Paul Luckraft reviews ‘Body Zero’ by Nicholas Paul Franks (self-published, 2019)

Calling for little ships of hope to rescue us from disaster

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Miracle Indeed

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

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

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

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

Not by Might, Nor by Power

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

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

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

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

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

Biblical Boats, Spiritual Lessons

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

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

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

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

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

Notes

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

God's plans for the faithful remnant.

The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah. Go, proclaim this message towards the North: ‘Return, faithless Israel’ declares the Lord, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will not be angry for ever. Only acknowledge your guilt – you have rebelled against the Lord your God, you have scattered your favours to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me, declares the Lord.’” (Jeremiah 3:11-13)

This pronouncement is said to have been given to Jeremiah “During the reign of King Josiah” (Jer 3:6) which makes it one of the earliest words given to the Prophet, as Josiah died in 608 BC when Jeremiah was still a young man, probably in his 20s.

If we compare this word to that given in the year 587 BC, more than 20 years after Josiah’s death, we find Jeremiah still talking about a promise of restoration to Israel, the Northern Kingdom. That promise was given when Jeremiah was being held in the gatehouse of the guard (Jer 33:14) just before the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar’s army, which reveals the life-time commitment of Jeremiah to the message of restoration and to unity between the two houses of Israel, North and South.

Calling Back the Remnant

This message is all the more remarkable when we remember that Jeremiah never knew the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which had been destroyed by the Assyrians about one hundred years before he began his ministry.

The city of Samaria had been destroyed and the whole Northern Kingdom of Israel overrun by the Assyrians who carried out ethnic cleansing, deporting whole communities and resettling them in different parts of the Assyrian Empire, while replacing the Israelites with people from Babylon and other parts of their Empire (2 Kings 17:24). Historically this began the formation of the mixed-race people known as the Samaritans, who were still around at the time of Jesus.

Jeremiah had a life-time commitment to the message of restoration for both houses of Israel, North and South.

Jeremiah firmly believed that it was God’s purpose at the end of a period of exile to bring together the remnants of both peoples, those of Israel and those of Judah, who were scattered around the old Assyrian and Babylonian empires. They would be brought back to the land originally promised to their forefathers, but there would no longer be any tribal differences: they would be one people in a covenant relationship with God who declared “I will be their God and they will be my people” (Jer 31:33).

Message of Hope

This word from the Lord pronounced by Jeremiah must have come as a wonderful message of love and mercy from God to the remnant of Israel still in the land. They must have felt lost and abandoned after the disaster that had befallen Samaria and the whole Northern Kingdom. It appeared that God had deserted them and that there was no hope of redemption from the yoke of Assyria. But this beautiful word of hope from Jeremiah would have brought them great joy.

A similar word was given in Babylon to the remnant of Judah, to whom Isaiah was sent by God with a message of restoration: “‘For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger, I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,’ says the Lord your Redeemer” (Isa 54:7-8).

This is similar to the promise given in Isaiah 49:15: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will never forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hand.”

The promise of restoration given to Jeremiah was conditional upon the response of the faithful remnant. He was told to go and proclaim the message towards the North: “Return, faithless people, for I am your husband. I will choose you – one from a town and two from a clan – and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer 3:14-15).

The promise of restoration given to Jeremiah was conditional upon the response of the faithful remnant.

Preserving a Remnant

This promise is of great significance for us today. When a nation comes under judgment or grave misfortune that has been brought upon them by their own foolishness or falling away from the truth, everyone suffers – the righteous and the unrighteous, the guilty and the faithful. But God recognises that there is always a faithful remnant, even in times of judgment and national catastrophe.

They are the ones who provide the seed of renewal, the hope for the future – the tiny number of faithful believers who have not surrendered to foreign gods but who have remained faithful to the God of their fathers, the God of the Bible who gave his word of truth to Moses.

This promise says that God would summon “one from a town and two from a clan”: these precious individuals who had remained faithful to God, he intended to bring together into a new relationship with himself (the fulfilment of the New Covenant given first as a promise to the house of Israel and the house of Judah in Jeremiah 31 and opened to Gentiles through Jesus).

This faithful remnant would be used by God for the salvation and restoration of the whole nation – for a fresh outpouring of his cleansing, refreshing and empowering Holy Spirit that would bring resurrection life to the nation.

Sowing Life

While these promises were originally given to Israel and Judah, we can learn important principles from them that apply to us today. God loves to use small numbers for carrying out his purposes as he used Gideon’s 300 to save the whole nation. In the same way, God preserves a small number in every generation who remain faithful through the darkest days.

At the right time he turns to them and uses them as the seedbed for sowing life into the soil of the land; as the kindle for lighting the fires of revival that spread across the countryside from village to village and town to town, until all the people lift up their heads again and come to Zion, to the God of Creation, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

He is the One who has given the true faith for all time: who so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever shall believe in him will have eternal life.

This article is part of a series. Click here to read other instalments.

Some insights from the Editor-in-Chief at the head of the year.

1. What is God Doing Today?

We are entering a time of immense turbulence that is of great significance in the history of the nation. It is essential to understand what God is doing and not be blinded by what human beings are doing. What is God doing today?

In the past God has spoken to us about shaking the nations. Back in 1986 he highlighted Haggai 2:6 and 7: “I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations…” Much of what we are seeing today is God’s activity in shaking the nations, exposing corruption and turning upside-down the institutions in which people have put their trust; which is a modern form of idolatry. We need to keep our eyes upon him and understand what he is doing.

There is still a faithful remnant of Bible-believing Christians in Britain who are greatly needed in this time of turbulence. The message that Jesus gave in Nazareth when the scroll of Isaiah was given to him in the synagogue is important. Jesus chose to read from Chapter 61, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news…” The whole of this chapter is significant for the faithful remnant today and it needs careful study. The faithful remnant will be called “Oaks of righteousness” and be “a planting of the Lord for the display of HIS splendour.”

Their task is to “rebuild the ancient ruins”; to recall the nation to the biblical foundations of truth upon which the nation was founded. This requires study and teamwork, working together, honouring one another and in everything keeping our eyes upon the Lord and only doing what he tells us to do. A key Scripture is John 5:19: “The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.”

So, what is God doing? What are we seeing all around us in Britain? An excellent description is in Ezekiel 12:2: “Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but they do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.” This provides the key to understanding what is happening in the nation – a nation that is under judgment, whose leaders have no vision, who rush about in confusion looking for solutions that cannot be found; because there are no political solutions to the spiritual problems in the nation.

It is essential to understand what God is doing and not be blinded by what human beings are doing.

But this is not only the condition of our political leaders. It is also the condition of church leaders of all denominations, most of whom have either been swept up into the maelstrom of secular humanist values in a post-Christian world or have retreated into a cosy little pseudo-biblical world, feeding pastoral comfort to their flock, but have lost the prophetic cutting edge of the Gospel and no longer fearlessly declare the unchanging word of God to a lost generation!

The words of Jesus in telling the parable of the sower applies to the Church in Britain today: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand” (Matt 13:13). They do not understand because they do not have the Spirit of God. Paul makes this very clear in 1 Corinthians 2:12-14, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” … but the faithful remnant can say “But we have the mind of Christ”.

The faithful remnant in Britain today is largely composed of the older generation: but God is doing something quite remarkable! He is using the spirit of rebellion that is sweeping the nation to bring young people into the kingdom!

There are many signs that thinking young people are tired of the antics of our politicians and in their search for the truth they are rejecting the post-modernist philosophy that has driven society to the point we have reached today. They can see the social disaster vividly portrayed in social media that reflects their world. But God is actually using the spirit of rebellion to work out his purposes.

Young people are joining the faithful remnant and it is in the purposes of God to ensure that his precious word that has been kept in the old wineskins will not be lost, but will be poured out into the new wineskins before the older generation are taken into glory. My own grandson, Mark, who is due to be ordained this year, is an example of this.

2. The Faithful Remnant

The faithful remnant is a stump in the land. Isaiah 6:13 is significant and needs to be studied. As the oak leaves a stump when it is cut down so “The holy seed will be the stump in the land”. Issachar Ministries has a special calling for mobilising and resourcing the older generation of believers.

The Lord has given to Monica and me a living parable. In our garden we had a beautiful old plum tree that bore luscious fruit. In the middle of a very dry summer some six years ago it was heavily laden with fruit when a great storm with a powerful wind blew it down. We had no alternative but to harvest its fruit and then cut it in pieces for our log fire. With great sadness we cut its trunk near to the ground just leaving a stump. To our amazement another tree has grown up from the stump and in the past two or three years it has been producing fruit – not quite the same kind of fruit, smaller but good quality and very eatable.

The faithful remnant is the stump in the land – but that stump can bear good fruit.

The Lord spoke to us through this parable that the stump can produce good fruit, like the potter working at his wheel when Jeremiah called to see him (Jer 18) and the piece of clay he was working could not be fashioned into the intended pot. Instead of throwing away the clay the potter put it back onto the wheel and re-fashioned it into another pot – not the original beautiful vase intended to grace a rich person’s living room, but a useful pot that would bless a busy housewife in her kitchen.

The message for the faithful remnant is that the Lord never throws away any of his people, even when they have messed up their lives. Repentance and reformation are a key part of the Lord’s intention for all his people and it is this message of salvation through death and resurrection that is at the heart of the Gospel. It should always be present as part of the message of hope proclaimed by the faithful remnant.

3. God Holds the Church Responsible

God holds his Church responsible for the state of the nation. This is what we learn from the biblical account of God’s dealings with his covenant people Israel and Judah. A keyword to the institutional churches in Britain for 2019 is Ezekiel 13:4, “You have not gone up to the breaks in the wall to repair it.”

The wall around the city was there to protect all its citizens. The safety of everyone was in peril when there were breaks in the wall that were left unattended. Every walled city in ancient Israel had its engineers charged with the responsibility of constant surveillance. Hence the illustration in Amos 7, where he saw the Lord standing beside a wall with a plumb-line in his hand checking to see if there was a bulge, which would indicate corruption inside the wall that could lead to a sudden collapse such as that foreseen in Isaiah 30:12-14.

It was because Jeremiah had seen the inevitable consequences of the corruption in the nation that gave such an urgent cutting edge to his message: “Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart! Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet, I have heard the battle cry. Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins…” This had not yet happened but prophetically Jeremiah could already see the disaster and because he loved his nation and he loved the city of Jerusalem, he could not keep quiet.

This is the kind of urgent prophetic compulsion that is needed in the faithful remnant of Bible-believing Christians in Britain today, if there is to be any chance of saving the nation from utter disaster. It is not too late to save the nation! But the task is urgent. The faithful remnant in the older generation has to be mobilised and stirred into action to ensure that the truth of the Gospel reaches the younger generation. Grandparents are in a unique position in Britain today and they are valued by their grandchildren.

It is not too late to save the nation! But the task is urgent.

These young people understand social media and the multitude of apps on their mobile phones. Their spiritual antennae enables them to detect fake news in a way that is beyond the capacity of the older generation. It is God’s intention to blend the old and the new in a unique way to advance the kingdom.

The message the faithful remnant (old and young) have to declare will not win them many friends but it will have such a ring of truth that it will penetrate the darkness that is enveloping all generations. The word of the Lord in Jeremiah 5:21 needs to be declared and it will be heard through the mouths of the faithful remnant, “Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. Should you not fear me? declares the Lord. Should you not tremble in my presence?”

The old and the new generations of believers are both needed in 2019 if the nation is to survive the period of intense turmoil that lies ahead. The battle facing us in Britain is a direct clash between the powers of darkness and those of the light. It is essential to understand the nature of this battle and much can be discerned from the life and ministry of Jeremiah.

In Jeremiah 5:3 he recognised that God had sent many warning signs to the nation: “You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them but they refused correction”. He saw that they were only the ordinary people, so he went to the leaders, religious and political, “but with one accord they too had broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds” that connected them with the Lord God of Israel.

Jeremiah recognised that it was primarily the religious leaders of Judah who were responsible for the godless state of the nation: “Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness, declares the Lord” (Jer 23:11). He describes this in some detail:

Among the prophets of Samaria I saw this repulsive thing: they prophesy by Baal and lead my people Israel astray. And 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. They are all like Sodom to me, the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah... (Jer 23:13-14)

In understanding the spiritual battle erupting in Britain, much can be discerned from the life and ministry of Jeremiah.

This is what is happening in Britain among some of its church leaders who have embraced secular humanist values and are teaching lies to the people: devising celebrations for transgender people in the name of God instead of teaching them the truth and calling for repentance and change. They even pollute the minds of little children by encouraging them to cross-dress and to question their God-given gender created in the image of the God of Creation. God will hold to account the wickedness of these church leaders.

But even in the midst of judgment, the faithful remnant must proclaim a message of hope. Psalm 81 is a key to understanding this blend of judgment and hope. It begins with singing joyfully to God and moves into its message of warning and hope with the keywords “If only!”

Hear, O my people, and I will warn you – if you would but listen to me O Israel! You shall have no foreign God among you; you shall not bow down to an alien God. I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it…If My People would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!…You would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you… (Ps 81:8-16)

This is the message that needs to be proclaimed by the faithful remnant – the message of warning and of hope – if my people. It is the same message that Solomon received at the dedication of the First Temple (2 Chron 7:14). If those who are faithful in declaring the word of the Lord put their trust in him and are prepared to embody the message in their lifestyles as well as to fearlessly declare it through every media at their disposal, it will make an impact in the nation in the turbulent post-Brexit days ahead. We may yet see the promises of blessings given through the prophets coming into our nation.

Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing… (Joel 2:2-14)

When faithful believers leave the pews.

At Prophecy Today UK we have become aware of a seemingly growing number of Bible-believing Christians in Britain retreating to the outskirts of formal/traditional expressions of church, or opting out altogether. This is an altogether different trend to the ‘falling away’ of nominal believers, representing instead mature, committed Christians acting in good faith and conscience. In August/September 2018 we circulated a survey through both Prophecy Today and Issachar Ministries to learn more.

We were pleased at the response we received, yielding 162 finished surveys and over 250 expressions of interest.

There are caveats; for instance, the sample was not representative and so we cannot make general statements about national or denominational trends. However, as a preliminary piece of research it is proving extremely helpful for our internal discussions and strategy, and we can share a number of findings at this stage in which you may take interest.

Key Findings

The survey asked participants about their historic church attendance, their journey ‘out’ of church, their current position and their pastoral needs. Aware that individual patterns of church attendance/belonging are complex, we tried to give as much space as possible within the survey for participants to describe their journeys.

Past church experience

We found that 62% of church moves made by survey participants during the course of their adult lifetimes were on grounds of conscience (i.e. some kind of disagreement or concern), while 37% were practical (e.g. job or house move), 1% involving elements of both. When we looked only at each participant’s most recent church, the percentage leaving on grounds of conscience rose to 84%.

Of those leaving their churches on grounds of conscience, the most common complaint was of ‘spiritual concerns’ in the fellowship, followed by pastoral disagreements, then disagreements over fundamental doctrine.

At Prophecy Today UK we have become aware of a seemingly growing number of Bible-believing Christians in Britain retreating to the outskirts of formal/traditional expressions of church, or opting out altogether.

Stereotypical connections were made between certain problems and specific denominations: e.g. CofE, Methodist and URC churches were commonly associated with spiritual dryness, while charismatic and Pentecostal churches were often associated with worldliness and consumerism.

However, issues such as LGBTQ+ affirmation and problems stemming from the Toronto ‘Blessing’/the ‘prophetic’ movement in the USA, also errant theologies like dominionism and liberal theology, are spilling out across denominational boundaries. In particular, both Baptist churches and CofE churches stood out in our survey as being ‘blown about by every wind of doctrine’.

Current Position

More than 1 in 4 (28%) participants said that they cannot find a sound, biblical church in their area. Many highlighted the difficulty of finding a fellowship that declares the whole council of God, including the place of Israel, with relevance to the issues of the day.

1 in 4 cross the threshold of a mainstream church occasionally – whether still committed but deeply unhappy, or on the fringes/occasionally attending but not committed.

Happily, we found that the majority of participants (87%) enjoy fellowship with like-minded believers in other contexts (e.g. prayer groups, home fellowships, regional meetings). However, most did not consider their present situation to be satisfactory and there was a near-universal cry for more and deeper fellowship.

1 in 5 (21%) effectively feel cut off from like-minded believers, fellowshipping only with their spouses, or online, or considering themselves totally isolated.

Emotions and Attitudes

Just as people’s journeys ‘out of church’ are complex, so their emotional reactions are also complex. However, across all the participants, some emotional responses were particularly prevalent:

• Reaction against structure and authority: Looser, Hebraic forms of fellowship were stressed. Some participants concluded that all kinds of church structure and pastoral authority are unbiblical.
  
• Lonely but not alone: Many respondents described experiencing deep loneliness and often senses of guilt or confusion at finding themselves ‘out of church’. But many also testified to experiencing relief, thankfulness and times of refreshing and deeper communion with God.
  
• Suspicion, fear and hesitancy: Several implied that their past experiences have left them with deep wounds and a need for healing, rest and refreshing. Common was a hesitancy to commit to new forms of fellowship with people they don’t know and trust well.
  
• Relief and gratitude: Many were grateful to see the issue acknowledged and to realise that they are not on their own.
  

More than 1 in 4 (28%) participants said that they cannot find a sound, biblical church in their area.

Our Thanks

We believe that the ‘out of church’ trend may represent a new chapter in the life of British Christianity, indicative not only of the sorry state of many existing churches but also of an exciting, fresh move of the Lord, bringing new forms of fellowship to life.

We do not necessarily believe this means that all Bible-believing Christians should immediately leave any organised fellowships of which they are part! However, we do recognise that those who find themselves ‘out of church’ in a practical sense are not necessarily out of ‘Church’ in the spiritual sense. And we wholeheartedly affirm Hebrews 10:24-25: “…let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Once again, we are profoundly grateful to all who contributed to this survey. Please have Issachar Ministries and Prophecy Today in your prayers as we seek the Lord for his guidance as to how to respond to these changes in British church life.

An extraordinary testimony of God’s kindness.

We live in a strange and worrying era, when the value of life is in deep recession.

On the one hand there is the so-called morning-after pill, an insurance against unwanted conception, and - worse - the escalating use of abortion to destroy unwanted, unborn children. On the other hand, at the other extreme we hear of new scientific ‘advances’ in the way eggs can be cultivated outside the womb for women who find difficulty in conception.

Add to this ever-increasing rates of family breakdown, the general acceptance that one’s gender (even that of a child) can be manipulated and re-configured, and the mounting pressure to legalise assisted suicide, and we begin to realise how far our society’s value of life is being eroded.

Sometimes I have wondered how the wastage of life might be made clearer to those blind to what they are doing. Perhaps someone could write a story that imagined the potential of lives lost in the womb, following the imagined life story of those who might have been born, grown up and contributed to our society, but who never made it past the start-line.

Could one illustrate this in a powerful enough way to touch a generation like, say, Uncle Tom’s Cabin challenged a whole nation to reconsider slavery and eventually reverse that tide of evil?

I don’t have the skill to write such a book, but recently I discovered something in the testimony of my own life that, at least for me, illustrated these things in a deep way.

A Blessed Childhood

My life has been wonderfully blessed. I grew up in the era immediately following the Second World War, conceived in 1945 and born in 1946. My earliest memories are of the hard winter of 1947, with its deep snow up to my waist, at a time when we had been temporarily housed with other families in a village in South Wales.

Sometimes I have wondered how the wastage of life might be made clearer to those blind to what they are doing.

My father returned from Belgium in 1946, was demobbed and resumed work as a plumber, enjoying plenty to do in those days of rebuilding a nation and building houses. My mother kept house and was always the anchor of our security as children (my older sister and I).

What followed was a blessed and stable childhood through the 1950s - the era of rationing and austerity but hope, strong families and supportive community, when Sundays were kept special, when there were few phones and few cars. That era lives with me to this day.

A Fruitful Life

I did well at school and was optimistic about my future career. When my father asked me if I would join him in his plumbing business, that he might write SF Denton and Son on the van, I rather bluntly turned him down, having plans to join the RAF.

I did indeed become an RAF pilot, followed by studying for a maths degree at Kings College Cambridge, followed by teaching Maths and Computer Science at Banbury School, and then Educational Research at the University of Oxford where I also picked up my DPhil in the study of the educational of able children. Since the mid-1980s I left all that to go into full-time Christian work, which has, since then, taken me all over the world. It has been a wonderful and fruitful life.

One thing that typified my life from as early as I can recall, was my commitment to serve God, which I brought to prayer every single night in my years of growing up. Much later, I recall a day when the Lord spoke to me on my way back home from a ministry meeting. I was recalling how blessed and encouraged my early life had been, when the question came into my mind: ‘You thought that was your parents encouraging you, didn’t you?’ “Yes,” said I. ‘Well, that was Me’, said God.

It was like a Bar Mitzvah experience at a time when perhaps the Lord wanted me to turn more fully to him as Father and recognise the quiet but significant role he had played in my life all through those blessed years of growing up. Amazing.

Searching for My True Father

Yet the story has become even more amazing recently, ever since a friend put together a genealogical tree for both sides of my family. I was quite pleased to discover a fairly normal set of ancestors from the working class – labourers, agricultural workers, domestic servants and so on - going back through the 19^th Century.

I recall a day when the Lord spoke to me, urging me to recognise the quiet but significant role he had played in my life through those blessed years of growing up.

At this time a thought came back to my mind that had, despite having wonderful loving parents, often posed a question during my early years: was my father really my father? It is remarkable what a DNA test can show, so I took up the offer of one towards the end of last year. The results confirmed my hunches and so began an incredible period of investigation to see if I could find my true father.

Amazingly, my DNA results strongly linked me paternally not to the Midlands where my supposed father came from, but to the USA.

Piecing together clues I picked up from other known relatives, I went looking on US genealogy trees for the person most likely to be my real father. I was looking for someone who would have been serving in the US forces, stationed in the UK near where my mother lived in 1945 with my baby sister, at a time when my presumed father was away serving in the RAF.

Surely that should have been like a needle in a haystack to find; but miraculously, with the help of an historical society, I was able to locate a man who ticked all those boxes. More than that - I have obtained a photograph of him and have discovered that he is still alive in the USA - a frail 96-year-old, but alive. I may yet have personal contact with him, though he will probably be quite surprised at my existence!

What Really Happened

The true story is that I descend from a Native American tribe in Mexico (perhaps the Pima tribe). In the days of immigration and of pioneering (including the California Gold Rush no doubt), beginning around 1800, an Italian went to Mexico and married a young Indian squaw (I imagine her living in a tepee) - and so the line from which my true father came was launched.

In 1942, when America entered the war, a young Italian with Native American roots enlisted and became one of those GIs who came to the UK with bars of chocolate for the children and nylons for the women. Amazingly, it was on the exact day that my deceased mother would have been 100 years old that I discovered this man’s name.

Despite finding him after all these years, I find myself not so much drawn to know my real father as being drawn closer to my heavenly Father.

History of the closing days of the war describe the way GIs linked up with local young women. During those uncertain days, my mother formed a temporary relationship and I was the unplanned result. Soon the GIs went home and eventually my (adopted) father came back from Belgium. It was all covered up and we got on with that life that turned out to be blessed.

I think about this, having complete forgiveness for my mother, and being aware that but for the events which took place, neither I, nor my own children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nor the consequences of my life (good or bad), would have happened.

In fact, despite finding him after all these years, I find myself not so much drawn to know my real father as being drawn closer to my heavenly Father.

A Father to the Fatherless

The point of describing all this is that, in raw terms, my origins were from the unwanted of the developing USA, descending from a ‘half-breed’ (as they would be called in the cowboy films), a nobody, then later born in sin, the unplanned and unwanted result of a temporary fling. An accident with a questionable background.

Yet, God did not leave me in my vulnerability. He put his mark on me even as I was a young child. As Psalm 68 says, he is a father to the fatherless and puts the isolated in families.

If I had been conceived today, I would very likely have been eradicated by the morning-after pill or through abortion.

I only boast about this to highlight what God has done with my life, for there has been some fruit, for example in the education of gifted children, the establishing of Bible colleges, participating in the eradication of polio from Morocco, to name a few highlights. For his glory it is important to see the potential in my life that God planned to use, and which he is still bringing to fulfilment.

My origins, in raw terms, are an accident with a questionable background. Yet, God did not leave me in my vulnerability.

God Values Life

This is a story with two-fold application. One is to highlight the utter waste of potential in our generation, when life is allocated such little value as to wipe it out before birth. My life is unique and colourful in its origins, but there are many such from our generation. There are many lives from the current generation who never had the chance to find God’s love or to fulfil their potential. They simply weren’t born.

The other is the way Almighty God cares for us when we ask him to help us. In an unseen, sometimes hardly perceptible way, God has been alongside me wonderfully all these years. He will do and is doing the same for others who reach out to him in hope and in growing faith.

God values life so much that he gave his life so that we might live and, as he said, that we might have life in all its fullness. How many of those children destroyed before birth might have grown to have their own testimony, we can only imagine. But here is one who could have been at the bottom of the pile, who might have been lost, but was spared for this life, shared in the work of God, and saved for eternal life.

That is my testimony – still developing and hopefully worth sharing. How about yours? It is the sum of our personal testimonies about what God has made of our lives that could be that ‘book’ I was imagining.

Helen Belton concludes our series on the letters to the churches of Revelation 2-3.

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

(Revelation 3:14-22)

The seventh and final letter to the churches in Revelation 3 is to Laodicea, a city known for its wool industry, situated 11 miles west of Colossae and with a large Jewish community. It was in an area prone to earthquakes – but its prosperity was such that when an earthquake struck in 60 AD, the population were able to refuse financial help from Rome for the rebuild.¹

Blazing Forth Light

As with the previous letters, it is addressed to the “angel of the church”, perhaps suggesting that each church is represented in heaven by an angel. There are seven angels and seven churches. Seven is the divine number indicating completeness: “The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches” (Rev 1:20).

The lampstand imagery is derived from the seven-branched golden lampstand that stood in the Temple in Jerusalem, in Hebrew the menorah. Its light was a symbol of God’s Spirit shining in a dark world. The symbol of the seven churches as lampstands (menorot pl.) suggests that now the Temple is gone they are the ones meant to blaze forth God’s light into the darkness of their pagan surroundings to bring God glory: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:16).

In Scripture, seven is the divine number indicating completeness.

True, Faithful and Over All

In verse 14, the Lord Jesus is referred to as the “Amen”, which may echo Isaiah 65:16 where “the God of truth” is literally ‘the God of Amen’ (Heb. belohe amen).² The Hebrew word ‘Amen’ means to confirm or verify. The divine origin of the message is therefore being emphasised and we are also being reminded that the Lord Jesus speaks with the authority of ‘the God of Amen’ - the Lord God himself.

Jesus also has two further titles: the “faithful and true witness” and “the ruler of God’s creation”. In Scripture, a threefold emphasis can indicate completion and finality.³ So the threefold assertion of his truthfulness, faithfulness and rule puts beyond doubt his unimpeachable authority. His truth and faithfulness as God’s witness also contrast with the Laodicean church’s tepid witness to the faith.

The third title, “the ruler of God’s creation”, also takes us to Isaiah 65, verse 17 this time: “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.”⁴ Jesus is the ruler of this new creation, whose astounding revelation overshadows all that has gone before.

The threefold assertion of Jesus’ truthfulness, faithfulness and rule puts beyond doubt his unimpeachable authority.

Pure Rebuke

Western theatre, Laodicea. See Photo Credits.

This letter differs from the letters to the other churches because the Laodiceans receive no praise, only rebuke. It is not as though they had been neglected in instruction. They would have known the letter to their nearby sister church in Colossae which we know from this verse in Colossians: “After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea” (Col 4:16) (the 'letter from Laodicea' has been lost, but some speculate that it is the same as the letter Paul wrote to the Ephesians).

However, they are being reminded that Jesus is “ruler of God’s creation” as though it was a teaching they had neglected, despite the letter to the Colossians’ emphasis on Jesus’ overarching authority over creation and over the Church:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (Col 1:15-18)

It seems that the Laodiceans had lost sight of Jesus’ authority. They thought they were wealthy and lacking nothing; however, they were “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (v17). Their smug complacency was entirely misplaced because any riches they had were received from the One who is the Ruler and Source of all Creation, as Colossians teaches.

However, it is also possible they had absorbed Gnostic teaching, which was prevalent in Colossae, that denigrated Jesus’ role as Creator of the material world.⁵ ‘Arche’, the Greek word for ‘ruler’ in verse 14 means not only ‘ruler’ but also ‘beginning’ or ‘cause’, confirming that Jesus is the one through whom “all things were created” (Col 1:15), a teaching rejected in Gnosticism.⁶

The Laodiceans had lost sight of Jesus’ authority.

Charged with Being Lukewarm

Jesus warns the Laodiceans that he knew their deeds, which were neither hot nor cold (v15). Note that their faith is not mentioned - only what they have done. Evangelicals tend to focus on the John 6:29 sense of works: “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” However, James’ Hebraic emphasis on actions teaches that our faith only lives through our works: “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17).

Were the Laodiceans’ deeds evil or simply ‘lukewarm’, going through the motions? Did they perform a meagre or carefully measured amount of good deeds, perhaps giving a careful amount of their wealth away, but ultimately remaining ungenerous and certainly not self-sacrificial? We do not know, but we can speculate.

In the Wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament), heat and cold relate to a person’s self-control. In Proverbs 15:18, “A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict”, but Proverbs 17:27b, “…whoever has understanding is even-tempered” (literally is cool or has a cool spirit). Heat is associated with lack of self-control and coolness with self-control. It has been suggested that this imagery may have been inspired by the water supply in Laodicea, which was lukewarm in contrast to the hot springs of Hierapolis and the cooling waters of Colossae.⁷

In the Wisdom literature of the Bible, heat and cold relate to a person’s self-control.

Being lukewarm suggests they were ineffectual and unproductive; their ‘deeds’ were futile, useless. The lukewarm metaphor carries an echo of Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

The Laodicean believers were on shaky ground, but thought they were safe. The remedy was to purify themselves, verse 18: “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.” They were to pursue purity and holiness so they could obtain the true riches that are only available through Jesus.

The refiner imagery echoes Malachi 3:3 where it is the Lord God himself who refines, reminding us that Jesus is inextricably identified with the Lord God, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness.”

The Laodiceans were to put on purity (white clothes) and seek healing for their spiritual sight (salve) so they could truly understand the revelation of Jesus.

The Laodiceans were to put on purity and seek healing for their spiritual sight.

‘Lord, is it I?’

Many have identified the Laodicean church with today’s Western Church – rich and self-satisfied. It has also been suggested that the seven letters correspond to seven church ages, with the Laodiceans typifying the current and last age. However, as David Pawson points out, the seven churches of Revelation are types of the Church in all ages, rather than a progression. He counsels against attempting to categorise various churches, but to look to our own church and to check our own hearts: “As we read these seven letters, let us ask: ‘Lord, is it I?’”⁸

The Laodiceans were counselled “to be earnest and repent” (v19). We need a new seriousness in the UK Church today. We, too, are smug, complacent, self-satisfied and self-indulgent. We are stuffed full of tepid, convenient, gospel-lite messages and yet starved of the full fiery counsel of God’s Word. Pastors and leaders are plate-spinning, running to stand still, preaching about reaching out with the Gospel on Sundays, their flock in turn talking about reaching out with the Gospel in their mid-week small groups, yet very few actually doing any meaningful outreach.

Many are churchgoers rather than disciples - tourists and passengers cheering from the side-lines rather than dedicated Gospel workers. Our lifestyles are remarkably similar to our non-Christian neighbours and many of us dip in and out of the Christian life and worship, only serving the Lord when convenient. Most Christians have never led a non-believer to faith, let alone discipled someone, yet this is the one task Jesus asked us to do.

We need a new seriousness in the UK Church today - we, too, are smug, complacent, self-satisfied and self-indulgent.

Jesus is at the Door

Ultimately, would Jesus feel at home in our churches? Is Jesus a stranger tapping on the door, hoping we will hear his gentle but insistent knocking (Rev 3:20)? We talk about him all the time, but do we know him and are we doing what he asked us to do?

In the material world, we have insurance for every danger we may encounter. Perhaps ‘faith’ for many of us is just eternity insurance. Mistakenly, we think our mental assent to some doctrines is the same as biblical faith. We are pathetically poor in terms of true riches - like the Laodicean church. We are starving but unaware of our plight.

However, if we will heed the warning we have this glorious promise: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Rev 3:20).

“So be earnest and repent” (v19).

References

1 Aune, DE, 1997. Revelation 1-5, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol 52, p249.

2 Osborne, GR, 2002. Revelation, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the NT. Grand Rapids, Michigan, p203.

3 Patterson, RD. The Use of Three in the Bible, 26 February 2008.

4 Osborne, p204.

5 Osborne, p205.

6 Aune, p256.

7 Aune, p257.

8 Pawson, D, 2008. A Commentary on the Book of Revelation. Anchor, Ashford, pp45-46.