Category Archives: Royalty

Paws-4-thought: the Queen, prophecies and jigsaw pieces

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IspyLast night it popped into mind that the previous post about Her Majesty’s Christmas broadcast omitted the pertinent part of her hereditary title: ‘Fidei Defensor’ – Defender of the Faith!

STOP, PAUSE, REWIND < < back 500 years…and then fast forward > > to 20th Century England.

‘Fidei Defensor’ was the papal honour bestowed on young King Henry VIII in 1521 for his literary defence of the sacraments (ie. including marriage!) and papal supremacy against Protestant ideas of Martin Luther. However, lack of a male heir to the throne and Henry’s desire to remarry brought a break with the Roman church. That Latin title was revoked but Parliament then conferred ‘Defender of the Faith’ upon Henry VIII and subsequent monarchs as protectors of the Anglican faith in being Supreme Governors of the Church of England; that is, above the Archbishops of Canterbury and York – see Wikipedia.

Flying puzzles - Nokhoog BuchachonConsequently, in my humble opinion Her Majesty’s message could be regarded as being an apologia, or brief expository defence of the Christian faith.  And so we may surmise how this complements related prophetical material and I suspect more pieces of the Lord’s invisible jigsaw pieces are falling into place.

>> to 6 decades ago

A little nostalgia now: I recall a very small toy model coach with team of horses as a gift from my grandfather in preparation for celebrating the Queen’s coronation on 2nd June 1953. There was also model scenery between which to drive the golden coach. Parents and family were getting excited. My father made a large heraldic shield coloured in the Union Jack, from which three similar but small flags could proudly fly when hung outside our house. And he even bought a television and invited neighbours to watch the whole event in black and white vision.

A few years later my school teacher proudly told the headmistress about a story I’d written along with my picture of a RCMP ‘Mountie’ on horseback chasing a criminal – ‘The Mountie always gets his man!’ Consequently, he won a bravery award from Queen Elizabeth II in person. This story may have been inspired by TV cowboy stories and accounts of her state visit to Canada in 1956.

> > to 4 years ago

What I felt in my spirit upon hearing the recent Christmas message and the evening’s news announcement was so similar to what I was sensing during and after our visiting Royal Windsor in Berkshire in 2011. For some reason the view of the castle from a few miles away in the Great Park caught my attention. (Little did I know that Dr Sharon Stone and husband Greg were relocating to Old Windsor.)

That impression was noted in ‘Paws 4 Thought’ of 28th June 2012 when blogging about A special town in the Thames Valley (note photo of cloud of UK over town). Therein, I refer to my chat with Sharon in February of that year:

“After talking about her class in Windsor an image of the Castle’s famous round tower came to mind. This was followed by the notion that its crenellated battlements looked like the teeth of a giant cogwheel which could fit into some sort of invisible socket where earth could get plugged into heaven. 

“It’s a little hard to explain, but then the thought dropped into mind that such engagement would enable the heavenly kingdom to ‘wind up’ our earthly kingdom, or ‘queen-dom’, for the Lord’s purposes (eg. revival) – rather like putting a key into and winding up a clockwork toy.”

Windsor Castle’s Round Tower (right); copyright Richard Barker

I’d suggest we keep these musings in mind when considering current prophetic words for the United Kingdom.

BBC headlines quote Queen proclaiming the Gospel on Christmas Day

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In delighted astonishment we heard BBC News voice-over-video headlines announce on Christmas Day that the Queen had said,

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Moreover, I realised that by declaring a scriptural statement as Head of the Church of England and hereditary Defender Of The Faith, and in its being heralded and announced by national media, our longest reigning monarch’s biblical declaration has the power of a prophetic decree. (If you’re unfamiliar with this principle see this two-part report on spiritual alignment and decrees.)

The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast to the Commonwealth follows the pattern set by King George V (her grandfather) in the very first broadcast in 1932. Upon introducing this startling innovation he opened it with, “I speak now from my home and from my heart to you all“.

Yearly our sister in the Lord refers to her Christian belief as a source of inspiration and comfort. This Christmas Her Majesty made no bones about the majesty of her faith, as in forthright yet gracious remarks about the Good News of God in the birth of Jesus Christ..

Soon after opening, Her Majesty speaks about reflecting upon the year’s events,

“Many people say the first Christmas after losing a loved one is particularly hard. But it’s also a time to remember all that we have to be thankful for.

“It is true that the world has had to confront moments of darkness this year, but the Gospel of John contains a verse of great hope, often read at Christmas carol services: ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’.”

Jesus’ Message of Love

She continues by referring to the custom Queen Victoria and Prince Albert introduced of using fir-trees at Christmas, and every year since WWII the people of Oslo send a huge tree for erection in Trafalgar Square. (Over 1,000 years ago our Saxon kings brought our ancient Viking enemies to Christ, especially Olaf 1 of Norway.)

Furthermore, Her Majesty related this and Jesus’ birth to the contemporary migration of refugees to Europe:

“…(this London tree) has five hundred light-bulbs and is enjoyed not just by Christians but by people of all faiths, and of none. At the very top sits a bright star, to represent the Star of Bethlehem.

“The custom of topping a tree also goes back to Prince Albert’s time. For his family’s tree, he chose an angel, helping to remind us that the focus of the Christmas story is on one particular family.

“For Joseph and Mary, the circumstances of Jesus’s birth — in a stable – were far from ideal, but worse was to come as the family was forced to flee the country. It’s no surprise that such a human story still captures our imagination and continues to inspire all of us who are Christians, the world over.

“Despite being displaced and persecuted throughout his short life, Christ’s unchanging message was not one of revenge or violence but simply that we should love one another. Although it is not an easy message to follow, we shouldn’t be discouraged; rather, it inspires us to try harder: to be thankful for the people who bring love and happiness into our own lives, and to look for ways of spreading that love to others, whenever and wherever we can.” (Emphasis added.)

Read her message in full on the official website The British Monarchy, or watch the above video.

A couple of Press reports

In Monarch quotes from Bible to address a nation shaken by a year of atrocities, the Telegraph’s religious affairs team open as follows,

‘The Queen used her Christmas Day broadcast to make one of her most overtly religious addresses to the nation in recent years. Quoting directly from the Gospel of John, she spoke of light which “shines in the darkness” which she described as a “verse of great hope”.

‘Her comments come at the end of a year in which Britain has been stunned by terrorist atrocities, from the mass shootings and bombings in Paris last month to the gun attack at a Tunisia resort during the summer.

 ‘Reflecting on the past 12 months, the monarch said: “It is true that the world has had to confront moments of darkness this year. But the Gospel of John contains a verse of great hope, often read at Christmas carol services: ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’.”

That broadsheet’s Boxing Day editorial also notes,

‘Britain’s religious leaders are in the mood for telling home truths. In a stark Christmas sermon, the Most Rev Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, compared the Jihadist threat to King Herod, to whom Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, also alluded. In the Bible, Herod orders the massacre of young children in a delirious attempt to kill Jesus Christ. In today’s Middle East, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) is no less bloodthirsty.

‘It murders critics and religious minorities, enforcing its religious code with violence. It represents a fanatical perversion of Islam, and to defeat it, the West must understand its motivations. Religious leaders, educated in theological nuance, are well placed to decode its language. Archbishop Welby told congregants that it seeks to trigger an “apocalypse… defined by themselves and heralded only by the angel of death”. Isil cannot coexist with Western democracy. It is hell-bent on destroying it.’

I’ve underscored the essential key to the solution that too many illiterate and misinformed political leaders have totally ignored to people’s peril.

There is more Encouragement for the Dawn of 2016, as reported by Prophecy Today UK:

“Despite all the problems our nation has faced over the last year, we at Prophecy Today found a little encouragement over the Christmas season to hear the Prime Minister’s affirmation of Christian values in our nation (see latest – RB) and also the Education Secretary’s resolve to promote the Christian heritage of Britain in our schools.”

It will be interesting to watch how all this may tie in with prophetical words received lately and being delivered in the coming months…

Prince Charles – defender of persecuted Christians

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Perhaps our heir to the Crown is on the point of – or has had – a Damascus Road experience and starting to see, or about to meet, the true Light of the World?

Prince of Wales_2713228b Credit Chris Jackson_GettyAs heir to his mother Queen Elizabeth’s throne and title of ‘Defender Of The Faith’ (ie. the Protestant, Anglican version) Charles has expressed his wish some years ago to be ‘Defender of Faith’. His deep admiration of Islam led to speculation since 1997; Is Prince Charles a convert to Islam? (as summarised and updated over 2003-13 by Daniel Pipes).

Last December, however, as noted by leading blogger ‘Cranmer’ he sensibly corrected the government’s Muslim minister for Faith (who resigned in August):

‘While the Government’s Minister for Faith and Communities Baroness Warsi insists that the persecution and eradication of Christians in the Middle East has absolutely nothing to do with Islam, the Prince of Wales has exposed the lie’ (continue reading)

This week Prince Charles must really be hacked off with Islamist hatred, as evident when addressing the Chaldean Church in England, as ‘His Grace’ reports in Charles – defender of the persecuted faith, (emphases added RB)

‘…It was a speech of empathy, grace and humanity. His mind is clearly troubled; his heart is with the “unbearable suffering” and “indescribable agony” of Iraq’s Christians – a church which can trace its origins back to the ministry of Thomas the Apostle. Their eradication is “beyond belief”, the Prince said. For one who has dedicated his life to the cause of peace and to a greater understanding between people of faith, the intolerance of the Islamist creed is beyond comprehension.

“It is utterly inconceivable that a person of one faith could find it in themselves to persecute a person of another faith,” he said.

“Surely to do so brings nothing but dishonour on the faith of the persecutor?” And then he took the theme of the Apostle Paul in his speech at the Areopagus:.

“It seems to me that all faiths to some extent shine a light on the divine image in every human life. If that is so, then surely to destroy another human being is to desecrate the image of the Divine, and to do so in the name of faith is nothing less than a blasphemy?

“As these truly dreadful images of executions and beheadings are transmitted around the world via the Internet I cannot help but feel that we are in serious danger, in this so-called modern age, of descending into the dark ages of public executions.”

Cranmer continues, ‘Man is made in the image of God, and God is love. To kill another human being is to destroy what God has created; to kill in His name is nothing short of blasphemy. The Prince of Wales is not ignorant about the God he worships, who desires a living relationship with all those who would follow Him. Nor is he blind to the malignant doctrine of those who worship the pernicious god of Jihad: it is an idol of death and destruction, spreading its bitter creed through the modern media. St Paul spoke against the idols of gold and silver: Prince Charles faces down those who idolise terror, brutality and bloodshed.’

It’s most interesting that Charles proceeds to refer to Saint Paul’s life of persecution. May we hope that he’s woken up to the deep difference between our faith in the real living God who saved us from our sins and whom we can know personally, and another that denies salvation through the Cross of Christ only, and His holy nature.

Do take the time to read Cranmer’s excellent summary and commentary upon the Prince’s speech.

[Photo credit Chris Jackson/Getty Images]

On the vision of a crown over England

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A week ago today in Tucson, Arizona, Tony Puccio had a vision of a crown hovering over England. It was covered with what looked like diamonds and light was radiating from the crown and illuminating the nation, as reported in this post: England.

MajestyI guess what he saw may have been like this card created by a dear friend for a Christmas breakfast last year at which Nina spoke about majesty.

What Tony did not know about last week, however, was that my wife had again delivered that message at a breakfast only a few days earlier, the Tuesday morning.

Should you wish to be uplifted, you may read her earlier version here: On the Majesty of His Majesty,  The King of Kings.

It’s yet another example of Holy Spirit’s Bridge over ‘the Pond’, is it not? What’s that? I suggest searching that term on this blog (app won’t insert links).

‘Radiant Majesty’

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Nina’s reference to a trumpet fanfare, actually two,  heralding the Queen’s arrival, followed by her majesty’s entrance to an assembly of invited guests, brought an interesting insight from scripture which I’ll share later.

However, Nina went on to compare that event with the majesty of The King of Kings and asked how we think we will respond to being before The Almighty King of Kings.  Immediately after Nina finished speaking, Viv Dawes  ascended onto the stage to sing sublimely in adoration of Him as follows.:

Radiant Majesty divine

Seated on Your glorious throne

We worship, honour and adore Your perfect holiness.

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Brilliant light shines with Your power

Burning flame, Your holy fire

Your Glory, Majesty And Holiness outshines the sun.

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A rainbow halo surrounds You

Majesty shining in Glory

Eyes like flame, Face shines with brilliance

Feet as bronze, refined in a furnace.

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Radiant Majesty sublime

Seated on Your glorious throne

The First and Last – Living One for ever and for evermore.

The inspiration for these words came to Mair Thorburn without any knowledge of what Nina had prepared months previously on the subject of God’s majesty. Radiant Majesty was completed on 6th September 2013 and is reproduced with Mair’s kind consent.

It’s marvellous how the Lord inspires people with similar messages. I agree with Mair’s opinion that it’s a bit like thousands of years ago when individuals separately heard and wrote the same words from the Lord and which were to become holy scripture.

The above song is best appreciated in accompaniment to the tune that was in her mind  during inspiration: the introductory bars to Benedictus from Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for peace. Hit the play button and read, or sing, those words in time to the music.:


Pause for reflection

A couple of scriptural points are noteworthy in Nina’s comparison of the Queen’s entry with that of His Majesty. It wasn’t so much the fact that royal protocol requires respect and focussed personal attention upon Her Majesty, for everyone’s gaze turns to catch sight of and follow her, and all ears strain for every word, to make sure nothing gets missed. So too, ourselves in His exceptionally awesome presence.

No, it was more the remarks about a trumpet fanfare that gave food for thought over a couple of references in Paul’s letters. On the face of it they may seem unrelated, but not so. One is about the resurrection of the dead and the other is on Jesus Christ’s return.  In concluding his eloquent explanation of believers’ victory over death, Paul writes to the early church in Corinth,

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.  Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Cor 15:50-52 per Bible Gateway)

In a letter to another Greek church (Salonika) he goes into finer detail given by Jesus about what’s to happen next:

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.   For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. (1 Thess 4:15-18 per Bible Gateway)

My reader, be blessed as you contemplate these insights…and let the Lord bring more.

On the majesty of His Majesty, The King of Kings

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Nina was once again invited to address a Christmas Breakfast gathering of groups that meet regularly in the Aldershot-Farnborough area organised by Juliet Peatling. Our dear friend is painstaking to honour the Lord in preparations, especially in the exquisite way He inspires her creatively with handicrafts, in which she is highly skilled.

And both are prepared well in advance by Him! Early in the year Juliet started preparing cards and decided upon the theme for this Christmas meeting. When she called my wife to ask if she could speak on God’s majesty, neither of them were surprised that Nina had already heard the title and been given what to say. That had happened a couple of years ago too, which was on ‘Peace’. (We were pleasantly surprised upon arriving at the venue to find the colour scheme she used with that matched what Nina was wearing!)

This year’s Breakfast was held in Kings Community Church located in Aldershot. Juliet had decorated and laid out tables with place names and personal presents for each guest. It was as though we were to attend a special breakfast-banquet with our King – Spectacular, as these photos show. Nina’s address follows below:


MAJESTY

“Good morning and God bless you. Juliet asked me to speak today – over 6 months ago.

“I set time aside to pray and see what I should write. Then I put the notes away until a few weeks ago – it was just to look at what I had written, not to make major changes.

“Now some of you will have been at the last 2 breakfasts and heard Mair talk. I was at the last one and, to my amazement, she said two or three things I’m going to say – almost verbatim.

“No, she hadn’t read my notes so she could copy what I was going to say. Neither did Juliet tell her beforehand.

“So if two of us are saying the same thing – independently of each other – I guess that the good Lord has a point he wants to make. It’s something important. So I will leave it to you to pick up on it.

“Yes it’s true, another year has gone and here we are again. The subject this Christmas is Majesty.

“I don’t feel particularly qualified to speak on the enormity of this word. We have such small brains and it is such a big word. If I ask each one of you to define the word ‘majesty’, I wonder what words you would use?

(A brief pause…)

“It is the highest rank you can hold. The Queen is ‘Her Majesty’. She reigns supreme in this country. Hers is the highest title – as a human being.

“I read recently these words describing His Majesty – Our Lord – by Archbishop Justin Welby [RB note: from chat with Charles Moore, who asked him if he knows Jesus].:

“He is both someone one knows and someone one scarcely knows at all. An utterly intimate friend and yet an indescribable majesty.”

“Psalm 93 verse 1 says,

The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty and is armed with strength.

“The description of Psalm 93 in my Bible is quite wonderful; “It is a hymn to the eternal,universal and invincible reign of the Lord”.

“Let me read that again,“It is a hymn to the eternal,universal and invincible reign of the Lord”.

“May I suggest you all read Psalm 93?

“Now let’s go on a short journey and unwrap the word ‘Majesty’ a little…

“Many years ago I had the privilege of being at a champagne reception at the Banqueting Hall in Whitehall, London, hosted by the Queen and Prince Philip. Beforehand, we were notified of the required code of dress, security check and behaviour etc. All very exciting.

“There were 100 of us present, sipping champagne and chatting when – suddenly! – Her Majesty’s trumpeters appeared up in the gallery and heralded her arrival.

“There was more than a hush in the room, the air was electric. You could hardly breathe with expectancy. Suddenly, A GREAT BLAST came from their trumpets in fanfare!!!

“Then a voice boomed out, “Ladies and gentlemen – Her Majesty The Queen!”.

“Her Majesty was in the room amongst us. You did not hear her coming – she was just ‘there’! It was a WOW moment !!

“So now let me take you further/deeper/higher…

Majesty“One day we are going to be in the presence our heavenly Father, His Majesty, THE King – not A king – THE King of kings!

“When we make that decision to give the Lord charge of the rest of our lives we become adopted sons and daughters

“Therefore, if we truly believe that we are sons and daughters of the King of kings, His Majesty, how do we see ourselves?”

(A brief pause…)

“Members of the royal family have status/authority. They are ambassadors representing the king or queen. How do we represent His Majesty, The King of kings

“As I just said: before meeting the Queen I was told what to wear, what code of dress to be observed etc.

“So what will we be wearing before His Majesty?

“How presentable will we be?

“Will we have clean hands and a pure heart?

“Or, will there be some blemishes not yet dealt with?

“Might it be an idea to deal with them/address them while there is time however long time is? I want to face my heavenly Father, His Majesty, knowing I did my best.”

(A brief pause…)

“Was I qualified to meet the Queen? – Yes, I had a certificate and an invitation

“Am I qualified to be before His Majesty – Yes, I am his adopted daughter. As confirmed in Ephesians 1.”

(A brief pause…)

“Lastly, as I close:

“The effect on me of the heralded arrival of the Queen and being in her company was a wow moment in my life – almost life changing!

“How about when the time comes to meet His Majesty – THE KING?

“How awesome will that be, what expectation, what excitement!

“What a life changing second before His Majesty!

“Think about it…”

(Nina pauses, then reads lyrics to a well-known worship song by Tuinfort and friends…)

“I can only imagine what it will be like when I walk by your side.

“I can only imagine what my eyes will see when Your face is before me.

“Surrounded by Your Glory what will my heart feel?

“Will I dance for You, Jesus, or in awe of you be still?

“Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?

“Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all?

“I can only imagine,

“I can only imagine,

“I can only imagine when that day comes and I find myself standing in the Son.

“I can only imagine when all I will do is forever, forever worship You.” 

Continued in ‘Radiant Majesty’ >>

The especial significance of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee bells: part 1

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SERENDIPITY STRIKES AGAIN !! (Definition: the happy occurrence of chance events.) But when such events are laden with surprising illumination of a spiritual and intellectual nature, they’re regarded as from the Living God; that is, ‘God-incidents’.

This time it’s all about the Queen’s bells!  Or more particularly, the especially significant role and effect they have upon our nation and of which only a few folk have been aware.

Those who attended or watched yesterday’s grand spectacle of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee pageant on the River Thames saw – and heard – a huge flotilla of 1,000 vessels (click to see selection of photos, courtesy Daily Mail Online).

The Belfry barge carrying eight enormous church bells led the procession in one of the most spectacular nautical events seen in London for over 350 years.   They pealed all along the 7 mile route and were joined by church bells ringing out in reply across the City of London as the pageant regally proceeded to Tower Bridge. (Daily Telegraph’s video-article on the rehearsal for bell-ringing gives a feel for their sound. I had hoped the BBC’s live coverage would have returned to their on-board presenter, showman John Barrowman, but his personal video blog conveys a sense of the very deep impact those bells can make.) Continue reading →

Christmas broadcasts

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We trust you had a blessed time. We were particularly pleased to hear the Queen close her Christmas Day broadcast with such a clear emphasis upon Jesus, for instance:

”…Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general (important though they are) – but a Saviour, with the power to forgive…”

Click here for the full transcript of the Queen’s speech.

The political blogger ‘His Grace Archbishop Cranmer’ concluded his posting of Tues 27 December on Christmas messages as follows:

“There was only one Church leader who spoke inspirationally of courage and hope; only one who used the occasion to speak of the importance of family, friends and the indomitable human spirit. Only one who spoke of the gospel of forgiveness, the uniqueness of Jesus the Saviour, the love of God through Christ our Lord:..”

I particularly took note that both the political head of our nation, PM Cameron, and Head of State and Head of Anglican Church, Her Royal Majesty, have now strongly spoken out in public declarations concerning our nation’s true source of spiritual stability. Could we have turned a corner? Maybe Christen Forster of River Church, Maidenhead, was correct in reporting last September,

…at the Emmanuel Centre in Marsham Street, Bill Johnson prophetically declared to 1,000 leaders from Church, Culture, Commerce, Community and Civic Government that we would look back at 1st Sept 2011 as, “The day things changed in the UK”.

Personally, on Christmas morn I was blessed to see our recording of the broadcast I recommended, Carols From Bucklebury, bring strong messages from each interviewee/ reader. (See brief disocesan report.) Only a few weeks previously I’d visited my ‘best-man’ and farm manager John Bishop, and was introduced to Bradfield CoE Primary School’s head Andy How when John took me there on a brief visit as school governor. John told me the broadcast was recorded by a Christian media organisation that’s part of the Rank Foundation. (From CTVC – Our History I read that J Arthur Rank, now Lord Rank, has been involved with Christian media since 1930s.)

Whilst living west of Reading prior to our marriage, I’d attended a number of Christmas services in Rushall Manor Farm’s barn. Its Christingle events are always solidly packed by a couple of hundred folk. This time, however, John used the larger cattle shed because it could better house the 1000 strong congregation!! Ah well, perhaps this is another indicator of changes happening in Britain? Bradfield village has had a Christian presence since Saxon times – maybe this ancient well is now getting unblocked?

May you all have a wonderful New Year

Richard & Nina

The Great Royal Wedding is yet to come!

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COPY of pre-blog email (as in ‘About’).:

Dear Friends – pls see this excellent impression from overseas of yesterday’s events. 
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It was terrific to hear these holy declarations broadcast not only to everyone attending and watching but also into our atmosphere and over our land – and all round the world!
As we know of the Holy Spirit’s action through satellite coverage of the Bay of the Holy Spirit Revival, I was praying that those present would be able to hear, understand and desire revelation of the truth of Jesus.
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Only last week came a very thorough teaching note by Derek Prince about his wife’s experience of living amongst Palestinian Arabs.  He stressed,
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“…there is a tremendous lesson that we need to learn as Christians…very simply…the basis of the spiritual power of Islam…is summed up in one word: proclamation.
(They) have understood the tremendous spiritual power of persistent proclamation….As Christians, that really confronts us with a challenge,
because I believe the answer is (our) counter proclamations…of the victory of Jesus, the power of his name and blood…etc. ”
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As the UK has been inundated with constant atheistic doctrine plus muslim prayers 5 times daily, such deeply welcome refreshment came through yesterday’s media coverage.
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Let’s pray that everyone now becomes desperately thirsty for the Lord…

Richard
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Sent: Friday, April 29, 2011 12:21 PM
Subject: [New post] A GREAT ROYAL WEDDING TO COME

A GREAT ROYAL WEDDING TO COME

joelcrosenberg | April 29, 2011 at 12:20 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/piWZ7-1fW

What struck me most as Lynn and I got up at 5am and watched the royal wedding as it unfolded at Westminster Abbey in London was that the Word of God went forth — and the name of Jesus Christ was repeatedly proclaimed — to an estimated one billion people around the world watching the live TV coverage. It was a gorgeous ceremony, with all its pomp and circumstance, and it reminded me that there is a Great Royal Wedding to come to which we are all invited. We need only say “yes.”

  • The Rev. Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, began the ceremony noting that, “In a sense, every wedding is a royal wedding,” then spoke of followers of Jesus Christ being children of the King who will one day have a wedding of His own.
  • James Middleton, Kate’s brother, read from the New Testament, Romans chapter 12, beginning with, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” — that is, we must prepare our hearts for the Royal Wedding to come.
  • Dr. Rowen Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his sermontold the newlyweds, “William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. And in the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each another….As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light.”
  • The Archbishop concludedhis sermon with this prayer, “God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage. In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy. Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.”

The Scriptures teach us that we are all invited to the wedding of our Lord Jesus Christ in the world to come. But while all are invited, not all will attend. We must individually accept the Lord’s invitation by personally receiving Jesus as Messiah and our Lord. Sadly, the Bible says that not all will do so.

  • In Revelation chapter 19, we read, “Then I heard the sound of massed choirs, the sound of a mighty cataract, the sound of strong thunder: Hallelujah! The Master reigns, our God, the Sovereign-Strong! Let us celebrate, let us rejoice, let us give him the glory! The Marriage of the Lamb has come; his Wife has made herself ready. She was given a bridal gown of bright and shining linen. The linen is the righteousness of the saints.”
  • Speaking of the Great Royal Wedding to come, Jesus saidin Matthew 22, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!”
  • Speaking of His return to Earth to get His bride, Jesus said in Luke 12, “Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.”

With the signs of the Last Days all around us, may each one of us choose today to say “yes” to the Lord Jesus’ invitation to the Great Royal Wedding to come.