Is the Church too positive?

Where is the prophetic voice that is so desperately needed?

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

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

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

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

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

50 Years of Change

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

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

Who is to Blame?

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

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

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

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

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

No Prophetic Voice

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

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

Replacing Israel

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

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

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

References

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

Brexit, Iran and questions about the end of days.

The news media is awash with Brexit and we all know we are living in momentous days. Everyone is murmuring that this week may have been the most significant week in British politics for centuries.

I have no wish to detract from this state of affairs. Virtually all of us are, I believe, experiencing a sense of reverence for the seriousness of the situation in which we find ourselves. Seeking the Lord for how to pray must be a top priority. Nevertheless, let’s not forget that there is a big wide world out there, beyond Brexit, which has not dropped everything this week to stay glued to the BBC Parliament channel. Other things of significance have been happening that we would do well to heed.

Prelude to War

Top of the bill is surely Iran’s newest contravention of the 2015 nuclear deal, bringing the ayatollahs another step closer to nuclear capability. Previously enriching uranium at 4.5%, today (6 September) will see a move beyond this, potentially of up to 20%.¹ This comes in the midst of a spike in Middle East tensions that saw Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon narrowly avoid escalation to all-out war last weekend.

In the bigger picture, Iranian entrenchment across the entire region shows no signs of letting up, despite the combined efforts of Israel and its allies. Commentators have long warned that when the Syrian civil war finishes, Iran’s efforts to exploit regional instability to its own ends will start to consolidate. Indeed, the dust has not even settled in Syria and Hezbollah is on the brink of developing a precision-guided missile system with the express aim of attacking Israel, while Iranian proxies from Iraq to Gaza, Syria to Yemen are being resourced to the same end.

These are grave matters that go far beyond wars of words on Twitter. The mullahs in Tehran, openly hell-bent on wiping Israel from the face of the planet, are ideologically compelled: in other words, in the long run, sanctions and diplomacy may not make any difference whatsoever.² Barring pre-emptive (or divine!) intervention, we are witnessing the prelude to a combined assault on Israel that could end up being both ballistic and nuclear, with the IDF forced into a multi-front war with enemies on all sides - not unlike the situation Israel faced immediately after its national rebirth just over 70 years ago (though with much superior weaponry).

No wonder then, that in this ‘week of all weeks’ in British politics, Israeli PM Netanyahu has managed to book an unexpected visit to Boris Johnson, later seeing the US Secretary of Defense who has also been in London (as has US Vice-President Mike Pence). Perhaps Israel is quietly seeking support for military action on a different level from that on which it has currently been operating.

I have no wish to detract from the seriousness of the situation in Britain – but there is a big wide world out there, beyond Brexit, which has not dropped everything this week to stay glued to the BBC Parliament channel.

Are We Nearly There Yet?

This entire situation does not escape those with an interest in eschatology (that is, the study of the end times), because Persia (modern-day Iran) features in passages of Scripture that are clearly yet to be fulfilled. The most obvious example is Ezekiel 38-39, which tells of a multi-army war on Israel involving Iran, nations from north Africa, likely Turkey and possibly led by Russia.³

Although there is disagreement about just when this war is supposed to take place in the grand scheme of God’s end-time purposes, and we are clearly not there yet, we watch current trends with interest. Most of the peoples mentioned in these chapters harbour a militant hatred of Israel today (or ally with those who do), in an increasingly joined-up manner.

As children of our Heavenly Father, the question always hovering near us is the question all children notoriously ask their parents on long journeys: Are we nearly there yet?

Many generations have thought that theirs was the ultimate - the last - yet history has continued, God’s grace towards sinful man outlasting all expectations. But this is no reason to become complacent: we are all called to be watchful and alert, especially when we see a particular selection of signs coming to pass in close conjunction.

Signs All Around

These are outlined, most fundamentally, in Matthew 24, flanked by the Old Testament prophets, many other New Testament passages and of course Revelation. The signs include:

• The restoration of Israel from international exile to the Promised Land, for a second and final time;
  
• A widespread falling away from Christianity and rejection of belief in God;
  
• The spread of selfishness and moral licentiousness with a consequent rise in pride, greed, abuse and violence;
  
• An increase of deception and false prophecy within the Church;
  
• Political turbulence all over the world, part of the great ‘shaking of the nations’ prophesied in Haggai 2:6 and Hebrews 12:10;
  
• Worldwide persecution of believers and a general hatred towards the Gospel;
  
• The move towards a global government of an authoritarian, surveillance-based nature.
  

It is increasingly impossible to deny that these things are coming to pass today, albeit perhaps not yet on the scale described in Scripture. This begs more questions for believers here in Britain: where does Brexit fit into this big picture? If these signs are coming to pass, since they are biblically inevitable, why bother to defend our democratic freedoms or take a stand against the existential threats to our crumbling culture? What possibility for revival is left?

Many generations have thought that theirs was the ultimate - the last - yet history has continued. But this is no reason to become complacent. We are all called to watch the signs.

The Gospel at the Centre

I do not pretend to have all the answers to these questions – but then, I’m not entirely sure that we need them. What we need is a renewed and robust focus on the Gospel. “No man knows the day or the hour” at which the Son of Man will return (Matt 24:36; Acts 1:7). We might have every reason to believe that his return is truly ‘right at the door’ (Matt 24:33) - and we should certainly live like it. But we do not know what mercies the Lord will yet grant us, nor what intercession might yet achieve.

One thing we can all be asking with great fervency is for “the Lord of the harvest to send out workers”, for “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” (Matt 9:37-38). We can be certain that the Lord is working his purposes out, chief among which is for the truth about Jesus to be preached “in the whole world as a testimony to all nations” (Matt 24:14), giving everyone the opportunity to hear and respond.

The Gospel – that is, the truth about Jesus Christ, his death, resurrection and soon return, and the coming Kingdom – is why God is permitting British politics to go into meltdown. The Gospel is why he is allowing nuclear threats to gather on the international horizon. The Gospel is why Revelation is in our Bibles. The Gospel is why you and I are here, right now, living another day. Let’s not forget the Gospel, in the midst of Brexit.

Notes

1 For whether or not this is a bluff and what it might mean for the region, read Jonathan Tobin at JNS.

2 Trump’s sanctions may yet drive Iran to its knees and to the negotiating table, but this is not a regime that can be reformed. Europe’s efforts to appease (led by President Macron, following Obama’s footsteps) have only fuelled Iranian aggression.

3 This is presuming that these chapters are to be read literally.

Hope amid brokenness.

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.

So could the Gospel, if only it was broadcast more widely

In the midst of a grave political crisis, it was a welcome respite to have the nation’s spirits so gloriously lifted by our somewhat miraculous triumph in cricket’s World Cup.

Although initially favourites to break our longstanding duck¹ in the competition, we ended up having to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat at Lord’s. And before the heady champagne effect wears off, I believe we must grasp the vital spiritual lesson it teaches us.

The game that has become part of England’s DNA was beginning to lose its drawing power, thanks partly to greedy media moguls determined to milk as much money as possible from TV rights while denying a new generation access to the delights of the sport.

Even for me, Sunday’s sensational final was the first live television cricket I have watched for many years, as I do not subscribe to Sky. Now there are hopes of the game’s revival following what is surely the most scintillating thriller of a match ever staged in front of cameras. Yet its long-term future is only guaranteed, in my opinion, by its return to regular terrestrial TV.

At any rate, my hope is that this remarkable contest will help reinstate the game’s place at the centre of our culture – along with other important facets of our national life such as our identity as a Christian nation.

Revival Ahead?

I have written before of cricket’s link with the great 19^th Century missionary enterprise in China, when CT Studd, England’s greatest player in the early 1880s, gave up his fame and fortune for the Gospel. And there have been others, like Bishop David Sheppard, who also gave up bat for pulpit.

As much-loved broadcaster Henry Blofeld wrote in the Daily Mail² – “The dear old sport I love may be about to undergo a revival” – so my prayer is that this will be mirrored by a revival of Christian faith.

Cricket may be about to undergo a revival – so my prayer is that this will be mirrored by a revival of Christian faith.

A glimpse of such a prospect emerged during a recent stay in a Cotswold village, where I simply drooled over the perfectly-manicured serenity of its cricket pitch, but also took a walk across the fields before stumbling upon a tiny church which two lovely ladies were decorating with flowers. They waxed lyrical over the evangelical fervour of their vicar who was filling these country chapels with eager new disciples.

As Blofield noted in his report, “people who never watched the game before are now hooked.” I can certainly vouch for that as my wife Linda, who would normally roll her eyes at the mention of cricket, was as excited as I was. We were literally sitting on the edge of our sofa as the game built up to an almost unbearably tense crescendo. What a showpiece for the sport!

Denied Access

Well, the Christian Gospel is equally as thrilling – if not more so. It’s just that most of the estimated billion viewers of the cricket spectacle have not yet been truly exposed to it, having neither seen nor heard the true nature of the length and breadth, and of the height and depth, to which God has gone to rescue us from the shame and defeat of sin and degradation: how Jesus was nailed to a cruel execution stake so we could go free; how he was miraculously raised from the dead and is coming back in power and great glory to restore peace and justice to our broken world.

And just as many have been denied access to the glories of cricket over the past decade, a huge potential audience has been denied access to the real Gospel because the ‘movers and shakers’ of our brave new world have chosen to ‘take it off the air’, leaving those desperate for real answers to their many troubles having to feed off the hopeless message of secular humanism.

Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations and Paul, specifically with his fellow Jews in mind, asked: “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?” (Matt 28:19; Rom 10:14).

Lasting Satisfaction

When all the cheering is over and the excitement has died down, many cricket fans will still be left feeling empty and unfulfilled, searching for another ‘fix’ that will inevitably fail to offer lasting satisfaction.

But the Gospel does. The Apostle Paul, in quoting the Prophet Isaiah writing 700 years earlier, declares: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9; Isa 64:4).

Few get more excited about a good cricket match than I do. But believe me, there is nothing to compare with what God has prepared for those who love and follow him.

The Christian Gospel is equally as thrilling – if not more so. But most people have not yet been truly exposed to it.

Zero to Hero

It was ironic indeed that it was New Zealand-born Ben Stokes who played a key role in England’s historic victory over his Kiwi compatriots – and also that England’s triumph was in fact led by its Irish-born captain Eoin Morgan. The Irish border may be something of a sticking point in our Brexit negotiations, but this monumental achievement owes much to our Irish connections.

As for Stokes, he’s had a troubled past, most notably with his involvement in an ugly punch-up a few years back, but with exemplary determination and courage he has been lifted from zero to hero.

In a similar way, our beloved country that helped spread the glorious Gospel throughout the globe has fallen into disgrace after turning its back on the very commandments which built up our great civilisation. Only that same Gospel can restore us!

References

1 A duck is a cricketing term for failing to score – in this case for failing to win.

2 Daily Mail, 15 July 2019.

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

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

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

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

An Inspirational Invitation

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

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

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

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

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

The Gospel, No Holds Barred

Used with permission from the Sh'ma Kingdom Dancers.

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

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

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

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

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

Used with permission from the Sh'ma Kingdom Dancers.

Rebellion – not revival – is a key sign of the times.

Charles Gardner introduces a new book from Fred Wright on a little-known but vitally important topic.

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”.