The Church in Britain is being doubly deceived.

Why did God allow the bomber to kill innocent children and adults in the Manchester Arena? Why did a young man born and raised in Manchester carry out such a terrible atrocity in the name of Allah, the god of Islam? These are the questions that are being asked in the wake of the violence caused by Salman Abedi.

The answer is set out clearly in the Bible. It is in Habakkuk. The Prophet Habakkuk was a contemporary of Jeremiah. They both saw the decadence, idolatry and treachery of the nation, which had turned its back upon God and the good teaching he had given for the health and security of his people.

Habakkuk asked what God was going to do about it and God’s reply was “I am raising up the Babylonians” (Hab 1:6). Habakkuk was horrified! He protested, for the Babylonians were cruel and had no respect for human life.

And so it was that God revealed his short-term strategy of sending Judah into exile, whilst working towards his long-term purpose when “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Hab 2:14). It’s all there in the amazing little book of Habakkuk that has incredible significance for our lifetime.

This purpose could only be fulfilled through the coming of Messiah Jesus, who would not only be a light for the Gentiles, fulfilling God’s promise to send his salvation to all nations, but actually present “a new and living way” (Heb 10:20) – a way of peace and love, replacing the violence of humanity.

Why did God allow the Manchester bombing? The answer is set out in Habakkuk.

The Church’s God-Given Task

This is the amazing God-given task of the Church today, at what increasingly appears to be an incredibly significant time in world history. It feels as though we stand on the cusp of either descending into an indescribable cauldron of terrorism, violence and destruction, culminating in all-out warfare between Islam and the West; or, an amazing worldwide spiritual revival that will transform the history of the world.

God is using Muslim immigration into Europe and the West to wake up the Church to its responsibility to present the truth to the nations. We are like the church in Sardis that had a reputation for being alive, but was dead to the truth. They were perfectly content to jog along with pagan society; but the word of the Lord was “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die” (Rev 3:2).

Today God’s urgent call to his Church in the West is: Wake up! Wake up before it is too late!

We have the most astounding good news to present to the world! The Gospel Jesus has given us comes with the power to deliver it and to see the signs and wonders of God’s presence. But there is a great veil of deception over the Western Church that prevents us from perceiving the truth. It is the same veil of deception that covered the religious leaders in Jesus’ day; “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not understand” (Matt 13:13). This is the work of the father of lies who seeks to impede the work of the Lord by blinding the eyes and confusing the understanding of the servants of God.

Deception About Islam

The two great areas of deception are Islam and the decadence of the West.

I find it astonishing that so many people in Britain – Christians included - have been hoodwinked by the palpable lie that Islam is a religion of peace. Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Manchester, actually said that the bomber had nothing to do with Islam. Such statements show either unforgivable ignorance in a political leader or culpable lying.

It is astonishing that so many in Britain – Christians included - have been hoodwinked by the lie that Islam is a religion of peace.

Manchester Central Mosque. See Photo Credits.The Qur’an instructs the followers of Allah to “Kill the polytheists [Jews and Christians] wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush” (Qur’an 9:5). This was the policy pursued by Mohammed and is now followed by those we call ‘extremists’, including the fighters of so-called Islamic State.

Of course, it is true that the vast majority of Muslims are ordinary people who want to get on with their lives and live at peace with others. But a large part of the trouble is that they do not integrate – they live in separate communities – they learn the Qur’an in Arabic and we do not know what is taught in their mosques, all of which creates fear and suspicion. They are specifically told not to integrate or to make friends with non-Muslims:

O you who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them [for friendship] is of them. Verily Allah does not guide such people. (Qur’an, Sura 5:51, emphasis added)

The central teaching of the Qur’an is that Islam is at war with the rest of the world and all Muslims are required to take part in this war until the nations have been subdued and Islam rules the world.

Ayatollah Khomeini a leading scholar of Islam said “The purest joy in Islam is to kill and be killed for Allah”. He said, “If you are slain, you will go to Paradise. Even if you do the slaying, you will go to Paradise”.¹

If Christian leaders make no attempt to discuss this teaching with Islamic scholars, young men will continue to become radicalised and terrorist atrocities will increase in the Western nations. A reign of terror will eventually lead to all-out war and no doubt someone will risk a first strike with their nuclear warheads. The end result will be catastrophic.

But it need not be like this!

God is urgently calling upon his Church in the West to wake up, both to the reality of the threat to world peace and to the incredible opportunity being presented to believers to bring the Gospel to a world that is hungry for truth and fearful for the future.

God is urgently calling upon his Church in the West to wake up - to the threat to world peace and to the incredible opportunity now presented to believers.

Deception About Western Society

However, the Church has a veil of deception drawn not only over its perception of Islam, but also over its own attitude to Western society.

Ariana Grande. See Photo Credits.Why did the bomber specifically target the Manchester Arena where Ariana Grande was performing? You have only to look at her song lyrics to see the answer to this question. On that fateful night in Manchester she sang “Tonight I’m making deals with the devil…And I know it’s gonna get me in trouble…”

As her website and song lyrics make abundantly clear, Grande propagates what has been termed ‘raunch culture’,² designed to liberate young girls from all sexual inhibitions. All this is highly offensive to Muslims - and so it should be also to Christians! Though Christians do not react with acts of violence, we should be making it clear to Muslims that we deplore the sexualisation of our children.

This is where our lack of communication with Islamic leaders is utter folly. They think that decadent, immoral Western culture is approved by the Christian Church – and even flows from Christianity – not least because we allow our children to go to concerts like the one in the Manchester Arena, the benefit show scheduled to take place at Old Trafford on Sunday, and the one that took place in the Bataclan Concert Hall in Paris last year.

Of course, these concerts glorifying sexual decadence and satanic attitudes in no way justify the indescribable violence of the Muslim bombers, but they justify the teaching given in hundreds of mosques in Europe where imams try to protect their young people from corruption by Western society by instilling hatred of the West. But sadly this leads unstable young Muslim men to think they are earning a place in paradise by donning a suicide vest.

The answer to this mess does not lie in the hands of politicians, who simply strengthen the intelligence services and put more armed police on the streets. The answer lies squarely in the hands of the Church!

The answer to this mess does not lie in the hands of politicians, but in the hands of the Church!

The Church has to be much more forthright in condemning the decadence of Western society! For too long we have allowed hyper-liberal secular humanists to dominate social policy and direct social change. Muslims are perfectly justified in reacting against Western society as demonic - but they are also justified in thinking (however mistakenly) that it is condoned by Christians.

God’s Instrument of Judgment

This is why God has allowed vast numbers of Muslims to come into Britain, the EU nations and the USA. They are like the Babylonians sent to bring judgment upon Judah.

Make no mistake: God will allow Islam to be his instrument of judgment upon the West, unless the Church wakes up and recognises how far we have strayed from the truth of the word of the Lord - and unless we repent and use all the power of the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts that have been given to us to evangelise the world.

It is the Gospel of Jesus that has the only answer powerful enough to transform the virulent virus of violence that is spreading across the world.

The Church has to move from trying to live alongside Muslims in peace to actively evangelising them and practically showing them the way of love. The only way into the Kingdom is through faith, not through force. The contrast between the Gospel and the teachings of Muhammad in the Qur’an could not be greater.

The Qur’an says: “Allah does not love sinners” (Qur’an 2:190) - and this is repeated 24 times for emphasis. Contrast this with the teaching of Jesus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his One and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16).

God will allow Islam to be his instrument of judgment upon the West, unless the Church wakes up to how far we have strayed from the word of the Lord.

Live the Faith We Proclaim

The word of the Lord to his Church is not only to church leaders but to every believer: it is a call to live the faith that we proclaim - to take every opportunity to share our faith with others.

The light and love and truth of Jesus must shine out through our lives and be such an attractive alternative to Islamic teachings of hatred, and to the decadence and moral corruption of Western ‘raunch culture’, that people will embrace the truth with overwhelming relief and joy – as the man who discovered the Pearl of great Price.

This is the word of the Lord to this generation!

References

1 Baar, M, 1980. The Unholy War – Oil, Islam, and Armageddon, Henry E Walter Ltd, Worthing, p78.

2 This term was coined by author Ariel Levy, and has been used by Dr Jenny Taylor to describe Grande’s style and influence – see here.

In the wake of the closure of the Dubs scheme to bring in unaccompanied minors from the Calais migrant camps, how should Church and state respond?

The Government has come under fire this week for ending the ‘Dubs’ scheme to allow unaccompanied minors from the Calais camps to enter the UK.

Lord Dubs, himself a refugee from Nazism who came to the UK on the Kindertransport, who introduced the scheme, is outraged at the decision to end it. The Archbishop of Canterbury was described as “shocked” over the decision and has asked the Government to reconsider.¹

The Government’s argument, put forth by Home Secretary Amber Rudd, is that the French authorities did not want the scheme to continue because, "It acts as a pull. It encourages the people traffickers."²

So, is the UK really failing in its responsibilities?

Pledges for Syria

It has also been pointed out that the UK is one of the largest international donors to refugee aid as well as to humanitarian aid in general.

Britain hosted a conference last year to raise support from the international community to aid the crisis in Syria. Huge pledges were forthcoming (£9.6 billion in grants, £32 billion in loans), but a year on, which nations have actually put their hands in their pockets?³

• The US, Germany, the European Union and the UK have actually out-given their initial pledges. The next highest donors on the list are the Netherlands, Japan and Norway.
  
• Canada, Belgium and Spain have given more than they pledged.
  
• Ireland has also exceeded its pledge, giving now the same as Saudi Arabia, which has only given a fraction of its pledge.
  
• Little Estonia has donated more than China, not proportionally, but in actual cash. China promised £28m but has only given £2.4m. Estonia has given £2.6m.
  

There is a total list of 48 donor countries, but the top four, including the UK, have significantly out-given the others. We are also in it for the long haul, with pledges going up to 2020. Saudi Arabia and China are notably absent from this phase of giving.

Discerning a Right Response

Now, comparing ourselves to others is not the way to set our obligations. We are accountable to the Lord for our behaviour in every sphere of life. Comparing ourselves to others and pointing out their faults will not win favour with God.

So how should the British Government balance economic and social realities with our Geneva Convention obligations to refugees?

Christian campaigners point to the Bible’s commands regarding foreigners and those in need:

Iraqi refugee children at a camp in Syria. See Photo Credits.He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. (Deut 10:18-19)

So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud labourers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty. (Mal 3:5)

No stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveller… (Job 31:32)

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. (Matt 25:25-36)

It is also worth noting that tithing was intended to help (among others) foreigners:

At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no land allotted to them or any inheritance of their own) and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. (Deut 14:28-29)

When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. Then say to the Lord your God: ‘I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. (Deut 26:12-13)

However, Scripture is also full of encouragements to be wise and discerning in all our ways.

In the light of all this, what do you think our Government should do? What should the Church do? Leave your comments below and have your say.

References

1 High Court challenge to UK's child refugee efforts. BBC News, 10 February 2017.

2. Ibid.

2 Coughlan, S. Who really paid up to help Syria? BBC News, 10 February 2017. All further quotes from here.

What underlies the BBC's efforts to re-shape British culture?

Last week we commented on the BBC’s deliberate promotion of the transgender element of the LGBT agenda. This week, Dr Clifford Hill offers a biblical-sociological framework for understanding just why the BBC is trying to reshape society to fit these values.

*****

The Apostle Paul was way ahead of his time in teaching principles that are in accord with the modern discipline of Sociology, whose founding fathers (such as Durkheim and Weber) were early 20^th Century scholars. Paul perceptively outlined a five-stage theory of social change in his letter to the Romans, written from prison in Caesarea, around the year AD 60.

Paul had travelled widely across the Roman Empire and was a keen observer of human nature. He had lived for several years in the city of Ephesus with its fertility cults and sex symbols in full view of the public – the relics of which can still be seen by visitors today. He had experienced an incredible amount of hardship and suffering through pursuing his missionary zeal. He described some of his travel experiences:

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea…I have laboured and toiled and often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. (2 Cor 11:23-27)

But whilst being an intrepid traveller, Paul was also no mean scholar who ably debated with the Greek philosophers in Athen’s famous Areopagus. Paul brought his vast resources of knowledge and experience to focus upon the forces of social change that he perceived to be at work in the Roman Empire, that would inevitably lead to the decline and fall of that great empire.

He wrote about this in the opening chapter of his weighty theological treatise to the Christians in Rome. Luther, when a professor in the University of Wittenberg, declared Romans to be the greatest book in the Bible. It sets out Paul’s mature thinking about the current condition of humanity in the context of God’s eternal purposes.

Romans 1 sets out Paul’s mature thinking about the condition of humanity in the context of God’s eternal purposes.

Paul’s Analysis of the Forces of Social Change (Romans 1:18-32)

Stage 1 (verses 18-21): Paul begins with a statement that human beings in rebellion against God deliberately become involved in the leading of society astray from fundamental truth rooted in God’s principles and good design. Paul says that when people suppress the truth about Creation, they are at beginning of a slippery slope towards the degradation of hearts and minds. In other words, once you deny the central truth of the existence of the God of Creation (which can be understood clearly by all human beings), you open the way to the whole gamut of forces of social and moral corruption. Every true perspective on life becomes warped. Paul’s teaching is that once you reject the truth you automatically come under the sway of the forces of darkness.

Stage 2 (verses 22-23, 25): The second stage in the degradation of society comes when human beings pass from the denial of the God of Creation into idolatry. Paul recognises that all human beings have an innate tendency to worship something or someone. Once the basic truths of Creation are denied, people seek alternatives and find them in bits of wood and stone or anything created by human hands – which they worship.

Modern forms of this idolatry include worship of wealth and property (just consider the preponderance of TV programmes about finding the perfect house – e.g. seeking A Place in the Sun or Location, Location, Location - plus our worship of cars which we fondly clean and polish, the jewellery we wear, the fashions we parade and the wealth we own). They also include worship of people – including celebrity cults or the adoration of self. In our era, the individual is now god.

Stage 3 (verse 24): The third stage in this social change is the relaxation of personal and corporate morality, when we begin to cheat on our partners. In Romans 1 the emphasis is on sexual desire, but cheating can extend to every area of life (e.g. finances, relationships, legal responsibilities). We abandon standards of truth and integrity and we worship our bodies and our “sinful desires”.

Stage 4 (verses 26-27): The fourth stage is where human beings are no longer content with simply indulging their God-given sexual desires but “[exchange] natural relations for unnatural ones”. Paul describes this delicately: “men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another”.

Stage 5 (verses 28-32): The fifth and final stage in the corruption of society, Paul says, is God giving people over to “a depraved mind”. This is a vital stage and a tipping point – a point at which society has deliberately refused and rejected God’s efforts to rescue them to such an extent that God gives them over to their chosen course of rebellion, allowing them to become completely enslaved and deceived by it. He does not necessarily abandon them to this forever – but it is by far the more painful road for humans to walk, and many can be lost forever as a result.

Human beings in rebellion against God deliberately become involved in the leading of society astray from fundamental truth.

Brainwashing and Reversal of Truth

In national terms, this means the whole mindset of society becoming warped through being brainwashed with false teaching. This includes the deliberate injection of false values into our children – the calculated, strategic changing of society by social engineering to make everyone conform to a false ideology. This is what happened in Germany in the 1930s, when the majority of the population accepted the Nazis’ ideology of a super race, and acquiesced to the murder of 6 million Jews.

Social engineering produces human minds so corrupted that they completely abandon the whole concept of ‘truth’– in fact they reverse truth. In the words of the Prophet Isaiah:

Woe to 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)

Paul says that at this stage in the corruption of society, the mindset of humanity is so degraded that people can no longer recognise the truth and are no longer aware of the forces of evil that are driving them towards destruction. He says:

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice…They invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Paul sees this as the final degradation of humanity leading to what we would describe today as a ‘dysfunctional society’ – or the end of civilisation.

Paul’s analysis is sociologically sound, though written c.2000 years ago. It is a timeless way of understanding any society – no matter what culture, geographical location or place in history. It would be interesting to take a poll of a cross-section of the population in Britain today asking which stage in this framework of social change we have reached.

What is your assessment?

Author: Dr Clifford Hill

Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

There is a great spiritual battle raging for the soul of the West.

These are dangerous days for the USA and for Britain. Both are seeing an unprecedented level of social and political unrest. Both have had national referendums, democratically conducted. But both are now seeing these democratic resolutions challenged.

In the US, Donald Trump is said to be the most unpopular choice of President in living memory and street protests against his election have been taking place in cities across the country. More than 4 million people have signed petitions calling upon the Electoral College to reverse the decision of the people and appoint Hillary Clinton as President-elect.

Technically this could happen. Donald Trump is not yet President-elect: he has been nominated by vote of the people, but it is the Electoral College that actually makes the appointment of President-elect. They meet on 19 December 2016, when the representatives from the states who are committed to vote for Donald Trump could, in theory, change their minds and vote for Hillary Clinton on the grounds that she won the popular vote.¹ These rebel delegates would incur a personal fine if they did this, although there will be plenty of Democrats only too willing to pay their fine. But it is highly unlikely that this will happen, despite the petition and despite the vehemence of the street protests.

In a similar way, the Lib Dems in Britain, backed by Tony Blair, are campaigning for a second referendum to overturn the decision taken on 23 June this year, which they do not like. They want to remain in the European Union regardless of its restrictions upon national sovereignty. It is strange that a Party that has always championed democracy is now seeking to undermine democracy and to defy the will of the people.

UK and US Similarities

There are many similarities between the situation in the USA and that in Britain. This was perceived by Donald Trump during his campaign when he said that the outcome of the vote would be "Brexit plus plus plus". No doubt this is the reason why, as part of his celebrations, he invited Nigel Farage as the first British politician to meet him. There are strong similarities between the US presidential election and Brexit. In both cases, evangelical Christians played a large part in the outcome. I cannot prove this statistically, although one report from the States estimates that as many as 80% of white evangelical voters chose Trump.²

Both the USA and Britain are experiencing unprecedented levels of social and political unrest.

Christians in the US are happy that the Vice President-elect, Mike Pence, is a committed Christian and they are praying that Donald Trump will also commit his life to the Lord. They voted for him, not because they thought he was a good man, but because they believed that in some way God was going to use him to break the dominance of the secular humanist liberal elite that has been driving America for decades. And this is very similar to the motives of British Christians who voted for Brexit in order to get Britain out of the increasingly evil influences of the EU.

Battle for the Soul of the West

Many Christians on both sides of the Atlantic have a sense that a great spiritual battle is raging over our nations that is essentially a battle for the soul of the West, which has been witnessing its centuries of biblical heritage rapidly draining away under the impact of a toxic mixture of Marxism, secularism, humanism and Satanism. What is becoming abundantly clear is that this is not a battle against flesh and blood but against what Paul aptly described as "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph 6:12).

There is a desperate need today for committed Christians who understand the times in which we are living and who are able to engage in prayer that is directed by a clear understanding of the nature of the battle; and who are also willing to be witnesses to the truth in their sphere of influence, so that the word of God is directed into the life of the nations both at a grassroots level and into the arteries of power.

In order to gain the level of understanding required for the incredible times in which we are living, we need Godly revelation. This was something of which Moses had foresight. At a critical point in his life, with half a million people to feed in the desert, he cried out to God that he just couldn't carry on. God appointed 70 elders to share the burden of leadership and the Spirit of God came upon them so that they prophesied (Num 11:24-25). God had already given Moses a definition of prophecy as declaring the word of God [being his mouthpiece] (Ex 4:5-16).

Moses then expressed a wish that has prophetic significance for our day. He said "I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets" (Num 11:29). That is what we greatly need today – all God's people knowing the word of God and having the ability to declare it openly among their friends and neighbours, and more widely when they have the opportunity.

Christians on both sides of the Atlantic have a sense that a great spiritual battle is raging over our nations - a battle for the soul of the West.

Need for Divine Strength

There are many stories in the Bible showing how, when those with leadership responsibilities got to the end of their strength and cried out to God, miracles happened. It happened with Moses several times. It also happened with King Jehoshaphat, who realised that the tiny army of Judah could not face the vast army coming against him. He led the whole nation in prayer that ended with a cry for help "For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you" (2 Chron 20:12).

The response from God was "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours but God's." It is when we admit our powerlessness to deal with the situation that God is able to take over and exercise supernatural power. St Paul found this many times in his own life when God said to him "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9). Paul's own testimony was "When I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor 12:10).

For Those in Power...

It is this divine strength that is needed by our leaders in these testing days, but it is not easy for politicians to express weakness. This is where they need the prayer support of Christians who understand the times. We should be giving special prayer covering to the meeting of the Electoral College in America on 19 December and the inauguration of the new President on 20 January 2017.

We should also be praying for Prime Minister Theresa May in Britain and all the politicians and civil servants who are engaged in the negotiations to get Britain out of the European Union. This is already a giant spiritual battle in the heavenlies and on the ground in Brussels and other European capitals. But if the battle is God's, it is more than possible that he will do something spectacular in Europe before the completion of the Brexit negotiations! Right now, the greatest need is to mobilise prayer among Christians.

There is a desperate need today for Christians of understanding and wisdom, who are able to pray strategically and witness to the truth in their sphere of influence.

References

1 Forster, K. Hillary Clinton voters call on Electoral College members to stop Donald Trump. The Independent, 17 November 2016.

2 Bailey, SP. White evangelicals voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump, exit polls show. Washington Post, 9 November 2016.

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

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

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

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

More Deception?

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

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

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

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

Miracles in the Past

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

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

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

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

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

Opportunity for the Remnant

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

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

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

Word on the EU, 2015

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

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

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

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

References

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No Real Reformation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our Greatest Concern

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

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

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

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

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

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

UnGodly and Repressive System

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Faithful Remnant

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

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

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

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

God is Faithful

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

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

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

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

References

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

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

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

Clifford Hill asks: has the UK just joined an unholy alliance?

To bomb or not to bomb? That was the question faced by our Parliament this week and the bombers won the day. But was it really a victory that increases the security of Britain from terrorist attacks? When the Prime Minister decided to call the crucial debate after he'd done his mathematics, I asked the question, "Is there any word from the Lord?" I turned to my Bible and it fell open to Isaiah 30: "Woe to the obstinate children, declares the Lord, to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit."

This caused me to look at the alliance we will be joining. On the one hand there is America, France and Australia and on the other hand there is Russia, Iran and Iraq plus Assad's part of Syria. Together these are strange bedfellows; one might almost say they are an unholy alliance with little in common except a shared opposition to the Islamic State.

Unholy Alliance

What are we doing joining such an alliance? If our intention is simply to add a few more bombs to the thousands already dropped by America and France and Australia and Russia, without any intention of sending in an army to clear IS out of the territory and to establish a lasting peace, there really isn't much point.

In fact, it could be a disastrous decision, for Britain already has sufficient resident potential terrorists to create havoc in our cities, as happened in Paris last month. Our bombing might even radicalise some more young Muslims. The security services report that they have recently successfully countered seven terrorist plots; but how much longer will it be before one of these groups evades our counterterrorist forces?

The Search for a Solution

What is the answer? Do we just do nothing and wait for the different factions within Islam to slaughter each other; or do we urge the formation of a united army of which we are willing to take part to confront the Islamic State on the ground? But even if such a united army was successful in defeating IS and liberating those who are suffering under the barbaric mediaeval regime, this will not solve the problem of the Middle East. What we are facing is an ideological and spiritual battle rather than conventional warfare. It is a battle that cannot be won by force of arms.

Of even greater significance is the possibility that by joining this alliance against the Islamic State we might actually be putting ourselves against God!

In the scripture just quoted from Isaiah 30:1 God speaks about "those who carry out plans that are not mine". This is the great danger facing us if we have not truly sought to know and to understand what God is doing today.

Scripture warns us of the danger of putting ourselves against God and trying to carry out plans that are not his.

Exposing the Wickedness of the Nations

In last week's editorial comment Clifford Denton quoted the prophecy from Haggai 2:6-7 which we were quoting back in the 1980s in the old printed magazine Prophecy Today, saying that God had revealed that he would soon be unleashing a great shaking of the whole world of nature; and the political, social, and economic institutions of all nations would be shaken. In numerous articles on the subject we said that God's purpose was to expose the corruption and wickedness of the nations in order to prepare the way for the kingdom of God as stated in Hebrews 12:26f.

We have now reached the point in the history of the world where we are actually immersed in the great shaking – and of course, we don't like it! We are tempted to cry out to God to stop the shaking: but if God says "I am shaking the nations" and we pray for it to stop, we are actually putting ourselves against God! We are praying against his will.

Asking the Right Questions

We have to ask some fundamental questions, "What are God's plans? What is he doing today?" When we discover the answer to these questions, then we will know how to pray and what we should do. We will be like the tribe of Issachar in the time of King David; understanding the times and knowing what to do (1 Chron 12:32). This, in fact, is God's will for his people: those who know him, who love him and want to be his servants.

We need to find out what God's will is and pray it - not be tempted to pray against it by asking for what we want.

God has already provided all the answers to these fundamental questions through the revelation of his nature and purposes in the Bible that climax in "the Word became flesh" at the season of Advent which we are celebrating right now. At Advent we not only celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world but we look forward to his Second Coming when "All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats" (Matt 25:32).

The Preparation is Now

What we are seeing now is in preparation for this event which is clearly drawing nearer. For a number of years God has been turning the light onto the nations of the West who have had the gospel for centuries and who have allowed greed and corruption to distort his purposes in using them to reveal his love and his salvation to all nations. The shaking of the Western nations has intensified in the 21^st century as the proud economic institutions of the bankers crumbled and the misdeeds of politicians and celebrities were exposed.

God also began to use Islam as the 'rod of his anger', allowing atrocities in the great cities of the Western nations such as the fall of the Twin Towers in New York, the bombing of the Underground in London and most recently, the atrocities in Paris.

Understanding God's Purposes

But just as God allowed Assyria and Babylon to bring judgment upon his covenant people of Israel, when that was completed he destroyed both aggressors for their savage cruelty. Today God is allowing the Islamic State to carry out similar atrocities in the very same places (Mosel in the Islamic State was Nineveh the capital of Assyria, and Baghdad was Babylon, capital of the Babylonian Empire).

Just as God allowed Assyria and Babylon to bring judgment upon his covenant people of Israel, when that was completed he destroyed both aggressors for their savage cruelty.

But the barbaric acts of IS are shaking the whole world of Islam and causing millions to question their faith in the teaching of Muhammad. The implosion of Islam has begun. It will gain momentum, particularly as the hundreds of thousands of migrants integrate into Western society and as the acts of terrorism continue to expose the darkness and violence that stems from the Qur'an and lies at the very heart of Islam.

This is why it is essential that we understand God's plans and we do not enter into an ungodly alliance with those whose ultimate purpose may be to destroy Israel and the Western nations. Isaiah 30 not only has a warning for the West; it also has a lovely promise, "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength...Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" (Is 30:15-18)

As the UK launches air strikes against Syria, Helen Belton argues that we are the real fighters against IS.

Three weeks ago we watched in horror and disbelief as the Paris terror outrage unfolded. This week MPs voted to go ahead with air strikes in Syria amid fears of an escalation in violence.

Sadly, our leaders do not understand the nature of what they are dealing with.

Religious War, Spiritual War

After all, it's baffling to find that in secular 21^st century Europe, they have been plunged into a religious war inspired by medieval ideology. Governments thought that religion had left the political sphere back in the 18^th century with the dawn of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.

Having largely relegated our own religious heritage to the private sphere we find ourselves at a loss to deal with an aggressive totalitarian religious ideology. Forsaking our Judeo-Christian heritage has allowed the enemy to flood in.

Of course we have to defend ourselves, but the solution to this conflict is not ultimately physical warfare because at root are spiritual forces of evil.

Having largely relegated our own religious heritage to the private sphere, we find ourselves at a loss to deal with an aggressive totalitarian religious ideology.

Redemption Draws Near

The resurgence of militant Islam is the enemy's response to the time of our redemption drawing near. If the world can be overrun and the Church obliterated, then there is no Bride for Jesus to claim. If the Jewish people can be destroyed and Israel overrun, there is no ancient people ready for the fulfilment of God's promises to them, no other place for the Messiah to set his foot than in Jerusalem (since he will return in the same way he left, Acts 1:11).

However, we can rejoice in the promised triumph and certain return of Jesus, knowing that as the darkness gathers it is a sign that the dawning of the Day of our Redemption is nearer. 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3:

For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labour pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.

In the meantime, we are called to watch and pray and keep the lamp of the Spirit burning.

The resurgence of militant Islam is the enemy's response to the time of our redemption drawing near - if the world can be overrun and the Church obliterated, there is no Bride for Jesus to claim.

The Bridegroom's Return

Matthew's (chapter 25) stark warning parable about young women waiting for a bridegroom to arrive should be uppermost in our minds. Those who are prepared for the Bridegroom's arrival have enough oil for their lamps to keep burning during the long wait. Those who are unprepared do not have enough and leave their posts to go and buy more. The bridegroom arrives while they are out shopping and they are excluded from the wedding banquet:

... the door was shut.

'Lord, Lord,' they said, 'open the door for us!'

"But he replied, 'Truly I tell you, I don't know you.'

Will Jesus know you? How? He will know you because he will see your 'lamp' burning - the same fire that burns in him burning consistently and faithfully within you.

In the meantime, we are called to battle. But what kind of battle?

Arise, Church

Our nation and Europe needs prayer now more than ever. If we do not rise up to watch, pray, give and preach the gospel unrelentingly, with Europe undergoing probably its greatest threat of violent conflict since the Second World War, then what will it take to wake us up?

It is time for the Church to arise to greater heights to do spiritual battle in the heavenly realms in prayer, for the protection of our nation and for repentance for those caught up in this conflict.

We are the real fighters against IS – with the sword of the Spirit and the "shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one" (Eph 6:16). This is the Church's battle to fight because only we have the appropriate weapons. This is a war that will be won in the spiritual realm in heavenly places.

This is the Church's battle to fight – only we have the appropriate weapons.

Prayer for Turning

There have been reports of IS fighters turning to the Lord. God specialises in turning murderers around. He did it with the apostle Paul, who was murdering Christians. Let's pray for more Damascus Road conversions (appropriate, given that Damascus is a Syrian city).

It is vital that we ask God to grant repentance to Islamic State, that we do not condemn individuals and people groups in this conflict but that we see the prison of the violent ideology they have embraced for what it is, a demonic delusion. Through this conflict let us pray that the Lord will release many out of spiritual darkness into the kingdom of light.

Practical Responses

What specifically is going to help us to be watchful, alert and prepared?

It could be increasing our commitment to prayer, individually, in small groups and as churches. It could be reviewing our giving, putting our substance into kingdom projects of lasting value both here and for the Church's mission abroad. It could be going to a different service once a month or meeting and encouraging believers from another denomination or area of the Church. Christians must stand together at this critical time for our nation. We must also stand with the Jewish community and show our love and support as they are under continual threat.

Let us be in faithful prayer for our brothers and sisters in the suffering Church. Let's support those helping them, such as Open Doors or Barnabas Fund, who are working at the moment with the Jewish peer, Lord Weidenfeld, to bring Christians out of Syria. Lord Weidenfeld was rescued from Nazi Germany by British Christians and is so grateful he wants to rescue Christians in his turn (note that he is 95 - age is no barrier to usefulness!).

Be Strategic

The people who perished in Paris two weeks ago did not know when they went happily to a concert or out for dinner that it would be their last evening. None of us knows how long we have so let's pray and ask the Lord to tell us who is warm to the gospel now? Who should I spend time with in the hope of encouraging them to consider the message of Jesus?

Another question to ask the Lord this week is, in the time I have left, however short or long that is, whether you return, or my end comes first, what is the one thing that only I can do, with my particular circumstances, gifts and skills? If you haven't already found it, find that thing and then pursue it. That is kingdom building: let's be fully ready and prepared, all the tasks completed, before the Master returns.

Above all, watch and pray and keep the lamp of the Spirit burning (Luke 12:35-40) because that will keep us in the place of safety until Jesus returns.

Ian Farley reviews 'God and Churchill', by Jonathan Sandys and Wallace Henley (SPCK, 2015, 352 pages, hardback £19.99)

This is an extremely thought-provoking book and one that is easy to read. It claims to be the first biography of Churchill to focus on the Christian motivation behind his style of leadership, speeches and eventual success. But it is important to note the title carefully. The order, God and Churchill, is significant, as is the subtitle – 'How the great leader's sense of divine destiny changed his troubled world and offers hope for ours'. Together, title and sub-title lets the reader know what to expect.

The title is not 'Churchill and God'. Those with some knowledge of the wartime prime minister will be aware that he did not express personal faith in Jesus nor particularly call himself a Christian or indeed claim to be religious. If enthusiasts of him are looking to find that actually he was one or all of these things, then this book will disappoint.

Rather the argument of the joint authors (one of whom, Sandys, is Churchill's great-grandson) is that God is active and sovereign in history. In particular, he appoints saving leaders and uses them to achieve his purposes. Churchill, they argue, was one such instrument in God's hands.

Churchill did not call himself a Christian or express personal faith in Jesus. But this book argues that he was still an instrument in God's sovereign hands for a saving purpose.

Churchill had, they believe, a high sense of Christian civilisation and a deep knowledge of Scripture, imparted to him by his nanny whose photograph was still by his bedside at his death. Of particular interest is the claim that as a boy of 16 he was already envisioned with a sense of purpose from God, one that would involve him saving the nation and its capital from invasion. His perseverance in this belief in his destiny, often against all the odds, is at the heart of this story.

Certainly Churchill was preserved from death on several occasions and equipped through the vicissitudes of his life to stand up to the evil of Hitler and Nazism. There are interesting chapters on the sources of this evil and Churchill's different perspective especially on science, the role of the church in society, the philosophy of Utilitarianism and the importance of history.

At the heart of this story is Churchill's sense of destiny and perseverance in his belief that he had great purpose.

All of this is a good read but there is more. As the subtitle suggests, his sense of destiny offers hope for our world too. The authors very expressly link the state of the world today with the mess of the 1940s. ISIS is the current equivalent of Hitler. The moral mess of the 1920s led to the Second World War and the moral mess of the 1960s has led to today's chaos. Is there a leader-saviour for today? There is a review of the danger of equivalency as an acceptable way of thought and a very good overview of patterns of history from Judges. But be warned, tempers may fray in this part!

Altogether a book to enjoy and be stimulated by, but not one that will assure you of the great man's salvation. However, it is a timely addition to the corpus on Churchill - especially in the year of the 70^th anniversary of Victory in Europe. The book's release is also timed to coincide with Churchill's birthday, 30 November, on which date the author will speak at a national press launch in Westminster.

Altogether a book to enjoy and be stimulated by, though not one that will assure you of the great man's salvation.

A press release from WIN/Gallup International exploring the religious beliefs of 63,898 people from 65 countries around the world was published in April 2015 and picked up in the British press. Monica Hill looks at the key statistics and comments from a biblical perspective.

Which are the Most (and Least) Religious Nations?

63% of those polled worldwide claimed to be 'religious'. Regionally, Africa (86%) headed the field closely followed by MENA (Middle East and North Africa) (82%), Eastern Europe (71%), America (66%), Asia (62%), Oceania (44%) and Western Europe (43%) trailing behind. Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, Morocco, Fiji, South Africa are all in the 90+% bracket with Thailand leading at 94%, whereas China claimed to be just 7%.

Western Europe and Oceania are the only regions where about half of the population are either not religious or acknowledge themselves to be atheists. As noted above, the least religious country in the world was found to be China, where 61% of people claim to be convinced atheists (that's twice as many as any other country) and 29% say that they're not religious (cf. just 7% who are). In the Western world, the Swedes proved to be the least religious (78% either not religious or declared atheist). The largest proportion of atheists (14%) are to be found in Western Europe and Asia, with Oceania also at 12%.

Surprisingly, younger people (classed as those under 34) tend to be more religious than other age groups (about 66% as against about 60% in other brackets).

Trends in the Middle East

Israel has a high proportion of unreligious people and convinced atheists (65%, compared to 30% who say they are religious). In the West Bank and Gaza this proportion is much lower (18%, compared to 70% who say they are religious).

Religion in Britain

Just 30% of British citizens consider themselves religious. That's against 70% of Russians and 56% of Americans. 53% of the British said they were 'not religious'. 13% said they were a 'convinced atheist' and the rest were 'don't knows'. Only three countries in Europe were lower than Britain, with Sweden the lowest at 19%.

The Gallup US Question Breakdown can be found here.

Responses in the British Media

It is not surprising that in the British Press the UK statistics were highlighted. The BBC and ITV News headlines were essentially the same: Britain has been found to be one of the least religious countries in the world. The Daily Telegraph's website gave a balanced breakdown across the world in a helpful map.¹ The Independent charts the following points and asks for (and receives) comments:²

1. There are twice as many religious people as non-believers.
2. Religion is dominant on every continent.
3. Older people are, surprisingly, less religious.
4. People in the middle aged bracket (44-54) are the least likely to be religious, the most likely to be atheist.
5. On the other hand, people in their twenties are most likely to identify with a religion, and so are a high proportion of under 25s.
6. Housewives are the most often religious, the full-time employed the least.
7. Wealthier people are less religious and so are people with more education.

Secularist Groups

The comments from Secularist groups were interesting. The British Humanist Society empathised that other polls have all found similar results in recent years. Their Director of Public Affairs and Campaigns, Pavan Dhaliwal, commented:

While politicians continue to make exaggerated claims about the importance of Christianity to Britain's shared cultural life, yet another poll has shown that British people are largely non-religious. On top of that we know that a majority of people in Britain, whatever their religious or non-religious beliefs, do not want to see public policies influenced by religious ideas. Let our politicians take note: continued attempts to justify policy on the grounds of a religious identity most of us do not share not only breeds needless division, but builds upon serious shaky ground.³

While Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, commented:

It's striking that of the least religious countries, the UK is the only one with an established state religion. Instead of burying their heads in the sand and constantly repeating the mantra of the UK being a 'Christian country', perhaps the time has come for politicians of all stripes to recognise the need to reflect the reality of changing times by separating religion from the state.⁴

Comment: Reasons to Hope

Statistics are only indicators and global statistics (good or bad) in particular should not overwhelm us. We must learn how to use them as advice for developing strategies to reach people and places to which God is calling us. This survey is one of self-perception with no factual proof required, and understanding in many dimensions will differ. But whether you agree with the above comments or not about the situation in the UK, Christians need to take note. Perhaps they are! Have you noticed the following signs of growth?

Growth in small groups:

• Although many church congregations nationwide are getting smaller, we have been noting for some time a great growth in small groups – and over the summer months we can also see that the larger gatherings of Christians across denominations are also growing almost exponentially.

Summer celebrations:

• Songs of Praise recently showed the Keswick Convention, which has been going since 1875 – this has grown to 3 weeks every summer plus 20+ ancillary meetings around the country, packed and moving into new premises in the Lake District. Although this attracts people mainly from the more traditional evangelical spectrum, there has also been tremendous growth in other sectors using large residential Easter and summer holiday time venues.
• Spring Harvest started these in 1979 in Butlins, reached 70,000 over 3 sites in the 1990s and is still going strong (see right). New Word Alive, now separate from Spring Harvest, attracts around 4,000 each year. New Wine from the Charismatic sector was founded in 1989, with Soul Survivor youth events four years later in 1993 and Momentum (for 20s and 30s) in 2004. Soul Survivor alone now has over 25,000 young people attending their camps each summer. And the list could go on!
• So growth in small groups AND in conference events are both to be reckoned with.

Three Tiers of Interaction

I am reminded of an understanding of church dynamics which we need to be able to rejoice in: Christians need at least three tiers of interaction – small group, congregation and celebration.

Although the regular congregational meeting is important and has been the visual mainstay of the church, small groups where Christians can interact and get to know each other and the Lord better were the bulwark of Wesleyan Methodism. It was in small meetings in the home where people accepted the Lord as their Saviour and these personal relationships are becoming more and more important. But we also need large celebration events where we can be encouraged and fortified in a way that may not be possible in smaller groups.

Jesus knew something about group dynamics. He chose a small group of 12 to be his disciples, of whom four were really close to him. He then drew together the 72 who were much more task-orientated, as he sent them out to be active witnesses. But he also had gatherings of the 4,000 and 5,000 who were blessed in very different ways.

Each level had its purpose and all are still necessary for Christians today. Communities and relationships of faith may now be facing different pressures and strains because of the internet, individualistic Western culture and increasingly global perspectives, but we still have the same needs in our Christian life. We must not limit what the Lord can do at each level.

References

1 Akkoc, R. Mapped: These are the world's most religious countries. The Telegraph, 13 April 2015.

2 Boren, Z D. 7 charts that reveal the most – and the least – religious people across the world...and how it is the young who are the biggest believers. The Independent, 13 April 2015.

3 British Humanist Association. UK among least religious countries in the world, finds international poll. 13 April, 2015.

4 National Secular Society. Survey: UK is one of the least religious countries in the world. 13 April 2015.