The Government's propaganda may put people off, or it may deceive them - just as the nation was deceived in the 1975 EU Referendum.

British people dislike bullies. We have a strong sense of fair play and on big issues we like to weigh the evidence and make up our own minds. We are an island people and we value our independence. We do not like being bullied. This is why the huge pressure being put upon the electorate by the Government and their overseas friends, international leaders, big business corporations and bankers may prove to be counter-productive.

The Government promised to help the undecided by publishing the facts. Instead, they have spent £9 million on a blatant piece of propaganda trying to persuade us to stay in the European Union. The front page title of the booklet gives the game away. It says nothing about a presentation of the facts. Its title is "Why the Government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK". It then states "The UK has secured a special status in the reformed EU".

We should surely be entitled to ask, what 'special status'? And in what way is the EU 'reformed'? Are the British people once again being deceived by lies from powerful politicians - as we were 40 years ago?

More Deception?

What is happening today looks very similar to how we were tricked into entered the European Union. Ted Heath, the Prime Minister who did the original deal in 1973, readily admitted before he died that he had lied to Parliament and to the British people because he knew that we were not simply joining a trading group but that the intention was always to work towards the formation of a United States of Europe in which we would all lose our sovereign identity.¹

This fact was deliberately kept hidden from the British public when we voted at the 1975 referendum on whether or not we should stay in the 'European Economic Community' ('Common Market') as it was then described. In those days it was largely a trading group with nine member states, whereas today the EU is a very different beast, with 28 members in a tightly regulated organisation bound by treaties, such as Maastricht and Lisbon, and controlled by an unelected Commission backed by an enormous bureaucracy, with institutions such as the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice exercising enormous power over our own parliament and legal courts.

In 1975, we were asked to vote on whether we should stay in a small trading group of nine countries. Today, the EU is a very different beast.

When the Maastricht Treaty was being negotiated there were attempts by churches to get some reference to the Judaeo-Christian heritage of Europe but this was strongly resisted by secular humanists, who prevailed.² The resultant European Union is not only deliberately a godless - in fact, God-denying - organisation, but it is also systemically corrupt, as demonstrated by the fact that it has not been able to persuade the auditors to endorse its accounts for at least the past five years.³ In this country, if a company were in that situation they would not only be prosecuted but they would not be allowed to continue in business.

Miracles in the Past

So how should Christians decide on such an important issue? We surely have to recognise the moral and spiritual battle for the soul of Britain that is involved in the present referendum debate. Christians need to know what God is saying to us, not least by looking at the recent history of Britain in a biblical context. This enables us to understand the purposes of God and what he requires of a nation with a strong Judaeo-Christian heritage such as Britain's.

There are still many people in the older generation who remember that God worked a miracle at Dunkirk in 1940, saving our army from annihilation and giving us victory in the Battle of Britain in the skies. Even Churchill acknowledged in Parliament that it Dunkirk was a "miracle of deliverance".⁴ Those were days when the whole nation turned to prayer.

It was also at a time of national prayer that Hitler took the irrational decision not to invade Britain. It is now recognised that if the German invasion had taken place in 1940 nothing could have stopped them conquering Britain. Dad's Army would no doubt have fought valiantly but German Panzer tanks would have been rolling down Whitehall within days. 

When a nation puts its destiny in the hands of God it can expect miracles to happen. It has happened in the past and it can happen again today – if there is a sufficiently strong believing remnant in the country.

When a nation puts its destiny in the hands of God it can expect miracles to happen. It has happened in the past and it can happen again today.

Opportunity for the Remnant

Of course we know that as a nation we have spurned our spiritual heritage: we have passed many ungodly laws and we no longer deserve to be called a Christian nation. But there is undoubtedly a strong remnant of believers in the older generation and there are many indications of young people coming to faith in Jesus – possibly in reaction to the mess their unbelieving parents have made of the nation. It is the middle generation who are missing in many churches up and down the country today.

Believing Christians know that as a nation we deserve judgement but we also know the love and mercy of God who has given a solemn promise, "If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned" (Jer 18:7).

The Referendum debate is bringing believing Christians to prayer throughout the country. Many prayer meetings are organised for this weekend, St George's Day, 23 April, and many more are planned between now and 23 June. These prayer meetings give us a chance to seek the Lord and know what he is saying to the nation so that we can pray in line with God's will and vote accordingly.

Word on the EU, 2015

We have already nailed our colours to the mast in this magazine but we know many Christians who are still undecided. We respect their integrity and we therefore encourage them to join other Christians in prayer where they can spend time spreading the whole issue before the Lord who will surely answer in clarity.

If you have not yet decided which way to vote, we encourage you to join with others in prayer and spread the issue before the Lord.

Alongside this article we are printing a prophecy from David Noakes that has already been widely circulated. I was with him when he received this prophecy towards the end of last year. David and I have been close friends and colleagues since the early days of the old printed magazine, Prophecy Today.

We have shared a platform at hundreds of meetings over the years and I have heard him prophesy many times, but I have never heard him bring a word that is as directional as this. In publishing it today, please understand that we are not saying that this is a direct word from the Lord. We offer it in love and humility to our fellow believers for weighing and testing, and we offer it as part of the process of seeking the word of the Lord for Britain today.

References

1 E.g. Quote from PRO/FCO 30/789, Sub-committee of official committee on monetary aspects of UK entry to EEC, 1970. The Heath Government's positive response: PRO/CAB 164/771, Informal talks with the European Commission and the exchange of views with member countries during the negotiation period, 1970.

2 E.g. Anderson, MJ. Ungodly Ways: The Dark Side of the European Union. CRISIS Magazine, 1 June 2003.

3 Waterfield, B and Dominiczak, P. EU auditors refuse to sign off more than £100billion of its own spending. The Telegraph, 4 November 2014.

4 Speech to the House of Commons, 4 June 1940. Transcript available via The Churchill Society.

The latest revelations from the Panama Papers are damaging the Prime Minister's credibility.

Next week promises to be a very lively week in Westminster, with the Prime Minister fighting for his political life following revelations of his offshore investment - and charges that Number 10 brought forward the announcement of the publication of the EU leaflet to deflect attention from David Cameron.

Officially, Parliament is still on its Easter holiday break. But from all over the country, breaking news today (Friday 8 April) shows MPs on both sides of the House highly disturbed at what is going on in the government. The publication of the so-called 'Panama Papers' is rocking Downing Street because David Cameron's father is said to be one of those named in the database of Mossack Fonseca, the Panama-based law firm. The leaked documents are said to show how the law firm helped rich clients to launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax.

Damaged Credibility

There is no suggestion that David Cameron or his father were involved in illegal financial deals but the very fact that it took some days for the PM to admit that he had personally owned some shares in his father's firm is damaging to his credibility. He has stated that he sold the shares in 2010 before he became Prime Minister and that he complied with all the UK tax requirements when cashing in his investment.

Further damage to the Prime Minister's standing comes from the advanced publication of the government's EU Referendum leaflet which is to be distributed to every household throughout Britain - at a cost to the taxpayer of nearly £10 million. Already the leaflet is being heavily attacked for the veracity of its claims, which are said to be highly biased in favour of recommending the public to vote to stay in the European Union.

The very fact that the government is going to such extraordinary lengths to try to persuade voters to stay within the EU is profoundly disturbing. It is more likely to make people question the reasons why they are using such heavy-handed tactics.

The extraordinary lengths to which the government is going to persuade voters to stay within the EU are profoundly disturbing.

Doubting the Government

There were already many doubts about the 'new deal' the Prime Minister had said that he would negotiate with all the member states of the EU. He had boasted that he aimed to see a 'reformed Europe' which he could present to the British people. In pursuit of this reform he toured the capitals of Europe and spent hundreds of hours in discussion with EU leaders. But the resultant deal was certainly not a 'reformed Europe'.

Now, with this government leaflet that appears to be little more than EU propaganda and the Prime Minister's personal reputation being damaged, public trust in the government's handling of the Referendum may well wane.

A Nation Under Judgment

Many Christians believe that Britain is already a nation under judgment, following so many unrighteous Acts of Parliament that have steered the nation away from its biblical heritage into the paths of secular humanism. When a nation has embraced the Judeo-Christian faith for hundreds of years - as we have done in Britain - and then turns away from the truth, there are inevitably dire consequences in its spiritual and moral welfare which affect the social and economic health of the whole population. Quite simply, this is what has happened in Britain.

There is a severe warning in scripture to those who deliberately turn away from the truth: "The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him" (Deut 28:20). I know that these words were said to Israel who are a people in a special covenant relationship with God. But in Jeremiah 18, there is a similar warning that applies to all nations. It says this: "If at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it" (Jer 18:9-10).

When a nation embraces God for centuries and then turns away, there are inevitably dire consequences.

Confusion and Rebuke

Clearly our government is being severely shaken, with many backbench MPs even considering refusing to vote for the budget because of the distorted 'facts' in the EU Referendum leaflet – "confusion and rebuke" would be a good description of what is likely to be happening in our parliament in the next few days.

What can Christians do? Certainly we should be praying for our leaders. But also we should be calling for a clear presentation of the facts about the EU and not standing for attempts to scare people to remain under its jurisdiction. It is time for honesty and truth from our leaders. This is the only way that trust can be restored.

What will happen if we leave Europe? Perhaps the question we should ask is: what will happen if we don't?

The media is focused on the political, financial and social implications of a possible Brexit – legislation, trade, migrants. However, we are the spiritual leaders of the nation and so we must consider the spiritual and moral implications too. We should be asking questions such as: what is the EU's ethos? Does it uphold our Judeo-Christian heritage? Has it retained the foundations of Christian Europe or is it humanist (man-centred) in outlook?

Controversial Symbolism

Many Christians have noted symbols used by the EU and drawn sinister conclusions about their intent. A popular view is that the Strasbourg Parliament building was based on the painting The Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (though the architects actually were inspired by Roman amphitheatres).

To add to the confusion, the 'Many Tongues, One Voice' poster used by the Council of Europe bears a resemblance to the Brueghel painting and certainly the slogan implies a reference to Babel. Some have pointed out the poster's use of inverted stars, which are also symbols used in witchcraft. However, the Council of Europe is a separate organisation to the EU¹ and so the Babel imagery cannot be said to have been deliberately used by the EU at all.

A controversial image which is used by the EU is the statue of Europa from the tale by the Roman author Ovid, about a woman ravished by Zeus or Jupiter. It depicts a woman riding a beast, leading many to point to Revelation 17's woman riding a beast, also known as the prostitute 'Babylon', with whom the "kings of the earth" commit adultery and who intoxicates the inhabitants of the earth (Rev 17:1-2).

This image has also appeared on various Euro coins and postage stamps. In Revelation this woman is an archetype of those who war against God's people: "I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus" (Rev 17:6).

One controversial image which is used by the EU is the statue of Europa, which depicts a woman riding a beast, leading many to point to Revelation 17 and its prophesied war against God's people.

Post-Christian Europe

Yet we do not need to observe statuary, buildings or symbols to recognise that we are living in post-Christian Europe and that biblical values are blatantly set aside by governments. This is not a hidden agenda - it is done openly. The list below of Ungodly laws passed in Britain since 1950 (Issachar Ministries, published elsewhere on prophecytoday.uk) demonstrates that the British government is quite capable of enacting a humanistic agenda without the EU's assistance.

The jury is still out on whether the EU provides a layer of protection in this context, or whether it exacerbates the problem. For instance, the Christian Legal Centre takes its appeals to Europe when they do not succeed here (for example, Aisling Hubert's gender abortion case, as reported in the last issue of HEART²). However, limiting our sovereignty to one government's laws is preferable, arguably, to having two such levels of humanistic legislation to battle.

The issue of UK sovereignty goes beyond legislation, in any case. We need to consider our position strategically for the end times. Leaving the EU gives us the ability to act unilaterally with regard to Israel and without being forced to provide troops for the EU army. When the nations surround Jerusalem (Luke 21:20), we do not want our nation to have been compelled to be there.³ We want to ensure that British citizens have the chance to be among the 'sheep' rather than the 'goats' of Matthew 25:31-46.

The issue of UK sovereignty goes beyond legislation – we also need to consider our position strategically for the end times.

Erasing God and Christianity

Since October 2004, we have been bound to Europe constitutionally by The Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe. When the Constitution was being written, Pope John Paul II pleaded for recognition that as a "new institutional order, Europe cannot deny its Christian heritage, since a great part of its achievements in the fields of law, art, literature and philosophy have been influenced by the evangelical message."⁴

The Pope called for a strong reference to Europe's Christian roots in the preamble.⁵ Bishops and religious leaders backed up the Pope, including Rabbi Aba Dunner, secretary general of the Conference of European Rabbis, who stated, "I would love to see the word 'God' in there, in some form or another."⁶ Critics argued that a Judeo-Christian reference did not resonate with secular Europe and pointed to another problem: what of the continent's Muslim populations?

One Irish priest commented, "First Brussels will remove our independence, then they will give us mandatory abortion and euthanasia and homosexual 'unions...And that is all seen as enlightened and touted as Europe's commitment to 'equality and justice.' But without our sovereignty - we will be powerless to resist."⁷

Here is the Preamble to the Constitution, with no mention of our Judeo-Christian heritage:

DRAWING INSPIRATION from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, from which have developed the universal values of the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law...⁸

Note the deliberate use of the word 'humanist', with the word 'religious' undefined and sandwiched uneasily between references to culture and humanism. Despite the Pope's and others' requests, there are no references in the Constitution to God or Christianity.

The EU's constitution makes no mention of the great debt owed by Europe to its Judeo-Christian heritage – despite numerous calls for its acknowledgment from prominent religious figures.

Pluralism, Rights and Freedom

Note too the use of the word 'pluralism' in the list of the Union's values (below) and the emphasis on humanity's dignity, rights and freedom, without ultimate responsibility to any higher authority.

In the EU Constitution's Article below about Freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the phrase "in public or in private, to manifest religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance" is being flouted continually, as the UK's Christian Legal Centre's growing case-load bears witness. Recently, it was reported that a Christian student has been expelled from a social work course at Sheffield University over his biblical views on marriage and sexual ethics, which he posted on Facebook. How can it be said that he is allowed to express his beliefs publicly?

It seems that there is a clash between the Union's Article on Values and the Article on Freedom of thought, conscience and religion. You are free to express your religious views - but only insofar as they do not offend anyone who holds a different opinion. The EU claims to protect freedom of religion but recent cases show that where these values clash with cherished anti-biblical values, Christians are unlikely to be supported.

We also need to think about whether the EU has been an institution worthy of our allegiance and respect. The European Parliament's well-documented history of corruption and misappropriation of funds speaks for itself.

Not Rejecting Europe's People

A vote to leave is not just a vote for self-preservation by Christians. It is a vote for the future stability and security of our nation, for whom we stand accountable before God spiritually.

A vote to leave should not be considered to be a rejection of Europe's people or our mandate to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. A Brexit should not mean descent into national introspection and 'little Englander' protectionism. A Prophecy Today UK reader reminded us that in 1947, Smith Wigglesworth (an outstandingly anointed man of God and pioneer of the Pentecostal movement) prophesied about the UK and Europe:

When the Word and the Spirit come together, there will be the biggest movement of the Holy Spirit that the nation, and indeed the world, has ever seen. It will mark the beginning of a revival that will eclipse anything that has been witnessed within these shores, even the Wesleyan and the Welsh revivals of former years. The outpouring of God's Spirit will flow over from the UK to the mainland of Europe, and from there will begin a missionary move to the ends of the earth.¹²

We do not need to remain politically and economically bound to Europe to forge strong spiritual ties. When we were a self-determining nation trading across the world, we led the world in missionary endeavour. Let's seek spiritual union with Christians across Europe but leave an increasingly ungodly political union.

UNGODLY LAWS PASSED IN BRITAIN SINCE 1950

1. 1951: The Fraudulent Mediums Act (Deut 18:10-13) which abolished The Witchcraft Act This legalised witchcraft in Britain which had previously been banned for centuries and made all occult arts legal. Through this Act Britain allowed all kinds of spiritual activities to be acceptable. Alien spirits and witchcraft activities are offensive to God and we are severely warned against them in Scripture. In Romans 1:23-29 Paul says that idolatry is the first step in the corruption of human civilisation which leads to "sexual impurity" and other "shameful lusts" and "every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity".
2. 1959: The Obscene Publications Act (Mark 7:21-23) was a very weak Act and had the effect of making it more difficult to prosecute pornographers, as lawyers had to prove that the publications had "a tendency to corrupt and deprave". Defence lawyers were able to ask the jury if they had been corrupted and depraved by exposure to a book, film or video. Most jurors did not want to say that they had been 'depraved'. The defence were able to claim that it was a 'public good' and an 'educational' value. The Act's Amendment in 1977 (Col 3:5-6) and The Broadcasting Act 1990 extended the law to cinema and television respectively, preparing the way for the Internet. This Act allowed all kinds of offences to be screened into our homes that certainly are an offence to God.
3. 1965: The Murder (Abolition of the Death Penalty) Act (Lev 24:17-22) removed the death penalty from the Statute Book for all kinds of murder and sent a message through the nation about the social acceptability of violence.
4. 1967: The Abortion Act (Gen 4:10-11). We had abolished the death penalty for murder but in 1967 we said it was acceptable to murder unborn babies. Doctors were now allowed to perform abortions if they complied with certain conditions. About 450 abortions take place daily in British hospitals, bringing to more than 6 million the number of unborn children killed since abortions became legal.
5. 1967: The Sexual Offences Act (Lev 18:22, Rom 1:22-27) was a further offence to God and directly against the Word of God where homosexual practices are said to be detestable to God. It decriminalised homosexual acts between consenting men over the age of 21, if done in private. (a) In 1994, the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act reduced to 18 the homosexual age of consent. (b) In 2000, the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act equalised the age of consent for homosexual and heterosexual sex at 16. This Amendment Act was brought in against the wish of the vast majority of the population and against the stern opposition of the House of Lords. The Government used the Parliament Act, which is only to be used for extreme measures of constitutional importance, to drive this through. This virtually abolished Clause 28 and allowed homosexual acts to take place between young people of sixteen years of age and upwards. Both boys and girls were thus allowed to be exposed to paedophiles and sexual predators and children in schools were taught that all forms of sexual intercourse were allowable according to each individual's wishes.
6. 1967: The Obscene Publications Act Amendment (Eph 5:4-6, Rom 13:13) further opened the way for all kinds of pornography and literature to be published of an explicit sexual nature.
7. 1968: The Theatres Act (Prov 15:26, 1 Thess 4:7) abolished 'censorship of the theatre', although the public performance of plays requires licensing, and obscene performances are prohibited. This Act allowed nudity and all kinds of explicit sexual acts on stage. The effects of this Act in removing censorship were long-lasting and soon began to have a wide effect upon the arts and media.
8. 1969: The Divorce Reform Act (Mark 10:2-12) introduced the principle of the irretrievable breakdown of marriage as the sole ground for divorce, to be proved by adultery, unreasonable behaviour, or desertion; or by two years separation with consent to a divorce, or five years separation without consent to a divorce. In other words, it opened the way for easy divorce – the floodgates were opened by this Act for widespread marriage breakdown.
9. 1972: The European Communities Act, the EC (Amendment Acts of 1986 and of 1993) (Ps 9:10,17) took Britain into the European Economic Community (EEC), and by which the Single Market and Maastricht Treaty both became law. All these measures contributed to increased political control over Britain by unelected non-nationals in Europe.
10. 1989: The Children Act (Ps 127:3-5). Despite the good intention of this Act to increase the protection of children, it had the fundamental effect of removing the traditional concept that parents are the best judges of their children's welfare. Grandparents were no longer recognised in the kin structure of the family that were reduced to 'significant others', thus promoting the breakdown of traditional family life.
11. 1990 Amendment to the Abortion Act (Jer 7:31, Ps 106:37-38) reduced the age at which an unborn baby could be aborted to twenty weeks and legalised the abortion of 'disabled' babies at a much later stage than that. King David spoke about God knitting him together in his mother's womb and Jeremiah speaks about being called into ministry from the time of his conception (Jer 1:5). This Act showed our society's total disregard for the principle that life is sacred as the gift of God.
12. 1990: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (Ecc 11:5) legalised the creation of embryos for experimentation or storage in laboratories. This Act also amended the Abortion Act 1967, resulting in abortion on demand for handicapped babies right up to the time of birth.
13. 1993: The Sunday Trading Act (Ex 20:8-11) allowed widespread trading on Sundays which was directly against God's command to observe a Sabbath day, a day of rest each week. There was a marked increase in the number of shops opening on Sunday (20% of all shops in October 1994, and 54% by July 1999). It produced an acceleration in the closure of neighbourhood shops, an expansion of Sunday work and general increase in traffic and pollution. Sunday became just another day like any other day which inevitably weakened family life and reduced church attendance.
14. 1994: The National Lottery Act (1 Tim 6:10) instituted a state national lottery. It pays out 50% of its taking to winners, but is an intrinsically regressive form of voluntary taxation, as the burden falls most heavily on the poor. Further, many of the 'good cause' recipients, who receive 28% of the takings, have agendas wholly opposed to Biblical values. The National Lottery has become an obsession for millions of people wanting to get rich quick and it encourages people to gamble, often with money they cannot afford.
15. 1995: Licensing Sunday Hours Act (Deut 12:5, Mark 2:17) virtually abolished Sunday observance and was another direct Act against the Word of God – more or less legalising anything to happen on Sundays, but with some restrictions on the number of hours that shops could open for business.
16. 1995: Removing Prohibitions on Advertisements (Rom 1:24) legalised sexually explicit images that had previously been regarded as obscene. It marked yet another stage in the corruption of society by exposing the nation to obscenities.
17. 1996: The Family Law Act (Mal 2:16) replaced the five grounds for divorce in the Divorce Reform Act 1969 with a so-called 'no-fault' divorce system. The Lord Chancellor announced in 2001 that this part of the Family Law Act would not be brought into effect and would be repealed in due course.
18. 1997: The Amsterdam Treaty (Ps 2:1-2) further eroded national sovereignty, bringing Britain increasingly under the rule of a humanist, anti-Christian code of law. This was one more step in Britain being ruled from Brussels rather than by our own elected Members of Parliament. It was selling our birthright for a mess of pottage.
19. 1999: The Finance Act (Is 61:8) scrapped the already low value of the Married Person's Allowance for the tax year 2000/2001, thereby signalling the government's lack of esteem for marriage. It was a further step towards the degradation of marriage and the breakup of family life in Britain.
20. 2001: Regulations to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (Ex 23:7) permitted embryo research for developing treatments for serious diseases. Effectively, this allows cloning of human embryos and experimenting with creating human life.
21. 2004: The Civil Partnership Act (Matt 19:5, Eph 5:3) granted civil partnerships in the United Kingdom rights and responsibilities very similar to that of civil marriage. Civil partners have the same property rights as married heterosexual couples with the same pension benefits and social security rights. They also have the rights of parental responsibility for partner's children as well as 'tenancy' and 'next of kin' rights with a formal process for dissolving partnerships which is similar to divorce in the case of marriage.
22. 2004: The Gender Recognition Act (Gen 2:23, Is 5:20) granted transsexual people legal recognition as members of the sex opposite to their birth gender, either male or female. This allowed them to acquire a new birth certificate recognising their new gender within the law and allowing them to marry a person of the opposite sex. The Act required applicants to have transitioned two years before the issue of a certificate but it made no requirement for sex reassignment surgery to have taken place. The act was a further assault on God's act of creation of human beings in his own image, both male and female.
23. 2013: The Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act (Rom 1:6-27, 1 Cor 7) redefined traditional marriage which had always been between a man and a woman. It allowed two persons of the same gender to enter into legally recognised marriage. This Act crossed a red line in British parliamentary history. It passed a law that directly contradicted God's act of creation in creating men and women as complementary human beings to be united in a faithful marriage covenant through which the physical expression of love would produce the procreation of children to ensure the health and well-being of future generations of the human race. The passing of this Act was said to be under strong duress from the European Union upon British politicians.

This list of unGodly laws is published as a pamphlet by Issachar Ministries (reproduced here with permission). It is available on application to www.issacharministries.co.uk - or ring (01767) 223270.

References

1 "The Council of Europe, founded in 1949, is a regional intergovernmental organisation whose stated goal is to promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in its 47 member states, covering 820 million citizens. The organisation is separate from the 28-nation European Union, though sometimes confused with it, in part because they share the European flag. Unlike the European Union, the Council of Europe cannot make binding laws." Taken from The Council of Europe, Wikipedia.

2 Girl who fought for unborn babies has to pay costs of £50,000. HEART of Sussex, 3 February 2016.

3 Luke 21:20 was a warning about the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome in 70 AD. However, Hebrew prophecy has more than one application and so this is often applied to the end times as well.

4 Anderson, MJ. Ungodly Ways: The Dark Side of the European Union. CRISIS Magazine, 1 June 2003.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.

7 Ibid.

8 Read the Treaty by following this link.

9 See the Christian Legal Centre website.

10 Christian student expelled from social work course over views on marriage. News release, Christian Concern, 27 February 2016.

11 See for example Pancevski, B. £11.5bn of EU aid 'lost to incompetence and graft'. The Sunday Times, 17 January 2016.

12 We are grateful to a reader of the website for reminding us of this.

Whatever their motives, MPs chose to 'Keep Sunday Special' this week. Clifford Hill comments.

Sunday trading has always been a toxic issue in parliament. It was the only issue on which Margaret Thatcher lost a vote in the House of Commons. That was in 1986 when the Shops Bill was defeated in a revolt by 72 Tory MPs who felt strongly that this was an issue of conscience.

From 1986 to 2016

The 1986 vote in parliament was strongly influenced by a successful campaign 'Keep Sunday Special' initiated by Dr Michael Schluter, which was strongly backed by churches of all denominations and had considerable prayer support from Christian organisations.

The successful rebellion against the government this week was led by David Burrowes MP, well-known for his Christian commitment, who said that he had listened to the concerns of his constituents. "I have many shop-workers, many faith groups and many others saying: why are we doing this? Why are we trying to unpick something that's fairly settled?"¹ He also said that for him this was "an issue of conscience" which he could not ignore.²

David Burrowes proposed an amendment which was supported by 317 to 286. The amendment was supported by MPs from across the parties, including Labour, the SNP, the DUP, Lib Dems and 27 Tory backbenchers who voted against the government.

Shameless Economic Agenda

The proposed changes to the Sunday trading laws would have benefited the larger stores who currently are only allowed to open for six hours on a Sunday. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said that it was "a major win" for small businesses in England and Wales as its members were "unconvinced of the economic case for relaxing Sunday trading rules".³

The defeat was greeted with delight by John Hannett, General Secretary of the Shopworkers Union USDAW. He said, "This is the third time in five years that Conservative ministers have attempted to permanently change Sunday trading regulations and the third time they have been unsuccessful."⁴ He added, "We hope now that the Government will leave this great British compromise alone and focus on providing real support for the retail sector, not the unwanted and unnecessary bureaucracy that devolution would have resulted in."⁵

The argument in favour of scrapping restrictions on Sunday trading was shamelessly economic – largely designed to favour big business operators – and showing little concern for the views of shop-workers and the broader negative impacts Sunday trading has upon family life. It is this latter point that is of particular concern for Christians who have watched with dismay over the past 40 years the disappearance of regulations protecting the spiritual health of the nation.

In the past 40 years, Christians have watched the disappearance of regulations protecting the spiritual health of the nation. Increased Sunday trading would have struck a further blow.

Keep Sunday Special

Anything that weakens family life is a blow to the physical, mental and spiritual health of the nation. The pressures of commercialisation have left little opportunity for families to spend time together to relax and simply to communicate with one another. Surely most people should be able to organise their shopping habits to satisfy their needs in six days without encroaching on Sundays at all. Our present regulations are by no means ideal but complete deregulation would finally destroy even the protection that our present Sundays give for at least part of the day to be different from the rest of the week.

This was surely the intention of God in the creation of the world: to have one day free from the pressures of work when there could be a reflection upon things other than merely making a living. This is why honouring the Sabbath is included in the 10 Commandments: because it is important for the health and well-being of all humans.

God instituted the Sabbath for the health and well-being of all humans – to keep one day in the week free from the pressures of work, giving space for reflection on other things.

Corruption and Injustice

In the history of Israel, when the nation ignored the regulations protecting the Sabbath it always resulted in a wide range of social problems that included the exploitation of the poor and vulnerable by the rich and powerful. Greed and corruption led to injustice that enslaved the powerless and destroyed family life.

This was one of the reasons why the prophets strove to protect the people from those who wanted to destroy the Sabbath. Amos told of market traders wanting to end the Sabbath so that they could get on with their trading – "skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat" (Amos 8:5-6).

Nehemiah believed that failing to observe the Sabbath led to God removing his cover of protection over the nation. He saw people in Jerusalem buying and selling on the Sabbath and said, "What is this wicked thing you are doing – desecrating the Sabbath day? Didn't your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath" (Neh 13:17-18).

In Israel's history, when the nation ignored Sabbath regulations it always resulted in the poor and vulnerable being exploited and greed and corruption becoming rife.

The Government has criticised MPs for playing political games in voting against changing the Sunday trading rules. But they still did the right thing - even if their motives were not right!

References

1 Sunday trading changes defeated by Commons rebellion. PSE, 10 March 2016.

2 Government facing battle in Sunday trading vote. BBC News, 9 March 2016.

3 Sunday trading defeat for government as MPs reject changes. BBC News, 9 March 2016.

4 Mason, R.No 10 concedes Sunday trading defeat after Commons rebellion. The Guardian, 9 March 2016.

5. Ibid.

Paul Luckraft reviews 'The Servant Queen and the King she serves' (2016, 64 pages, Bible Society, HOPE, LICC), a unique and magnificent tribute to Her Majesty.

This book is being published jointly by the Bible Society, HOPE and the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC), to mark the Queen's 90^th birthday in April. In a year in which the UK will be looking ahead to its future in or out of the EU, we also have the opportunity to reflect on the many decades of faithful service of one of the most remarkable and Godly monarchs in our long history.

Co-written by Mark Greene of LICC and Catherine Butcher of HOPE, this short book is a magnificent tribute to Her Majesty. It focuses primarily upon her own words delivered in her Christmas messages over the course of her long reign - words which reflect her deep faith in Christ and the gospel. Her gratitude to God for his steadfast love and continued faithfulness is commented upon in the foreword which Her Majesty wrote especially for this publication.

In the foreword, written by Her Majesty especially for this publication, her gratitude to God for his steadfast love and faithfulness shines through.

The book also contains several well-chosen anecdotes - sometimes humorous, always enlightening, which add to the overall impression of a real person behind all the pomp and ceremony of her position. Despite having many servants (though she would never regard her staff as mere servants) she always feeds the corgis herself!

Pictures of her smiling face as she meets and greets people while going about her duty are plentiful, but perhaps most striking is the close-up of her face in quiet prayerful reflection on Remembrance Day.

Through this book we come to understand just how dedicated she has been to the calling placed upon her and how hard she works on a daily basis. Her devotion to us stems from her devotion to God, and for that we can all be profoundly grateful.

Her Majesty's devotion to her people stems from her devotion to God, and for that we can all be profoundly grateful.

Two small snippets of information stood out for me. There was one part of the Coronation ceremony which was not televised as it was considered too sacred to show, but which is described here. This was the moment when all the regalia was removed and, dressed in a simple white dress, the Queen was anointed with oil and set apart to serve.

The other fascinating insight recounts how, when in residence at Sandringham, she often comes unannounced to join the local congregation at the church on the estate. No chauffeur, no ceremony, she slips in through the small side-door and takes a seat in one of the pews - not even the special one reserved only for her. She has simply driven herself to church because she wants to be there.

Overall, this is a very moving account of the private faith of a very public person. For me, what comes through these pages is an overwhelming sense of true majesty. I felt a strong impression that to simply stand - or kneel - silently in her presence, before her throne, would be to get a foretaste of what it will be like one day when we stand - or kneel - before the eternal throne of the King of Kings (and Queens!), the King she serves. And that she would humbly accept our homage as such.

This is a very moving account of the private faith of a very public person – and what comes through these pages is a sense of true majesty.

Bible Society, HOPE, LICC have designed this unique book to be given away to friends and colleagues, to start conversations and to bring communities together.

You can order 'The Servant Queen' through CPO by following this link.

Single copies are priced at £5 + P&P, with bulk orders (packs of 10) bringing the cost down to £1 + P&P. Extra resources also available for school and community distribution.

The Prime Minister has fired the starting gun: what he calls 'the debate of our lifetimes' has begun. Politicians on both sides of the Referendum debate have been falling over themselves to give TV interviews and write newspaper articles.

With the date now fixed as 23 June 2016 we face something like 120 days of wrangling, during which the public is likely to get bored - especially if the debate descends into personal abuse similar to the Presidential Election Campaign in the USA.

In this magazine we have already raised a banner stating our belief that the Referendum offers a unique opportunity for Britain to take a bold step of faith in shaking off the shackles of the European Union and regaining our ability to shape our destiny as a nation.

One thing we do promise our readers – we will not be trotting out the same old arguments week after week, or entering into the minutiae of 'The Deal' negotiated by David Cameron, or debating whether in fact Britain will be 'safer, stronger and richer' by staying in the EU.

No Real Reformation

We acknowledge that the PM has worked extremely hard for many months in trying to persuade the leaders of all the European States to back his proposals. We do not doubt the PM's sincerity and commitment, but in his reports to the House of Commons and numerous other statements it cannot be claimed that the EU have made any significant concessions that could justify asking the country to endorse an agreement with a 'Reformed' European Union.

There does not appear to be any significant reformation! There is no change to the Common Agricultural Policy which is strangling the life out of British farming, such that farmers have the highest rate of suicide of any occupation and the dairy farming industry is likely to be wiped out.

There is no change in the Fisheries Policy which forces our fishermen to throw thousands of fish back into the sea in order not to exceed their quotas, whilst we buy fish caught by foreign fishermen in our own waters. Britannia certainly does not 'rule the waves' around our shores since we gave away our sovereignty to the EU. And there is no change in the predominance of the European Court of Justice, that takes precedence over our own legal system (itself developed over the past 800 years, since Magna Carta).

In this magazine we have already raised a banner stating our belief that Britain should take a bold step of faith in shaking off the shackles of the European Union.

Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/Press Association ImagesMichael Gove said last week "EU rules dictate everything, from the maximum size of containers in which olive oil may be sold (five litres) to the distance houses have to be from heathland to prevent cats chasing birds (five kilometres)."¹

He said, "Individually these rules are comical...As a Minister I've seen hundreds of new EU rules cross my desk, none of which were requested by the UK Parliament, none of which I or any other British politician could alter in any way and none of which made us freer, richer or fairer".²

Speaking of his personal frustration with the restrictions placed upon us he said "Every single day, every single minister is told: 'Yes Minister I understand, but I'm afraid that's against EU rules'."³

Our Greatest Concern

Our greatest concern in this magazine is with the spiritual state of the nation and whether or not decisions regarding its future destiny are in line with the word of God and are likely to have his blessing.

We were greatly concerned during the prolonged negotiations leading up to the Maastricht Treaty, when there were a number of attempts to get some reference in the Treaty to the centuries-long Judaeo-Christian tradition shared by all the nations of Europe. This was vehemently resisted by the secular humanists who have gained power among the unelected officials in the European Union.

Attempts to get the EU to recognise the continent's Judaeo-Christian heritage have long been resisted by secular humanists.

Their atheist values have had a fundamental effect in promoting the secularisation of Britain. A recent example is a 2010 case law challenge to the EU 'Charter of Fundamental Rights' (that became binding in December 2009) from Austria which, though unsuccessful, did lead the European court to affirm same-sex relationships as a valid form of family life protected by fundamental human rights:

61. Regard being had to Article 9 of the Charter ["The right to marry and the right to found a family shall be guaranteed in accordance with the national laws governing the exercise of these rights"]...the Court would no longer consider that the right to marry enshrined in Article 12 must in all circumstances be limited to marriage between two persons of the opposite sex...⁴

This opened the door for a challenge to the law in Britain restricting marriage to persons of the opposite gender, paving the way for the Same-Sex Marriage Bill.

UnGodly and Repressive System

When nations deliberately reject the truth of God's word, they put themselves outside the blessing and protection of God. This is what has happened in Europe, which has gone from being the most Christian continent in the world to the most secular.

Today the nations of Europe are facing multiple problems as they struggle to cope with a vast influx of migrants, high unemployment and growing social discontent, compounded by the desperate attempts to maintain the Euro (which are causing incredible suffering to the poor in countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal).

Of course they all want Britain to stay to help prop up this ungodly and repressive system, which is why all the leaders spent so much time trying to shuffle together a few crumbs for our Prime Minister to take back to London and claim it as a new deal in a "reformed Europe". This is so far from the truth as to be laughable if it were not so serious.

The Prime Minister's 'new deal' is so far from genuine reform as to be laughable – if it were not so serious.

Politicians and leaders of big businesses are combining to try to scare the voting public into remaining in the EU. But the greatest fear is not in leaving, but in staying within a failing organisation. The warning signs have been there for a long time. Now we have the opportunity of escaping before the collapse comes - like Lot getting out of Sodom, or Abraham leaving Ur.

Of course it leads us into unknown territory, but this is where trust in God is far more important than making pacts and treaties with other nations. Jeremiah had to warn the politicians in his day that making treaties with other nations would lead to disaster. He said "The Lord has rejected those you trust; you will not be helped by them" (Jer 2:37). Sadly, the leaders and the people refused to listen and only a few years later Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians who had invaded the land.

The big question facing us today in Britain is whether or not there is sufficient trust in God for him to be able to lead the nation into ways of righteousness and prosperity.

A Faithful Remnant

God is not dependent upon numbers! He loves to work out his salvation with just a handful of people who are totally committed to him like Gideon's 300; and like the 120 disciples on the Day of Pentecost who shouldered responsibility for the 'Great Commission', taking the message of God's salvation to all the world.

God is mobilising the faithful remnant in Britain today to intercede to save the nation. As the prayers of the faithful saved the nation at the time our soldiers were rescued from Dunkirk and our airmen won the Battle of Britain against the might of the Nazi war machine, so too faithful believing prayer has the power to influence the destiny of the nation.

God is mobilising the faithful remnant in Britain today to intercede to save the nation.

We are being offered just such an opportunity to put our trust in God. Even though we will be treading unfamiliar paths; if we are doing this through trust in God, he will respond and ensure that blessing will come upon the nation.

God is Faithful

The God of Creation, who holds the nations in his hands, is faithful to keep his promises. He says:

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. (Isa 42:16)

He also promises when we put our trust in the Lord, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way; walk in it'" (Isa 30:21).

The faithful remnant of believers in Britain today have the opportunity to bless the nation through their prayers and through their witness; that if we put our trust in the Lord he will lead us, not only into ways of righteousness but into times of prosperity and happiness.

References

1 Apps, P, EU Referendum: Michael Gove's full statement on why he is backing Brexit. The Independent, 20 February 2016.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

4 Schalk and Kopf v. Austria (case), European Court of Human Rights. A summary can be found on Wikipedia.

As mental health issues are given huge media attention this week, Clifford Hill reflects on depression: is it a purely individual problem, or does it also have something to do with wider trends in society?

Mental health issues have been given a lot of media attention during the past week. A report by a task force set up by NHS England reported that every year a quarter of the population suffer some form of mental health problem, but three quarters of these do not receive any help.¹

Mental health services are the Cinderella of the NHS and the Prime Minister has responded by calling for greater focus upon mental health issues and promising additional funding.

An Issue Close to Home

The BBC screened a programme on Tuesday this week (16 February, BBC1), still available on iPlayer, which I found particularly harrowing as it featured a young mother whom I've known personally for a number of years - the daughter of one of my friends (he also spoke movingly on the programme). Although a qualified paediatric nurse and a committed Christian with a vibrant faith, after the birth of her first baby she suffered from a rare form of post-natal depression.

Mental health services are the Cinderella of the NHS and the Prime Minister has responded by calling for greater focus on mental health issues.

It is known as 'post-partum psychosis', from which 1 in 500 mothers are said to suffer. Her condition was so severe and caused such powerful mood-swings that she was actually suicidal and had to be admitted to a specialised mother and baby unit. She has now made a remarkable recovery and her baby is doing well, for which the whole family are giving thanks to God.

The Prime Minister chairs a meeting of business leaders to discuss mental health issues in the work place, 15 February, 2016. See Photo Credits.Of course, there are many different forms of mental health issues. By a strange coincidence, two other friends have contacted me during the past week concerning mental health problems with their children. One of these has been struggling to deal with a mixture of aggression and depression in his teenage children since their mother left home to live with someone else.

The Cost of Family Breakdown

The suffering caused by family breakdown is immeasurable. The effects upon physical health and mental and emotional well-being are having life-changing outcomes for millions of children. More than half of all children in Britain will experience a broken home before they leave school.

The unsettling effects of domestic disputes and the disruption of family life affect educational attainment and future life-chances. They also create psychological problems such as aggressive behaviour, which teachers have to deal with in school, and barriers to relationships of love and trust with others that can affect their adult life.

A report last week from the Relationships Foundation said that the cost of family breakdown to the economy of the nation has risen to a staggering £48 billion annually, which means a cost to each taxpayer of £1,820 a year.² Health, education and the economy are all affected by the strength or weakness of family life and our human relationships.

The cost of family breakdown to the national economy is a staggering £48 billion annually - and its impacts on physical, mental and emotional well-being are life-changing for millions of children.

It is in the family that character and personality are developed. If family life is unstable or aggressive it will inevitably affect the children and their relationships with other children. It is no wonder that, with family breakdown so prevalent in Britain, half of all mental health problems are established by age 14, rising to 75% by age 24.³

Rise in Cyber-Bullying

It is quite incredible how cruel children can be to each other and sadly, social media now gives them even more opportunity to spread mischief, lies and hate messages. The other friend who contacted me this week is a single mother whose 15-year-old son is suffering from depression, brought on by migraines as a result of cyber-bullying. His condition has become so severe that he cannot face going to school and is having to be home-schooled in preparation for his forthcoming GCSE exams.

Social media often encourages aggressive behaviour by providing an anonymous environment in which cyber-bullies can operate. The faceless senders feel they can swear, insult, threaten and intimidate their victims, with no thought of the extreme damage and distress being caused. Victims often become frightened and withdrawn – not knowing for sure who is threatening them, and feeling powerless to prevent it. They often suffer depression and related mental health problems - their 'real' relationships suffer – and some are even driven to commit suicide.⁴

Pippa Smith of SaferMedia, in a statement for this magazine, said:

The Internet is a breeding ground for abusive trolls, pornographers and paedophiles, yet children are spending several hours a day on their mobile phones and have easy access to social media sites which is making them vulnerable to dangerous messages. From the comfort of their own bedrooms, unbeknown to their parents, they can be groomed for sex, bullied and even driven to suicide by anorexia sites, suicide sites, and by those who hide behind anonymity to attack and exploit. Facebook, Twitter and others need to act urgently to introduce tighter security settings such as proper vetting and a tougher registration process to protect the vulnerable.

Rev Lynda Rose, Convener of the Lords and Commons Family and Child Protection Group also gave us a statement:

It's a difficult crime to pin down and police powers are inadequate, while the social media has been notoriously slow to respond to complaints and protect victims. This is why the Parliamentary Group is calling for Parliament to strengthen the law governing social media. We want to see victims protected, with dedicated police units set up to deal quickly and efficiently with offenders.

Civilised Society?

Protecting children should be one of the chief objectives not only of government but of the whole population in a civilised society. Some of the hardest words Jesus ever spoke were directed against those who cause harm to children. He specifically spoke about those "who cause little ones to sin" (Matt 18:6). Clearly Jesus was speaking about those who harm the minds of children: what today we would call 'grooming', so that their understanding of right and wrong becomes blurred.

Some of the hardest words Jesus ever spoke were directed against those who cause harm to children.

Many of the different forms of depression afflicting millions of people in the nation result from the enormous pressures we put upon each other in a competitive, acquisitive and affluent society. The whole of our Western civilisation has become self-centred. We view everything from the standpoint of our own self-advantage, which affects all our human relationships. When sinful human relationships get into the family, family life breaks down.

This is where dealing with many forms of depression really starts. We should all be taking the family relationships test to discover how much we care for others. Paul describes ideal relationships within the family. He says:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Does this describe your love relationship with each member of your family? When family relationships are right, righteous relationships in the nation are restored and so too are the health and welfare of each individual.

Finally, the widespread prevalence of depression in the nation should lead us to recognise how we have abandoned our Judaeo-Christian heritage and that only by embracing the word of God will we be brought into a right relationship with our Heavenly Father. The apostle John says, "How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1). Being firmly in the Father's love gives us the security to deal with anything that happens to us.

References

1 The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health. A report from the independent Mental Health Taskforce to the NHS in England, February 2016.

2 Counting the Cost of Family Failure: 2016 update, Relationships Foundation.

3 See 1.

4 The 2015 UK Annual Bullying Survey (Ditch the Label) reports that 43% of young people experience bullying, 62% of which have been cyber-bullied. That means that over a quarter of young people in Britain have been victims of cyber-bullying.

Prophecy Today UK sends an open letter to Her Majesty the Queen.

Despite all the problems our nation has faced over the last year, we at Prophecy Today found a little encouragement over the Christmas season to hear the Prime Minister's affirmation of Christian values in our nation and also the Education Secretary's resolve to promote the Christian heritage of Britain in our schools.

Most of all we were greatly encouraged by the Queen's Christmas message - perhaps the most overtly Christian message of her reign. The message can be accessed for three more weeks on the BBC website and is worth listening to several times as an encouragement and as a prompt to our New Year prayers for the nation.

The Board of Prophecy Today UK has sent a short letter to the Queen, copied in full below.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
Buckingham Palace
London
SW1A 1AA

Your Majesty,

We at Prophecy Today UK would like to thank you for your 2015 Christmas Broadcast. In these challenging days it was so refreshing and encouraging to hear such a clear message of hope and love founded firmly on the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We would also like to encourage you as you enter another year of service to our nation, and to assure you of our ongoing prayers for you, your family and the Government.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Clifford Denton

Chairman
Prophecy Today UK

On behalf of the Ministry Board and our Supporters

What is God saying to Britain through the devastating floods that hit Cumbria and the North West?

In the Bible storms and floods and droughts are undoubtedly a sign from God. The Bible reveals God as the God of Creation. But he did not simply create the universe and then retire somewhere in the cosmos and take no further interest in his creation. Biblical teaching shows God actively involved in the world of nature.¹

So what is God saying to Britain through the devastating floods that hit Cumbria and the North West? First: I'm sure God is reaching out in love and compassion to those who have suffered the devastation of flood waters pouring into their homes and ruining their preparations for Christmas.

Jesus and Tragedies

We can learn a lot from the way Jesus dealt with tragedies. A tower block collapsed in the Siloam District of Jerusalem killing 18 people (Luke 13:4). Jesus was quick to say that those who died were no more wicked than all the rest of the citizens of Jerusalem but this was a sign that God was removing his cover of protection over the rebellious people of that city. This was a warning sign to the whole city that something far more devastating was going to happen unless there was a radical change in the moral and spiritual life of the people.

So what is God saying to Britain today? The plain fact is that as a nation we have turned our backs upon God and ignored many warning signs that the nation is in trouble. God is slowly removing his covering of protection over this land and far worse things will happen than the flooding of some houses. In the lifetime of the older generation we have passed one law after another that has slowly undermined the Judeo Christian foundations of our civilisation.

I'm sure God is reaching out in love and compassion to those who have been devastated by the floods. But as we have turned our backs upon him, he is slowly removing his covering of protection over this land.

The clear up begins in Carlisle. See Photo Credits.

Faith in the Public Square

The report from Baroness Butler-Sloss this week states that nearly half the population have no religion; but instead of recommending measures by which we may seek to restore truth into the public square and to renew the spiritual health and well-being of the nation it foolishly recommends measures that will increase the secular humanist influence.

Yet it is secularism that is responsible for the breakdown of family life which has led to so many ills, including the rise of child abuse. It has also precipitated a collapse of social morality evident in the greed and corruption of bankers, politicians and celebrities that provide such an ungodly model for the younger generation.

If anyone is in doubt that Britain is a nation that deserves to be under judgment, please read the list of unGodly laws that have been passed by our Parliament during the lifetime of the older generation (please note, in listing these laws we are not saying that everything about them has been unbiblical, but we are noting their general effects and the overall trend to which they contribute).

If this list would form the agenda for prayer in every church and prayer group in the country leading to repentance, even though Christians are now a minority in the land, God would respond in accordance with his promises to Israel (2 Chron 7:14) and to all nations (Jer 18:7-8).

UNGODLY LAWS PASSED IN BRITAIN SINCE 1950

1. 1951: The Fraudulent Mediums Act (Deut 18:10-13) which abolished The Witchcraft Act This legalised witchcraft in Britain which had previously been banned for centuries and made all occult arts legal. Through this Act Britain allowed all kinds of spiritual activities to be acceptable. Alien spirits and witchcraft activities are offensive to God and we are severely warned against them in Scripture. In Romans 1:23-29 Paul says that idolatry is the first step in the corruption of human civilisation which leads to "sexual impurity" and other "shameful lusts" and "every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity".
2. 1959: The Obscene Publications Act (Mark 7:21-23) was a very weak Act and had the effect of making it more difficult to prosecute pornographers, as lawyers had to prove that the publications had "a tendency to corrupt and deprave". Defence lawyers were able to ask the jury if they had been corrupted and depraved by exposure to a book, film or video. Most jurors did not want to say that they had been 'depraved'. The defence were able to claim that it was a 'public good' and an 'educational' value. The Act's Amendment in 1977 (Col 3:5-6) and The Broadcasting Act 1990 extended the law to cinema and television respectively, preparing the way for the Internet. This Act allowed all kinds of offences to be screened into our homes that certainly are an offence to God.
3. 1965: The Murder (Abolition of the Death Penalty) Act (Lev 24:17-22) removed the death penalty from the Statute Book for all kinds of murder and sent a message through the nation about the social acceptability of violence.
4. 1967: The Abortion Act (Gen 4:10-11). We had abolished the death penalty for murder but in 1967 we said it was acceptable to murder unborn babies. Doctors were now allowed to perform abortions if they complied with certain conditions. About 450 abortions take place daily in British hospitals, bringing to more than 6 million the number of unborn children killed since abortions became legal.
5. 1967: The Sexual Offences Act (Lev 18:22, Rom 1:22-27) was a further offence to God and directly against the Word of God where homosexual practices are said to be detestable to God. It decriminalised homosexual acts between consenting men over the age of 21, if done in private. (a) In 1994, the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act reduced to 18 the homosexual age of consent. (b) In 2000, the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act equalised the age of consent for homosexual and heterosexual sex at 16. This Amendment Act was brought in against the wish of the vast majority of the population and against the stern opposition of the House of Lords. The Government used the Parliament Act, which is only to be used for extreme measures of constitutional importance, to drive this through. This virtually abolished Clause 28 and allowed homosexual acts to take place between young people of sixteen years of age and upwards. Both boys and girls were thus allowed to be exposed to paedophiles and sexual predators and children in schools were taught that all forms of sexual intercourse were allowable according to each individual's wishes.
6. 1967: The Obscene Publications Act Amendment (Eph 5:4-6, Rom 13:13) further opened the way for all kinds of pornography and literature to be published of an explicit sexual nature.
7. 1968: The Theatres Act (Prov 15:26, 1 Thess 4:7) abolished 'censorship of the theatre', although the public performance of plays requires licensing, and obscene performances are prohibited. This Act allowed nudity and all kinds of explicit sexual acts on stage. The effects of this Act in removing censorship were long-lasting and soon began to have a wide effect upon the arts and media.
8. 1969: The Divorce Reform Act (Mark 10:2-12) introduced the principle of the irretrievable breakdown of marriage as the sole ground for divorce, to be proved by adultery, unreasonable behaviour, or desertion; or by two years separation with consent to a divorce, or five years separation without consent to a divorce. In other words, it opened the way for easy divorce – the floodgates were opened by this Act for widespread marriage breakdown.
9. 1972: The European Communities Act, the EC (Amendment Acts of 1986 and of 1993) (Ps 9:10,17) took Britain into the European Economic Community (EEC), and by which the Single Market and Maastricht Treaty both became law. All these measures contributed to increased political control over Britain by unelected non-nationals in Europe.
10. 1989: The Children Act (Ps 127:3-5). Despite the good intention of this Act to increase the protection of children, it had the fundamental effect of removing the traditional concept that parents are the best judges of their children's welfare. Grandparents were no longer recognised in the kin structure of the family that were reduced to 'significant others', thus promoting the breakdown of traditional family life.
11. 1990 Amendment to the Abortion Act (Jer 7:31, Ps 106:37-38) reduced the age at which an unborn baby could be aborted to twenty weeks and legalised the abortion of 'disabled' babies at a much later stage than that. King David spoke about God knitting him together in his mother's womb and Jeremiah speaks about being called into ministry from the time of his conception (Jer 1:5). This Act showed our society's total disregard for the principle that life is sacred as the gift of God.
12. 1990: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (Ecc 11:5) legalised the creation of embryos for experimentation or storage in laboratories. This Act also amended the Abortion Act 1967, resulting in abortion on demand for handicapped babies right up to the time of birth.
13. 1993: The Sunday Trading Act (Ex 20:8-11) allowed widespread trading on Sundays which was directly against God's command to observe a Sabbath day, a day of rest each week. There was a marked increase in the number of shops opening on Sunday (20% of all shops in October 1994, and 54% by July 1999). It produced an acceleration in the closure of neighbourhood shops, an expansion of Sunday work and general increase in traffic and pollution. Sunday became just another day like any other day which inevitably weakened family life and reduced church attendance.
14. 1994: The National Lottery Act (1 Tim 6:10) instituted a state national lottery. It pays out 50% of its taking to winners, but is an intrinsically regressive form of voluntary taxation, as the burden falls most heavily on the poor. Further, many of the 'good cause' recipients, who receive 28% of the takings, have agendas wholly opposed to Biblical values. The National Lottery has become an obsession for millions of people wanting to get rich quick and it encourages people to gamble, often with money they cannot afford.
15. 1995: Licensing Sunday Hours Act (Deut 12:5, Mark 2:17) virtually abolished Sunday observance and was another direct Act against the Word of God – more or less legalising anything to happen on Sundays, but with some restrictions on the number of hours that shops could open for business.
16. 1995: Removing Prohibitions on Advertisements (Rom 1:24) legalised sexually explicit images that had previously been regarded as obscene. It marked yet another stage in the corruption of society by exposing the nation to obscenities.
17. 1996: The Family Law Act (Mal 2:16) replaced the five grounds for divorce in the Divorce Reform Act 1969 with a so-called 'no-fault' divorce system. The Lord Chancellor announced in 2001 that this part of the Family Law Act would not be brought into effect and would be repealed in due course.
18. 1997: The Amsterdam Treaty (Ps 2:1-2) further eroded national sovereignty, bringing Britain increasingly under the rule of a humanist, anti-Christian code of law. This was one more step in Britain being ruled from Brussels rather than by our own elected Members of Parliament. It was selling our birthright for a mess of pottage.
19. 1999: The Finance Act (Is 61:8) scrapped the already low value of the Married Person's Allowance for the tax year 2000/2001, thereby signalling the government's lack of esteem for marriage. It was a further step towards the degradation of marriage and the breakup of family life in Britain.
20. 2001: Regulations to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (Ex 23:7) permitted embryo research for developing treatments for serious diseases. Effectively, this allows cloning of human embryos and experimenting with creating human life.
21. 2004: The Civil Partnership Act (Matt 19:5, Eph 5:3) granted civil partnerships in the United Kingdom rights and responsibilities very similar to that of civil marriage. Civil partners have the same property rights as married heterosexual couples with the same pension benefits and social security rights. They also have the rights of parental responsibility for partner's children as well as 'tenancy' and 'next of kin' rights with a formal process for dissolving partnerships which is similar to divorce in the case of marriage.
22. 2004: The Gender Recognition Act (Gen 2:23, Is 5:20) granted transsexual people legal recognition as members of the sex opposite to their birth gender, either male or female. This allowed them to acquire a new birth certificate recognising their new gender within the law and allowing them to marry a person of the opposite sex. The Act required applicants to have transitioned two years before the issue of a certificate but it made no requirement for sex reassignment surgery to have taken place. The act was a further assault on God's act of creation of human beings in his own image, both male and female.
23. 2013: The Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act (Rom 1:6-27, 1 Cor 7) redefined traditional marriage which had always been between a man and a woman. It allowed two persons of the same gender to enter into legally recognised marriage. This Act crossed a red line in British parliamentary history. It passed a law that directly contradicted God's act of creation in creating men and women as complementary human beings to be united in a faithful marriage covenant through which the physical expression of love would produce the procreation of children to ensure the health and well-being of future generations of the human race. The passing of this Act was said to be under strong duress from the European Union upon British politicians.

This list of unGodly laws is published as a pamphlet by Issachar Ministries. It is available on application to www.issacharministries.co.uk - or ring (01767) 223270.

References

1 A fortnight ago Prophecy Today published a study article on this very theme.

It's official! Well, that is, according to the report released by former senior judge, Baroness Butler-Sloss. The thin end of the wedge is getting thicker...

Baroness Butler-Sloss's two-year commission involving leading religious leaders from all faiths has concluded that Britain is no longer Christian and recommends that public life should be systematically de-Christianised.

Because of the rise of other faiths, including Islam, the report says that a "new settlement" is needed to give a public voice to those of all religious persuasions and none. This would gradually neutralise any Christian influence in our schools, taking overt Christian teaching from RE lessons and assemblies and challenging the existence of faith schools.

A case is also built for the reduction of the number of Church of England bishops in the House of Lords giving their places to a wide variety of input from other faiths and denominations.

There is also a recommendation for all national and civic events - including the next coronation – to be designed to reflect "the pluralist character of modern society".

The Thin End of the Wedge is Getting Thicker

For some time, we at Prophecy Today have realised that there is a 'thin end of the wedge' regarding subtle attacks on the Christian foundations of our society. All too quickly we are now down to the thicker part of the wedge that is being driven in by humanists and those with multi-faith persuasion.

Though this report does not have a direct impact on the laws of the UK it clearly demonstrates how far we have gone during just one generation. There will be many who have no concern for our nation's history and heritage who will draw strength from this report and the battle lines are being drawn up for the defence of the Faith in our nation.

This report clearly shows how far we have gone during just one generation – the thin end of the wedge has suddenly got much thicker.

Of course we ourselves have monitored with concern the declining numbers attending church and have noted the numbers of those of other religious persuasions increasing across the nation, but our use of the data must be quite different from that of Baroness Butler-Sloss's committee.

Is Britain a Christian Country?

In reality, Britain is not - and never was - a 'Christian country' in an absolute sense. The country has never been entirely full of born-again believers. Yet, when the leadership of the nation has upheld biblical truth and when our laws have been moulded to conform to biblical precepts, Almighty God has protected and prospered us so that the world around has recognised us as, at heart, a Christian country.

The basis of our constitutional position, as we have so often stated, is the central tenet of the 1953 Coronation Oath: the Queen's promise to "maintain the laws of God and true profession of the Gospel". Thank God that this promise and foundation stone remains in place during our Queen's reign. Not only is this Her Majesty's commitment, it is also the commitment of every member of the House of Commons and House of Lords, made through their own oath or affirmation on entering office.

Though a baroness can lead a committee to seek to erode this away, it is in accordance with our constitutional principles and laws that they themselves – including the baroness - have made this commitment. That far we are a Christian country – a backsliding Christian country perhaps, but nevertheless committed to the God of the Bible by strong personal oaths.

Britain is not and never has been a totally Christian country. But at the base of our monarchy and Government still lie strong personal oaths of commitment to the God of the Bible.

Who is Defending the Faith?

It is often said that the UK has an unwritten constitution, which gives the impression that our position is vague and therefore, to some degree, subject to matters of opinion. This is not true when studied from the viewpoint of the Coronation Oath and the many centuries of development of laws and customs that brought us to today. Yet it can be treated as vague if one has a mind to do so and if the nation is led by those who choose to ignore the central principles that were passed on.

Concerned by this, a few years ago I set about writing around to see if I could pin down who is responsible for the checks and balances of maintaining our constitutional position. Starting with the Palace I tried to ascertain how the Queen viewed her Oath and how she would seek to fulfil her vows especially when a new law came up that was against biblical principles. Many of her subjects have also urged her to lead the nation in prayer as did her father in the Second World War.

'There is No Mechanism...'

The answers I have received constantly refer questions back to the Government - most often to the Home Office. The Queen certainly takes her Oath seriously at a personal level but has assumed the role of a 'Constitutional Monarch' who defers to her ministers and signs without question whatever is passed into law through Parliament.

Finding the Home Office non-committal, the next point of enquiry was to try to find the governmental office responsible for constitutional issues, with the question as to whether there is any department in the government that specifically tests government decisions on their conformity to the Coronation Oath. This office has changed its name from time to time. Finally, I located the Constitutional Settlements Division at the Ministry of Justice at 102 Petty France, SW1H 9AJ. This is the reply that I received in full:

Dear Dr Denton,

Thank you for your letter of 17th January 2010. I apologise for the difficulties you have encountered in sending this letter to the appropriate department. We are the team responsible for Constitutional Policy and the relationship between Church and State, and have been asked to respond to your letter.

"The Government does not accept that The Queen has signed any Acts of Parliament which contradict the Coronation Oath. The Coronation Oath is a personal Oath, sworn by the Monarch during the Coronation, when she was asked 'Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel?' There is no mechanism or particular office in place to assist Her Majesty in upholding her Coronation Oath, nor would it be appropriate for such a mechanism or office to exist. (my emphasis)

The conclusion is that responsibility for maintaining the Oath and defending the Faith has fallen into an imprecise place between Monarch and Government and, despite the Oaths and Affirmations made on entering governmental office, no-one is designated to protect our sworn status before God that Britain will seek to be a Christian country.

Responsibility for maintaining our sworn national commitment to God has fallen into an imprecise place between Monarch and Government – there is no-one designated to protect it.

What to Do?

In reality, the only people who will be concerned for our Christian heritage are Christians. Baroness Butler-Sloss's committee has opened out an issue that will deepen even further in the coming days, raising many questions for Christians about faith in the public life of the nation. Should Christians still be defending the heritage that is being systematically attacked and dismantled, encouraging our national leaders to fulfil the solemn promise to God that was made on 2 June 1953? Or should we accept that the days of 'Christian Britain' are long over – and move on?

Should the Church fight for a voice and an influence in the public realm, or should we live quietly and seek to witness where we are placed? Should we defend the use of biblical laws and principles in civic life as what's best for the wellbeing of the nation, when the nation has forsaken God himself?

In my view, answers to these questions depend on whether they are tackled during or after the reign of Queen Elizabeth. A call to repentance across the entire nation has clear context whilst the present Coronation Oath is in force. Now is the time for the rallying cry to sound out to return to our national commitment to the God of the Bible. It may be different when this reign ends. Nevertheless, whether before or after, it remains the responsibility of Christians to seek God for what he is doing and what, by implication, we should be doing. At all times this is the bottom line.

Critical Years Ahead

This issue will not go away. I would suggest that the Lord God himself will not let it be ignored. If the day comes when the foolish recommendations of Baroness Butler-Sloss's Committee are adopted, then our decline as a nation will be under the Hand of God as much as our reaping the consequences of our foolishness. This is how critical the next few years will be at an escalating pace.

The Lord God will not let this issue go away. If the recommendations of this committee are adopted, our national decline will be under the Hand of God.