Yochana Darling shares the vision of a Mediterranean safe house for God’s persecuted people.

Charles Gardner reviews the Sh’ma Kingdom Drama play about the legendary preacher.

Nearly 300 years after it happened, John Wesley’s conversion is still widely celebrated. For most great men, it is their birth that is usually remembered. But in Wesley’s case, it is what the Bible terms his ‘new birth’, recalled each year on 24 May.

As part of this year’s celebrations, a unique play was staged on the lawns of the Old Rectory where the preacher grew up, in the small town of Epworth in Lincolnshire (another performance is being planned elsewhere in the county for next month - see details below).

Performed by the Sh’ma Kingdom Drama group, I am John Wesley captivated an appreciative audience on a beautiful spring afternoon with a stirring invitation to share in the transforming experience that changed Britain and the world – a heart ‘strangely warmed’ by the Gospel, as the Methodist founder put it.

An Inspirational Invitation

We were treated to an inspirational weaving together of dance, dialogue and choral hymn-singing complete with audience participation – front row viewers were handed rolled-up tights to throw at the cast at a given signal to depict the fierce opposition Wesley’s preachers encountered on their travels.

The narration, backing music and PA system all worked together smoothly and the drama was enriched by authentic costumes. The waving of brightly-coloured flags helped to convey the traumatic scene when six-year-old John was rescued from an upper window during a blazing fire, which is why he came to be referred to as ‘a brand plucked from the burning’.

I am John Wesley captivated with a stirring invitation to share in the transforming experience that changed Britain and the world.

I was particularly moved by the sight of one of the cast, her face shining like an angel, worshipping her Saviour before moving towards the audience as she encouraged others to welcome Jesus into their lives.

With the audience also invited to join in some of Charles Wesley’s well-known hymns, some of the cast, including John Wesley, came out of character for a few minutes to share the story of their own life-changing encounter with Christ.

The Gospel, No Holds Barred

Used with permission from the Sh'ma Kingdom Dancers.

Wesley’s conversion took place at Aldersgate, London, in 1738 and launched a 50-year ministry that included 40,000 sermons preached while travelling a quarter-of-a-million miles on horseback. Historians are agreed that we might well have suffered a revolution of the kind that brought chaos to France without his influence.

He often returned to Epworth and its environs, but wasn’t allowed to preach at the church where his father, Samuel, had been rector for nearly 40 years, choosing instead to use his father’s tomb as a pulpit as he lifted up Jesus to a crowd of thousands.

Considering it was only the third staging of the play, it was quite sensational in the way it combined entertainment – both visually and otherwise – with a no-holds-barred presentation of the Gospel.

The next performance of ‘I Am John Wesley’ will be taking place at Broughton Village Hall (DN20 OJX, near Brigg, Lincolnshire) on Saturday 31 August, beginning at 7pm. All are welcome to this free event – call 07940 222 707 for more details.

Find out more about the Sh’ma Kingdom Drama and Dancers on their website, www.shma-kingdomdancers.co.uk.

Used with permission from the Sh'ma Kingdom Dancers.

Chris Pateman reviews ‘Money: The Great Deception’ by Gottfried Hetzer (self-published, 2018).

The Lord laid it out pretty clearly in Deuteronomy 28: blessings for obedience to his principles would make his people ‘the head and not the tail’, and sufficiently prosperous to be able to lend to those in need. Curses for disobedience would make them ‘the tail and not the head’, needing to borrow to stay alive. In which of those camps are today’s horrendously indebted nations? In which of them are today’s credit-card-owning, mortgage-paying Christians?

Gottfried Hetzer’s 15 years as a financial controller for international corporations have certainly given him some useful insights into banking policy and international capital flows. But it’s his love for the Lord and for Kingdom principles which shines through the 200 pages of this crisp and insightful book on that particularly controversial issue: money.

You don’t need an economics degree or a banking background to understand that the world is in a financial mess. And thankfully, that’s just where Hetzer starts: he writes clearly and accessibly, without presuming any prior level of financial knowledge. This is a book anyone can read, and arguably, a book every Christian should read.

Analysing Babylon

Structured in six parts, Hetzer starts by analysing how the world financial system works, explaining simply why money is a more useful tool than barter, as well as basic concepts like interest, inflation and deflation. He then unpacks problems with the current system, covering topics such as debt, corruption, speculation, artificial money creation, ecological exploitation and war.

Hetzer offers a chillingly simple explanation of how modern banks are allowed to treat their investors’ money as their own, lending it out multiple times and making money out of nothing, giving nothing back to society, concentrating more and more power in fewer and fewer hands, and disadvantaging the least able in society.

Gottfried Hetzer’s 15 years as a financial controller have certainly given him some useful insights on money - but it’s his love for the Lord which shines through.

Building his critique, he eventually concludes that the global financial system has become so distorted, corrupt and destructive as to be worthy of the title ‘Babylon’. We have arrived at a situation far from God’s original design, where people serve ‘the system’ rather than the system serving people.

The next two sections of the book are devoted to problem-solving, looking at worldly ‘solutions’ to financial issues and then contrasting these with biblical principles. Time and again, the ideologies and ethics that underpin the world of finance are shown to fall short of the values outlined in Scripture, with the conclusion drawn that an entirely different, Kingdom-based approach is needed.

Personal Advice

Hetzer makes compelling arguments about corporate banking, but it’s at the ‘what does this mean for me?’ level that this book really excels. Time and again he reminds us that everything we have is God’s anyway; that we are just stewards; that naked we came into this world and naked we will depart.

Constant reference to Bible texts (and occasional references to the apocryphal Sirach) keep both author and reader rooted in God’s word, as the book moves from issue to issue.

Are we sure God is calling us to own a house – or are we assuming this because it’s what our culture says we are entitled to? Might he not be calling us to witness to our landlord by being an exemplary tenant? We may have God in our home lives and our work lives, but how often do we make him the head of our financial decision-making?

Pertinent and Practical

This is a helpful, challenging, biblical book that is pertinent for our present times, offering a ‘big picture’ commentary as well as a lot of practical, personal advice, and always putting money in its proper place: in true submission to the rule of Christ.

Time and again Hetzer reminds us that everything we have is God’s anyway; that we are just stewards; that naked we came into this world and naked we will depart.

Hetzer divides the book into useful thematic sub-sections (e.g. ‘Inflation’, ‘Bribery’, ‘Interest’) so it can easily be revisited as a reference source. But it’s not just a textbook: it is a challenge to our worldly attitudes towards money that also offers a biblical alternative. We may not be able to change the whole world, but we can certainly change our own attitudes. Hetzer gives us plenty of Kingdom advice on precisely how – on everything from tithing to car sales.

Hetzer’s introduction ends with this thought (p10): “remember, creation has delivered its own Creator to the cross for a ridiculous 30 silver coins. Isn’t it disturbing that the image of God (here the man Judas) has delivered God Himself for a pittance to die innocently?”

A useful and stimulating book.

‘Money: The Great Deception’ (209pp, paperback) is available for £6.85 from Amazon. Also available on Kindle. Find out more about Gottfried Hetzer on his website.

How Britain began to unite into one nation, under God.

Last week, Clifford Denton reminded us that God blessed Britain very early on with the arrival of the Gospel to our shores perhaps not a century after Jesus walked the earth.

Thanks particularly to Roman Christians who travelled here as part of Rome’s settlement of the island (AD 43-410),¹ the Gospel began its work of conversion amongst the pagan Celtic tribes. But Britain remained a patchwork of warring tribes and religions, with no central government. Then, c.410, the Romans abandoned the island.

This week, we fast-forward through faithful persons in our island’s history who, overseen by divine grace, together established Britain as one nation, united under the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Early Missions

After the Romans abandoned ‘Britannia’, British Christianity did not die out, but spread independently and developed its own distinctive flavour. But the soon arrival of Anglo-Saxon invaders pushed the fledgling Church to the western fringes of the island complex – to Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

A depiction of Augustine of Canterbury preaching to Æthelberht of Kent. JWE Doyle, 1864.

While the Gospel continued to spread here thanks to the efforts of devoted missionaries like Patrick (who was converted at 16 through dreams and visions from the Lord), Columba and Aidan, England was subsumed under Germanic pagan rule until the late 6^th Century. But God did not forget England nor its history of faith.

In 597, at the direction of Pope Gregory I,² a troop of 40 intrepid monks led by a prior called Augustine arrived on the shores of Kent. These missionaries reportedly almost bottled out on their way from Italy, halting in Germany and nearly turning back but for further encouragement from Rome. Mercifully, they found the courage to continue to Britain, where they were received favourably by Anglo-Saxon King Æthelberht, himself a pagan, but influenced by his Frankish Christian wife Bertha. This oft-forgotten duo, moved by the Father’s hand, opened the gate for the Gospel to be brought back to England, permitting preaching and funding the building of churches.

Anglo-Saxon King Æthelberht and his Christian wife Bertha, moved by the Father’s hand, opened the gate for the Gospel to be brought back to England.

What followed was the remarkable conversion of almost the entirety of Anglo-Saxon England – still then split into warring tribes – within the space of a generation. Britain saw pagan kings as well as thousands upon thousands of ordinary people converted and baptised, with no force or bloodshed. The genuineness of these conversions may have varied, but certainly biblical living and thinking came to define the tribal monarchies of Britain in extraordinary ways.

This was particularly the case for the kings of Wessex, such as Ine and Alfred, who started to integrate inspiration from Scripture into codes of laws from the late 7^th Century onwards. Alfred the Great’s legal code was prefixed with the Ten Commandments and it was Alfred who really laid the foundation for state laws grounded in Christian ethics, applied evenly to rich and poor and even to relationships with enemies (he famously baptised the invading Vikings rather than slaughtering them).

By the Lord’s direction, it was the house of Wessex which eventually prevailed across the land and united England from regional tribal kingdoms into one nation, under God.³

The ‘Dark Ages’

It is from these centuries that we derive our historic close relationship between Church and state, which can be dated right back to the early discipleships established between the Gregorian missionaries and the Anglo-Saxon kings. But for God’s unfathomable grace, those missionaries might have stopped in Germany, or the kings may not have welcomed them, or the Viking invaders may have triumphed, and things would have turned out very differently.

Yet, it is easy to romanticise and smooth out this period of Britain’s history. Paganism still persisted, arguments erupted between the Roman missionaries and the ‘native’ Church, and undoubtedly clergy became embroiled in royal power play. Nevertheless, the so-called ‘Dark Ages’ were actually marked by an extraordinary spread of the Gospel by missionaries who were as concerned for the fate of ordinary souls as for those of kings.

In the process, the Christian faith became inseparably intertwined with the development of a new nation. Biblical beliefs and ethics clearly influenced nascent codes of law, integrating into Britain’s early political culture Judeo-Christian principles of justice and mercy. Surely Almighty God was overseeing all of this.

The so-called ‘Dark Ages’ were actually marked by an extraordinary spread of the Gospel.

Speaking Truth to Power

After 1066, when the Anglo-Saxon elites were deposed by the Norman conquest, God made sure that England’s budding legal and administrative system was not tossed aside, but kept and gradually institutionalised by royal charters.⁴ Many of our major cathedrals were built, as well as Oxford and later Cambridge (both as religious schools). But these centuries were also flavoured by a corruption of both Church and state, civil unrest at home, power struggles abroad and tension with the papacy in Rome, which by then had become supremely dominant in Europe.

Under Norman rule, the Church became sought after for its wealth and political influence. However, God did not give Britain over to corruption, but chose this time to raise up reform movements calling for justice, greater autonomy for the Church from royal influence and greater independence for England from Rome.

John Wycliffe, Washington National Cathedral. The text is a variant of 2 Timothy 2:4: "No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer." See Photo Credits.It was against this backdrop that Bishop Stephen Langton led a protest movement of local landowners to pressure King John to sign the Magna Carta, which he did in 1215. In doing so, Langton raised the ire of both King and Pope, since Magna Carta checked the powers of the monarchy and represented a rebellion against Rome. However, crucially, it established protections and liberties for the Church and for ordinary citizens, laying a firm and just foundation for English statute law and later inspiring the US Constitution. Thanks to Stephen Langton, Magna Carta not only applied biblical ethics, but also gave glory to God, proving to be a foundational document in the establishment of Britain as a truly Christian nation.

Nevertheless, while Magna Carta guaranteed important freedoms, it did not prevent the continued corruption of the Church from power and wealth. Less than a century after Magna Carta was inscribed into English statute law by Edward I (who was also, less wonderfully, responsible for expelling Britain’s Jewish population in 1290), the Lord raised up a powerful prophetic figure in the form of Yorkshire scholar and dissident John Wycliffe.

Wycliffe’s writings vociferously attacked the pomp and corruption of the clergy. His criticisms of Roman Catholicism – he has been dubbed the ‘morning star’ of the English Reformation⁵ - brought him into constant conflict with the established Church.⁶ However, Wycliffe had the support of many priests and itinerant preachers who ministered outside of the institutional Church in a sort of non-conformist exile, suffering poverty in order to preach the Gospel to ordinary people. In Wycliffe, the faithful remnant around the nation found a spokesperson raised up by God to protest the ways in which British Christianity departed from the truths of Scripture.

In Wycliffe, the faithful remnant around the nation found a spokesperson raised up by God to protest the ways in which British Christianity departed from the truths of Scripture.

In fact, convinced of the centrality of the Bible as God’s revealed truth to all men, Wycliffe set about translating it from Latin into English, completing the project in the 1380s. And so, God chose this time and this man to make his word available to the masses, who before had been beholden to priests and unable to study Scripture for themselves.

Though the death penalty was eventually levied against those found in possession of an English Bible, Wycliffe jump-started the nation’s journey towards Protestantism which, according to Professor Linda Colley, “was the foundation that made the invention of Great Britain possible”.⁷

Faithful Servants

Æthelberht, Bertha, Augustine, Patrick, Columba, Aidan, Ine, Alfred, Stephen Langton, John Wycliffe…Britain’s Christian heritage is a wonderful and complex fabric made up of the faithful service of individuals guided by the Lord’s hand. These servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, many now forgotten or side-lined in historical accounts, were used powerfully of God to bear the truths of the Gospel to this land, into its laws and culture, and into the hearts and minds of its people.

As we look over the broad expanse of our history, whether we understand it fully or not, we witness the hand of God at work and the Spirit brooding over our nation. Surely it was not on account of our own righteousness, but on account of the Lord’s grace, that Britain was established over the centuries under the stabilising influence of the Bible, with freedom given to the sharing of the Gospel, and with faithful men and women being raised up to hold our institutions to account.

Next week: The establishing of biblical laws.

Notes

1 As well as archaeological remains of church buildings, Roman villa chapels have been uncovered, suggesting that house churches were alive and well in Roman Britain. See John Bradley’s The Mansion House of Liberty: The untold story of Christian Britain (2015, Roperpenberthy).

2 According to the Venerable Bede, Gregory had been moved by the sight of Anglo-Saxon boys being sold as slaves in the Roman marketplace, and resolved to send a mission to their place of origin. If this is true, how much we have to thank the Lord for arranging this encounter and moving the heart of the future pope.

3 This is generally attributed to Alfred’s grandson, Æthelstan, who also outlawed paganism in 927 and arranged for the Bible to be translated into Anglo-Saxon (Old English).

4 E.g. William II (1093), Henry I (1100).

5 Michael, E, 2003. John Wyclif on body and mind. Journal of the History of Ideas, p343.

6 Wycliffe distinguished between the visible, institutional Church and the true, redeemed Body of Christ, just as we would today.

7 Britons: Forging the Nation: 1707-1837. 1992, revised 2009, Yale University Press.

Jesus wasn’t born on 25 December. Does it matter?

It is a remarkable thing that all around the world, over the next days and weeks, there will be millions, if not billions of people celebrating what we call Christmas.

In our modern day it comes in many different forms. Those of us who remember those simpler family times of the 1940s and 50s (or earlier) may feel uncomfortable with the worldly emphases of today, whose glitter soon fades away. Many Christians will seek to focus on the central reason for Christmas, preserving the memory of the birth of the Son of God, the promised Messiah of Israel.

Yet, even so, more and more Christians are realising that Christmas was not celebrated by the first disciples of Jesus the Messiah (Yeshua HaMashiach), who would have recognised only the biblical feasts. More and more, the traditional Christian interpretations of Christmas are found to carry errors of interpretation – even in the wording of some of the favourite traditional carols.

It is all too easy to either blind oneself to the reality of Christmas all around, or, at another extreme, reject the season’s celebrations outright with rather a negative response. It would seem that the Lord is taking us through a period of transformation – gradually – in preparation for, not his first coming, but his second coming.

So, what about this year? What is the real priority?

Meeting Us Where We Are

When Jesus was here in the flesh he entered a world with established traditions. Among those traditions were two feasts added on to the main Levitical feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. The feasts of Purim and Hanukkah were part of the yearly traditions of the Jews. They were not given as part of the Mosaic Law, so it is surprising that Jesus seemed to celebrate them, rather than correct them.

It is all too easy to either blind oneself to the reality of Christmas all around, or, at another extreme, reject the season’s celebrations outright.

Some would consider that his lack of opposition to these feasts meant that he accommodated them as correct traditions. Perhaps so. Perhaps, however, we could look at it from another angle. Could he not simply have taken things as he found them and focussed positively on his chief purpose: to minister to the poor and to proclaim the Kingdom, leaving it to his hearers to respond in all aspects of their lives?

What would Jesus do if he came to earth this Christmas? What would be his priority in our season of a non-biblical festival? Perhaps he would not confront it, but accept the context in which he found the world – meeting us where we are. Would his priority, despite so much wrong, still be to minister to the poor and to proclaim the Kingdom, rather than argue about the trappings that have accumulated around Christmas?

Our Task

We know that Jesus is unlikely to come down to earth on 25 December 2017. However, he does still move among the people of our modern world – in his people, by the power of his Spirit. Therefore, it is up to us to fulfil his priorities for the season.

With that in mind, whatever we think of Christmas today, let us consider the poor and proclaim the Kingdom – the season affords us great opportunities.

Among all others at Prophecy Today I extend my seasonal greetings.

Immanuel – God be with us.

Clifford Denton
Chairman of the Board

If anyone thought that Christianity was dying in the traditional churches of Britain – what happened in Winchester Cathedral last week would have shattered their illusions!

Winchester Cathedral has seen many historic events in its near thousand years of history, but it will certainly never have witnessed anything like the Pentecost celebrations over the weekend of 14-15 May 2016.

Of course it's always inspiring to worship in a large crowd, but this was different for several reasons. It was not just a large crowd – it was massive! The Cathedral was packed with more than 2,000 people sitting on the floor or standing shoulder to shoulder. The only chairs were against the side walls, reminiscent of mediaeval times when the weak went to the wall. Outside was another thousand-strong crowd on the green, for whom there was no room inside the cathedral.

Like 'Murray's Mound' at Wimbledon where the action is relayed onto a giant screen, the crowd outside the cathedral were able to see all that was happening; but unlike Wimbledon they were also able to participate, along with those inside.

Baptisms by Full Immersion!

Worship was led by Matt Redman, whose rock band certainly filled the Cathedral with sound greatly appreciated by the many young people present. It wasn't my style of music but I was delighted to see so many young people lost in worship, for which I could genuinely praise God. Towards the end of the two-hour service, 14 people were baptised by immersion in a portable plastic tank in the middle of the nave (I wondered if this was a first for the Cathedral?).

The tank was near the main door, which was open so that people on the green could see. Then a number of young people, including my granddaughter, were confirmed. It was a unique experience to see David Williams, the Bishop of Basingstoke, standing in the water like John the Baptist and baptising by full immersion – in an Anglican cathedral!

It was a delight to see so many young people lost in worship - and many baptised by full immersion, in an Anglican cathedral!

The Sunday evening celebration was the culmination of nine days of prayer events leading up to Pentecost, when Christians across the country were invited by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to pray for the evangelisation of Britain. The weekend culminated in six 'Beacon events' with video links to Canterbury Cathedral where Archbishop Justin Welby gave a message based upon the Lord's prayer which he said was "reassuring enough to be on the lips of the dying and yet dangerous enough to be banned in cinemas".¹

He said, "The Lord's Prayer is simple enough to be memorised by small children and yet profound enough to sustain a whole lifetime of prayer. When we pray it with sincerity and with joy, there is no imagining the new ways in which God can use us to his glory."²

A Turning Point?

The Pentecost events in Winchester and other cathedrals celebrated the birthday of the Church when the power of the Holy Spirit came upon the first disciples. It may be a turning point in the spiritual life of the nation with the established Church leading the way in praying for the re-evangelisation of Britain and a new generation of young people leading worship and prayer in a style appropriate to their peer group.

When the music in the Cathedral reached maximum decibels, severely testing the ancient pillars and arches, I thought of Ezekiel in the Valley prophesying to the dry bones when there was "a thunderous noise and the bones came together, bone to bone" (Ezek 37:7). Most English translations say "a rattling sound" but the Hebrew actually says "a thunderous noise" which is certainly what happened in Winchester Cathedral!

Was this a sign that something special is beginning to happen in the old denominational churches? Will the spiritual life of the nation be transformed by a new generation embracing the gospel in their own culture as the Holy Spirit breathes new life into the unchanging message of salvation and "Jesus is Lord!" is once again heard on the lips of children and young people?

References

1 See thykingdom.co.uk.

2 Ibid.

Paul Luckraft reviews 'When a Jew Rules the World' by Joel Richardson (WND Books, 2015)

From its intriguing and somewhat provocative title to its final sentence (in which the author expresses his personal longing for the day when indeed Jesus will rule the world) this is an impressive and wide-ranging book on the topic of the role of Israel in God's plan.

The author demonstrates a powerful theological and historical argument for God's sovereign election of Israel and his eternal purposes for them, guiding the reader through the history of the Jewish people and their all-important role in God's future kingdom, when Messiah Jesus will be in complete charge.

He is thoroughly convinced that if the church "is to ever regain the clarity and prophetic spirit it needs to navigate the dark days ahead" then it must reject the false doctrine of replacement theology and begin the process of cleansing "by acknowledging Israel as the essential thread that runs throughout the Lord's unfolding promise-plan of redemption" (p6). He hopes this book will help to combat the ignorance and arrogance whose consequences have been seen throughout history and which are likely to be repeated in the days ahead.

This is an impressive and wide-ranging book which guides readers through the history of the Jewish people and their role in God's future kingdom.

Surveying History and Theology

The book is in three parts. The first outlines what the Bible says about Israel in the plan of God, including a discussion of each of the main covenants found in the Old Testament and a look ahead to what is promised in the new covenant, including the restoration of the Jewish Kingdom.

As he examines the Biblical covenants with Abraham, Moses and David, he doesn't shirk the issues of land and what this will one day mean when Jesus rules the world. Overall in this section he provides a very helpful analysis of the distinctions between these three covenants - and condemns those who blur them into one 'old' covenant.

The second part is an historical survey of what he calls 'Jew-hatred', a term he prefers to 'anti-Semitism' as it is more specific. He asserts that replacement theology, or 'supersessionism' (again, his preferred terminology), is at the heart of this Jew-hatred, being both its foundational principle and constant driving force. The details here are largely familiar and are found in many other similar works of this kind, but it is an essential part of his overall thesis. He tackles the atrocities in their usual chronological order, from 115 AD and the early Church Fathers, via Constantine and onwards to Luther and the Reformation, the Russian pogroms and finally, of course, the Holocaust.

Richardson examines the distinctions between God's covenants with Abraham, Moses and David, condemning their blurring into one 'old' covenant.

The third section is largely a consideration of Biblical prophetic passages. Richardson's conviction is that we must take the Bible literally wherever possible and that these things will happen. As a consequence of this belief, Jesus will one day rule from Jerusalem. The only way to avoid this conclusion is to spiritualise the promises God gave to Israel, and create a preterist or amillennial theology (these terms are clearly explained!). The author declares that the only way to combat the errors of replacement theology is by advocating a thoroughly restorationist, futurist, pre-millennialist position (again, all is made clear early on, in chapter 2).

The author attacks logically but lovingly those who distort clear biblical truth. He is prepared to name them while recognising that they do hold their beliefs most sincerely. However, he points out that "even the most brilliant mind is at a profound disadvantage when defending something that is not true" (p62). A gifted eloquence is no substitute for truth.

The book analyses what the Bible says about Israel - including its future - and surveys anti-Semitism through the ages.

Islamic 'Replacement Theology'

His book includes an interesting chapter on Islamic supersessionism, showing how Islam has embraced its own form of replacement theology over both Jews and Gentiles. Within this he remarks how the Islamic view of the end-times changes the role of Jesus on his return from that of Jewish King to Muslim preacher and judge - no longer a Jew ruling the world but an advocate of Islam!

There is a very good section on many of the great teachers and preachers who predicted the re-establishment of Israel, such as JC Ryle, Charles Spurgeon and David Baron. He also upholds Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Corrie Ten Boom as two shining examples for our day.

Towards the end he issues a warning to those interested in biblical prophecy and apocalyptic matters that it is so easy to approach all this "in a factual, yet deeply detached and emotional manner" and forget that we "are speaking of real families, real people, real lives. If discussing these things does not fill our hearts with sorrow or drive us to our knees in prayer, then it is clear that we are not seeing them through the eyes of the Father or His Son, Jesus" (p234-5).

Excellent from start to finish - thoroughly recommended to anyone who wants to understand better the relationship of Israel to Bible prophecy.

Thoroughly Recommended

Here is a well-informed approach to the topic - clear and very readable. Richardson knows what needs to be said and how to say it for our benefit and edification. His book has good endnotes and a general index, though not a bibliography or scripture index. Clearly he has thought through in detail what it means to believe in a Jewish kingdom within the Millennium, and he is able to reassure us that the olive tree into which we are grafted is not dead or uprooted.

Excellent from start to finish, this book is thoroughly recommended to anyone who wants to understand better the relationship of Israel to Bible prophecy.

Hardback, 273 pages, available from Awesome Books for £13.43 + P&P, or from Amazon for £18.58.

Monica Hill gives an overview of Romans 12 and the 'natural' gifts.

"We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully" (Rom 12:6-8)

The gifts listed in Romans 12 are often regarded as natural abilities that should be obvious in any church or community. As a result, their significance can often be missed – especially if they are not studied in the context of the whole passage.

These natural giftings – serving, teaching, encouraging, etc - can be exercised in many walks of life. Natural talents are obviously gifts which have been given to us by God and we should always give thanks to him for them. But these 'natural gifts' can all too often be exercised without any reference to God – indeed, most of them are also present and valued in the non-Christian world.

This means that they are not always used in ways that benefit the Body of Christ. An obvious example: it could be assumed that a talented, organised Bank Manager would make the best Treasurer of church funds. But his secular banking experience might cause him to oppose faith projects that trust in God to supply the funds, instead requiring all the funds to be in the bank before the project begins (he would also spell 'prophet' differently!).

Natural becoming Spiritual

For Christians, our 'natural' gifts can become 'spiritual' gifts- through the enabling power of God's grace and through our own self-sacrifice. Paul begins the Romans 12 passage by urging believers "in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship." Paul expects there to be evidence of self-sacrifice. In the previous chapter, Paul gives teaching on the grace of God needed for Gentile believers in their relationship with Jews and he gives over the remainder of chapter 12 to teaching on the true nature of love.

God gives everyone natural gifts and abilities- but only through the enabling power of his grace can they be transformed into truly 'spiritual' gifts.

Change of Mindset

Strange as it may seem, these gifts in Romans 12 are often the most difficult to convert into spiritual gifts. This conversion requires humility and a change of mindset.

In the same chapter, Paul tells us: "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourselves with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you" (12:3). He then goes on to show how each believer is a member of the Body of Christ and each of them are necessary. Then come the nine gifts, all with a careful corollary on the way in which they are to be used, starting with "in proportion to faith".

Why should Paul take so much care in outlining the practice of these natural gifts? Unfortunately, too often when we find something easy we can take it for granted and even begin to think that we have achieved it all in our own strength. Young people today are encouraged to blow their own trumpets and boast on their CVs. As we have already noted, those who have no faith also have these gifts - but many times they are exercised for personal gain and not for the enrichment of others - or they can be exercised badly or for the wrong motives.

Using your natural talents for the Kingdom of God requires humility and self-sacrifice- not the pride and boasting encouraged by the world."

End Purpose

The ultimate purpose of God's natural gifts is to bless and build up others, sending a message to the world that God is at work in his people. Verse 2 of the Romans passage warns us "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind", or as J B Phillips graphically translates this verse "Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity".

Too often Christians have allowed themselves to be persuaded to adopt the values of the world and to use these as their yardstick. They should really rather be acting as transforming agents to encourage the world to accept and confirm Biblical values. One God-ordained way to achieve this is to use of his natural giftings in a humble, self-sacrificial, Spirit-filled way that turns worldly priorities on their head.

This is not an easy task, as it is never finished! God has no grandchildren, and each generation of Christians needs to faithfully take up the mantle of encouraging others to embrace the faith, its principles and values. The structures may change and be adapted to have relevance in today's world, but ultimately the ministry is still the same- reconciling man to God.

The ultimate goal is for us to become agents of God's transformation, working with him to win others for Christ."

We live in difficult times – when individualism is running rife – when 'I', 'me-and-my-needs' are the main values in secular society, with community and strangers taking second place. The premise I was brought up on - 'God first, others second, self last' - is out of vogue today and needs to be re-emphasised in the church by the use of these easily recognisable 'natural' gifts. We will look at these in more detail in the next instalment.