the nation since the mid-1970s.

I saw at first-hand what a group of unbelieving bishops did when Donald Coggan made an impassioned ‘call to the nation’ to return to biblical values in 1975. They hounded him out of office, vowing that they would oppose any other Bible-believing evangelical getting into Lambeth Palace – hence the appointment of Robert Runcie, the most liberal Archbishop we have ever had, at a time of radical social change when the prophetic voice of the Church was desperately needed.¹

When everything goes wrong in the nation, the biblical principle is not to blame the politicians but to blame the religious leaders.

No Prophetic Voice

Today we have a group of 25 Church of England bishops publishing a statement about Brexit that is full of political correctness but has no Gospel in it. It has no prophetic call to the nation to turn to God. In fact, there is no mention of God!!! No call to prayer, no call to ‘repentance’, no recognition of our departure from the word of the Lord which is why the nation is in such trouble!

The bishops reflect the same secular humanist, globalist spirit as the rest of the establishment who are defying the referendum and trying to keep Britain locked into the European Union.

Replacing Israel

If church leaders would only bother to read the Bible – the whole Bible, not just little bits of the New Testament – they would understand the nature of the spiritual battle that is raging across Britain and much of Europe today.

In their ignorance, they think that the Church has replaced Israel, so they don’t bother to study the Old Testament. Therefore, they do not understand the lessons we can learn from the history of Israel: they don’t know what the prophets refer to as the ‘deeds of the Lord’ and they don’t understand the way God is working out his purposes today – how he is shaking the nations, even sending natural disasters that we label ‘climate change’. They don’t understand why God is doing all these things – in fact they do not even recognise that God is active today in the world he created! The Church is silent at a time when the word of the Lord is desperately needed.

We are a nation under judgment - that is why there is such confusion. There are strong warnings in the Bible about the consequences of rejecting the teaching God has given to us: “The Lord will send on you...confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to…” (Deut 28:20). This is what we are seeing in our Parliament and on our city streets. The only hope is for repentance and turning to God - but when will the prophetic voice be heard? Do we have to wait until catastrophe envelops the nation?

References

1 See Clifford Hill, The Reshaping of Britain. Wilberforce Publications, 2018.

Beware of easy prophecies of unconditional revival.

There is no panacea for those who refuse to face up to the truth

75 years after the D-Day landings paved the way for Europe’s salvation from tyranny, its nations have once more become enslaved to godless ideologies our heroes gave their lives to defeat.

At the same time, wars and rumours of wars dominate the headlines as the world shakes amid fierce political, social and spiritual storms, at the epicentre of which stands Israel where a couple of real earthquakes (4.5 and 4.6 on the Richter scale) have struck in recent days.

Threats and Uncertainty

Having vowed consistently to wipe Israel off the map, Iran is now feared to be just six months away from developing a nuclear bomb. In the aftermath of its announcement that it has begun violating the 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, a former leading official in the International Atomic Energy Agency is warning that Tehran could be as close as “six months away from an atomic bomb”. In an interview with IDF Radio, Olli Heinonen said that “Israelis need to be worried, and the Gulf states also have reason for concern.”¹

Meanwhile, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has thanked Iran for providing the rockets his terror group used to strike deep into Israel and warned the Jewish state that Tel Aviv would be struck again in response to any offensive against the Gaza Strip.²

And as President Trump sweeps through London to howls of protest, his Mideast ‘Deal of the Century’ looks in jeopardy as the uncertainty surrounding Britain’s future is replicated in Jerusalem, where Benjamin Netanyahu has been forced to hold another election after failing to form a coalition. We do not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.

Having vowed consistently to wipe Israel off the map, Iran is now feared to be just six months away from developing a nuclear bomb.

Jews and Christians Targeted

Meanwhile, as the once-Judeo-Christian nations of the West have turned away from God, so Jew-hatred is on the increase, much of it thinly veiled as ‘legitimate’ criticism of Israel.

Jerusalem, still at the epicentre of political storms as residents celebrate its reunification in 1967. Picture: Charles GardnerAs the Nazis successfully brainwashed the German people to believe the lie that the Jews were behind all the world’s troubles, so much of today’s liberal Western media repeatedly questions the status and legitimacy of Israel, not to mention the civilisation built upon the scriptures the Jewish people gave us.

We now hear that British Jews have been forced to close their businesses as a result of the aggression of a pro-Palestine group supported by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, of which Mr Corbyn is patron, targeted shops selling Israeli products in Brighton, London and Manchester, forcing two businesses to fold.³ And this comes as Labour became the only party after the ultra-right BNP to be formally investigated for racism by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.⁴

Meanwhile Israelis are this week celebrating the reunification of Jerusalem, after nearly 2,000 years in Gentile hands, through the 1967 Six-Day War. But Palestinians have predictably responded with riots on the Temple Mount, refusing to acknowledge Jewish claims to the city and its holy sites.

The Truth About Human Nature

I was fascinated by the film Goodbye Christopher Robin, which focuses on the regrets of children’s author A. A. Milne.

Plagued by flashbacks of his traumatic time in the World War I trenches, Milne sets about writing of his hopes for a world without war, before getting distracted by a wonderful world of carefree play with his young son.

His initial determination to make some sense of all the carnage with his call for peace is perfectly understandable – my own grandfather was profoundly shell-shocked at the Battle of the Somme and subsequently sent to Africa to recuperate. But Milne’s dream was as naïve as that of the Ban the Bomb campaigners which followed decades later. For it failed to grasp the reality of man’s basic propensity for evil so clearly spelt out in the Bible.

Until the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, returns to earth as promised, there will be no ultimate peace, though we should nevertheless strive for peace-making whenever possible, as our Lord urges us (Matt 5:9).

We now hear that British Jews have been forced to close their businesses as a result of the aggression of a pro-Palestine group supported by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Moral Inversions

But as long as godless dictators rule with evil intent, they must be challenged and brought to book. In this respect, President Trump is right to pull no punches with the Ayatollahs of Iran, and he was right to criticise London Mayor Sadiq Khan for saying he (Trump) was a ‘global threat’.

It’s Mr Trump, almost alone among world leaders, who is willing to call out those who really are a threat to world stability. But we are living in days spoken of by Isaiah when we are plagued by the voices of those “who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isa 5:20).

A woman interviewed about Mr Trump as she stood among the crowds outside Buckingham Palace said she was opposed to him because “he has no respect for life”. And yet this is the President who has presided over the introduction of a wave of anti-abortion laws across America. He actually believes life is sacred – even in the womb.

The Only Solution

As the culture wars rage on in the US, Britain and elsewhere, we must remember that only Jesus, who came to give us “life that is truly life” (1 Tim 6:19), can bring true peace to men’s hearts.

And when both Jew and Arab discover this truth, as we are witnessing on an ever-increasing scale in Israel today, reconciliation is the result. As the Apostle Paul wrote: “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility…” (Eph 2:14)

So why are we not hearing more about this solution to war and violence? The enemy of souls does not want you to know about God’s rescue plan. And the mainstream media and liberal elites are colluding with his evil scheme, while much of the general population voluntarily stop up their ears.

Isaiah himself, when called by God to preach, was told he would be a failure (Isa 6:9)! The people as a whole would not listen to him. But he was urged to preach the message anyway so that those who did have ears to hear and eyes to see could turn to the Lord and be healed.

Don’t allow the enemy to cloud your vision. Hear instead the word of Isaiah: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light…For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:2, 6).

References

1 World Israel News, 5 June 2019.

2 Jerusalem News Network, 5 June 2019, quoting Times of Israel.

3 Daily Mail, 31 May 2019.

4 Ibid.

Napoleon I, Emmanuel Macron and the spirit of European integration

The leaders of the French Revolution instituted a ‘Cult of Reason’ and set up an altar to the ‘Goddess of Reason’ in Notre Dame cathedral, where the provocatively-clad ‘Goddess’, hailed as Liberty, frolicked with her entourage of maidens.

This ‘Culte’ has subsequently played a significant role in the French political consciousness. The cathedral has become a monument not to the glory of God, but to the glory of France: a symbol of French nationalism.

Here, Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned emperor in 1804; throughout the ceremony he wore a golden laurel wreath representative of the Roman Empire, and he crowned his wife Josephine (later divorced) with a replica of Charlemagne's crown. Charlemagne, a largely beneficent monarch, was the main heir to the Roman Empire in France/Germany.

From Napoleon to Macron

Napoleon emerged from the French Revolution. He most resembles Oliver Cromwell, but lacked Cromwell's deep Christian faith. Napoleon was a brilliant general, and the scourge of most of Europe for a decade. He ruled France in an enlightened secular regime, effectively as dictator, and crowned himself ‘emperor’ of France and Italy, seeing himself as a successor to Rome.

Notre Dame has become a monument not to the glory of God, but to the glory of France.

He attempted to overrun all of Europe; only Britain (who liberated Spain and Portugal from his grasp), Russia and Prussia had any success at all against him. At first, only the English Channel saved Britain; Napoleon began building (but never completed) a Channel tunnel. Hubris brought him many enemies outside France. In exile, the Mediterranean island of Elba couldn't contain him – he only succumbed when sent to the island of St. Helena in the remote south Atlantic. Consequently, many French people regard their emperor as a martyr.

President Macron is a fervent admirer of Napoleon and of French hegemony. After the fire, Macron described the restoration of Notre Dame as “notre destin profond” (‘our profound destiny’). He is anxious to have it restored before the Paris Olympic Games of 2024, which would (after the Paris Climate Conference, the Paris Peace Treaty regarding Iran, etc) seal France's and the EU's prestige as the leader of the international community. These games will celebrate, in Monsieur Macron's estimation, the re-establishment of Napoleon's empire - the EU.

I think we should pause to consider what spirit oversees Notre Dame – and the EU. I doubt it is God's spirit.

Asserting Control

The European Union is the construction, in the first place, of France (and Belgium, which is deeply under French influence). It was founded by the Treaty of Rome, and soon began to look like an embryonic ‘Roman Empire’ (actually embracing more of Europe now than the latter ever did).

Under President Macron, France is again asserting its dominance in continental Europe. His authoritarian, not to say aggressive,¹ attitude to the issue of Brexit, is noteworthy: President Macron is no Anglophile! History, especially French history, is very important to him.²

Under President Macron, France is again asserting its dominance in continental Europe.

Napoleon was very wary of democracy, and the EU is not democratic. The one thing that Brexit has so far demonstrated is that Britain is a true democracy – albeit in need of reform. But, like France, the EU is presidential: it is an oligarchy, only supported by a democratic assembly.

There is little doubt that this disaster and the outpouring of national sentiment accompanying it are in accord with President Macron's objectives for France in Europe, as would the Olympics in Paris in 2024 being seen as a glittering affirmation of the EU and its position in the world. If we value our freedom and integrity, it's another signal to Britain to leave as soon as possible.

Dr Chris Wright

Notes

1 It is worth noting that M. Macron's Masters thesis at Nanterre University, Paris, was on Machiavelli and Hegel.

2 Interestingly, Macron was born in Amiens. In 1803 Britain broke the Treaty of Amiens to form an alliance against Napoleon, and ultimately (together with Prussia) defeated him. I am sure this fact is not lost on Macron.

How will God deal with Britain?

An incredible battle is raging over Britain. It is raging in the heavenlies above, and on the earth below, where it is centred upon our Parliament. Our MPs are in total disarray, fighting each other and not understanding the battle. Few of them realise that they are being driven by the powers of darkness intent on destroying this great nation that has turned its back upon God and despised its spiritual heritage.

The battle in the House of Commons is being fought between those who want to see Britain free from the European Union and those who want to see Britain continue enslaved to the rules and regulations of Brussels. It is as simple as that. But most of our MPs have no understanding of spiritual warfare and do not perceive the forces of darkness that are moving them like pawns on a chess board, driving them to destruction.

Come Out and Be Separate

The Prime Minister appears to have panicked under pressure and turned to Jeremy Corbyn, a notorious Marxist atheist, as her saviour, in a last-ditch attempt to get her deal approved by Parliament. As a professed Christian, has she never read the warnings in Scripture about being unequally yoked with unbelievers? The teaching of Paul could not be clearer:

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).

In verse 17 Paul urges “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.” This is an instruction that all our MPs should take to heart in dealing with Brexit. Undoubtedly, the best outcome for Britain and the most feared outcome for the EU is that we leave next Friday without a deal. But if that cannot be achieved, provided we leave with any kind of deal that leaves us free to make changes in the future, that would be better than a long delay with the possibility of never getting away at all, which is the objective of the majority in our present House of Commons.

Undoubtedly, the best outcome for Britain and the most feared outcome for the EU is that we leave next Friday without a deal.

Egypt…or Babylon?

A number of commentators, including prominent politicians, have compared the present situation with the time of Moses and the release of the Children of Israel from slavery in Egypt. But this is not the best biblical analogy, because we are not having to fight the EU for our freedom, as Moses fought Pharaoh. We are having to fight the morally corrupt and spiritually blind Members of our own Parliament, who do not understand the issues that face them.

A more instructive biblical analogy is the release of the faithful remnant of Israel and Judah from Babylon in 538 BC. Babylon had fallen to the Persians whose Emperor, Cyrus, issued a decree freeing all political prisoners. The people of Israel were free to return to the land of their forefathers, to rebuild Jerusalem and to restore the shattered economy, social structure, and towns and villages across the land.

A wonderful new opportunity was presented to Israel if they could face the one-thousand-mile trek across difficult country and undertake the great task of reconstruction and renewal. For many who had become comfortable in exile, the offer of freedom in the Promised Land was rejected for the fleshpots of Babylon. They were too comfortable and prosperous to risk embarking on an uncertain future.

But for those who had faith and vision and were prepared to put their trust in God, a wonderful new opportunity was presented. They obeyed the call to come out from Babylon and totally put their trust in God for the future. They were the faithful remnant who God would use to rebuild Jerusalem and prepare the way for Messiah and the coming Kingdom.

Yes, they had lots of hardships to face and difficulties to endure in the rebuilding of Jerusalem and its surrounding walls, but they had a shared vision which enabled them to work together, and God blessed their labours - especially when they rebuilt the Temple in the heart of the city and re-emphasised their faith in God at the centre of national life.

A more instructive biblical analogy than the Exodus is the release of the faithful remnant of Israel and Judah from Babylon in 538 BC.

Calling on God

This is surely a biblical parable for us today caught up in the conflict of Brexit with an unbelieving Parliament leading the nation.

The great unknown at the moment is precisely how God will deal with Britain. We know that judgment is thoroughly deserved for the way we have rejected our spiritual heritage, squandered the responsibilities we had for bringing the light of the Gospel to more than a third of the world’s population in the great Empire to which God entrusted us, and in the terrible way that we reneged on our promises to Israel - as Charles Gardner shows elsewhere in this week's issue of Prophecy Today.

Despite deserved judgment, we know that our God is loving and merciful – more ready to forgive than we are to repent. And we know that the Referendum result was a gracious allowance from God to give us a greater opportunity to return to him. Now is the time to petition God for his help to overcome the powers of darkness that are trying to sweep Britain into an abyss of chaos, which will inevitably result if we fail to leave the European Union within the next few weeks.

We ask all Bible-believing Christians to call upon the Lord for his mercy and intervention in what appears to be a hopeless situation. Let all the prayer groups and intercessors throughout the land acknowledge the plight of the nation before the throne of grace and call upon God for an outpouring of his power, which is the only means of saving Britain from the folly of its own leaders.

In the current confusion - our only hope is in God!

Official EU policy has been to sacrifice Israel for oil

The secret is out. Britain has been locked into an anti-Israel agreement ever since we first entered Europe in the early 1970s – a policy likely to consign us to the dust of history.

But a successful Brexit could allow us to repair the damage.

Writing for Heart newspaper,¹ which circulates in churches throughout the south of England, film-maker Hugh Kitson has revealed the real reason for the mess we’re in over Europe.

In a devastating article, he says that Britain, along with its European allies, has effectively sacrificed Israel on the altar of expedience and economic survival.

By signing up to the so-called Euro-Arab Dialogue (EAD), we capitulated to the Arab political agenda in exchange for oil, literally allowing the rich Arab nations to hold us ‘over a barrel’.

Economic Blackmail

The historical background to this little-known arrangement was Arab frustration at Israel’s resilience in surviving a succession of wars against the odds. Having failed yet again to defeat Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, they dispensed with brute force in exchange for undermining the political will of the West by imposing an oil embargo.

This led to severe restrictions that brought Britain to its knees, as a result of which European countries led by France agreed to the EAD agenda which ensured that Israel – the Middle East’s only democracy (holding elections again on Tuesday) – would have her actions and borders constantly challenged.

Shockingly, we agreed further that Islam and its human rights abuses could not be criticised, while Muslim immigration into European society was to be welcomed.

The EAD has changed shape over the years, but has continued to meet to this day; its most recent gathering, in February, was attended by Theresa May.

By signing up to the so-called Euro-Arab Dialogue (EAD), we capitulated to the Arab political agenda in exchange for oil.

Distortion and Deception

Hugh Kitson writes: “This explains the anti-Israel bias in the Western media, which leads to a completely distorted view of the Arab-Israeli conflict…”

See Photo Credits.And he adds: “This policy is obligatory on member states of the EU to this day if they are to have favourable economic relations with the Arab world. Basically, the European nations decided that there has to be a Palestinian state with ‘East Jerusalem’ as its capital, no matter what, even if it means the demise of the Jewish state.”

The push for a so-called ‘two-state solution’ has been part of this mantra for years. Yet it flies in the face of international acknowledgement of Israel’s right to the land, particularly through the San Remo Treaty of 1920, and brazenly provokes the judgment of God, who states in his word: “When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and…enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land” (Joel 3:2).

So it seems that our 45-year dalliance with Europe has been marked by deception – not only that the liaison was never intended to be more than a trade agreement, but also over Middle East foreign policy, which the electorate will have trusted the Government to enact in good faith and for the benefit of both parties.

But this has clearly never been the case with Israel, whom we have betrayed – not once, not twice, but three times. First, we reneged on our 1917 pledge to prepare a home for them in their ancient land; then we refused immigration to many who were desperately trying to flee Nazi-occupied Europe and now, we discover to our horror, we have been sacrificing them relentlessly to the god of oil.

Deliberate Policy

Such a policy has long been suspected, as it has effectively been our practice, but it has only now become more widely known that this had been the agreed course of action all along, to which our Government has been committed.

This disgraceful treatment of God’s chosen people has sent us sliding down the slippery slope of godlessness, hopelessness and despair amid the chaos and confusion surrounding Brexit – unless, of course, we see the error of our ways and act upon it.

Our 45-year dalliance with Europe has been marked by deception.

Speaking of the future glory of Zion, the word of God says: “For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined” (Isa 60:12).

Although seen as a means of our short-term economic survival, the reality of the policy we have pursued over Israel is that it will ultimately lead to our destruction. We have cursed rather than blessed them, and will be judged accordingly (see Gen 12:3).

We’ve Lost the Way

And the result is that much of what we see happening in the Middle East is being replicated here – the death of democracy, for instance, seen in the huge crowds descending on London calling for a second referendum because they didn’t like the outcome of the first. They were, of course, reflecting the views of their politicians, foolishly ignoring the will of 17.4 million people.

Another feature of Middle East politics is the blatant propaganda which seeks to portray Israel as the unwilling party in peace negotiations, whereas in reality neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas is interested in securing a peace deal that doesn’t involve driving the Jews into the sea. The fact is, they don’t want part of the land; they want all of it.

In Britain too we are being bombarded by propaganda. It’s not enough that homosexuals have been ‘normalised’ into society. No, the government’s Department of Education email signature line now embeds a large rainbow flag with the logo ‘I’m an LGBT+ Champion’.²

We now hear how the general populace has fallen out of love with our politicians, but they only reflect the selfish, sinful and confused state of the electorate.

In a passage about wisdom, the Book of Proverbs offers us the choice of life or death: “For whoever finds me finds life and receives favour from the Lord. But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death” (Prov 8:35f).

Jesus is the way, the truth and ‘the life’ spoken of here (John 14:6). We have lost our way as a nation; we need to find Jesus again!

References

1 Heart newspaper, April/May 2019.

2 Christian Concern, 29 March 2019.

Encouragement amid the battle for Britain.

Two years ago, I reported that I believed God was telling me to stop praying for the nation, which upset some people. But the reason was because God was shaking everything – and we believed that more shaking was to come. He was going to shake the banks, industries, high street stores, political parties, Government - all the human institutions in which people put their trust. I warned about the danger of praying against the will of God, by praying “Peace, peace” when the Lord was saying “There is no peace”.

Today, everything is being shaken like never before! Our objective remains to pray that the shaking will be effective! But also, I believe God is encouraging us to begin to look beyond the present crisis to the times of blessing and prosperity that will follow if there is repentance and turning right now – which is the object of the great shaking.

The thing I find most encouraging is the enormous amount of prayer in the nation – clear, focused, mature prayer, from Bible-believing Christians.

Truth and Hope

Earlier this week, my wife and I were guests at the Annual Meeting in London of Transform Work UK, an organisation that Monica and I founded nearly 20 years ago. It gave us the opportunity of reminiscing and bringing a word of encouragement to them. We had the joy of listening to reports from Christian leaders in commerce and industry of what God is doing today.

Transform Work UK (TWUK) provides a link and purpose for thousands of praying Christians in their places of work. We spoke of the founding principles that warned against the danger of becoming little groups who just did ‘Sunday Church’ on weekdays. From the beginning, the objective was to get the Gospel into the workplace, to make an impact upon the economy, to make a difference in working conditions, to benefit employees: in short, to establish both biblical truth and biblical ethics in industry and commerce.

The thing I find most encouraging is the enormous amount of prayer in the nation – clear, focused, mature prayer, from Bible-believing Christians.

We reminded them of one of the founding members, Jeff, who worked for the Audit Commission. Jeff couldn’t stop sharing his faith with anyone who would listen and over lunch one day he talked to one of the Board Members about the biblical values of integrity, faithfulness, loyalty and love for one another at the heart of the Gospel. This led to the setting up of ‘Christians in the Audit Commission’ as part of their Human Resources. They were given an office and direct access to the Board and to the Chairman, who said that these were the ethical values that needed to be at the heart of the Audit Commission’s work.

It was thrilling this week to hear reports of regional group leaders (known as ‘Ambassadors’) from around the country and news of the impact Christians are making in industry and many other parts of the workplace today.

We heard from Christians in banking, in the motor industry, in local and national Government, in the railway network and numerous others. One man related how he had just led someone to Christ during his lunch hour.

There is even a praying group in 10 Downing Street, and a young man in Theresa May’s constituency enthusiastically reported how his group prays for her on a daily basis.

Great Need for Prayer

I have no doubt that prayer is playing a major part in the struggle to complete a satisfactory Brexit deal. All discerning Christians have known for a long time that the battle to untangle Britain from the tentacles of the European Union would be long and hard, because it is not simply a political tussle - it is a major spiritual conflict.

At the beginning of the TWUK meeting I gave them a scripture which I believe was a word from God for them. It was “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtain wide, do not hold back; lengthen your chords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and the left” (Isa 54:2).

I did not know that Ros Turner, the leader of TWUK, had based her annual message on Jeremiah 29, where the word of God to the exiles in Babylon was to build houses and plant gardens, to increase in number and not to decrease. The same word also instructed the exiles to pray for Babylon, which must have seemed outrageous to the people of Israel whose land had been overrun by this enemy. But that was part of God’s good plan for their future prosperity.

I believe God is encouraging us to begin to look beyond the present crisis to the times of blessing and prosperity that will follow if there is repentance and turning.

I believe that God is now telling Christians in Britain to pray not only for Brexit, but for Brussels! Yes, pray for Brussels! The EU leaders are incredibly worried about the possibility of Britain leaving without a deal which would have a terrible impact upon the EU economy. Of course, they are holding out to the last minute to try to stop Britain leaving the EU; just as are the secular liberal elites in the Westminster Parliament – by any means necessary. Of course, delaying Brexit or forcing another referendum in the current climate of violence and social media hatred would bring violence onto the streets of British cities and chaos across the nation.

Never has there been a greater need for prayer – focused, targeted prayer - since the days of Dunkirk and the 1940s’ threat of Nazi invasion! Nor has there been a greater need to mobilise the little groups of praying Christians in the workplaces, in homes and churches across the nation!

God Longs to Forgive

The next few weeks is going to be the most important time in the history of Britain since the Second World War. Christian intercessors - alone, in small groups or in large gatherings - could focus their prayers with words from Jeremiah 29, praying specifically for repentance and willingness to seek agreement in Brussels and Westminster.

To my surprise, I believe God is saying that he has not finished with Europe, which used to be the most Christian continent in the world, taking the Gospel to many nations. Despite its gross backsliding, God is longing to forgive and to restore. Britain’s departure from the EU will cause an enormous shaking which could be God’s way of opening eyes that are blind.

Through the mountain of prayer that is ascending to heaven from Britain and all over Europe right now as the nations are gripped with anxiety for the future, God is at work using this situation to work out his good purposes. And if we will allow him, he will guide the decision-making and ensure his good plans will give both a future and a hope to Britain and to Europe.

His word is “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord” (Jer 29:13-14).

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.

Riots in France should be a wake-up call to Britain.

It is often said that the only thing we ever learn from history is that we never learn anything from history. Watching the scenes on TV from Paris last weekend of rioting crowds wreaking havoc around the Arc de Triomphe reminded me of the fear that gripped Britain back in the days of William Pitt and William Wilberforce. There was genuine dread that the violence from the French Revolution would spread across the channel and sweep away law and order in Britain.

The anti-Macron riots ought to act as a wake-up call in Britain, with our politicians locked in acrimonious debate of the Brexit deal presented to Parliament by Theresa May. The latest polls indicate that the country is even more divided today than it was at the time of the 2016 Referendum. A poll this week showed that 44% of the nation would like to remain in the EU while 50% want the Government to get on with the deal and complete Brexit.

Despite overwhelming evidence that the country is evenly split on this issue there are still loud calls from the public (aided and abetted by the BBC) and among pro-EU politicians for a second referendum. The motive behind this is, of course, the desire to keep Britain locked into the European Union. But a second referendum would be disastrous - both in terms of the economy and for social order.

In the 2½ years since the Referendum a revolution has been taking place affecting social attitudes and values, driven by the advancing post-modernist agenda and the unrestrained use of hate-filled social media. Britain simply could not cope with another six months’ campaign as required by law in the lead up to another referendum. The breakdown in law and order would be horrendous. There would undoubtedly be riots on the streets of our cities with tempers running high and rival parties taking the nation to the brink of civil war.

The motive behind calls for a second referendum, which would be disastrous for the country, is the desire to keep Britain locked into the European Union.

Breaking Off the Yoke

Tim Ireland/Xinhua News Agency/PA ImagesBut what are the alternatives? Our politicians are faced with the choice between Mrs May’s EU deal, no deal, or going back to the people. It is surely time to face the fact that there is no easy solution, because we are a nation under judgment!

We chose to align ourselves with the secular humanist European Union 45 years ago, in defiance of our biblical heritage and the word of God that clearly warns against being unequally yoked: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14).

We are reaping the harvest of our own foolishness and lack of trust in God. We have had numerous warnings that our national life has been going in the wrong direction but every warning sign has been ignored since the 1980s when we joined the EU. In the printed version of this magazine we interpreted sign after sign, such as the sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise, the 1987 hurricane that hit south-east England, Black Monday and the stock market crash, the King’s Cross fire and numerous others that carried a spiritual warning to the nation. But ears were deaf and eyes were blind to the word of the Lord.

We are now in a similar position to that of Jerusalem in the time of Jeremiah when God told him to go up and down the streets of the city and see if he could find one person who dealt honestly and seeks the truth. He couldn’t find anyone and he thought “These are only the poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God. So I will go to the leaders and speak to them; surely they know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God. But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke” (Jer 5:4-5).

They had severed all connection with God, so the nation was no longer under his protection at the time when the Babylonian army was already invading the land. The destruction of Jerusalem was inevitable unless there was divine intervention.

We are now in a similar position to that of Jerusalem in the time of Jeremiah when God told him to go up and down the streets of the city and see if he could find one person who dealt honestly and seeks the truth.

Judgment on the Whole World

This is the situation facing us in Britain today. Our political leaders are in disarray. No-one knows what to do, so they spend their days in Parliament shouting at each other, heaping abuse on those who hold different views and growing in frustration and bitterness that is spilling over into the nation through the media. No one stops to ask, “Is there any word from the Lord?” If they would look back along the way we have come, they would see that God has been warning us for many years!

The word received in Jerusalem in 1986 was that a time of judgment was coming upon the whole world:

It will not only be by war and civil war, by anarchy and terrorism, and by monetary collapses that I will judge the nations but also by natural disasters: by earthquakes, by shortages and famines, and by old and new plague diseases.

I will also judge them by giving them over to their own ways, to lawlessness, to loveless selfishness, to delusion and to believing a lie, to false religion and an apostate church, even to a Christianity without me.¹

The Way Ahead

We cannot blame the PM for the deal she has reached, because the EU was never going to give us a good deal. They have plenty of problems of their own with the rising power of populism threatening to tear the Union apart. Even if we changed our PM for a radical Brexiteer, he would not achieve an advantageous deal for Britain and anyway, the public are rapidly losing faith in all politicians.

The way ahead is to accept where we are now, repent, and urgently seek the Lord for the way forward. Of course, we know that repentance is not going to happen with our godless politicians. Meanwhile, Brexit itself is being threatened by a combined assault from post-modernists and assorted powers of darkness which are determined to force another referendum and keep Britain locked into the EU. God have mercy on us!

The way ahead is to accept where we are now, repent, and urgently seek the Lord for the way forward.

But…

But there is still a faithful remnant of believers in Britain whose prayers could change the situation. We should concentrate our prayers on Brexit being achieved on 29 March 2019 – one way or another – and put our trust in God for the future. The prayers of good and faithful men and women could still influence the future history of Britain.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble, therefore we will not fear though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea…Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Ps 46)

Not since the days of Dunkirk has there been so great a need for sustained, believing prayer for the future of Britain.

Editorial note: To this end, we are publishing some prayer points gleaned from prophetic words and editorials published on Prophecy Today UK since the Referendum in 2016. Read them here. We hope to publish more prayer resources in the coming weeks. We have also gathered together prophecies and articles of particular relevance that we have published since Prophecy Today re-launched in 2015, to aid you in your prayers. Find them here.

References

1 Read the full prophecy here.

Britain has a choice ahead.

I have been looking at things we published in Prophecy Today back in 2016, prior to the Referendum and the vote to leave the European Union. Amongst the many comments and articles about the EU and about Britain, its heritage and present social and spiritual condition, we also published what we believed to be an authentic prophecy given by David Noakes.

Although we left readers to assess whether or not they believed this to be a genuine word from God, we clearly felt that there was the truth in it, or we would not have published it. We therefore believe it is right to revisit it at this crucial time in the nation’s history.

We now face the appalling prospect of a second referendum, which is being continually pushed by the BBC in all their news bulletins and interviews - or another general election, in which there is a strong possibility of Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister.

Let’s review the situation. Theresa May has rightly won the respect even of her strongest opponents, however grudgingly, for her resilience and persistence in the past two years of hard bargaining with the officials of the European Union, succeeding in agreeing a deal with them which has now been presented to the British Parliament and will be voted upon in the near future.

The deal itself is vastly complex and is set out in 500 pages of legal language that makes it difficult to summarise and assess. It sets out the financial settlement with Brussels for allowing the UK to leave the EU; the establishment of a transition period, giving businesses and individuals time to adjust; and it establishes the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU at the end of the Brexit period. 

We now face the appalling prospect of a second referendum, which is being continually pushed by the BBC in all their news bulletins and interviews.

The Irish Question

The most controversial part of the deal is the agreement over the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, to ensure that Britain cannot gain a competitive advantage over the rest of the EU.

Anti-Brexit protesters in Westminster. See Photo Credits.

There is agreement between the two sides to make every endeavour to secure a satisfactory agreement during the transition period. But if no agreement is reached, a temporary backstop would come into effect whereby all EU rules and regulations would apply keeping Northern Ireland effectively within the European Union – a situation that could only be resolved by joint agreement. In other words, Northern Ireland could only be joined up to the rest of the UK with the permission of the EU! This of course is quite intolerable to the DUP and to all Brits who uphold the Union of the United Kingdom!

What a strange quirk of history that the Irish question, which has bugged the English since the time of Oliver Cromwell, should be the main stumbling block to our agreement in getting out of the European Union! It has long been a joke among Westminster politicians that if they ever discovered the answer to the Irish question, the Irish would change the question! They have done just that now. It is no longer a question of whether or not there should be a border, but how the border should operate.

But we cannot blame the Irish for the problems of the European Union, which conflict much more deeply with the foundational values of our democratic civilisation. For centuries these ‘British’ values have been founded upon biblical principles of truth, integrity, faithfulness, righteousness, liberty and freedom of expression. It is because these values were being threatened by the European Union and its unelected cabal of Eurocrats, dedicated to secular humanist philosophies and the principle of ‘ever-closer union’, that many people in Britain voted to leave.

What a strange quirk of history that the Irish question, which has bugged the English since the time of Oliver Cromwell, should be the main stumbling block to our agreement in getting out of the European Union!

Revisiting Prophecy

So, what is God saying to Britain today in the face of the utter chaos in our House of Commons, where every MP has a different point of view and there is no shared vision? We hardly need to remind our readers that where there is no vision, the people perish! (Prov 29:18) or, to use the Living Bible’s translation – “Where there is ignorance of God, the people run wild.”

Our greatest problem in Britain today – and the reason for this absence of vision - is the lack of understanding of even the basics of biblical truth. It is now a whole generation ago that we ceased to teach schoolchildren the basics of the Bible. This is why this present generation is suffering so much from knife crime, guns and gangs in our cities. And this is why there is such a vast amount of mental disorders, depression and suicide among young people – and adults.

A whole generation has been raised without any understanding of basic truth. Now they are even being told that they can choose their own gender – the one fixed point of reference that they have in their childhood! Indeed, we are a nation thoroughly deserving of judgment! We are certainly on the road to ruin unless there is a fundamental change in social policy, currently driving the nation to disaster.

We need to read again the central paragraph of the prophecy given to David Noakes in November 2015 (published in April 2016):

Rather than rely on Me and my faithfulness to you, you chose, for worldly purposes, to join yourself to an institution [the European Union] which has denied my Name and refused to acknowledge Me in its councils. My fierce anger is upon that institution on account of its rebellion, its defiant rejection of me and its hardness of heart towards my ancient people Israel.

I warn you now that the European institution will not repent, even though I bring disaster and destruction upon it. I urge you, O Britain still beloved by Me for the sake of your godly forefathers, come out of her, so that you may not be caught up in that same destruction, for I am even now arising in judgment to bring to nothing what she has sought to achieve. If you will separate yourself from her declared rejection of God, I will have mercy upon you and restore my hand of protection; and I will use you once again to bring light to many lost in the darkness which is now steadily increasing.¹

Our greatest problem in Britain today – and the reason for this absence of vision - is the lack of understanding of even the basics of biblical truth.

Choice Ahead

The choice facing the British nation today is a choice between re-asserting our independence as a sovereign state and (crucially) putting our trust back in God for the future, or being driven onto the rocks of destruction through social chaos and violence. This will inevitably follow if the secular humanists continue to get their way – particularly if they succeed in forcing the nation to hold a second referendum.

It does not really matter whether we leave the EU with Mrs May’s deal or with no deal. If we put our trust in the Lord, blessings and prosperity are guaranteed for the future of the nation. The one thing to be avoided at all costs, is a second referendum. The prayers of all Christians should be directed to this end.

References

1 Read the full prophecy here.