Calling for little ships of hope to rescue us from disaster

As we approach the 80^th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, I finally got round to watching the DVD of the movie Dunkirk which my son bought for my birthday. The subject has many lessons for the current state of Britain, facing a crisis even darker and more dangerous than confronted us then.

It was obvious, in May 1940, that we faced disaster from which the chances of successful escape were pretty much impossible. But what we had then, and we don’t have now, was a God-fearing nation. Most of the young people portrayed in the film would have had fresh memories of Sunday School and would have felt relatively comfortable about calling to Heaven for help while, at home, mums and dads were quick to respond to the King’s call for prayer, with queues forming outside churches up and down the country.

God was even mentioned in Churchill’s famous speech: “We will fight on the beaches; we will fight on the landing grounds…we shall never surrender…” until victory was achieved “in God’s good time”. It took five more years, but the great man got it right.

Yet none of these factors was reflected in Christopher Nolan’s epic film, which attributed our deliverance only to British grit and the ‘Dunkirk spirit’. Though otherwise brilliant as a production and cinematic experience, it failed miserably in this important aspect, especially considering the great care invested in ensuring accuracy in every detail.

Apart from a few oblique references to the need for a miracle, the ‘God factor’ was meticulously filtered out of the picture. And yet, as the producers made clear in the special features disc that comes with the DVD, they were trying to portray things at the deep end, as it were, in the heart of the action, from three different angles – those of the soldiers, the pilots and the brave boatmen.

Dunkirk has lessons for the current situation in Britain, facing a crisis even darker and more dangerous than confronted us then.

A Miracle Indeed

Three 'little ships' from the Dunkirk evacuation, 1940. Yes, it was our darkest hour of the war; we stood on the brink of invasion with our army trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk. But the call for help went out, prayers were offered and 338,000 men lived to fight another day - ten times more than the most optimistic estimate of Churchill and the generals.

It was a miracle indeed. The sea was becalmed, Hitler inexplicably ordered his troops to halt for three days as they began to surround the British Expeditionary Force in a pincer-like movement, a combination of cloud cover and brave Spitfire pilots restricted carnage inflicted by the Luftwaffe, while some 800 fishing and pleasure boats mounted an extraordinary rescue.

Yet it had been an apparently hopeless situation, resembling the plight of the Israelites fleeing slavery in Egypt, trapped on a beach with the army bearing down upon them and nothing but the Red Sea in front of them. Thankfully, Moses had his instructions from God and, when he lifted up his staff, the sea parted to make way for their escape.

We too need the God of Moses. He is still there; and he is not deaf. He is merely awaiting our call for help. But many of today’s young men are being left on the beaches, apparently with no hope, because no-one has told them of Jesus (Rom 10:14).

Not by Might, Nor by Power

This is a darker hour even than Dunkirk, because our present climate of chaos and confusion is the result of switching off the light of Christ from our national life. We have turned our backs on the God of the Bible to follow our own selfish and foolish ways, leading to an unprecedented breakdown in family life. We are on the brink of complete ruin.

But a remnant of Christians is praying for deliverance from this evil. They represent the ‘little ships’ crossing the dangerous currents of secular culture to rescue Britain from despair and degradation, trapped by a godless ideology that offers neither hope nor comfort.

Small groups of Jesus followers, meeting in homes around the country as well as in more formal venues, are trimming their sails to the wind of the Spirit as they seek God’s victory in our nation. They are not great in numbers but, like Gideon’s 300-strong army, they do command huge potential power. For when the Israelites of old cried out to God for deliverance from the crushing oppression of the Midianites, God called Gideon – the least of the least in terms of personal stature – to lead the rescue.

We too must dispense with our idols, our false gods of materialism and humanism, and our politically correct agendas, as Gideon was ordered to do (Judg 6:25-32). And we must remember that it is “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zech 4:6) that the enemies of God will be defeated.

This is a darker hour even than Dunkirk – but a remnant of Christians is praying for our deliverance from evil.

Biblical Boats, Spiritual Lessons

Noah’s Ark (and indeed the Red Sea crossing) also pictures rescue (salvation) for those trusting in Christ, who are saved from the depths of the sea that would otherwise have drowned them by putting their faith in the God of Israel.

Sea of Galilee: Much of Jesus’ earthly ministry was focused on boats plying this wondrous stretch of water. Photo: Charles GardnerIt is significant, I believe, that much of Jesus’ earthly ministry was carried out in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee, particularly in or around boats. When the disciples were struggling in rough seas, Jesus came to them walking on water. And as soon as he got into the boat, they reached the shore – a miraculous intervention no doubt (John 6:16-21)!

On another occasion, in the midst of a squall that threatened to capsize the boat, Jesus rebuked the storm with a word and all was calm, causing the disciples to ask one another: “Who is this, who commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey him?” (Luke 8:22-25). We all need Jesus in our lifeboat, and Britain is once again looking for little ships of disciples to rescue us from disaster.

Every Day with Jesus,¹ calling for biblical wisdom, underscores this point: “At this present time, enemy forces threaten us. Marriages are crumbling, and the moral ropes that once held us so fast and firm and now frayed.”

As with the Jews of ancient times, God came to our rescue in 1940. But, just like them, we soon forgot the means of our great deliverance by forsaking God’s commands, which produced a generation that tragically never saw the Promised Land. We mustn’t let that happen again.

Notes

1 Bible-reading notes produced by Crusade for World Revival, originally written by the late Selwyn Hughes.

Are you investing in fake or fortune?

Visiting family and friends over the past fortnight naturally exposed me to conversations – and television programmes – with which I am generally unfamiliar.

Among these was the intriguing BBC programme Fake or Fortune which, for this particular episode, focused on a rather beautiful portrait passed down through an aristocratic family line.

As it was unsigned, no-one was sure who had painted it. It was generally accepted as the work of a high-calibre artist of the mid-19th Century which, if proved to be the case, would fetch around £8,000 at auction.

However, another expert was convinced it was the work of the famous Thomas Lawrence, which would increase its value exponentially to some half a million pounds! And, indeed, it proved to be one of his!

The Stakes are High

There’s a lot at stake over the question of who’s behind a particular work of art. I got to thinking how this inevitably also applies to the Creator of the world: is God behind the beauty of our Creation, or are we to put our trust in Charles Darwin’s ideas?

Come to that – who wrote the Bible? Was it God, or man? These are big questions, and the stakes are high in terms of the answers.

According to the Apostle Paul, the acknowledgement of God as Creator is of vital importance. In fact, he points out, the denial of such leads to a progressive unravelling of civilisation itself.

According to the Apostle Paul, denying God as Creator leads to a progressive unravelling of civilisation.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul writes that men suppress the truth by their wickedness (Rom 1:18) – and the first casualty is the truth that God is Creator (vv19-20). As a result, their thinking becomes futile and they worship created things rather than the Creator (v23). This in turn leads to sexual degradation and the shameful lusts of lesbianism and homosexuality (vv26-27).

At the same time, it leads to “a depraved mind” (v28) filled with “every kind of wickedness” – even inventing ways of doing evil (vv29-30).

In this letter to the 1^st-Century Christians in Rome, Paul was writing in the context of a civilisation that was well on its way to being unravelled – and remarkably comparable to 21^st-Century Britain! Strange, and yet we are constantly being told that things have ‘moved on’…

Whose Hand?

The psalmist wrote: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Ps 19:1).

Sir David Attenborough enthuses over the wonderful creatures God has made without ever mentioning their Maker, but sure to always emphasise how many millions of years it has taken each species to evolve. Yet Scripture says that God created the world in six days!

Yes, the stakes are high. Our values depend on recognition of whose hand is behind the canvas before us. A life lived in the knowledge of him through whom all things were made (John 1:3) – the greatest ‘artist’ of all time – will be truly priceless.

As Jesus asked, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). Knowing Jesus is the key to life. “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12).

A life lived in the knowledge of him through whom all things were made (John 1:3) – the greatest ‘artist’ of all time – is truly priceless.

Rebuilding the Walls

I don’t believe the residents of Derbyshire’s Whaley Bridge, threatened by a breach in the reservoir above them, merely crossed their fingers as the BBC correspondent reported they were doing. When a further thunderstorm was forecast but subsequently passed over the village, I am apt to conclude that residents had taken to genuine prayer. There are no atheists in a trench, they say.

The church built on the Mount of Beatitudes – the reputed site of Jesus’ famous sermon. Picture: Charles Gardner

As exemplified by the Whaley Bridge crisis, the walls have broken down in British society. And as in Nehemiah’s day, when the walls of ancient Jerusalem were in ruins, we too must return to the God of Israel if we wish to rebuild our country on solid foundations.

Concluding his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” (Matt 7:24-27).

Is this the start of a new era of hope?

Mr Boris Johnson fulfilled his lifelong ambition this week to become British Prime Minister. The rogue old Etonian began in his usual breezy style of easy optimism. But however much we may wish him well in tackling the multiple crises in the nation, realistically the challenge facing any new Prime Minister is no different from that which plagued – and overcame - Theresa May’s administration. The question is: can a new government do anything new?

The challenge of which I speak is that we have an elected parliament that defies the electorate. Whatever deal the new PM does with Brussels in order to fulfil his promise to leave the European Union by 31 October 2019, the possibility of getting the approval of this Parliament (without divine intervention!) is virtually nil. He not only faces the opposition of Labour, the LibDems and the Scottish Nationalist Party, but he also faces the threats of rebels on the Tory backbenches who say they are willing to bring down the Government rather than agree to leave the EU without a deal.

Today, Britain is a more divided nation than it has ever been since the days of the Civil War between Cromwell’s Parliament and supporters of Charles I. How should Christians understand what is going on in the nation? And are there any signs of hope?

Reflecting on the Past

In last week’s editorial we were asking “Is there any word from the Lord?” This led us to some of the things Britain has done wrong on the international scene and especially the need to recognise and say we are sorry for the dreadful things we did to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust back in 1947. Recognising that injustice would be an act of righteousness that I believe would be pleasing to the Lord.

I believe there is a real message of hope and good news in the midst of all the doom and gloom we’ve been hearing for a long time. But we ought also to recognise where we have gone wrong: not only abroad, but also in the things we have done at home in Britain. As we have said many times in these editorials – turning away from biblical values has led to the present days of crisis. This era of great cultural change began with a political Act of Parliament in 1951.

Today, Britain is a more divided nation than it has ever been since the days of the Civil War. What is going on – and is there any hope?

Political Decisions, Cultural Consequences

It was the Fraudulent Mediums Act which abolished the Witchcraft Act that had been on the Statute Book of Britain for centuries. In 1951 witchcraft was legalised. All occult activities were made legal, in direct defiance of biblical teaching:

Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or is a medium or spiritist or consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord… (Deut 18:10-12)

This political decision to defy the Bible was taken by the Government led by Clement Attlee, a Jew-hating atheist, and paved the way for other major policy turnarounds which precipitated great cultural changes in the nation.

The first great cultural change was in the 1959 Obscene Publications Act which paved the way for the legalisation of obscenity in publications, film, video and the internet.

The second cultural change was in the Abortion Act (1967) which made it legally acceptable to kill unborn babies. Currently, about 450 babies a day are killed in British hospitals, bringing the total since 1967 to over 9 million. 2018 saw the number of UK abortions reach an all-time high, and our dysfunctional, rebellious Parliament has now ruled to impose abortion on the only part of the British Isles that still upholds biblical values, defying the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland – as we noted last week in an excellent article from our Managing Editor.

These changes follow the classic path to the corruption of civilisation noted by the Apostle Paul in the first chapter of his letter to Rome. He says that once we stop believing in the God of Creation and start suppressing the truth, we believe anything. We “exchange the truth of God for a lie” and then we abandon all restraints upon our behaviour.

The Apostle Paul says that once we stop believing in the God of Creation, we believe anything and abandon all restraints upon our behaviour.

Church Leaders Responsible

But God does not expect an ungodly nation to repent of things that are not even publicly recognised as being wrong! The history of Israel in the Bible teaches us that God holds the religious leaders responsible for the moral and spiritual state of the nation – it was they who had the truth and the responsibility of declaring it to the people, who otherwise remained ignorant.

Applying that teaching today, God holds church leaders responsible for the nation. But can we expect repentance from them? The bishops in the House of Lords didn’t even bother to turn up for the vote on forcing same-sex marriage and abortion upon the people of Northern Ireland last week. If they had been there, they would probably have voted in favour of imposing LGBTQ+ values upon Ulster.

Hope for the Future

Amidst this seemingly lost situation, God is doing two things: he is blessing the many thousands of local fellowships, large and small, where the word of God is faithfully preached and taught. And he is withdrawing his blessing from those churches that have turned away from the word – including churches within the traditional denominations, which are crumbling, losing members and closing buildings as a result.

The hope for the future lies with the faithful remnant in Britain of Bible-believing, praying people who refuse to be driven by the values of the world and are prepared to take a stand for truth whatever the cost. God is faithful to hear and to heed the prayers of the faithful remnant who grieve over the state of the nation; who repent for our silence when ungodly laws were being passed in our Parliament; but who nevertheless cry out to the Lord to have mercy and to bless the new Government.

We should be appealing to God to remember his covenant relationship with our forefathers, who placed the Bible at the centre of the British legal system, governing the nation, and made it part of the Coronation Oath sworn by our Queen, whom God has wonderfully preserved for these perilous times.

We should be appealing to God to remember his covenant relationship with our forefathers.

There is a solid biblical principle for such an appeal to God on behalf of the nation. Paul says that as far as the Gospel is concerned the people of Israel put themselves outside God’s protection, although he himself would never break his covenant promises “on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29).

This is undoubtedly a special passage concerning Israel, but it also shows that God respects the spiritual heritage of a nation. As he has blessed Britain in the past, using Britain to get the gospel to many nations, we can call upon him to bring us through this time of trial and to restore faith and belief – especially among young people in the United Kingdom – to give us “a hope and a future” (Jer 29:11) as he promised to the people of Jerusalem enslaved in Babylon at the worst moment in their history.

An opportunity is approaching that our new PM would do well to take.

Next week Britain will have a new Prime Minister and the first question he should be asking is, “Is there any word from the Lord?” This was the question King Zedekiah put to the Prophet Jeremiah shortly before the Babylonians broke through the walls of Jerusalem and began its destruction. What is God saying to Britain in these incredible days as the Brexit saga races towards the final conflict or consummation?

Several things have come to my notice in the last few days that may be significant. I was looking through some old papers and came across my notes of visiting the elderly leader (Mother Barbara) of the Russian convent in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem back in the early 1980s. I heard how, as a young lady of 22 in Russia, she had met with Bishop Aristocoli who had given her the now-famous prophecy known as The 1911 Mother Barbara Prophecy (reprinted below).

I had not read it for many years but I remembered that some of its remarkable predictions have already come true, particularly the prophecy that Great Britain, whose empire covered one third of the world’s land space, would lose all her colonies and “come to almost total ruin”.

In last week’s editorial I spoke about the astonishing collapse of the British Empire, saying that it was largely due to the abandonment of our Judeo-Christian heritage. Then on Monday a friend telephoned from Italy. She lives in San Remo and reminded me that next April will be the centenary of the San Remo Resolution, which established in international law the legitimacy of the Arab states and Britain’s Balfour Declaration, heralding the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in what is now the State of Israel. 

Britain’s Sacred Trust

San Remo delegates, 1920, including David Lloyd George.

The San Remo Conference of Allied leaders and international lawyers was an extension of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. The purpose was to set up three Mandates, one over Syria and Lebanon, one over Mesopotamia (Iraq/Iran) and one over Palestine – both East and West of the River Jordon. The Mandate for Palestine was entrusted to Great Britain as a “sacred trust of civilisation”¹ in respect of “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.²

This was a binding resolution with all the force of international law. It was affirmed the following year by Winston Churchill, who told an Arab delegation in Jerusalem:

It is manifestly right that the Jews who are scattered all over the world should have a national centre and a national home where some of them may be reunited. And where else could that be but in the land of Palestine, with which for more than 3000 years they have been intimately and profoundly associated?³

The San Remo resolution was a binding resolution with all the force of international law.

Churchill also issued the following statement in 1922, as British Secretary of State for the Colonies:

When it is asked what is meant by the development of the Jewish National Home in Palestine, it may be answered that it is not the imposition of a Jewish nationality upon the inhabitants of Palestine as a whole, but the further development of the existing Jewish community, with the assistance of Jews in other parts of the world, in order that it may become a centre in which the Jewish people as a whole may take, on grounds of religion and race, an interest and a pride. But in order that this community should have the best prospect of free development and provide a full opportunity for the Jewish people to display its capacities, it is essential that it should know that it is in Palestine as of right and not on sufferance. That is the reason why it is necessary that the existence of a Jewish National Home in Palestine should be internationally guaranteed and that it should be formally recognized to rest upon ancient historic connection.

Is it just a coincidence that the steep decline in the fortunes of Great Britain began in the 1920s (with the Great Depression and the General Strike) when Britain failed to meet its 'sacred trust' for a Jewish homeland by establishing the State of Israel?

Britain not only reneged on its promises in the 1920s and throughout the 1930s,⁴ but was still favouring the Arabs and resisting Jewish settlement in the early days after the Second World War – turning away leaking old ships loaded with Holocaust survivors seeking refuge in what had been promised as their new homeland – ships that sank in the Mediterranean with the loss of all those on board! Other Jewish would-be-immigrants were actually forcibly sent back to Germany, which was surely the height of inhumanity!

Having sold the Jewish people for barrels of oil, Britain under Prime Minister Clement Attlee (a Jew-hating atheist, like some in the modern Labour Party) actually refused to vote for the establishment of the State of Israel in the United Nations in 1947. We did not dare to vote against the resolution and offend the USA – but in order not to offend the Arabs and endanger our oil supplies, we abstained!!! From that day the British Empire rapidly disappeared from the map of the world.

No! I’m not making a case for colonialism! It was right that ex-colonial countries should have their independence and the freedom to develop in accordance with their own cultures, and I think we should applaud and do all we can to strengthen the ties between nations in the British Commonwealth. But I also think that the fortunes of the United Kingdom have been adversely affected by breaking our promises to Israel and the Jewish people, which were a ‘sacred trust’.

Is it just a coincidence that the steep decline in the fortunes of Great Britain began when we failed to meet our 'sacred trust' for a Jewish homeland by establishing the State of Israel?

Testing Times Ahead

I also believe that the next six or nine months are going to be times of incredible turmoil in the UK when we may indeed, as foretold in The Mother Barbara Prophecy, come perilously close to ‘total ruin’.

But the centenary of the San Remo Resolution in April 2020 will provide an opportunity for Britain to repent publicly of her broken promises and the anti-Semitism that has driven our Foreign Office since the 1920s (brilliantly portrayed in one of the 1990s TV episodes of Yes, Prime Minister⁵). Will our new Government, under a new Prime Minister, have the courage to confess the sins of the past? 

Theresa May, at her last Prime Minister’s Question Time this week, called upon Jeremy Corbyn to clear anti-Semitism out of the Labour Party – but will our new Prime Minister have the courage to risk the wrath of the Arab world and send a delegation to San Remo to clear the conscience of the nation? I believe the Lord may be saying that such repentance, though not enough to save Britain from the consequences of our unrighteous laws, would nevertheless be a vital step in the right direction.

Please join us in prayer as we seek the right way forward in this issue. Maybe someone will start a petition calling upon the Government to send an official British delegation to attend the 2020 San Remo Centenary to acknowledge publicly our historic wrongs.

The 1911 Mother Barbara Prophecy

This prophecy was given to Mother Barbara in 1911 by Bishop Aristocoli in Russia, shortly before his death and before she settled in Jerusalem:

“Tell the women they must belong absolutely to God. They must believe in the great things that are happening and that God is doing on the earth. They must prepare their souls, their children and their husbands. And they will have very much work to do for God. Oh, what a great work the women will have to do in the end times, and the men will follow them.

Not one country will be without trial – do not be frightened of anything you will hear. An evil will shortly take Russia and wherever this evil goes, rivers of blood will flow. This evil will take the whole world and where ever it goes, rivers of blood will flow because of it. It is not the Russian soul, but an imposition on the Russian soul. It is not an ideology, or philosophy, but a spirit from hell.

In the last days Germany will be divided in two. France will just be nothing. Italy will be judged by natural disasters. Britain will lose her empire and all her colonies and will come to almost total ruin, but will be saved by praying women. America will feed the world, but will finally collapse. Russia and China will destroy each other. Finally, Russia will be free and from her, believers will go forth and turn many from the nations to God.”

Cover of Eli Hertz's book on the legal aspects of the Jewish claim to the Land. Maps show the region before and after the division of British Mandate land to create Transjordan.

References

1 Article 22, Covenant of the League of Nations, signed in Paris, 1919.

2 San Remo Resolution, 1920. Read the full text here.

3 Taken from ‘Winston Churchill in Jerusalem, 1921’, Manchester Conservatives.

4 E.g. ceding 70% of the Mandate land to the Arabs (Transjordan, now Jordan). We recommend The Forsaken Promise (DVD) from Hatikvah Films for a fuller exploration of this issue.

5 ‘A Victory for Democracy’. Watch in full here.

While Iran threatens to annihilate Israel with nuclear weapons, even Jews in the UK are no longer safe.

As Britain enters stormy waters with Iran (more of that later), a senior Iranian lawmaker has said the Jewish state wouldn’t last half-an-hour if the U.S. attacked his country.¹ And in east London, a knife-wielding man threatened to behead an Orthodox Jew as he walked down the street.² Jews are feeling increasingly trapped in what is virtually a déjà vu moment for God’s chosen people – except this time they do have a place of refuge. However, with Israel too under severe threat from all sides, they have the potential for being caught in a trap once again if we keep giving way to dictators who hate them.

A mass exodus of UK Jews is a real possibility in light of rising anti-Semitism and the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister. And yet the man who has signally failed to deal with Jew-hatred within his party has inadvertently also caused Jews to reconnect with and proudly embrace their heritage, as journalist and online columnist for The Daily Telegraph, Miranda Levy, has pointed out. Writing for the New York Post, she said: “…over the past few months, both my political sensibilities and my sense of cultural identity have radically changed.” She also quoted Jewish Labour MP Margaret Hodge as saying: “I remember my dad tried to make me Jewish and failed. The local rabbi tried to make me Jewish and failed. It took the leader of the Labour Party to do that.”³

A mass exodus of UK Jews is a real possibility in light of rising anti-Semitism and the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister.

The Purposes of God

The increasing unease in which the Jewish community finds itself reminds me of the mother eagle who, when teaching her young ones to fly, gradually removes the comforting straw of their nest. Not that Mr Corbyn has the best interests of Jews at heart, but the God of Israel surely does (Jer 31:3) and ultimately plans to bring them all back to the Promised Land. Nearly seven million are already there within just a couple of generations of its rebirth. Their return is in perfect fulfilment of many Old Testament prophecies. For example, Isaiah writes: “‘Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, “Give them up!” and to the south, “Do not hold them back.”’” (Isa 43:5-6a).

Such an exodus could inflict serious damage to our economy, possibly on a bigger scale than Brexit, but it’s a price we may have to pay for our silence on the issue of anti-Semitism on the one hand, and the fulfilment of God’s word on the other.

Bear in mind that it was God’s purpose for Jesus to die for our sins (Isa 53:10), but the man who betrayed him did not go unpunished (Matt 26:24). In the same way, it is God’s will that Jews scattered across the globe should be restored to the Holy Land before he reveals his face to them (Num 6:22-27; Ezek 39:27-29). Nevertheless, those who have mistreated them will come under a curse (Gen 12:3; Joel 3:2).

“‘Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, “Give them up!” and to the south, “Do not hold them back.”’” (Isaiah 43:5-6a)

The Iranian Crisis

Meanwhile Britain has now become a target for Iranian revenge after we seized an oil tanker believed to be headed for Syria in defiance of sanctions against that country. Iranian vessels subsequently attempted to capture a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, but were successfully warned off by a Royal Navy frigate which finally aimed its guns at them. An alarming development indeed!⁴

The crisis has revealed the ineptitude of Britain in being party to a deal that was never going to work, especially in light of evidence that Iran has exceeded the limit of enriched uranium to which it had agreed.⁵ And President Trump has been proved right for having pulled out of it last year. As the first line of defence from any fallout over the spat, Israel is right to question the commitment of nations, including Britain, to its welfare. “Iran has violated its solemn promise under the UN Security Council not to enrich uranium beyond a certain level,” said their Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking the signatories to the agreement: “Where are you?”⁶ Well, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said Britain would pull out if Iran breaks the deal⁷ – so watch this space.

But with our stubborn refusal to follow the US lead on this, as well as recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, we are allowing Iran to play off key allies against one another, thereby strengthening the position of the world’s leading sponsor of terror. I realise our appeasement of Iran is for economic reasons, but there comes a point when we need to do the right thing. And since we are not blessing Israel by kowtowing to Iran, but rather inviting judgment on ourselves, siding with America on this issue would obviously be the right move.

Britain’s Second Chance

Britain is privileged to have played a special role in Israel’s restoration, though tragically we have also betrayed them over the years – even now most of our churches ignore their well-being. But now we have another chance of coming to their rescue. As God once spoke through Isaiah of how he would use Cyrus, the Persian emperor, to rebuild his city and set his exiles free – “but not for a price or reward” (Isa 45:13) – we too must do the right thing by his people.

References

1. Jerenberg, B. Iran threatens: If US attacks, we'll wipe out Israel in half hour. World Israel News, 2 July 2019.
2. "I’m going to chop your head off’: Orthodox Jew chased down London street. World Israel News, 3 July 2019.
3. Levy, M. How Anti-Semitism in Britain’s Labour party made me feel Jewish again. New York Post, 6 July 2019.
4. Iran demands Britain release seized tanker, saying action will 'have consequences'. The Telegraph, 12 July 2019.
5. Iran Exceeds Permissible Limit For Enriched Uranium. Jerusalem News Network, 5 July 2019.
6. Netanyahu asks world leaders on Iran: 'Where are you?'. World Israel News, 7 July 2019.
7. UK's Hunt says if Iran breaks Nuclear Deal we are out as well. Jerusalem News Network, 5 July 2019 (scroll down the page).

But its believers have found true freedom

Bearing in mind the brutality meted out against protesters as Hong Kong slips inexorably towards China’s orbit of control, we are reminded by author Kai Strittmatter of the tendency for totalitarian regimes to rewrite history.

“In China, remembering events the Chinese Communist Party chooses to erase from history is a subversive act and thus forbidden and punished,” he wrote in the Daily Mail.¹

For example, reference to the Tiananmen Square massacre of 30 years ago has been gradually eradicated and many under-30s have no idea that it ever took place. “The state’s troops murdered the protesters; the state’s writers murder the truth.”

Erasing the Past

Sound familiar? Yes, such erasure of the past is proceeding apace all over the globe – even in our country, but especially in the Middle East, where Islamist terror groups are hell-bent on turning truth upside-down in order to justify their murderous behaviour.

They even go to the extent of denying that the Holocaust ever took place, and refuting ancient Jewish links to the Holy Land despite the weight of evidence, backed by libraries of documents and multiple acres of archaeological digs.

True, the land was indeed held by the Muslim Turks for 400 years until Britain’s General Allenby effectively won it back for God’s ancient people. But even Jordanian academic Rami Dabbas, in saying that Arabs have everything to gain from ‘normalisation’ with Israel, acknowledges: “The Arabs are the original occupiers, and have no right to deny the return of the Jewish nation.”²

“It is time to solve this conflict, and that begins with us, the Arabs, accepting the Jewish people’s true historical connection to this land. We have everything to gain from so doing.”

Totalitarian regimes are hell-bent on turning truth upside-down in order to justify their murderous behaviour.

Socially Harmonised Subjects

Kai Strittmatter, meanwhile, in his essay, goes on to mention China’s “socially harmonised and politically compliant subjects” whose every move is being increasingly watched by ‘Big Brother’ on an apocalyptic scale, with a staggering 600 million CCTV cameras.

That’s almost one for every two people in a vast country now exporting its surveillance and artificial intelligence technology all over the world in an apparent attempt to expand its global influence.

But before we congratulate ourselves for not succumbing to this extreme form of socialism, consider how a largely compliant British society has been so quickly and easily mesmerised into a politically-correct harmonisation of ideas, ethics and morality – the ‘normality’ of same-sex ‘marriage’ and even the encouragement of transgenderism in primary schools, that effectively amounts to state child abuse.

And who among us dares to question this diabolical form of social engineering, otherwise known as ‘cultural Marxism’? We have been trained like dogs to ‘sit’ and ‘walk’ at the command of our progressive masters. Even pulling at the leash is forbidden, and we are condemned as unloving bigots if we should so much as suggest that there is another, better way.

We Christians are too easily cowed into a corner, opting for reflective navel-gazing or gathering in our holy huddles while the world outside recklessly careers towards the cliff. But there is another side to China, for the same reason that there is another side to England.

Out of the Ashes

With the World Cup cricket tournament currently being hosted here, Hatikvah Films have been promoting CTA’s docudrama Out of the Ashes – the hugely inspiring story of how one of England’s greatest cricketers heard the call of God to China.

Twice achieving the ‘double’ of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a county cricket season (in just 20 and 25 matches respectively), CT Studd was a leading member of the England team that first brought the Ashes3 back from Australia in 1883.

But his missionary endeavours reached much wider fields. As part of the so-called Cambridge Seven, Studd endured years of extreme hardship and deprivation to bring the Gospel to the Chinese people. After giving away his vast fortune to Christian causes, he also went on to serve God in India and Africa, where he founded the World Evangelisation Crusade in 1913.

But it was the China Inland Mission, founded by Barnsley-born Hudson Taylor, that first stirred his heart. And it is believed that, due largely to their efforts, there are more Christians in China today than there are people in Britain. In fact, estimates reach as high as 100 million, but it is difficult to quantify, partly due to the severe persecution that has forced many believers to practise ‘under the radar’ while others have paid with their lives.

We Christians are too easily cowed into a corner.

These brave souls may have been ‘chained’ by Communism (or even slain by the Dragon symbolic of China), but they have been truly set free by Jesus, who said: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31f).

That’s the potential power of the Gospel, and we praise God for men like Taylor and Studd who gave their lives so sacrificially for the Chinese people.

Teeming Millions

So when you think or hear of China again, picture the teeming millions of believers being persecuted for their faith. Pray that they will stand, as this cricketing hero of old stood the test in a fiery trial.

Studd left the comfort zone of fame, fortune and familiarity for foreign fields, for he was convinced that “if Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”

Reflecting further on this, he said: “Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” And in a poem he penned, he posed the ultimate challenge: “Only one life, ’twil soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.”

References

1 Daily Mail, 15 June 2019. Kai Strittmatter is author of We Have Been Harmonised: Life in China’s surveillance state, Old Street Publishing, £9.99.

2 Israel Today, May 2019.

3 Literally, an urn with the burnt-out remains of a bail, used to keep the wickets in place. The contest came to be known as the Ashes in response to England’s loss to Australia at the Oval in 1882, when a satirical obituary declared that English cricket had died and “the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”.

Why is the joker leading the pack?

To the despair of my wife and me, our middle daughter, when she was at primary school, used to invite all the naughty boys in her class to her birthday party. We took all necessary precautions of removing vulnerable artefacts but they were usually riotous events! We survived these birthday celebrations with minimum damage (apart from the odd broken window) and usually the household returned to normality after an intensive clear-up.

Reflecting upon these annual hijinks I became convinced that there is something in our human nature that likes living dangerously – flirting with risk, enjoying adventure tinged with the threat of the unknown.

It’s what I now call the ‘Boris Factor’, because I believe it accounts for the popularity of the front-runner in the Conservative Party’s race for our next Prime Minister – Boris Johnson. His popularity in the country, despite his well-publicised imperfections, is quite remarkable.

Promises, Promises

I cannot claim to know Boris very well, although I have met him a few times. On one occasion when he was canvassing support for his first term as Mayor of London, I spent two hours alone with him. His team had been chasing me around London for several months, keen to exploit my links with African-Caribbean community and church leaders. They coveted the black vote in inner-city boroughs, but I was not keen to be involved in a political campaign.

And then there were six: the Tory leadership hopefuls. Photo: AP/Press Association ImagesEventually I agreed to a meeting with Boris, provided I could talk about the special needs in these communities. We had a very good and frank conversation, particularly on what he would do with issues such as guns, drugs and knife crime. I was even able to quiz him on his personal faith (with dubious results!). After receiving a lot of promises I subsequently helped to bring some 80 leaders to meet with him, although I have to say that he did not keep his promises once he was in power.

I was nevertheless impressed by the way he addressed the black leaders using a mixture of humour and serious social policy strategy, while also acknowledging their particular community needs. He is an excellent communicator which probably accounts for his popularity in the country across widely different communities. But it is still surprising that so many are willing to overlook his blunders and alleged moral deficiencies and take the risk of making him Prime Minister.

There is something in our human nature that likes living dangerously – flirting with risk, enjoying adventure tinged with the threat of the unknown.

No Discernment

Why is this? Is it like the childhood fascination with the naughty boy? Do we like to take a risk and go for the charisma factor rather than the drab, boring, safe, pinstripe type of politician? The country certainly fell in love with Tony Blair as an exciting contrast to John Major, though the Blair factor only lasted a few years.

Public opinion, of course, is notoriously fickle, but it is surely surprising that there are some characters whose misbehaviours will be overlooked and who will be supported even though people know it is a risk. There is a telling statement made by the Prophet Jeremiah during the reign of the notoriously immoral King Jehoiakim in Jerusalem in the late 6^th Century BC. Jeremiah was having one of his prayer-time conversations with God and reporting on the state of the nation. He said “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land! The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way” (Jer 5:30-31).

Jeremiah was used to false prophets promising “Peace! Peace!” when the Lord was saying “There is no Peace!”. He was constantly countering the lies of these popular prophets who told the people there was nothing to worry about in the rumours that the Babylonian army was on the march. They said that no enemy would ever get into Jerusalem, because God would defend the city.

The priests confirmed the lies of the prophets and instead of rightly teaching the people and giving judgments in accord with the teaching given by God to Moses, they made up their own rules and their own interpretations of the word of God. Sadly, the people had no discernment; they loved things as they were – lies and deception were quite acceptable to them.

In Jeremiah’s day, the people had no discernment; lies and deception were quite acceptable to them.

Self-interest vs. Righteousness

Once the word of God is discarded, anything becomes acceptable. This is the situation in Britain today. The public are disgusted with the antics of the politicians in recent months: they have lost trust in their MPs, who have been seen on TV day after day arguing but never agreeing on anything. The business of governing the country seems to have been grossly neglected while Brexit issues have dominated everything. People of all political leanings want resolution. They also want a leader who will tell them what they want to hear, to make them feel comfortable, just like the people in Jeremiah’s day before disaster befell Jerusalem!

The public are looking for a strong leader and there are few outstanding characters on either side of the House. This is why Boris is very likely to be chosen as the next Prime Minister, despite the reservations of discerning people.

Conservative MPs are well aware of the unpopularity that their Party has suffered through three years of weak leadership under Theresa May, whose stubbornness was not matched with political skill. This is where the ‘Boris Factor’ may influence those MPs who have no love for him, but are still willing to vote for him: he is widely regarded as the only one who can both hold Nigel Farage at bay and defeat Jeremy Corbyn. Under these circumstances self-interest takes precedence over righteousness, especially when MPs know that the public have long ago discarded values of righteousness.

People want a strong leader who will tell them what they want to hear, to make them feel comfortable.

Prospects for Britain

Will Britain get a Prime Minister who is able to exercise righteous government? Certainly, mature Christians know that Britain does not deserve godly government and there are many signs that we are a nation already under judgment. But God is merciful and I believe he still has a purpose for Britain. Could he use Boris? Of course he could! God used Cyrus to do his will and bless his people even though Cyrus did not even know the name of the Lord. But is it God’s intention to bless the nation, or to allow us bring judgment upon ourselves?

Boris at least professes a faith in God, but is that enough to provide Britain with a God-fearing Government? If the Conservative Party installs Boris and his partner in No. 10, will he lead a Government that can restore standards of righteousness in the nation?

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

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

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

Threats and Uncertainty

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

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

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

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

Jews and Christians Targeted

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

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

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

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

The Truth About Human Nature

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

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

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

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

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

Moral Inversions

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

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

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

The Only Solution

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

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

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

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

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

References

1 World Israel News, 5 June 2019.

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

3 Daily Mail, 31 May 2019.

4 Ibid.

Royal address reveals what the nation has lost in 75 years.

As the nation pauses this week to mark 75 years since the Normandy landings, remembering the enormous sacrifice and great courage of so many thousands in order to secure the freedom of so many more, it is fitting to revisit the address made to the nation on 6 June 1944 by Britain’s monarch, King George VI.

His speech, from which both the Queen and Prince William quoted during their addresses this week, did not shy from acknowledging the help and providence of God, and the importance of humble, nation-wide prayer. It illuminates something of the faith that suffused Britain at that time, and reveals something of what we have lost in the years since.

King George VI’s address to the nation

6 June, 1944

“Four years ago, our Nation and Empire stood alone against an overwhelming enemy, with our backs to the wall. Tested as never before in our history, in God's providence we survived that test; the spirit of the people, resolute, dedicated, burned like a bright flame, lit surely from those unseen fires which nothing can quench.

Now once more a supreme test has to be faced. This time, the challenge is not to fight to survive but to fight to win the final victory for the good cause. Once again what is demanded from us all is something more than courage and endurance; we need a revival of spirit, a new unconquerable resolve. After nearly five years of toil and suffering, we must renew that crusading impulse on which we entered the war and met its darkest hour. We and our Allies are sure that our fight is against evil and for a world in which goodness and honour may be the foundation of the life of men in every land.

That we may be worthily matched with this new summons of destiny, I desire solemnly to call my people to prayer and dedication. We are not unmindful of our own shortcomings, past and present. We shall ask not that God may do our will, but that we may be enabled to do the will of God: and we dare to believe that God has used our Nation and Empire as an instrument for fulfilling his high purpose.

I hope that throughout the present crisis of the liberation of Europe there may be offered up earnest, continuous and widespread prayer. We who remain in this land can most effectively enter into the sufferings of subjugated Europe by prayer, whereby we can fortify the determination of our sailors, soldiers and airmen who go forth to set the captives free.

The Queen joins with me in sending you this message. She well understands the anxieties and cares of our womenfolk at this time and she knows that many of them will find, as she does herself, fresh strength and comfort in such waiting upon God. She feels that many women will be glad in this way to keep vigil with their menfolk as they man the ships, storm the beaches and fill the skies.

At this historic moment surely not one of us is too busy, too young or too old to play a part in a nationwide, perchance a worldwide, vigil of prayer as the great crusade sets forth. If from every place of worship, from home and factory, from men and women of all ages and many races and occupations, our intercessions rise, then, please God, both now and in a future not remote, the predictions of an ancient Psalm may be fulfilled: "The Lord will give strength unto his people: the Lord will give his people the blessing of peace."”

D-Day and the fight for Britain's future.

The old adage “A week in politics is a long time” should be altered from a ‘week’ to a ‘day’, with the current rate of change being so rapid. By any standard the events of the past week have been remarkable.

The beginning of the week saw the arrival of President Trump with his message of celebrating the special relationship between the USA and Britain. The next day we had the unseemly sight of protesters flying an insulting inflatable representation of the President. He was the Queen’s guest on an official state visit: this was NOT a very flattering view of British hospitality presented to the world via the media. Whatever has happened to the nation I knew in my youth where politeness and courtesy were part of the national character?

Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/PA ImagesOn Wednesday the scene moved to Portsmouth beginning the commemorations of the 75^th anniversary of the Normandy landings. Yesterday we were remembering the 150,000 men who took part in the D-Day operations on 6 June 1944 and the 4,000 British young men who died on that first day, plus thousands of French civilians caught up in the fighting, the bombing and the naval shelling. Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Macron together laid a wreath at the newly installed memorial to the 22,442 men who died in the Normandy campaign during the invasion.

The Price of Freedom

Throughout this weekend the D-Day commemorations will continue with many opportunities for the veterans, now in their 90s, to remember the events of those incredible days that changed the history of the world. The D-Day landings, in which some 5,300 ships and 12,000 planes took part, together formed the greatest seaborne operation ever to take place, but they were terribly expensive in terms of human life.

No-one knows exactly how many died on that first day, but estimates put fatalities between 14,000 and 19,000. These included Allied forces, German soldiers and French civilians.

The D-Day landings together formed the greatest seaborne operation in history, but they were terribly expensive in terms of human life.

Inevitably, historians have spent the last 75 years poring over the events of that day and several films have been made. Military strategists have assessed the tactics used in the landings, which included airborne troops aiming to take strategic bridges and crossing points inland and meet up with those coming off the beaches.

Big questions still remain, especially about the advisability of sending men straight off the landing barges into a withering storm of machine gun fire sweeping the beaches. But no-one questions the rightness of the invasion to begin the liberation of Europe from Nazi occupation. It is this major objective that should be the focal point for all the commemorations at this time.

A Nation Deceived

No right-minded person would want to glorify war and the terrible loss of life and disruption to whole nations that took place from 1939 to 1945, but now, 75 years later, we have a generation that knows nothing of the reality of the Nazi occupation of most of Europe, or the horrors of the death camps which some people even dare to question. It is therefore right, not only to remember the Allied military conquest that brought victory, but also the cause for which so many young men died.

It always amazes me that virtually the whole population of Germany were groomed into supporting the Nazi philosophy of Aryan superiority and hatred of the Jews. It is highly enlightening to watch footage of the ‘night of broken glass’ (9-10 November 1938) when Jewish homes, shops and synagogues were looted by civilian mobs, as well as footage of vast German crowds listening approvingly to Hitler’s maniacal speeches. It shows how easily human beings can be led astray by powerfully persuasive individuals and collectively be driven by an evil spirit to commit or support unspeakable atrocities.

The German people were highly educated and their civilisation was considered the most advanced in the Western world, but there were very few like Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemoller who publicly opposed the Nazi regime. The majority of the population simply accepted it; which shows how easy it is to brainwash a whole nation.

Nazi Germany shows how easily human beings can be led astray by powerfully persuasive individuals and led to commit or support unspeakable atrocities.

Searching Questions

The 75^th anniversary of the Normandy landings with its enormous cost in the lives of young men should make us ask some fundamental questions about our own political and social philosophy today. 75 years ago, the vast majority of the British population believed in God and were linked, either actively or nominally, with a Christian church. They shared values learned from the Bible – unselfish love, truthfulness, faithfulness, integrity, loyalty and service. They gave their lives for these values.

Ray Tang/Zuma Press/PA ImagesLooking at our nation today one has to ask: did they give their lives in vain? On the TV news earlier this week I looked at the faces of some of the people taking part in the protests against the visit of Donald Trump and saw the hatred expressed there. I found it profoundly disturbing and the fact that senior politicians took part in addressing the crowd was a national disgrace.

On the same day as these demonstrations were taking place, I read a report of research carried out by Manchester University showing that one in five girls aged 16 to 24 are self-harming.¹ This is widely thought to be due to the destructive effect of social media amplifying the concern of girls for the shape of their bodies. The problem is said to be increasing at an alarming rate and putting extra strain on the health services, which are already struggling to deal with the increase of mental health problems across the nation.

Most of these problems stem from the loss of Christian faith in the nation, the turning away from our spiritual heritage and the values that once guided our personal relationships as well as our corporate behaviour. This has left the nation at the mercy of those who have deliberately introduced false values for commercial gain, or to advance their own secular humanist philosophy and social agenda.

The majority of the population no longer believe in God. We are rapidly becoming a nation deceived and driven by evil spirits of hatred and violence, propagated by social media and lobby groups. Was this really what 4,000 young men gave their lives for on D-Day 75 years ago?

References

1 Read more here.