We bring you an exciting update from evangelists Syd and Liz Doyle, who have just spent nine days reaching out to refugees fleeing IS.

Syd and Liz Doyle have been working as international evangelists and church planters for many decades, pastoring in England and America and ministering in 54 nations, seeing tens of thousands come to Christ. In the past they planted a church in Ashford before settling in the USA, and have worked with Prophecy Today's Clifford and Monica Hill on projects such as the Zong slave ship, the Sharing Show and the Heal our Land musical.

This past nine days Syd and Liz have been serving in Jordan, ministering to refugees fleeing from ISIS – and have led over 700 people to Jesus! Their daily updates make for remarkable and exciting reading – so we are re-printing excerpts of them here for your encouragement.

Stories of Hope: Excerpts from the Doyles' Daily Updates

"Hi Praying Friends,

This trip has been successful as we partnered with different Pastors, workers and church groups who serve the Iraqi refugees. We delivered 200 40lb bags of groceries, clothing, dozens of blankets and about 30 heaters. We spoke at 6 meetings and at every house we visited - explained the Gospel and led over 700 to Christ.

Thanks for holding us up in prayer!

In the Field,
Syd and Liz"

Refugees from Nineveh

"We are very busy and already tired out after Day 1. We put our food and clothing packages together and set out to visit 9 families...all refugees from Iraq - leaving businesses, homes, cars, everything, running for their lives from ISIS. The first family had to leave their businesses, and a new house they were building, to save their lives. Walking, they had to carry their 83 year old grandma and her wheelchair all the way to Jordan!"

"We prayed with a widow, (she said Jesus saved her 2 sons and her from ISIS - Liz said, well now, let Jesus save you from your sins - and she did!) Syd prayed with a man and his son, and we all prayed with a family of 6, all refugees from Ninevah for salvation too! We prayed for a sweet little 6 year old boy to be healed from cancer. His mom is a young widow. Please keep all these dear new believers in prayer!"

"What a great day...41 men, women and children prayed today for salvation/assurance. 21 families from Ninevah. Driven out by ISIS because they refused to renounce Christ. We gave each family a bag of groceries, a blanket and clothes provided by you our supporters! We have now given out 30 bags."

"One girl shared how her brother crossed the sea in an inflatable boat that sunk. He was rescued with only the clothes on his back and a Bible! He walked to Germany and finally at the end of himself he crawled into a phone box falling asleep with the Bible as his pillow. He was wakened by a knock on the window and an Arab man asked him to follow him. The man took him to a church - he was a Pastor! He prayed with him and led him to Christ! He's serving the church today! Let's pray this happens over and over again to these refugees in Europe. Through this testimony his sister came to Christ!"

Salvation Near Mt Nebo

"Today, about 2 miles from Mt. Nebo, where Moses looked over the Promised land before he died, 60 men, women and children accepted Christ/received Assurance today! The courtyard of a small Roman Catholic Church in this Muslim country houses 20 Iraqi refugee families who live in 18 small container/trailer looking units provided by the Jordanian government...

...They all gathered in the hall after we visited some of the "homes" where we preached the Gospel using the Evangecube, our testimonies and gospel bracelets. As Liz sang Amazing Grace many began to cry as the Holy Spirit touched their hearts. After the time of prayer there was such excitement and joy!"

A Thanksgiving Like No Other

"What a day! In the evening we had a special Thanksgiving meal - we catered for 400 and over 500 attended - the church was packed. Syd and Liz preached and over 400 stood to receive Christ!"

"Thanks for praying...we are witnessing a remarkable thing...These people, nominal Christians, many professional people, having been stripped of everything, now realize that who they need is Jesus."

"Then we visited the home of a Sabean family. Nawal, our team member is originally from that religion. They follow John the Baptist. After directing their attention to the Gospel of John and John the Baptist identifying Jesus as the Lamb of God, this family, who lost their four year old son to murder by terrorists in Iraq because they refused to deny their religion, received Jesus as their Savior. Nawal was thrilled to pray with them for salvation!"

"Finally our evening ended with Syd and Liz preaching at another Iraqi church - 90 were in attendance and about 60 stood to receive Christ. We provided 2 Falafal sandwiches each and a drink after the service! They were so happy!"

For more information about Syd and Liz, see www.nationslight.org.

Following on from his article last week, Clifford Hill continues his response to the recent attacks in France.

The huge press coverage of the Paris atrocities and the vast chatter on social media does little more than demonstrate the confusion that has arisen. Neither journalists nor politicians know what to do and the church stays silent.

President Hollande declared to an assembly of French mayors that he is proud of the secularism of France which they will continue to defend by increasing their bombing of the Islamic State.¹ David Cameron wants to join in the bombing and Nicola Sturgeon is reconsidering her position.

Meanwhile leaders of the Islamic State posted their views saying: "In a blessed battle whose causes of success were enabled by Allah, a group of believers from the soldiers of the Caliphate set out targeting the capital of prostitution and vice, the lead carrier of the cross in Europe – Paris...And Allah granted victory upon their hands and cast terror into the hearts of the Crusaders in their very own homeland."²

By contrast the Muslim Council of Great Britain took out full-page advertisements in national newspapers on 19 November stating: "The barbaric acts of Daesh (or ISIS as they are sometimes known) have no sanction in the religion of Islam, which forbids terrorism and the targeting of innocents."

So, Where Does the Truth Lie?

I have lived and worked among Muslims for most of my working life in London and I know that most Muslims are ordinary, decent, peace-loving people - but also that most of them know nothing of the history of Islam and have very little knowledge of the Koran. The young men of the Islamic State are following Muhammad as their example.

Muhammad advocated violence in the 'Second Pledge at Al-Aqabah' through which he unleashed violence against those who refused to accept his new religion. He also used Koran 9.5 which demands conversion on pain of death.

Muhammad himself carried out horrendous acts of cruelty especially against Jews, as in the slaughter of Banu Qurayza in April 627 AD. The whole town had already surrendered to him but Muhammad decided to slaughter all the adult males. Some 800 to 900 captives were beheaded, with Muhammad himself cutting off the heads of two of the Jewish elders. This was justified from the Koran "Some ye slew and ye made captive some. And he (Allah) caused you to inherit their land and their houses and their wealth, and land you have not trodden. Allah is ever able to do all things" (Koran 33.26–27).³

Whilst the proper interpretation of such quotations as the above remains hotly debated amongst scholars, the fact is that they are still being used today to justify killing. We have to leave it to the Muslim scholars to sort out the truth. Clearly they have a problem. The Koran defines me, a Christian, as an 'infidel' so I cannot help them; I can only urge them to study their history and the writings attributed to Muhammad and to define what is valid for today in the 21^st century. There will be no peace in the world until they do this.

Why Has God Allowed This to Happen?

The Western nations and especially Europe have despised their Christian birthright and have deliberately embraced secular humanism and all forms of depraved hedonism. The Queen, at her Coronation in 1953, received a Bible and promised to "maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the gospel". At this time, our nation agreed before God to be, corporately, a Christian nation.

Since then, Britain has forced the Queen to sign laws that break these promises. We are now reaping what we have sown so we no longer have the protection of God over the nation. We have sown the wind and we are reaping the whirlwind. Only repentance and turning to God can make any difference.

In 1953, Britain agreed before God to be a Christian nation. Since then we have broken those promises – and we are now reaping what we have sown.

It may be that God is allowing thousands of Muslims to come into Europe as part of his judgement upon us. But God is able to turn judgement into blessing and already there are reports of hundreds of Muslim refugees accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Europeans are being given the opportunity of witnessing to the truth by showing love and compassion to refugees from war.

In Britain we have made no attempt to teach immigrants the history of our nation and our great Judaeo-Christian heritage. We have not even insisted that they all speak English. This is sheer madness! It drives migrants into cultural ghettos like the suburbs of Paris. Immigration without integration spells disaster!

We have despised our godly heritage while at the same time allowing secular humanists to spread their teachings in our schools and universities and to change the laws of the land to accommodate their perversions of the truth. We have dropped the teaching of the Bible; and our churches have lost their prophetic mission to declare the truth fearlessly.

What Should We Do?

I am grateful to all those who put comments on my article published last Friday. It is so good to have open discussion on these issues that affect the whole nation. Everyone I speak to thinks what happened in Paris will happen in Britain and none of us really knows how to deal with the threat of terrorism - because it's nothing like conventional war. We are dealing with spiritual evil.

The threat to the nation is very real and Christians should be mobilising prayer. A good biblical example is in 2 Chronicles 20 when Jerusalem was threatened by a vast enemy army and the King called the whole nation to prayer which he led, calling upon God for help, "For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

The threat to this nation is very real and Christians should be mobilising prayer. God always answers a true prayer of faith, especially when it is accompanied by repentance.

This prayer was wonderfully answered when the enemy army destroyed themselves through internal dissension. God always answers a true prayer of faith: especially when it is accompanied by repentance for our waywardness.

References

1 Paris Attacks: president Hollande addresses French mayors' congress. Youtube video (running time 27:45), France 24.

2 Fisher, M. Here is ISIS' statement claiming responsibility for the Paris attacks. Vox, 24 November 2015.

3 MA Khan, 2011. Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism and Slavery. iUniverse, p35. Full text available here for free (PDF download).

4 Basilan, M. Muslim refugees converting to Christianity in Berlin church. Christian Post, 8 September 2015.

Dark fantasies become reality as hell breaks loose on earth.

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

Dark Concert

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

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

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

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

'Prophetic' Media?

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

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

What 'Civilisation'?

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

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

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

Defences Down

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

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

Building on Sand

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

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

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

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

References

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

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

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

Clifford Hill looks at questions of trust surrounding the recent Russian plane crash, noting similarities between today's threats and life in the time of Jeremiah.

The human tragedies behind the crash of the Russian passenger airliner over the Sinai Desert are incalculable. The loss of all 224 people on board plunged the whole city of St Petersburg into mourning as most of the returning holidaymakers came from there.

Tourists Stranded

The knock-on effect in the cancellation of returning flights for British tourists stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh is a small inconvenience in comparison with the terrible loss of life suffered by the Russian people.

Was the British Government right in suspending flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh? The Egyptian Government was understandably furious because of the effect upon its tourism industry, which is the strongest part of its economy. But any government's first commitment is to the safety of its own citizens, so the UK has surely been right in taking steps to ensure the safety of flights home for the thousands of British holidaymakers who were potentially at risk.

Questions of Trust

Tributes outside Pulkovo airport, St Petersburg.All of this raises major questions of trust. We all put our trust in others every time we leave our own home. If we are travelling by bus or train or boarding an aircraft, we put our trust in the driver or the pilot. But even when we drive our own car on the road we are dependent upon other motorists obeying the rules and not endangering our lives. We have to trust other people every day in a multitude of circumstances.

We all also know that there are risks involved in travelling today. If terrorists are determined to get a bomb on board an aeroplane they will find a way of doing it - even if it is simply paying a crooked bag-handler working at the airport.

Trust is at the heart of all our human relationships; from travelling in safety to business transactions. Businessmen need to be able to trust the word of those with whom they are signing contracts or the whole economic activity of society would be impaired. Even in simple everyday things there has to be trust. If we cannot trust the shopkeeper to sell us healthy food or trustworthy goods, life would come to a standstill.

Trust Breakdown

If trust breaks down the whole life of the community breaks down. But that was the situation in Jerusalem in the time of the prophet Jeremiah (around 600 BC, a turbulent period in history). In chapter 9 he describes the breakdown of trust. He says,

Beware of your friends; do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth (Jer 9:4-5).

Jeremiah warns the citizens of Jerusalem: "You live in the midst of deception". The dire scene that he describes has some similarity to the situation facing us today. On the international front there was a growing threat of terrorism and at home there had been a catastrophic collapse of faith and morality.

Jeremiah describes a scene much like our own today, with a domestic collapse of faith and an international threat of terrorism.

The Assyrian Empire based at Nineveh (which today is called Mosul and is the capital of the Islamic State) had just been overthrown by Nebuchadnezzar (609 BC), the ruthless dictator of the rising Babylonian Empire. The Assyrians had been a byword for cruelty and the Babylonians were already outdoing them. Their army was on the move through Syria and threatening the tiny state of Judah and its capital Jerusalem.

Both the political and religious authorities assured the people that there was nothing to worry about because God was on their side! They said that as long as the Temple stood in Jerusalem, God would never allow an enemy to enter the gates of the City because it was his special shrine. Jeremiah could see everywhere lies and deception, greed and corruption, immorality and injustice. He publicly proclaimed that God would not defend the City so long as it was full of evil and faithlessness. He said,

From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain, prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace', 'Peace', they say, when there is no peace. (Jer 8:10).

In Jeremiah's time, the authorities assured the people that God would protect them – but Jeremiah proclaimed that they were deceiving themselves.

Urgent Warnings

As the Babylonian merciless murderers drew closer, burning and raping cities and even destroying the countryside on their way towards Jerusalem, Jeremiah's warnings became even more urgent. He told the people that they were putting their trust in a building created by human hands instead of the God of Creation who had made a covenant with their forefathers which they were now breaking. As anxiety increased among the people, instead of turning to God in repentance, they turned to different forms of idolatry and divination.

Recent research shows that less than half the population in Britain now believe in Jesus and only about 10% are regular churchgoers.¹ This means that we are not only abandoning our heritage of Christian faith that has protected this nation for hundreds of years, but it means that there are fewer people of faith praying for the nation and ensuring a covering of protection over the land at the very time when the threat of terrorism is rising.

In modern Britain, our Christian heritage is being abandoned, leaving less and less people to pray for the protection of the nation.

In Jeremiah's day his warnings went unheeded. In 587 BC the army of terrorists broke through the walls of Jerusalem and ran amok through the City tearing down the Temple and all the great buildings, slaughtering the people as they went from street to street. An eyewitness wrote,

The Kings of the earth did not believe nor did any of the world's people, that enemies and foes could enter the gates of Jerusalem. But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood of the righteous (Lam 4:12).

Real Wisdom

This should be a strong warning to us. Where do we put our trust? Is it in politicians; or bankers and brokers; or social reformers; or educationalists; or philosophers? But these are just fallible human beings and what we are facing are no less than demonic spiritual forces that cannot be overcome with physical force or human wisdom.

The threats we face today cannot be overcome with physical force or human wisdom. So in what - or whom - will we place our trust?

As Jeremiah said of the people in Jerusalem, "Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?" (8:9) In Britain today we face a similar question – what kind of wisdom do we have as we face the rising tide of destruction that threatens us? If God would allow it to happen to Jerusalem, why do we think it cannot happen to us in Britain? Surely our only hope is to re-discover the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ whom as a nation we have so wilfully and stupidly abandoned.

Weighed in the Balance

The warning signs are everywhere to be seen. The writing is on the wall for Britain and the nations of Europe that have despised their great Christian heritage. We are being weighed in the balance as God is slowly withdrawing his covering of protection. The midnight hour approaches for Britain and Europe.

Will there be repentance and turning before catastrophe strikes? That is still a question. We may not have long to wait for the answer. But what are we doing to warn our families and friends and others to help save our nation?

References

1 Jesus 'not a real person' many believe. BBC News, 31 October 2015.

"Thank God for ISIS!" This extraordinary statement by an Egyptian leader shocked delegates at a recent international Christian conference...

He went on to explain that thousands of Muslims are turning to Christianity in reaction to the atrocities committed by the Islamic State.

All over the Middle East similar things are happening among Muslims as they see the chaos created by militant Islam and the turmoil that has spread across the whole region. It is not only Christians, Yazidis, Kurds and Shia Muslims who are suffering, but also members of the Sunni Arab community.

In Iraq, the militant Sunni jihadis led by al-Baghdadi regard all who oppose them as enemies - including fellow Sunnis. They especially hate Shia Muslims, whom they view as infidels. They see them as a fifth column at the heart of Islam that must be wiped out. The deepening Sunni-Shia rift in Iraq and the similar sectarian civil war in Syria has enabled the Islamic State to attract rebellious Sunnis from around the world.

Russian Fighters

Putin himself estimates that some 5,000-7,000 people from Russia and former Soviet countries have joined the Islamic State,¹ which is one of the major reasons why Russia has decided to join the Baghdad-based 'Intelligence Alliance', in partnership with Iran/Iraq and Syria. Their objective is to share information about the Islamic State so that a co-ordinated attack can be launched.

This has wrong-footed the USA, which has been backing so-called 'moderate' Islamic groups opposed to Assad in Syria. In a failed $500 million programme, the US had been supplying weapons and training to these groups which are now being attacked by Russian bombers. Most of the fighters with American weapons are said to have deserted to the Islamic State.²

The Wrong Weapons

But will Russia and her new allies be any more successful in combating radical Islam than the USA, NATO and others who have tried to wipe out ISIS?

The plain fact is – they are using the wrong weapons. The Islamic State will never be defeated by military power! Militant Islam is driven by a spiritual force which can only be overcome by a more powerful spirit. This moves the whole conflict into a realm of spiritual warfare of which the rulers of the nations have no understanding.

The militant Islamist fighters are driven by a spirit of hatred that is blind and unresponsive to normal rational thought processes. This spirit of blind hatred goes right back to Muhammad and the fearful atrocities he committed against his enemies, especially Jews and Christians. The historical accounts of his activities in and around Medina and Mecca are being replicated by the Islamic State in the name of the god of Islam.

Militant Islam cannot be overcome with human weapons, for it is driven by a spirit of hatred that can only be overcome by a more powerful spirit.

This is what is being increasingly recognised by those who have been brought up in the Islamic faith - such as President Sisi of Egypt, who in a New Year 2015 message called upon Muslim scholars to examine their scriptures and historical documents to determine what is happening in the Muslim world. This is something that only they can do.

Action Points for Christians

But is there anything that Christians can do? In the first place we can spread the whole situation before God in our prayers and seek to understand what God himself is doing in the Middle East and in other parts of the world (such as Indonesia, where millions of Muslims are becoming Christians).

The second thing we can do is in our Bible study groups, look at the way God has acted in the past. For example, when a united Arab army invaded Israel during the reign of King Jehoshaphat he recognised that the tiny army of Judah was no match for them and called for a time of prayer and fasting. He led the nation in prayer, "We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you" (2 Chron 20:12). This prayer of faith was answered by a prophetic word: "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours but God's."

It is this kind of faith that is needed today, plus the discernment to see what God is doing so that we can pray into the situation with understanding. There is no doubt that God is at work among Muslims, opening eyes that were blind and enabling them to understand the spiritual power behind Islam that enslaves their women and drives the men to the most appalling acts of barbarism and savagery.

Christians need both faith and discernment to understand what God is doing. It can help to look at the way he has acted in similar circumstances in the past.

Heavenly Agenda

As the Egyptian Christian leader implied in his somewhat shocking statement quoted at the beginning of this article, God is actually using these atrocities to release those who are bound by spiritual evil.

Angela Merkel, who is said by those who know her to be a Bible-believing Christian, has got it right in welcoming migrants from the Middle East who are escaping war and terrorism. As a politician she has been incredibly bold in the face of considerable opposition, even from her own party. If Europeans are prepared to take the risk of Jihadi fighters being amongst the migrants and welcome them with love and generosity in the name of Jesus, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus will touch their hearts and there will be a mighty harvest for the Kingdom among the multitude coming into Europe.

It may even be that God will use this migration to turn the hearts of the European nations, who have so largely abandoned the word of God and despised the precious spiritual heritage of their forefathers.

Possible Revival

Only God can turn the tide of secular humanism that has already brought the nations of Europe to the brink of disaster. But God's purposes are always for salvation rather than judgement and in his mercy he is longing to use the tragic situation in the Middle East to trigger a mighty spiritual revival in Europe that could change the history of the world.

God is longing to use the tragic situation in the Middle East to trigger a mighty spiritual revival.

We are on the edge of a cusp which could tip either way – into disaster or into a glorious fresh spiritual awakening bringing Kingdom values into the life of the Western nations. The way we react to the migrant crisis may well determine the future history of the world.

References

1 Biryukov, A. Putin Says Thousands from Russia, CIS Joined Islamic State. Bloomberg Business, 16 October 2015.

2 Middle East Eye, 28 September 2015.

As the world responds to the attacks in Tunisia, France and Kuwait, Islam faces an internal crisis of identity. Clifford Hill asks: who are the true Muslims?

"Islam is a Religion of Peace." These were the words of Prime Minister, David Cameron, broadcast to the world immediately after he heard the news of the indiscriminate killing of 30 British tourists sunbathing on the beach in Tunisia. He said that the man who carried out this atrocity was not a true Muslim because "Islam is a religion of peace".

On the BBC News this statement was immediately followed by an interview with an expert on Islam who said that some Muslims use Ramadan as a "season of war" to further the cause of Islam against unbelievers. It was also reported that the Islamic State has been urging Muslims across the world to target Westerners and promising that Allah will reward 'martyrs' tenfold during Ramadan. Their definition of a 'martyr' is one who dies while killing non-Muslims – especially Jews and Christians.

But the Islamic State does not restrict their activities to killing Westerners. The suicide bomber who blew himself up in a mosque in Kuwait was targeting Shia Muslims whom the Sunnis regard as unbelievers: Which raises the question: who are the true Muslims?

Sisi's Call

President Sisi of Egypt has called for a "Revolution in Islam... to stop making enemies of the whole world". He said "We need a religious revolution" to reinterpret the texts that came from the time of Muhammad's warlike rise to power.

This important statement was reported in the New York Times on 1 January 2015, but as far as I am aware has been given no publicity in the British press. Why the silence? Are British journalists so afraid of offending Muslims that they dare not report a call from a prominent Muslim to sort out the problems of violence in their religion?

Jihadist Fighters

If an all-out war between Western culture and Islam is to be avoided Islamic scholars have to face fundamental questions about their faith. The jihadist fighters in the Islamic State in Syria and Northern Iraq claim to be the only true Muslims.

If an all-out war between Western culture and Islam is to be avoided, Islamic scholars have to face fundamental questions about their faith."

This is no doubt the reason why a whole family of 12, including three generations, have gone to join them. It is not only hot-blooded teenagers who are attracted to ISIS, but those who want to live in a genuine Muslim state. The jihadists say that those Muslims who oppose them have been corrupted by Western values and are not true Muslims. They claim that they are spreading Islam by force in exactly the same way as Muhammad and that he is their role model. So who are the true Muslims?

Qur'an Verses

There are plenty of verses in the Quran to support the jihadists. The man who murdered the defenceless tourists on the beach at Sousse can justify his actions by quoting, "It was not you, but Allah, who slew them. It was not you who smote them: Allah smote them so that he might richly reward the faithful. Allah hears all and knows all" (Quran 8:17).

In the same way the ISIS fighters in Iraq who are beheading their captives can justifiably claim to be doing exactly what Muhammad did in April AD 627, when he slaughtered the whole Jewish population of Banu Qurayza near Medina. This is recorded by ex-Muslim historian M A Khan who says,

The surrendered Jews offered to go into exile like the Banu Nadir tribesmen exiled two years earlier. Muhammad rejected the proposal; instead, he decided to slaughter all their adult males, some 800 to 900 of them. Their adulthood was determined by the growth of pubic hair. The women and children were captured as slaves and their homes and properties were as usual confiscated and distributed amongst the Muslims. The Islamic god gave an emphatic sanction to these barbaric atrocities by revealing: "Some ye slew and ye made captive some. And Allah caused you to inherit their land and their houses and their wealth, and land ye have not trodden. Allah is ever able to do all things" (Quran 33.26 – 27).

A trench was dug at the marketplace; and in Muhammad's presence, those 800 – 900 captives were brought to the brink of the trench with their hands tied behind and were beheaded with swords before pushing the dismembered bodies into it. Muhammad himself chopped off the heads of two Jewish leaders. The spectacle went on from morning through the day and continued by torchlight into the night. [M A Khan, Islamic Jihad, p35]

Islam in Crisis

Today, the whole of Islam is in crisis. It clings to its mediaeval roots while trying to exist in an advanced secular liberal culture that cherishes freedom of speech and respects individual choice, equality and tolerance. Islam respects none of these things- with the result that multitudes are leaving it.

Islam is suffering an internal crisis of identity, as extremists force its followers to ask who the true Muslims really are."

In Indonesia, 2 million Muslims are converting to Christianity every year. In Europe and America, millions of Muslims have settled in the West because they are looking for a better life, but their imams are repeating verses from the Quran forbidding them to make friends with Jews or Christians. These ordinary Muslims are only looking for a quiet life, to earn a living, raise their families and live at peace with their neighbours. They too are asking the question, who are the true Muslims?

Peaceful Majority

Most Muslims in the West are embarrassed by the acts of terrorism carried out in the name of Islam. But the Islamic scholars refuse to consider any revision of their Scriptures which were written for a mediaeval society and have little or no relevance in a modern urban industrial technological society. This article from the Middle East Media Research Institute gives an indication of the internal battle that is going on within Islam.

We should be calling upon Islamic scholars to examine their scriptures and give definite rulings that the historical narratives associated with the teaching of Muhammad and the early days of Islam are no longer valid today. They need to declare definitively what the valid beliefs and practices are for true Muslims today and separate them from mediaeval practices that are no longer central to Islam in the 21st century.

The future peace of the world depends, not upon stepping up the efficiency of the security services in Muslim-majority nations where Western holidaymakers go, or putting up the barriers at home, but on the willingness of Islamic scholars to give definitive answers to the question: who are the true Muslims?

Battle of Values

David Cameron is perfectly right in saying that this is a battle of values: it is an ideological clash between a mediaeval religious narrative and a modern secular narrative: emanating from Islamic State, Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Boko Haram and similar organisations that insist on following the teaching of the Quran and the example of Muhammad. They believe that they are the only true Muslims and they are prepared to fight brutal war to enforce their ideology on others.

The greatest danger facing the West is in escalating the war in the Middle East. There are strong voices in the British Government advocating all-out war upon the Islamic State – bombing them in Syria as well as Iraq. But this is entirely the wrong tactic. It is the same mistake as the Crusaders made 1000 years ago. And it will harden attitudes and drive more young men to abandon the West and fight for the jihadists.

War on the Middle East is the wrong tactic - the same mistake the Crusaders made 1000 years ago - it will only harden attitudes. We need to present a different narrative."

A Different Narrative

The only way to win this war is on the ideological front: by presenting a different narrative. It is here that the teaching of Jesus to love our enemies is the greatest weapon that we have. There is nothing in the New Testament that encourages Christians to fight and everything points to putting our trust in God.

Many Christians believe that God has allowed millions of Muslims to come into the West so that they may experience at first-hand a different ideology. Christians have to say to Muslims that Western values are not Christian values! This throws a great responsibility upon Christians to live in accordance with the teaching of Jesus, to love our new neighbours and to show the power of a living faith that transforms lives of bitterness and hatred into love and gentleness.

The teaching of Jesus to love our enemies is the greatest weapon we have. It is up to Christians to show practically its power to transform lives."

If this is God's strategy for bringing peace and harmony into a world of darkness, there has to be a renouncing of violence by Western nations as well as positive action by Christian churches to reach out to the Muslims in their neighbourhood: not only speaking about the love of God, but showing that love practically in their lives.

The Editorial Team of Prophecy Today want to express their compassion and concern for all the families who have suffered in the terrible events at Sousse in Tunisia.

The news that most of the holidaymakers on the beach were British and that the number of dead is likely to exceed 30 has numbed the nation. The carnage on the beach shown in a multitude of photos on the media resembled a war scene and the list of dead and injured appearing on the Internet has sent a shockwave right across Britain.

In an interview this morning on BBC Radio Four's Today Programme Prime Minister, David Cameron said that the Islamic State had declared war on us.

He said, "I think that frankly, we are a target. They have declared war on us, they are attacking our people at home and overseas whether we like it or not... They are attacking our way of life and what we stand for."

He warned, "There are people in Iraq and Syria who are plotting to carry out terrible acts in Britain and elsewhere and as long as ISIL exists in those two countries we are at threat." He said that Britain is the second most active country in launching air attacks upon the Islamic fighters. But he added that it wasn't enough to "destroy [IS] at source".

He said "We have to deal with this appalling radical narrative that's taking over the minds of young people in our country. It's a battle of our values and our narrative against their values and their narrative. We have to get that right as well as the military end of things." [emphasis added]

The Narrative Battle

The Prime Minister is right in saying that the real battle is to do with values. But he is wrong to speak about a military defeat of the Islamic State. You cannot defeat an ideology by weapons of war: it can only be successfully tackled with a counter-ideology that is more powerful and compelling.

If a full-scale war between Islamic radicals and the West is to be avoided, we have to act now before the situation deteriorates further. We have to recognise the nature of the ideological conflict between the values being propagated by radical Islam and those of the West which are still based predominantly upon our Judaeo-Christian heritage.

You cannot defeat an ideology by weapons of war, only by a counter-ideology that is more powerful and compelling."

The right way to deal with this situation is for Quranic scholars and Biblical scholars to come together and examine their Scriptures. We have to stop these foolish statements about "we all worship the same God". This is clearly untrue as even a cursory comparison of the teaching of Jesus and Muhammad shows.

One of the sayings of Muhammad is, "The recompense of those who make war on Allah and his messenger and exert themselves to cause corruption in the land is that they should be killed or crucified, or that their hands and feet on opposite sides should be cut off." (Quran 5:37)

This is in strong contrast to the teaching of Jesus, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbour and hate your enemy'. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:43).

It is this basic contrast in values that lies at the heart of Islam and Christianity which has to be faced. At the same time we are warning against an escalation of the war in the Middle East and calling for a dialogue between the scholars of Islam and Christianity.

Call for Dialogue

We know, of course, that there have been many periods in history when those who claim to be followers of Jesus have not followed his teaching as in the atrocities of the Crusades. And we know that the vast majority of Muslims are peace-loving people who follow those parts of the Quran that advocate peace rather than war.

Our call is for the scholars of both Christianity and Islam to come together and solve what David Cameron rightly describes as a 'clash of values'. We do not see this as some kind of attempt to harmonise the two religions, but rather to highlight the differences in social values that may lead at least to peaceful co-existence and counteract the attraction of the Islamic State's propaganda that is currently attracting young Muslims.

In Prophecy Today we will elaborate this call for dialogue further later this week, in an article entitled "Who are the true Muslims?" In the meantime we ask all our readers to pray for the families of those who have lost loved ones and also for the protection of the nation from further terrorist attacks as we come up to the 10th anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings of 2005.

Jews threatened with another Holocaust

...but does anyone care?

Charles Gardner considers the hatred mounting against Israel on every side.

Seventy years after six million Jews were slaughtered in the ovens of Nazi Germany, a new generation are in grave danger of another attempt at genocide. But just as Churchill’s warnings fell on deaf ears in the 1930s, so today the rest of the world is looking the other way, pretending such a threat does not exist.

This is a constant frustration for those who support Israel, because ignorance leaves people vulnerable to the lies, propaganda and deception spreading like cancer through the corridors of power.

Israel under attack

Israel has been surrounded by implacable enemies wishing to drive it into the sea ever since its re-birth in 1948. Now it is faced with an additional black cloud in the form of Islamic State terrorists who, when they are done with butchering Christians, Yazidis and their own people, plan to turn their full attention on the Jewish state standing in the way of their dream for absolute control of the region.

"Israel has been surrounded by implacable enemies wishing to drive it into the sea ever since its re-birth in 1948."

Israelis have been living under the constant threat of rocket attacks from Gaza and elsewhere for years, along with oft-repeated warnings of destruction from an Iranian government fast developing nuclear weapons. And even as they were diving for cover from Hamas missiles during the recent conflict, they were witnessing the nearby emergence of ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), whose declared ambition is the creation of an Islamic Caliphate in the region, to which the Jewish state acts as possibly the only real barrier.

ISIS fellow-travellers Al Qaeda, Boko Haram and Al Shabaab are currently concentrating their efforts on Christians and others in their way as, for the moment, access to the Jewish state is largely blocked by strong defensive tactics. Long may that continue, but when they manage to break through these barriers, as they did in Paris, we see what carnage results.

Western blindness

Through all this, Western leaders continue to deny Israel the right to defend herself. Following the massacre in France of twelve journalists at a satirical magazine known for ridiculing religion, terrorists thought to be linked with Al Qaeda turned on perfectly innocent Jews shopping in a kosher supermarket. Millions turned out in a subsequent rally in revulsion against such an attack on press freedom, but how many among them – including journalists – understood why Jews were a target?

Anti-Semitism did not die with the defeat of Germany in World War II. The baton of this demonic relay has been passed back to Islamic fundamentalists, who have previous form in this department and who relish the prospect of wiping out God’s Chosen People.

      "Through all this, Western leaders continue to deny Israel the right to defend herself."

Western civilisation, including its backbone of democracy and freedom, owes huge cultural debts to the Jews, who gave us the Bible, and who gave us Jesus. But Islamists think they are doing God a service by crushing every notion of freedom under the jackboot of 'Sharia Law', a particularly harsh code of ethics that includes the cutting off of limbs as moral punishment.

In the numerous strict Muslim countries across the Middle East, the populace is enslaved by Islam, prevented on pain of death from converting to Christianity or any other religion. The tragedy is that the Western media has largely fallen for a gigantic lie – that Arabs are the victims of bullying tactics from the likes of Israel, the only democracy in the region. Truth is thus turned on its head.

Duplicity at the top

Among the ‘world’ leaders taking part in the Paris march, in itself a tremendous display of support for freedom, was Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a sponsor of terror. What was he doing there – the man who refuses to recognise Israel’s sovereignty, who sanctions laws which condemn to death any Arab caught selling land to a Jew,¹ and who has also stated that not a single Jew will be allowed to live in his proposed Palestinian state?²

The sometimes duplicitous nature of Arab politics has been explained by former PLO terrorist Tass Saada, who says that lying, for example, is considered to be acceptable if it advances their cause³. As for Iran’s reportedly moderate new president, Hassan Rouhani, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the United Nations General Assembly that “Rouhani is a wolf in sheep’s clothing...who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of the international community.”⁴ 

He also reminded them that from 1989 to 2003 the new president headed up Iran’s Supreme National Security Council during which time opposition leaders were gunned down in a Berlin restaurant, 85 people were murdered at the Jewish Community Centre in Buenos Aires and 19 American soldiers were killed when the Khobar Towers were blown up in Saudi Arabia. Currently they are providing direct support for the murderous Assad regime in Syria.

Yet the West is quick to believe the duplicitous diatribe that speaks of a peaceful purpose for their nuclear programme. As journalist Melanie Phillips has put it, Iran has been protected ever since their 1979 revolution "by a mysterious cloak of denial and paralysis...with the West tragically still in appeasement mode"⁵. 

Meanwhile, the Israeli leader assures the world that he desires peace, but for this to be achieved Palestinians must finally recognise the Jewish state (which they constantly refuse to do) and Israel’s security needs must be met.

"There is no 'occupation' – that is a myth absorbed by a gullible media quick to dance to the anti-Semitic tune of left-wing propaganda."

Protestors campaigning on behalf of Palestinians show their ignorance by talking of 'stolen Palestinian land'. Actually, the coveted West Bank (Judea and Samaria) was originally re-captured from Jordan, not the Palestinians, in a war of self-defence in 1967 – Jordan having annexed the territory from Israel’s allotted land in the 1948 war of independence.

There is no 'occupation' – that is a myth absorbed by a gullible media quick to dance to the anti-Semitic tones of left-wing propaganda. The truth is that Israel is being crammed into a tiny state far smaller than the international community originally agreed upon, and now even long-term allies like Britain and the United States are trying to carve it up further. Shame on them!

However, with Islamic jihadists rapidly changing the game, who knows what future alliances may emerge? It is now not inconceivable that the United States could line up with Iran in a bid to stop the relentless onward threat to the entire region posed by ISIS, not to mention Russia. None of these possible scenarios will allay the fears of Israel.

Silence is not an option

In the face of all this, we dare not remain silent. The annual Jewish feast of Purim (March 4-5 2015) marks their rescue from an extermination plot nearly five centuries before Christ. Only the intervention of Queen Esther, the beautiful Jewish wife of the Persian King Xerxes, prevented the catastrophe. She had been warned by her uncle and guardian, Mordecai, that keeping quiet would be no guarantee she would escape the genocide herself and he suggested that her royal position may well have been “for such a time as this” (Est 4:14).

Behind the plot was Haman, the king’s chief minister (perhaps coincidentally, there is a group with a very similar name today – Hamas – still threatening to destroy the Jewish people). Haman had said to King Xerxes:

There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different…it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. (Est 3:8)

Likewise today, Hamas and many others within the Arab/Muslim world simply will not tolerate the existence of a Jewish nation, not least because they stand in the way of complete Islamic rule of the most strategic part of the world.

This is what the battle is all about: it has little to do with injustice suffered by the Palestinian people, and everything to do with Islamic rule. Hamas opposes all ‘peace talks’ and ultimately wants to establish an Islamic state of Palestine in the entire territory originally set aside for the Jews by international agreement.

"This is what the battle is all about: it has little to do with injustice suffered by the Palestinian people, and everything to do with Islamic rule."

We can choose to remain silent and complacent or, like Esther, we can decide to act and advocate for the rights and protection of both Christians and Jews.

For more on this subject read my book, Israel the Chosen, available from Amazon at £6.99.

Footnote: The Romans re-named Israel 'Palestine' (a corruption of Israel’s old enemies the Philistines) to add insult to injury after destroying their nation in AD 135. Jews themselves were known as Palestinians before Yasser Arafat, in an extraordinary act of identity theft, adopted it for his own fraudulent campaign designed to drive God’s chosen people out of the region.

References

1 PA court: Sale of Palestian land to Israelis is punishable by death, Ha'aretz, 20 September 2010.

2 Abbas: 'not a single Israeli' in future Palestinian state, Jerusalemn Post/Reuters, 30 July 2013.

3 Saada, T & Merrill, D, 2008. Once an Arafat Man. Tyndale House Publishing, IL.

4 Transcript of Netanyahu's UN General Assembly Speech, Ha'aretz, 1 October 2013.

5 Phillips, M, 2013. It's 1938 all over again, 22 November.

Charles Gardner is a journalist originally from South Africa, now living in Yorkshire. He is part Jewish and writes for The Times of Israel.