In line with what many prophetical voices have brought from the Lord for 2013+, we are seeing a marked emphasis upon a ‘new era’ for the wider church. In tandem with this, secular and political opinions are being aired not so much on the irrelevance of Christianity but more for its values and how they can be re-applied within society. Gillan Scott brings a valuable contribution to this debate and generated further thoughts, including on Revival, in his blog’s discussion thread.
In view of my recent reservations over severe criticism of a promise concerning the Welsh Outpouring, this is timely teaching upon the nuances of checking out prophetic words. Thank you Melissa.
Prophetic people live by confirmation. Having honed their spiritual senses, they search out and find witnesses to what they feel God is revealing to them. The keener the listener, the more precisely he or she will hear the confirmation. In my experience, highly risky instructions from God merit more detailed and numerous affirmations that are sometimes overt. If the Lord is leading one into a precarious situation (from natural observation), He often will send a highly specific word to engender confidence. Sometimes our faith needs a little strengthening.
Is God required to prophetically confirm His will for our lives in matters of personal destiny?
No. He is not beholden to give us more than His written Word. However, by His grace He has granted us precious prophetic gifts. By these gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12, He benevolently communicates and confirms His will. These supernatural graces or charis of…
Am grateful to a critic of revival and the prophetic who castigates the promise of greater blessings and quickening power coming to the Welsh Outpouring, as declared by Chuck Pierce. (I will deal with that defamation later.) Continue reading →
Gillan’s analysis of reports and encouraging commentary is highly recommended to my readers. It certainly seems related to this month’s prophetic clarion call against the complacency which could cause our nation to miss the time of its Visitation.
It’s a time to take the news of the day in one hand and the Bible in the other and watch the unfolding of the great drama of the ages come together.
This is an exciting and thrilling time to be alive…I would not want to live in any other period. (emphasis added)
The Apocalypse (the unveiling of the end times) speaks powerfully of trouble ahead with storm warnings that carrying a booming jolt of truth. The warning is clear: prepare to meet thy God – followed by the voice of the gentle Shepherd – “Come.”
A new world is coming, Graham writes. The paradise that humanity lost in the Garden of Eden will be regained. Christ is coming to conquer evil and establish his perfect rule over all creation,
But until then God wants to give everyone an opportunity to know Christ through repentance and faith…Regardless of what society says, we can’t go on much longer in the sea of immorality without judgment coming. We are at a crossroads, and there are profound moral issues at stake. It is time to return to Biblical truth.
Troy Anderson, who wrote the preceding, states Billy Graham has preached to more people – 2.2 billion – than any Protestant in history and who has appeared on Gallup’s list of the most admired men in the world 56 times since 1955, more than any other individual in the world.
How are these quotations from the evangelist’s newly published book relevant to End-times? Anderson as editor-in-chief of World Prophecy Network elaborates under this header.:
Famed evangelist sees signs ‘converging now for the 1st time’
“Just as Noah did in ancient times, world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham is sounding the alarm that the Second Coming is “near” and signs of the end of the age are “converging now for the first time since Jesus made those predictions.”
“And last week, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., claimed the world has entered the last days.
“When you see up is down and right is wrong, when this is happening, we were told this: that these days would be as the days of Noah,” Bachmann said.
“The remarks by Graham, Netanyahu and Bachmann come amid a steadily rising wave of public interest in the end times, as demonstrated by recent polls and New York Times and Amazon.com bestselling books such as The Harbinger: The Ancient Mystery That Holds the Secret of America’s Future by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, and Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change by Pastor John Hagee…”
He quotes an author I respect as a prophecy expert, Paul Maguire,
I think we’re on the verge of a global awakening in interest in apocalyptic events.
I see a fuse being lit here, between what Billy Graham, Michele Bachman and Benjamin Netanyahu said, and I think there is going to be an explosion of interest in the end times like nothing we’ve ever seen before.
Anderson’s informative article continues under the following headers:
More nourishing morsels to munch in this repost from T.E. Hanna, which is apposite in view of my previous post’s reference to apostasy. If you’re unsure of that connection, check the insights Holy Spirit gave to Apostle Paul on the return of Jesus, as outlined in his two, brief letters to the Thessalonian church (here).
I like his following title’s pun as it refers to the popular Left Behind stories by Tim La Haye. The premise for the whole series was based upon the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, the concept of which, in my opinion, seems to be a particularly American fad. So I greatly appreciate T.E.’s unwrapping of the subject and helpful answers to good questions raised by readers, especially the inclusion of the parable of wheat and tares in the whole scenario.
This month marks the two year anniversary of Harold Camping’s prediction of when the rapture was to take place. In preparation for that great ascension into the sky, countless numbers of people quit their jobs, sold everything they had, and took to the streets to proclaim the coming day of Christ. The date was set for October 21, 2011, and they wanted to sound the trumpet so that nobody was “left behind”.
On October 22, they woke up to find themselves and their families left destitute, without any savings or means of income, with their shoes still treading the soil of our world. The rapture had not taken place.
Harold Camping was not the first to predict the date of the rapture. In fact, October 21 was not even his first prediction. He had predicted it to happen earlier that same year, on May 21, and before that he had declared September 6, 1994 to be the correct date. Before Camping, there were multiple predictions for 1993, allowing for a seven year tribulation before the glorious appearing in the year 2000. Prior to this, Edgar Whisenant had issued predictions for 1988, 1989, 1992 and 1995. Chuck Smith had predicted 1981, while the Jehovah’s Witnesses predicted 1914, 1918, and 1925.
Perhaps the most impactful prediction, however, was issued by the Baptist preacher William Miller and further popularized by the preaching of Samuel Snow. While Miller asserted 1844 as the year in which Christ would return to rapture His church, Snow narrowed the date to October 22. Much like Camping, the result of this popular prophecy led to a movement whereby his ever-growing following yielded all of their earthly possessions and sat waiting with joyous expectation for the heavens to rend and the Messiah to summon His beloved. So great was the cry that arose on the day to follow that October 22, 1844 became lodged within the annals of Christian history known only as the Great Disappointment.
As best as I can tell, the Great Disappointment was the first prediction of the rapture in Christian history, which is (on the surface at least) a strange event for a faith previously spanning a full 1800 years of history. Even more strange is how common subsequent predictions became. One would expect that, given the mystical history of Christianity, we would see proclamations of the impending rapture long before the nineteenth century. One would expect this, to be sure, until one began to study the doctrine itself. Then, the strange lack of prophetic utterance suddenly makes sense.
Before the nineteenth century, the doctrine of the rapture simply did not exist.
What Lies Behind The Rapture
The church has always looked forward with eager anticipation towards the return of Christ. Christian eschatology has long held that the world would come to be judged, the old things would pass away, the Kingdom of God would manifest in its fullness, and we would celebrate our eternal presence in the midst of the new heavens and the new earth. Heaven would come down as the New Jerusalem, and all things would be made right once more. This has always been a singular event.
Not until the 19th century did we see the return of the King split into two events. At this point, a theologian by the name of John Darby theorized that there were actually two occurrences foretold in scripture: the day of Christ, and the day of the Lord. The former consisted of Christ’s return to gather up His faithful; the latter referred to Christ’s return to judge the world. For the first time in Christian history, Jesus was taught to return not once, but twice.
Another theologian by the name of C. I. Scofield grabbed hold of this idea and ran with it. Around this time, Scofield published the first publicly available “study bible” in history. This consisted of a bible translation with explanatory notes in the bottom half of the printed book, and it became immensely popular. The resulting “Scofield’s Bible” quickly spread throughout the Christian culture, and with it came the rise of Dispensationalism. Dispensationalism not only gave us the doctrine of the rapture, it gave us a new view on our world as well.
What The Rapture Has Left Behind
The appearance of the rapture, within Dispensationalist theology, is foreshadowed by the continuing collapse of our world into sin and destruction. The closer we come to that glorious summoning, the darker and more corrupt our world will get. It is within this understanding that we often refer to “the signs of the times”, usually followed by pointing to some great ethical violation that our culture lauds as virtue. Dispensationalism places the human experience in the midst of a worldly trajectory towards oblivion, identifying ourselves as a remnant of God’s people who are clinging fast to the cross in the hope of persisting until the reinforcements arrive.
In contrast to this, the overarching narrative of scripture does not speak of God abandoning His creation to ever-deepening destruction. The trajectory of scripture is a positive one, one that speaks of a God who is intimately involved with His children, whose Spirit still broods over the waters as He did in the opening pages of Genesis. This is a God who enters into the fullness of the human experience in the incarnation, who proclaims a Kingdom of God that is at hand, who sends forth His children to be emissaries that bring restoration and healing to a world that is suffering and broken. This is about a world that is continuing to get better, not worse.
This is what the rapture ultimately leaves behind: that we are active participants in God’s manifesting Kingdom, agents of mercy who are called into His work and through whom the world is being transformed. This is the image we see in John’s Revelation; not that our world is swallowed up in darkness so that God creates it anew, but that the New Jerusalem descends into our midst, that the Kingdom of God is overthrowing the enemy’s earthly rule, that the glorious creation which He so lovingly fashioned in the opening pages of scripture is one that He is at work restoring.
Yes, there will come the day when the trumpet shall sound and Christ shall judge the living and the dead, separating us into our chosen kingdoms. Yes, we will still face trial and strife and tribulation as we live out our lives in the brokenness of our world. Yes, the King will return for His citizens.
But the glorious hope to which we cling is not a distant one, it is immediate. It impacts our lives in this moment. We are not simply holding fast to the anchor of our soul and waiting for our lives to run out or for Christ to return. The Kingdom is coming, even now, even here. Our hope is for this world, and it leaps from here into eternity.
Many thanks TE for such an excellent, succinct summary which puts the unorthodox pre-trib rapture into its proper perspective.
I strongly recommend the ensuing interesting discussion onOf Dust and Kings– click on link and scroll to foot of TE’s original post.
More in-depth consideration may be found on Your True Christian Journey in::
A British breakfast TV interview circulating ‘over the pond’ among American Christians brings attention to injustices suffered by a couple of hoteliers at the hands of our courts.
I was intrigued to find two translations of the Bible directly relevant to both sides of the interview’s controversial point!
First of all, thanks are due to John McTernan for linking to a transcript in Monday’s blog Real Christianity on display, and to Tony Puccio for informing me of its email circulation in Arizona.
NB: this post’s stats occasionally show ‘peak viewing’ when it gets circulated. So I’d ask that it be read in the spirit it is written.
Let’s look at the issue together as I ‘flesh it out’.:
ITV, Britain’s first commercial station, broadcasts Daybreak as a morning magazine. Its presenters Aled Jones and Lorraine Kelly interviewed Peter and Hazelmary Bull the day before they appealed to the UK Supreme Court over a £3,600 fine for refusing to rent one of their hotel’s double-bedded rooms to a homosexual couple. As clearly stated on their website, rooms were available for married men and women only. (The Bulls are supported by The Christian Institute and further details, including on-going reports may be found under Bulls’ B&B Trial.)
Aled Jones’ faith
Aled Jones is well known as a former treble chorister and singer with many albums to his credit, as well as presenter of BBC’s Songs Of Praise (see MirrorTV brief ‘bio’). It’s a typical anodyne BBC programme, however when speaking to journalist Catherine Francis for Inspire magazine, he said the programme attracts millions of viewers from around the world and,
“Songs Of Praise aims to uplift and spiritually enhance its viewers, whether or not they’re Christian, and they need to feel comfortable watching it. It’s a genuine honour to be associated with it…”
She continues, ‘And Aled’s passion is clear to see about the Christian faith,
“Christianity is real, it’s now, it’s happening and it’s exciting – it’s not sedate or simply part of history. Jesus toppled over the market stalls in the Temple – this is a person with passion, a person with love, with blood running through his veins. That’s what it’s all about for me.”
Well said sir, and I think it’s important to keep that in mind when considering today’s matter. Has he changed his views?
The Daybreak interview
The interview has been transcribed fairly accurately by Dr Michael Brown, a scholar, speaker and author of 22 books, including The Real Kosher Jesus. He blogged it a week ago today as An older woman puts today’s compromised preachers to shame. Therein he sets the scene.:
At a time when so many of our Christian leaders are guilty of compromising the gospel before the media, dishonouring the Lord as they try to make God’s Word palatable to the world, it was an older British woman…who displayed a backbone of steel, a deep and consistent faith, and a theological clarity while being grilled on national TV. Cheers for Hazelmary Bull!
And make no mistake about it. This is not some slick, camera-friendly couple, versed in the latest clichés and fitted with the coolest wardrobe. This is a couple grounded in the Word and committed to Jesus. Today’s Christian leaders could learn well from their example.
Jones took the lead and started with a neutral ‘voice-over’ video outlining the case. The presenters were not unpleasant but wanted to know why the Bulls were contesting the loss of their Appeal in 2012. It may have got intense because of their seeming inability to grasp the Bull’s Biblical position. Or were they just acting professionally on behalf of a religiously illiterate British audience and consequently asking questions from a simplistic viewpoint?
Whatever their approach, it helped the Bull’s present their case clearly and admirably. Take a look at the video clip:
Here’s the transcript section of Dr Brown’s short article; his comments in italics.:
When asked why they were going ahead with the appeal after all they had been through, Hazelmary replied,
“The reason we have continued with this is because we feel there are arguments still to be made, because we are hoping that some way or another, a pathway will be found through this so that two different lifestyles—which at the moment have had a head-on collision—two different lifestyles could live together in our society.”
Her purpose, then, is marked by conviction and conciliation: How can we live together in the same society when we have such different convictions?
Lorraine Kelly: “May I suggest that maybe you are in the wrong business? Because when you think about it, only 47 percent of couples now are actually married, so when you do that, you forget all the arguments and all the rest, but actually from a business sense, sure, it doesn’t make any sense.”
Hazelmary Bull: “No, on the face of it, it looks like that because we have always refused a double-bedded accommodation to unmarried heterosexual couples.”
When challenged by Kelley, Hazelmary explained, “It’s Bible-based; it’s entirely Bible-based.”
(Pastors, take note of her words. This is how we should operate our local assemblies as well, based on the Word, not on marketing principles.)
Aled Jones: “As a Christian, the God you worship is a loving God, is a tolerant God. And if people are in a civil partnership, they are obviously in love, so what is wrong with them sharing a bed?”
(Note that Jones came to national fame as a hymn-singing child, and in 2004 he was voted Religious Broadcaster of the Year by the Churches Media Council for his work with Songs of Praise. He still hosts BBC’s Songs of Praise show, and within the last four years he has released albums featuring hymns and Christmas songs. What in the world happened to Aled Jones?)
How does Hazelmary reply to his challenge? You’ve got to love this!
HB: “I think it’s a myth to believe that entirely. He is a loving God, that’s true. He’s a forgiving God, but there is—
AJ: “And a tolerant one?”
HB: “He is a longsuffering God; He’s not entirely tolerant because the Bible is full of cases when He does finally bring judgment about. We felt that we wanted to, as far as possible, live according to His instructions, and the Bible is very clear about marriage.
Boy, did she nail it! There is a difference between God being longsuffering and God being tolerant, and yes, “He’s not entirely tolerant because the Bible is full of cases when he does finally bring judgment about.”
Do you think we’ll be hearing a lot of lines like that from some of the pastors featured on The Preachers of L.A.?
LK: “It’s 2013…2013!”
MB: “God hasn’t changed; Jesus says He’s the same yesterday, today and forever. He hasn’t changed, the Bible hasn’t changed, and we are wrong—we are living in a dream—if we think that He has changed His laws to suit us, because that’s not the case at all.”
Exactly! Most of the world is living in a dream. In fact, much of the church is living in a dream too, having been put to sleep by smooth-tongued preachers who have watered down the Word in a futile attempt to make it “contemporary.”
LK: “So you don’t accept that you have done anything wrong at all? You don’t accept that, that was offensive?”
MB: “We find this thoroughly regretful, because we clearly state that we prefer to let double-bedded accommodations to married couples.”
(She then explains, in answer to Kelly’s question, that this is clearly stated on the website.)
LK: “When two people come check in, how do you know that they are married or not?”
HB: “That’s a fair question. We have a script, and we try very hard not to offend. Remember, we have been there for 28 years, and this is the first time we have had any problems. We have a script whereby where we say very gently and politely, if one person shows up at the door—say it’s a male—we say, “Is this for you and your wife?” And oddly enough, they will say, “No, well, not actually my wife. We’re partners, or it’s my girlfriend or whatever”.”
How telling! They never had a problem when refusing an unmarried heterosexual couple over the course of 28 years, but when it comes to two gay men, the Bulls are brought to court.(RB emphasis)
Kelly then pointed to the low percentage of couples in the U.K. who are marrying, to which Hazelmary responded, “Well, I don’t know the numbers, and I’m not entirely interested in the numbers because of course we’re running this—”
LK: “Well, you should, as a businessperson…“
HB: “Well, we’re running this under our own roof, and God demands that our faith doesn’t end—”
LK: [interrupting with some hostility] “Your God demands. Your God.”
HB: [without batting an eyelash] “God demands that our faith doesn’t end at the kitchen door. He means for your faith to run in every corner of your life. You can’t just section Him off like that. So one would think that dealing with Christians, we would be fair and honest and upright and honourable and live according to the Bible, because the Bible is the Christian’s textbook.”
Bravo, Hazelmary Bull!
Now go watch the video, give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends. It’s a testimony like this that should go viral, rather than the words of some preacher who is waffling, unclear and not wanting to sound closed-minded or offensive.
Let’s speak the truth in love without making excuses, just as our courageous sister did. God Himself will back us, and the haters and mockers will not be able to shout us down.
Jones’ controversial question
As ‘good cop, bad cop’, Kelly and Jones played atheist Scot and anodyne believer who bowls a doctrinal googly,
“As a Christian, the God you worship is a loving God, is a tolerant God. And if people are in a civil partnership, they are obviously in love, so what is wrong with them sharing a bed?”
Bull: “I think it’s a myth to believe that entirely. He is a loving God, that’s true. He’s a forgiving God, but there is…”
Jones: “And a tolerant one?”
Bull: “He is a longsuffering God; He’s not entirely tolerant because the Bible is full of cases when He does finally bring judgment about. We felt that we wanted to, as far as possible, live according to His instructions, and the Bible is very clear about marriage.”
Many viewers, and readers, could take Jones’ point as reflecting his own conviction. However, is it not just as possible for him to have played ‘devil’s advocate’ in asking from a political stance, thereby to elicit and show the Bull’s strength of conviction?
Also, he may have had in mind a verse form Apostle Paul’s grand theological letter to believers in Rome, wherein he chides them over judging one another:
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realising that God’s kindness leads you towards repentance? (Romans 2:4)
That’s from my New International Version Insight Bible, but Mrs Bull adroitly responds from the very same verse as given in my New King James study Bible:
Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
Fascinating. The ‘protagonists’ use the same concept from slightly different translations. The original Greek is ‘anoches’, which means ‘tolerance’ but is rendered ‘forebearance’ in the Interlinear Greek Bible. Mrs Bull correctly clarifies it as being a conditional term, not a never-ending presumption upon the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Hence, the vital importance of their being in right standing with God’s decrees as revealed in His Word.
But not so for Aled Jones. Out of the confession from his own mouth, he has declared ‘As a Christian’ that there’s nothing wrong in homosexuality. Even if any of the reasons we considered above are relevant, nevertheless the declaration from his heart is what counts in heaven. It’s a far from sensible stance! It’s apostasy – the falling away from the tenets of Christian faith.
As Dr Brown queries, what has happened to Aled Jones?
Dubious doctrine
The controversial point of Jones’ question, of course, is not only his presuming God will turn a blind eye to sin (of any sort!) – but also the inference that gay relationships are approved by God. So, anyone unfamiliar with the issues could infer from his claim of being a Christian that such practice is sanctioned by believers, if not by the wider church.
Nothing could be more mistaken. Aled Jones is unwise to entertain dubious doctrine.
The correct Christian position on this subject was defined in the first formal gathering of strategic church leaders within twenty years of Jesus’ ascension. This apostolic event is known as the Jerusalem Council. We can be sure, therefore, of their thorough familiarity with Jesus’ teachings and instructions and, assisted by The Holy Spirit, would therefore make the correct decisions on any doctrinal issues.
The Council was called to discuss the admission of non-Jewish believers as followers of ‘The Way ‘ of Yeshua Ha Meshiach, Jesus Christ. According to the account in The Acts of The Apostles, the Jerusalem Decree sent to those Gentiles of Antioch, Syria, closed with the following basic stipulations upon admission to fellowship in Jesus.:
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. (Acts 15:28-9 NKJV per BibleGateway.com; emphasis added)
That requirement to abstain from improper, non-marital relationships has never been rescinded. Only folly pretends redefining ‘marriage’ will alter the divine intention behind that declaration against immorality and fornication (porneias; Greek ‘of prostitution’).
It is logical, therefore, to state any consideration or claim to there being nothing wrong with allowing ‘porneia’ within the precincts of a Christian house is utterly absurd.
On the same day John McTernan blogged about this interview the news broke of Aled Jones and Lorraine Kelly being axed as presenters on Daybreak. Also, comments made online around that time haven’t been complimentary about them. Even back in August his position was in question.
It’s intriguing that a definite decision came fast on the heels of Aled’s declaration! Is it part of the promised ‘shaking’? I wonder…
…that is, not the kind of God you’re thinking about.”
How often do we hear all sorts of complaints from people as reasons for not believing in the Almighty? If we enquire of them to gain a glimpse of their personal ideas and beliefs we usually find concepts of a divinity created out of a mixture of inaccuracies – no wonder they don’t believe in such oddball, mythical notions, and neither would I.
It is rare to find those possessing a clearly defined and well-instructed faith even among Christians! A surprising number have a poor grasp of theological basics, and can even presumptuously assume the holy character of their Maker and Redeemer will endorse their personal desires!
With this topic in mind let me share the more eloquent, analytical prose of two sisters in the Lord. First is that of Benedictine Sr Catherine Wybourne, aka Digital Nun.:
The God In Whom I Do Not Believe
People often tell me why they don’t believe in God: he has not answered their prayer; he has allowed someone close to die; he does not do away with all the evil and suffering in the world; the Church is full of abuses. I have to agree that I don’t believe in such a pathetic God, either. I don’t believe in someone who is merely there to rubber-stamp whatever I want; who doesn’t take me seriously enough to allow me free will but wants me to be a puppet on a string; who only has time for those who are good. I don’t believe in a God who is capricious, small-minded and mean; whose existence can be ‘proved’; who is as finite as I am.
You see, the arguments against the existence of God that many people use are actually rooted in unthinking petulance. I asked God for something, but he didn’t give it (question: why should God give you what you ask?); God took away someone I love (question: what kind of love desires what is good for itself rather than what is good for the other?); I want there to be nothing difficult or cruel in the world (question: what kind of world is that?); I want the Church to be full of saints (question: isn’t the Church meant for sinners in the process of becoming saints?)
The God in whom I believe is a Person of infinite tenderness and love, of breathtaking beauty and intellect. Eternity will not allow me to plumb the depths of God, how much less this brief life on earth! But this I can assert with absolute trust and confidence. Whatever I believe about God is so much less than the truth of God. ‘As the heavens are high above the earth, so are my thoughts above your thoughts.’
Ultimately, it is not a question of the God in whom you or I believe or don’t believe but of the God who is.
Oh the excellent simplicity in my sister’s thesis and conclusion, as published here. It deserves emphasis:
Ultimately, it is not a question of the God in whom we do or don’t believe but is purely a matter of the God who IS. We can know His nature and character because He has revealed Himself through His written Word and Jesus Christ – through Whom we have access to Father God’s throne room! A truly awesome privilege – thank you Jesus.
The second comes from an American sister who blogs at Your True Christian Journey and her forthright consideration may be read here > Why doesn’t God stop evil?
This in-depth summary of Dr Drew’s situation by Gillan Scott is commendable. Its disturbing contents remind me of the political interference so clearly evident in my correspondence with a NHS Primary Care Trust in 2009 (section 2 here refers).
My friend’s hit a thought-provoking indicator, which I’d heard some time ago in connection with the cause of the ‘Arab Spring’: ie. the inability of Tunisian and Egyptian poor to afford crippling wheat prices. These had escalated because of US demand for conversion of wheat to ethanol fuels!
Habakkuk 2:2
[ The Just Live by Faith ] Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.
I’ve often pondered the seals of Revelation. I’ve studied and studied them over and over again to find what part of Revelation we are in (because we all know something is coming) and I think we can be pretty sure now where we are on God’s timeline based on something that is happening in Israel as we speak. Although this is a detail of the seals that many skip over because it hadn’t been revealed yet, it is my belief that this little detail was revealed to me (and probably others) the other night and this blog is to bring awareness to it. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW FOR THOSE OF YOU WATCHING.
The Father has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in Whom we have our redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. [St Paul’s letter to the Colossians 1:13-14, Amplified Bible.]
Submission and Fire
Awesome as it was, the dream-vision recounted in The last day of my life didn’t make me want to rush off to church. There was much to mull over, especially its meaning to my way of life. Its ramifications needed deep consideration and not only did I need to assess the dream’s impact, but I also wanted to find well-informed believers who took Jesus seriously. First, however, I needed to check out New Agers’ claims of the Bible having been tampered with by early Church councils, as well as its history and content.
In my wariness of religious people I surmised none would be able to listen to me, or even comprehend my story. They’d be ignorant about such things. AND none of them would have been through my kind of bad, meditative ‘trips’? Or so I thought! But help was at hand…
Whenever I went into a local Christian bookshop one book would almost jump off the self at me! The Lord was directing me to biographies of Christians who, like me, had been tied into New Age and occult activities. They’d been rescued from terrifying situations by calling upon Jesus’ name. Their true stories brought home to me the truth of what had happened in that exceptional dream. I became so deeply grateful to the real living God for having saved me. I didn’t know that Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light; his followers as servants of righteousness (2Cor 11:14). I’d been deceived and beguiled but the scales were starting to fall from my eyes – an awesome awakening, and a homecoming!
Tal Brooke, son of American diplomats and pioneer in meditation with crystals, held a privileged position in the inner circle of the revered Indian guru Sai Baba, of whom he later wrote, “I had discovered an absolutely satanic thing operating behind Baba’s veneer”. Tal’s personal encounter with the devouring darkness behind the ecstatic light and consciousness called ‘nirvana’ validated my own experience. Roy Livesey had been in the same brotherhood as I had and his book, too, had been thrust upon my attention.
Upon reading Livesey’s account one lunchtime I prayed the ‘sinner’s prayer’ and on 29 March 1990 gave my life to Jesus as my personal saviour. Driving home, however, the spiritual enemy tried to get me into a couple of road accidents. And when I arrived home I found he’d even attempted to burn down our new, wooden-framed house. Thank you Lord for being there – the fire had been put out by throwing water onto flaming fat in an electric oven!!
Moving Towards TOTAL Freedom
Months after the dream, I’d learned some members of the church that had invited me to hear Billy Graham met in the school next to our house. Later, I heard that these people had given Peter prayer backing for his discussions with me – they’d targeted me! God had definitely answered their prayers by giving me the dream-vision.
The first service I attended there was a culture shock! – before me a young man, devoid of dog-collar but bedecked with acoustic guitar, led the meeting in song. He went on to conduct the ‘service’ from his head and heart, without any script or ritual. And he even encouraged discussion! Some testified to angelic protection in their lives: I’d thought this subject was lost to churchgoers. And, starting the sermon, he announced that they were going to look at the shortest gospel, that of Mark, and continue over the next weeks. In saying, “It’s action packed and full of urgency” he intrigued me, and this fitted in with my intention to check out the Bible.
Therefore, I thought it might prove useful to come again. One thing he taught stuck in my mind – “In Mark, who first recognised who Jesus really is?” Answer: an unclean spirit (see Mark 1:24). I was thus reminded of that dream’s events.
And so I came into a good place to build upon the message of that dream by learning about the Bible and, more importantly, by listening to God through His written word. The first of many times this has happened was incredibly clear proof that God does speak through the Bible, as claimed by this group of believers.
I decided to re-view the occult brotherhood’s teaching on Jesus from a massive mound of monographs. After having checked all those specifics, I asked God for guidance upon this matter and opened my new, pocket-sized Bible. I’ve never been able to repeat what happened next – it fell open at the second chapter of the Apostle Peter’s second letter, as here. The first ten verses stood out with startling clarity, the rest was hazy! Therein, Peter warns about false teachers:
…who secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying our sovereign Lord…Many will follow their shameful way and bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with the stories they have made up. Their condemnation has been long hanging over them…2 Peter 2:1,3 [emphases especially hit ‘the bull’s eye’]
Those verses go on to explain that assessment and what happens to such teachers. This answer from God to my question was startlingly exact! I was most amazed.
Also, in those early days I reviewed my earlier uncharitable views about the clergy. Readers may understand from my story how very difficult it was for me to contemplate attending church, let alone with any regularity – not to mention being under the oversight of any sort of clergyman whatsoever. And, as mentioned above (reiterated to show my strength of feeling): they certainly couldn’t comprehend where I’d come from.
So once again I decided to put preachers’ claims about the Word of God to the test. I asked if God could let me know His opinion about clergy…
Again! my Bible fell open to give the most apposite instruction at Hebrews 13:17:
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
That well and truly put me in my place and enabled me to make my mind up. Thank you Lord for answering and correcting me!
Only upon revisiting this testimony in later years did I realise those two passages starkly contrast both forms of leadership under which I submitted. The first was ungodly, and the latter is blessed by God and proves to be the better, nay ‘most best’, spiritual cover for protecting His children.
Not Yet Fully Free
But back to those early days. From those who’d trodden the same path as me I learned the importance of being completely cut off from my old life in the ‘New Age’. This meant getting rid of books and objects associated with it, but I was slow to so do. Although I’d turned away from that past life an unseen bond seemed to remain.
It needed to be dealt with next because I wanted what’s promised in the written Word:
So if the Son liberates you, then you are really and unquestionably free. [John 8:36 Amplified Bible]
Agree >100% with J John, as is clear from my very recent accounts of bondage to the demonic through occultism. Our most respected Canon’s article doesn’t elaborate upon how we are set free by turning to Jesus Christ. (That’s the next parts of my testimony.) I’d direct my readers also to Gillan’s readers’ several comments too.
The intellectual freedom of higher education in the ‘swinging 60’s’ enabled me to break loose from the values of my parents and their generation. Even so, I recognised their values had enabled them to come through the destruction and deprivation of the Great Depression, World War and post-war Britain austerity with great fortitude.
As outlined in “You Shouldn’t Be At Our School!”, a formative influence upon a child of the post-war ‘baby boom’ was the disharmony and hypocrisy between churches. In my mind it tarred all Christians with the same brush and badly reflected upon the God they believed in.
Nevertheless, when a child I’d once thought it must have been awesome to have been around Jesus and seen everything He said and did.
Also, two verses from Sunday Mass got embedded into my brain and, although buried in the unconscious, they never got overwritten. One was of Jesus telling his disciples they’d do even greater works than He was doing! The other was by someone who’d been with Jesus, and who surmised: If everything He’d done was written down there wouldn’t be enough room in the world to contain the books! [John 14:12 and closing sentence of that Gospel.]
In view of that close, eye-witness account and churches’ misrepresentation of their founder, I became convinced a lot of what he’d taught had been lost, or even suppressed, by the early church.
THE NEXT STAGE OF MY JOURNEY INTO ‘FREEDOM’
The first two stages leading to my freedom had come from the clash of school and church. My reaction directed me elsewhere. The truth must be out there somewhere and so I decided to investigate and search it out for myself.
First port of call was the supernatural and possibility of an afterlife. After all, maternal grandmother occasionally referred to the first. Seances seemed open to trickery and were renowned for variability and inconsistency. So I never attended any. Having a scientific bent I looked for consistent, reliable reports of such contacts. Accounts by those who’d almost died seemed more authentic than mediums’ claims of contact with the dead.
Then came yoga and eastern religions a few years before the famous Beatles took an interest in Transcendental Meditation. I delved into and accepted these esoteric spiritual doctrines, such as reincarnation and karma.
At 21 years of age, after learning about the Western esoteric tradition, I joined a mystic brotherhood supposedly descended from ancient Egypt through a chain of historic personages such as Da Vinci, Bacon, Wren and Newton all of whom, it was claimed, added to and transmitted that ancient wisdom which had been held ‘sacred’ by 12-13th Century ‘heretical’ Cathars of southern France, and later the Knights Templar. (Later freemasonry merely skimmed the surface of that arcane, initiatory knowledge.)
What made it especially attractive from my standpoint were references to the ‘mystical life’ and ‘secret doctrines’ of Jesus (eg, John the Baptist was the prophet Elijah reincarnate!) and who was claimed to have been one of several perfected ‘masters’! This teaching is similar to that of Gnosticism and the Jewish Kabbalah.
My historical interests devoured the rise of the early Church, medieval alchemy and the start of scientific method in the early 17th Century, as well as literature and secret codes then in use in England and German Brunswick-Luneberg and Palatinate of the Rhine.
This opened up research into early Church history including the ‘French connection’ to Glastonbury and its legends. Developments of early science from alchemical literature and secrets buried in codes, plus claims about Cathars of the Langued’oc (persecuted Christians also known as Albigensians) and the Knights Templar in France were highly fascinating.
Consequently, I was well placed and connected to know modern authors’ claims about a supposed romantic connection between Jesus and his disciple, Mary Magdalene, were untrue. Such stories and their dramatic conspiracy claims make fascinating fiction. (My publishing source confided that it was a marketing ploy to increase sales!)
The mundane event of a dinner party in mid-1980s played a pivotal part in my journey into freedom. But I knew it not. This social event held by young parents, the father being in training as an Anglican curate, included his vicar and a couple from Cheam Baptist Church. We got around to chatting about our philosophies of life but these folk were like ‘aliens’ from my highly ‘enlightened’ viewpoint!
I was surprised the vicar was open-minded and seemed to agree with my New Ager claims that all religions lead to God, just like spokes of a wheel connected to a hub.
BUT the Baptist couple would have absolutely none of that and strongly disputed my views. How closed and ignorant!
I recall my outraged thought, “Baptists are such Biblical bigots – I’ll never touch them with a barge pole!” However, I never expected this was all borrowed! This vow would come to be used against me…twice! That is, I was yet to discover the Lord God has a sense of humour!
Soon afterwards, the curate invited me to a public meeting with a guest speaker, John Richards. It was a memorable occasion for three reasons; first, his name is my Christian names in reverse order and, secondly, for having gently confronted me upon noticing a small pin on my jacket’s lapel displaying a cross within a star of David. He asked, “What does your family say about that?” and I retorted “Nothing, what’s it got to do with them?” After all, they were aware of my search for lost Christian-related wisdom. But John was referring to a church ‘family’ – which didn’t apply because I wasn’t a churchgoer!
Therefore, I had nothing further to discuss and later listened warily to his investigations into witchcraft and satanism as secretary to the bishop of Exeter’s study of exorcism, later an advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was all very irrelevant to me in view of my disliking the ‘black stuff’ (including freemasonry) – but that was a mistaken notion!
So for many years I gave no further thought to that John Richards’ event…BUT the fact it did play a significant part in my long journey has been confirmed by his name popping up 47 months after publication of this post – and ’47 is my birth year!. At a conference on healing on 9th September 2017 in Guildford Cathedral I attended a session by the bishop’s advisor on deliverance. He began with his personal testimony and how it involved his spiritual director John Richards! (In view of this ‘God-incidence’ these three paragraphs are new.)
REALITY REVEALED
You may think of that esoteric brotherhood as akin to freemasonry, which seemed quite ‘creepy’. There was no ostensible connection and the history, principles and exercises taught by the first made it very different. They taught about a ‘Cosmic’ supreme being, not the God of Abraham, but an ultra-intelligent, superhuman, all-pervasive mind. Thus, it was important to ‘attune’ with its ‘cosmic consciousness’ by exercises for developing the inner self and supernatural senses – even the facility of invisibility.
Naturally endowed with being able to dream vividly in colour, I now found I could control and change content during a dream. That is, to make a conscious decision to shut down one unsatisfactory dream and move into, or even replay, a better one. I was, however, to fail spectacularly with two, as you’ll read later…
Whilst asleep I once experienced nirvana – the sublime state sought by Buddhists – only to discover its deep danger. I floated in a transcendent, golden light. BUT going deeper this light changed, as though an invisible hand had drawn a curtain aside. Then I saw behind the peaceful and beautiful light a terrifying darkness lay deliberately hidden. It appeared as a gigantic, devouring spider – I was thoroughly repelled and frightened for my life! Next, I awoke alarmed and grateful, yet unable to fathom its meaning.
My search for Truth had led me unwittingly into captivity and I became entangled within an invisible demonic web. I didn’t know I’d been seriously misled and deceived and was in grave personal peril.
After 21 years of searching for and attaining extensive esoteric knowledge, however, I’d find myself in a diametrically opposite situation – utterly incredible!
Whilst playing with my pals one of them suddenly stops, eyeballs me hard and scolds me, “You shouldn’t be at our school – you should be at the one Cat’licks go to!”
I’m stunned into silence.
I can’t recall my response other than distress.
Upon reflection it’s possible I denied the accusation outright. I’d like to have responded, “So what? It’s where my parents want me to be!”
Such a riposte, however, would have plugged straight into something worse – parental conflict!
On Southport beach in mid-1950s
CONFRONTATION
It’s mid-1950s and the reality of the Protestant vs. Roman Catholic divide hit me hard. My friend’s tone clearly implied a stigma to being in the wrong Christian denomination.
Equally hard was my parents’ disagreement over my own schooling. My dear, devout mother wanted to follow their church’s rule that Catholics send children – even of mixed marriages – to a Catholic school. But father wanted me to have the better education provided by the more reputable of two local, state schools – the RC one had a very low pass rate for the 11+ selection exams for grammar school. When dad was a boy his mother took him daily to 8am Mass. Later life taught him the value of a sound education – and my much older cousins in mother’s family were already at college or university. So, a week or so before my fifth birthday mum walked me the half-mile to Alexandra Park Primary School in Edgeley, Stockport.
Thus, I was brought up in the Roman church yet attended non-secular state schools with their Anglican ethos. Back in the 1950s this was a sensitive issue. In those days a lot more people attended church of one sort or another than today. Religious beliefs are a minor concern today, although attendance at faith schools is now prized purely for educational achievement. Sadly, most of today’s populace are religiously illiterate.
Therefore, I didn’t receive the ‘mandatory’ Catholic education. Religious knowledge, as little as I gained, came through state school and Sunday church. As far as from the latter was concerned, it wasn’t much because services were conducted in a dead, foreign language – Latin!
Kindly bear with me in relating how my situation affected my teenage and adult life’s journey into eventual freedom:
AN OUTSIDER
At the time of the confrontation I’d been happily playing on bikes with two boys outside one’s house. We three Johns aged 10-11 years had been classmates through primary school, yet I always felt an outsider in my living over 1/2 mile from school. Most of our school lived a lot closer and so, when old enough to go to their homes on my own, I was pleased to be with seeing more of these friends.
But the real issue of this confrontation was in making me fear the prospect of losing the friendship I’d grown up with! Somehow details of my family’s church must have slipped out whilst chatting, or had I been seen going there? ‘Top of the class’ John seemed to see it as a stigma! The reality behind a difference of opinion at home hit me hard – it was a reality in the outside world too!
My earliest adventures in coming home alone from school were in walking the longer route via the local library on the far-side of school. And it was a place to explore and dig around in.
It came as a special favour when I was allowed to cycle to friends’ about half a mile away. Soon I began to relish the independence of exploring the rabbit warren of suburban side streets on my bike – plus learning how to read maps. Later, I’d take my bike and explore for miles around, far away from the main thoroughfares – I avoided those because an older boy had been killed there and I’d seen another have an accident in front of me (he survived).
The only classmates from my local streets were girls. We lived nearer to another school attended by most other ‘baby boomers’ on our patch. But its pass rate for the secondary level of Grammar School was much lower than ours. This meant the boys I’d grown up with on ‘my block’ didn’t have quite the same schooling. So I was piggy-in-the-middle between two peer groups and didn’t feel fully accepted by either.
At school I was one of four boys named John. Such a bore. I decided to start using my first name from the start of the next school year. So on the first day in the new class, a week or so before my 8th birthday, our new teacher went around the class asking our names. At my turn I replied, “Richard”. Everyone was shocked. Some called out, “No, he’s John!”.
Miss Jackson was kind enough to ask me about this and found my reason sensible and said she respected my wishes and favoured the name. From that time on I’ve always been known as ‘Richard’. At home, however, mother and her family refused to make any change because they’d always called me ‘John’. Maybe it was because it means ‘beloved of God’. Also, being her first-born boy she’d hoped I’d become a priest – arghh, perish the thought! Nevertheless, that’s come true in a way because all believers in Jesus are priests (1 Peter 2).
So thank you Lord for the two who brought me into the world and loved me greatly.
CHURCHES IN CONFLICT
At church, children were not sent out of the Mass into Sunday school but were expected to sit quietly through 45 minutes of Latin liturgy and unintelligible sermon.
It was hard for youngsters but my mother had a small book with Latin on one page and English on the opposite – a Missal. As soon as I could read she’d urge me to look and follow – but being artistic I took far more notice of the small pictures displaying the Gospel theme of each Mass.
As Gospel and Epistle readings were in English I caught snippets, and recall thinking it must have been wonderful to see everything Jesus said and did – I would have liked to have been there and met him.
Now my school and home friends attended, or were familiar with, churches. I asked to go to theirs as it was only along the road from our house. “No, ‘cos they’re Congoes,” was mum’s retort and she’d stress, “We go to the church Christ himself founded!”.
‘Congoes?’, I thought that was in Africa so maybe it was a church for pygmies! But in the 1950s we had few Africans in our northern town although our doctor was a West Indian. [‘Congo’ was her term for Congregationalist.]
A year or so later I got through to Grammar School, where Catholics and Jews could opt-out of the Anglican-style morning assembly. But I didn’t opt out and attempted to convey the impression I was non-Catholic.
Unlike today, cooperation between churches was a rarity fifty years ago. Hypocritical conflict between denominations drove me towards ‘New Age’ ideals. It bothered me that IF all churchgoers believe in the same Jesus Christ, WHY were they bitterly opposed and not friends? Jesus himself commanded believers to love one another!
Also, they weren’t working miracles similar to those of Jesus, as he said they would. So, churches had failed on both counts to live up to his commands. Although I was only a boy, it was obvious they’d badly missed the mark. Also, I suspected they’d lost a lot of what Jesus had taught. How could what priests and preachers say and do, be true?
This blog post is more like ‘which came first, the chicken or the egg?’ The above title may be back to front because it began as My Journey To Freedom and Number 7. I trust you too will be encouraged by my explanation of that conundrum.
Here’s what happened.:
A friend who organises social breakfasts asked me to tell my story about becoming a Christian. I guess she’d dipped into it on this blog – yet that’s only a brief bit. But how can I deliver the whole lot in speech and not as script? On top of that, when editing my original account I found nostalgia took me down a ‘rabbit hole’ and wasted time.
Only then did I do what I should have done at the outset – ask myself what I wanted to say. I’d put the cart before the horse! I now jotted the main points and was surprised to find there’s 7. Now that’s encouraging for it suggests everything’s ok. Nina thought so too when I did a test run with her. Now please note, we’re not the sort of folk who look for meaning, symbolism and significance in things, although we appreciate the possibility.
[Readers of long standing may note my interest in coincidences arises after events, not in expectant anticipation or forecasting future connections. My discernment of links in ‘God-incidents’ possibly arises from my training in scientific observation and analysis as a disinterested participant. It’s claimed ‘fact is stranger than fiction’, which is why I’ve always tended to steer away from novels. Furthermore, after laying down my ‘old self’ after rebirth in Christ I’ve also avoided my past interests.]
HAH! Upon finalising my Tuesday’s talk I now find its crib-notes done as l a r g e print total 7 pages! What else! What other quantity should I have expected?
In the Bible number 7 is symbolic of divine perfection, and I believe this is understood in other cultures too. Time is measured in units of 7 days – the calendar week. Genesis, the Book of Creation, states everything was created in 7 days with the last being when God was satisfied and rested upon completing His work of creation.
If the concept of a weekly cycle is applied to that of the year then 1/7th equates to 52 days and a ‘design purpose’ for the year’s seventh 1/7th could be that of resting before another cycle starts. That had been in mind in Pause 4 thought when musing about having unexpectedly arrived at the close of a personal cycle. So, it made sense to take a more relaxed pace over August and September and await any changes.
PRINCIPLE OF 7 AND MY JOURNEY
Now, a few weeks later, ‘7’ has got my attention once again and so I take notice and new notions drop into mind like inspired potions infused from ‘above’. As my task is to talk about my past, it is as though a door has opened for me to see and walk through in my spirit. Whilst writing, I recollect the Hebrew date for this ‘new year’ not only signifies an open door but is also shaped like a 7; although as the 4th letter of Hebrew alphabet it denotes No. 4. (Not mentioned in The door to a ‘new season’.)
My first thoughts were:
7 years are said to complete a growth cycle, as in ‘Seven ages of man/woman’.
so it’s appropriate to consider seven’s multiples, 14, 21, 28, etc, as cyclic too.
major changes or significant events happened on or around the 7th, 14th & 21st anniversaries of my Christian walk.
my personal life took hugely significant changes of direction at each 3 x 7 years, ie. every 21 years and around my birthdays. Number 3 denotes completion and unity.
These notions were confirmed last night when I learned the 7th letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Zayin (pronounced ZAH-yeen) and then read John Parson’s comment,
Since Zayin represents both the number 7 and a sword, it is not surprising that it is used to divide or ‘cut up’ time into units of sevens (The Letter Zayin, emphasis added)
Perhaps you’d like to check all this yourself and see if it may apply to you too? Only a couple of days after realising the significance of those aspects I heard a contact-lady at our online US-church mention a couple of major traumas in her family life. I noticed they were seven years apart. (She’s since confirmed having had personal insights on this – thank you W.)
So which came first, my journey or several number 7s? Of course, objectively I noticed all the events before, during and since gaining my freedom. Recognising they’re linked inextricably with number 7, then I must conclude the spiritual principle was the active and persistent power orchestrating those events, as in the scale of 7 musical notes.
Thus, 7 came, and comes, first.
Should you wish to continue reading about my journey into freedom, please click here for its first ‘leg’ or installment.
INFO – installments of original (2013):
No 7 and my journey into freedom
“You shouldn’t be at our school!”
Searching for truth leads me into captivity
The last day of my life came ‘like a thief in the night’
Rescued from Satan by The Lord of Hosts
The real Truth delivers me from captivity
Confirmations of the reality of my visionary encounter
[Images courtesy of Stoon at Freedigitalphotos.net and Melissa at Definingwords.com]
We’re taking a break for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, readers may like to mull over some meaty morsels, and to ponder the possibility of a recent prophecy having been fulfilled in Egypt!
Is Christianity a supernatural religion?
One blessing from the prolonged problems with WordPress in July was contacting a couple living eastward along the coast from our favourite haunt, Chichester harbour. Keith Lannon writes with an unusual grasp of not only theology and history but also psychology. His in-depth articles about Apostle Paul’s ministry may be found under Management of the Miraculous.
I’ve always known Christianity is intrinsically a supernatural life yet, in my humble opinion, many believers have little comprehension of this fundamental fact. After outlining Holy Spirit’s activities in the Church’s first decades, Keith writes:
This whole historical trawl, that I have only half glanced at, is for no other reason than to make the point that the miraculous is the New Testament norm. Cryptically expressed, the supernatural should be natural to the Christian. Christianity is naturally supernatural.
After being challenging by a Muslim, T.E. Hanna considers the above question. He ably digs into and unwraps this provocative paradox in Embracing An Imperfect Jesus. You may wish to reflect upon his brief, yet sound, consideration of the conundrum of Jesus’ humanity and divinity. It has generated interesting reader comments.
A prophecy causes pause for thought
Koenig’s Eye View from the White House reports upon last week’s International Institute of Counter-Terrorism Conference in Israel. It mainly covered Syria but included Egypt under its military leader Gen Al-Sissi. The first couple of points in Bill’s notes reminded me of what I’d heard from a delegate at Dr Stone’s Mentoring Day on 11 July (as under ‘Coffee break’).
According to that Institute, Egyptian President Morsi was imitating the Islamic template Turkey’s PM Erdogan had established to dismantle his secular military and arrest its generals. Egypt’s Al-Sissi beat Morsi to the draw in arresting him and ‘decapitated the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood…’ (emphasis mine).
That reminded me of Kim Clement’s prophetic song and word about Queen Esther, Mordecai and evil Haman, wherein he prophesied:
A head will roll during the summer; I said a head will roll during the summer! There will be a decapitation of a mind that is evil, a mind that is sinister. (Emphases mine: see link)
That was published on 22 June and Morsi was ousted less than a fortnight later on 3 July (details may be read in Guardian). In spite of US administration’s protestations and liberal media’s biased reporting, well-informed folk were aware of the great dangers Morsi and his MB posed to secular societies and Christians, not to mention Israel and Jordan. So it seems Kim Clement heard correctly from the Lord.
AN IMPORTANT, BRIEF RESUME OF HISTORICAL FACTS, which followed the 1967 onslaught from Israel’s neighbours. In the current crisis we see Syria, Russia, Iran and Egypt still featuring 40 years later in the Middle-East as America, Nato and Britain are sidelined. But it’s not so much that none of the latter feature in scripture and where God’s attention is focussed upon, as their leaders chose to ignore, even mock, His will over marriage. Therefore, it’s no wonder that Putin, Prince of Gog, mocked and has brow-beaten a Western president and a prime minister to take the lead over this matter and across the Middle-East!!
(Dallas, Texas) — Today is Yom Kippur, or the “Day of Atonement.” It is a Biblical holiday, the day when God called the children of Israel to repent of their national and individual sins and sacrifice animals to receive atonement, or forgiveness, of their sins. It is the highest holiday in Judaism.
Yom Kippur also marks the day when the modern state of Israel was nearly “wiped off the map” by her enemies. Forty years ago today, the Russian-trained and equipped air forces and armies of Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on the Jewish State, a move that nearly succeeded in destroying Israel.
Today, therefore, many Israelis are fasting and praying and reflecting on their lives and going to synagogue — some because of tradition, and some to follow Old Testament customs (albeit complicated by the lack of a Temple in Jerusalem).
Melissa’s description speaks right into what I sensed during worship yesterday as our assembly sang “You provide the fire, I’ll provide the sacrifice”. I sensed a flickering spread of orange and red with ill-defined objects bowing low and knew this was before the Throne of God. Mulling over Rev 4, I wondered if the image represents the flames of the seven spirits. So be mightily blessed as you inwardly digest this post.
Symbols of the corporate church abound in scripture. We are alluded to as the bride of Christ, God’s vineyard, the body of Christ, and His temple built of lively stones. Whenever it comes to the individual believer, however, I’ve heard relatively little in the way of scriptural symbolism. In preparation for a conference this month, I stumbled onto a rich trove of delights in studying the 7-candle menorah. The following is a digest of my findings that may prove to stir something within you, too!
Before we start, let me briefly explain the difference between the 7-candle and 9-candle menorah, and why we are focusing on the former. The 7-candle menorah is the traditional candelabra prescribed for use in Tabernacle of Moses. It has come to be a symbol of Judaism and much more as we will, here, divulge. Nine-candle menorahs are known as Hanukkah menorahs, and are lit during…
My attention has been drawn to a new book about Christians within politics, Liberal Democrats Do God. (NB: I don’t support any party.)
There have been many reviews, but I would suggest your reading Gillan Scott’s attempt to get beyond all the sensationalist headlines on his well-informed blog here.
This reminded me that the Lib Dems president, Tim Farron, took a lot of stick last year in supporting Healing On The Streets against the Advertising Standards Authority. They were determined to prevent churches in Bath offering to pray in public for anyone who wished to receive prayers for healing. Eventually this reached Parliament, where HOTS Bath gave a presentation to MPs, as I reported in Healing in Parliament. For personal reasons, the early months of this blog were spent supporting my friend Paul Skelton’s struggle, which eventually resulted in victory (here, also see tags below).
As regards the book, Gillan is of the opinion,
The greatest achievement of this book is to give Christians in the Liberal Democrat party an opportunity to confidently stand tall without being ashamed of their faith. It says, ‘Look we’re Christians, we’re not embarrassed and we have nothing to hide. We believe our politics is better for it and not worse. We believe we have something that is of great value and we’re not going to water it down.’
and he concludes with a challenge:
What surely ought to follow from this is a similar exercise from Christians in other parties. David Cameron has made it be known that Conservatives ‘do God’. Are others willing to publicly join this declaration that Christianity should be firmly at the centre of politics and not just an onlooker from the sidelines?
Hopefully, we will see many more believers standing on the Rock in this ‘new season’ (open vision refers)! In respect of which, Glasgow Prophetic Centre delivered this ‘Lion Bite’ on Monday.:
The Rock
Come to Me – I am all that you need.
Though people and circumstances shift all around you, I am your Rock.
I am steadfast and I am faithful.
Come stand upon Me child and you will feel safe and secure.
As you stand upon The Rock you will gain a heavenly perspective of yourself, your circumstances and your life and it will become clear that I am all that you need.
Psalm 18:2The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my saviour; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.
Truly, I much prefer covering prophetical rather than political/military matters. But some things based upon the Word of God need saying when the occasion arises. So I’ll be brief:
This time last week I read reports of mobilisation around the eastern Med and the Gulf in preparing for a US missile strike upon Syria by the weekend. In view of the ‘ready-to-go’ status, I wasn’t surprised my son’s flight in that region set for Friday was brought forward to early Thursday. PM Cameron had urgently recalled Parliament from its Summer recess and later that day sought all MP’s backing for military support of the US and associates’ attack. The PM has been concerned over the very dreadful plight of civilians in Syria and long canvassed Obama for action of one sort or another.
(The US has trained Syrian rebels in Jordan, who’ve already been in action. Assad had warned this would trigger retribution, including use of chemical weapons – see DebkaFile’s analysis with their original report of mid-August).
Thursday evening’s news referred to PM Cameron stressing that military action is a “Judgement call” – see Channel4 News and Friday’s The Independent. As we know, the PM lost the House’s vote. Much has been written about this and so I’ll be succinct. It’s noteworthy that after having heard Cameron tell him UK is unable to help the US, Obama suddenly changed his mind about the strike – not even telling his military chiefs or allies! (DebkaFile refers.)
What struck me is, not so much the complete about-turn by both leaders, as a likely connection with both having forsaken the ways of the Lord and failing to stand on his Word – God is not mocked!
Let’s recall from a previous post on the US Administration’s problems how the Amplified Bible spells out chapter 6 of Paul’s letter to the Galatians:
Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.8 For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. [BibleGateway]
We cannot pretend to know how the Lord is working in all this, but it’s instructive to note the PM’s “judgement call” may have a deeper connotation than is ordinarily assumed!
Cameron railroaded through Parliament a completely unnecessary Statute to redefine marriage. His American mentor has led nationally and internationally in this and now faces troubles across several fronts, including the Muslim Brotherhood (see this by Joel Rosenberg).
Thus, they’re reaping as they’ve sown within their very own political system. AND it has come through attempting to deal with an evil regime in cahoots with another – but how can our leaders expect to be righteous in this issue when they’re not in others?
So, this round has been won by the ‘Ezekiel 38 Alliance’, or ‘axis’ as David Blair terms it in his commentary West’s failure to act. Analysing America’s three main interests in the Syrian issues, Caroline Glick hits the nail on the head in Obama’s bread and circuses. International Business Editor for the Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, also makes several good points in A Fairly Honourable Defeat. This comes with insights from his father’s involvement in Syria in 1942.
Yesterday’s development is the proposed transfer of Assad’s chemical weapons into deep shelters in Iran, thereby averting any US attack (report here) and possibly using the move as a bargaining chip. [Debka reported ahead of the invasion of Iraq that Saddam Hussein’s WMD stock was moved into Syria. Many years later I noted the ‘Vicar of Baghdad’, Canon Andrew White, corroborate this claim on TV.] A fortnight ago Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned,
“Syria has become Iran’s testing ground….Iran is watching and it wants to see what would be the reaction on the use of chemical weapons.”
Today brings news of joint US-Israel tests at sea of interceptive missile systems for protection of Israel and Jordan in the event of the conflict expanding into the region.
So tensions continue to simmer near boiling point….
In line with what many prophetical voices have brought from the Lord for 2013+, we are seeing a marked emphasis upon a ‘new era’ for the wider church. In tandem with this, secular and political opinions are being aired not so much on the irrelevance of Christianity but more for its values and how they can be re-applied within society. Gillan Scott brings a valuable contribution to this debate and generated further thoughts, including on Revival, in his blog’s discussion thread.
My earliest adventures in coming home alone from school were in walking the longer route via the local library on the far-side of school. And it was a place to explore and dig around in.
Symbols of the corporate church abound in scripture. We are alluded to as the bride of Christ, God’s vineyard, the body of Christ, and His temple built of lively stones. Whenever it comes to the individual believer, however, I’ve heard relatively little in the way of scriptural symbolism. In preparation for a conference this month, I stumbled onto a rich trove of delights in studying the 7-candle menorah. The following is a digest of my findings that may prove to stir something within you, too!
Thursday evening’s news referred to PM Cameron stressing that military action is a “Judgement call” – see 
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