Weekend catch-up: Israel and UK, and Iran

DSC_8314 credit-The CommentatorReaders and visitors will have noted  I often quote the Daily Telegraph. I like a number of its columnists but please don’t assume this reflects my politico-religious view. For example , I’ve noticed lately some reports on Israel don’t reflect what I’m learning from those who have their ear close to the ground, or those who are well informed. The paper’s chief political editor, Peter Oborne, usually writes well but has his critics, one of whom took him to task for his recent criticism of David Cameron’s ‘cowardice’ over Israel.

I came across that criticism on one of my dips into The Commentator and spotted an article entitled Conservative cowardice on Israel?  Historian Carly Beckerman-Boys  raises this question because,

Peter Oborne’s recent comments on the Conservative Party and Israel are overshadowed by his fundamental misunderstanding of British politics and the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

In view of my interest this looked a promising read but I dug first into the original article, The cowardice at the heart of our relationship with Israel. I was thus in a better place to follow the historian’s argument.  So, if this topic stirs you why not take a few minutes to read Peter Oborne and then click here for an interesting counter-thrust.

Had I come across Peter’s article in my occasional copy of the paper I would have had some reservations, so I’m pleased to have discovered Carly’s well-balanced answer to his perception of the issue.  Another critic and contributor to CIFWatch, Richard Millet, is not so gentle in his solid response! (For Richard’s background click here.)

Iran – the game is over

Forget POTUS Obama’s intentions to discuss nuclear energy and weapons with Iranian leaders – talks are dead in the water! That game is now over according to DEBKAfile because Iran now has enough plutonium for 24 Nagasaki-type bombs!  This Special Report opens.:

The secret, one-on-one nuclear negotiations President Barack Obama launched with Iran have run into a blank wall. A senior Iranian team member, Mostafa Dolatyar,  said Friday, Dec. 14 in New Delhi that the diplomatic process for solving the nuclear issue with Iran was in effect going nowhere, because the demand that Tehran halt its 20-percent enrichment of uranium “doesn’t make sense.”

Debka reports that Dolatyar’s remarks would have been authorised by ‘Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who, through him, posted a message to Washington: If the enrichment suspension demand stands, the game’s over’. The report continues.:

‘After more than 15 years of on-and-off, largely aimless, nuclear diplomacy with world powers and evasive tactics with the UN nuclear agency, Tehran is for the first time showing signs of impatience and not just its usual disdain. This is because two things have changed:

‘1. For all those years, Tehran availed itself of every diplomatic opening for protracted bargaining about its nuclear program for the sake of buying time, free of pressure, to push that program forward. Now, the Iranians are telling the US and Europe that they have arrived at their destination. For them, time is no longer of essence, as it may be for the West.

‘2.  The second development was revealed on Dec. 5 by The Wall Street Journal in a short leader captioned “From Bushehr to the Bomb”. This revelation was not picked up by any other Western – or even Israeli – publication despite its sensational nature…’  (Click to read before report is filed to premium content archive. More background here.)

So, as mentioned throughout this year the Middle-East pot continues on the boil. But at least it’s not boiling over – yet!

Furthermore, the Iranians stated that installing an American Patriot missile defence on the Turkish-Syrian border is “meant to cause a world war”.  With a massive US, British, French and Russian naval presence in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Mediterranean,  Obama has tried to defuse the situation and ‘quietly recalled’ two naval strike groups home from Syrian waters. (Debka Exclusive Report.) And this is without considering the several stockpiles of chemical weapons of mass destruction, or lunacy that continues to break out in the Middle-East.

PROPHETICALLY, NONE OF THESE TROUBLES ARE A SURPRISE. I’m intrigued to muse whether Barack Obama has yet started to take his accredited White Ho journalist Bill Koenig’s wisdom seriously. (First-time visitors click for information about Bill and here for previous posts referring to his work.)

ALSO, we know of an anointed man of God blessed with an evangelistic and healing miracles ministry who heard God say He’s setting the stage for fulfillment of Biblical prophecy > AND we have confirmation from economic cyclical theory > ALL in addition to the fullness of what the Lord Himself said whilst here, and through His holy prophets.

What awesome and exciting days we live in…..

Weekend catch-up: UK events

A few paragraphs to update the last posts and temporarily ‘close the lid’ on the matter.: [PS. inserted below on Wed 19 Dec]

1. David Cameron

This will be no small furore’, I observed here over his decision to introduce legislation to change the millenia-old understanding of marriage and, therefore, mentioned political aspects. Clerics had been dealing with this for some time and on Friday the political blogger Cranmer was scathing of the contemptuous way in which a Prime Minister had treated the Anglican Church. I note he links his final paragraph to an informative article I’d also read by the editor of The Spectator (Fraser Nelson) and thereby concluded:

His Grace prophesied earlier this year that gay marriage would turn out to be Cameron’s Poll Tax. He was wrong: it is the Poll Tax, hunting ban, Clause IV and the Iraq War all rolled into one. It is a disaster for both the country and the Conservative Party: Cameron has pitched the State against the Church and started a culture war of which there will be no end, there will be no end, there will be no end.

In an op-ed in Saturday’s Telegraph Charles Moore eloquently outlined some legal complications of Cameron’s decision:

Because he gave too little thought to the depth of the issue, he did not bargain for the trouble he is starting to get. And because no proper preparatory official work is ever done nowadays, there is confusion and embarrassment over what the new law will actually say.  This week, poor Maria Miller, the minister on whose desk this has landed, was unable to tell MPs how gay adultery will be defined in law. There will be lots more questions like that. One I like is, Will the heir to the throne be allowed to have a gay marriage? If he is male, will his husband be King too?  If, by surrogacy, their union is blessed with a child, will that child, though of the blood royal, be excluded from the succession?  If so, how, in the name of equality, can that be right?

In his sanguine manner, Moore then asks about some collateral effects of the new Act of Parliament and considers political nuances behind Cameron’s decision (he’s not the first to connect it with mimicking Barack Obama). Moore then drives his argument to the irrefutable impossibility of same-sex weddings bringing the principal and tangible benefit of matrimony (as originally conceived and designed, I’d add!)…

Children exist because of men and women.  Homosexuals may love one another just as much as anyone loves anyone else – and all disinterested love is a social good – but their domestic arrangements make no difference to the human future.  Marriage is all about the human future (emphasis mine). It is mankind’s main investment in it.

He consequently concludes:

If you are conservative, you respect the past in order to secure the future.  It is not easy to see how a policy which puts homosexual rights at the apex of public morality can possibly do that.  Strange that the head of a party which calls itself Conservative is leading us down a cul-de-sac in the history of mankind.

Today’s (Monday) Daily Telegraph’s front page refers to ‘a cross-party rebellion’ and the centre page displays a letter signed by over 50 Parliamentarians written “in support for the institution of marriage as defined in law as a union between a man and a woman”. Furthermore, they state:

At the last election, none of the three main parties stood on a platform to redefine marriage. It was not contained in any of their manifestos, nor did it feature in the Coalition’s Programme for Government. These facts alone should have led to extreme caution on the part of those calling for this change to be made(emphasis mine).

[PS: 19 Dec – see objections from the Muslim Council of Britain and Cranmer’s take on this and the related sickening hypocrisy and inequality from liberal brigade’s claptrap.]

2. Maria Miller

Also on Saturday the same paper quoted Sir Alistair Graham, the ex-chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, as stating that the minister who announced the  new matrimonial law would be “vulnerable to having to stand down as a minister” if she is disciplined by an inquiry into her claims for a second house where her parents lived.
This is only the latest in the Telegraph’s deep investigation into the outrageous scandal of widespread theft from the public purse by MPs. So Sir Alastair is reported as saying,

“My view is that ministers are in a key leadership position and if they are found to have broken the rules they can no longer continue to be part of the Government. We really can’t have a situation where the taxpayer is putting MPs parents in special position of being subsidised by public funds.”

3. Census 2011

The results of last year’s Census for England and Wales brought to light details of the massive immigration that has occurred as a result of the previous Labour government’s  bad management and poor policies.  Also, atheists have crowed over its findings upon religious belief. This aspect is capably covered by Gillan Scott in Census 2011: Atheist vs Christians and what the numbers don’t tell us.

Perhaps, in view of my dealings earlier this year with the lady behind the HOTS vs ASA issue, a humanist and two men with closed attitudes towards verifiable healings, you may care to dip into that post with its several informative contributions?

Don’t miss the boat!

La NinaHave you ever missed a bus, or a boat? Can you imagine how annoyed people were at not getting on board Noah’s huge boat when mighty prolonged rains brought sweeping, widespread flooding?  But he’d been warning them a long time. All they wanted to do was their own thing and not change because ‘all the people had corrupted their ways’. In fact, ‘the earth was filled with violence because of them’ (Genesis 6).

The only ones to survive were Noah and his family because he had time for God and walking with him. Many moons later a number of his descendants were to again corrupt their ways and, again, only a righteous family escaped the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Lot and his daughters got away but what was wrong with the lot Lot left behind?

In renouncing the abominable sins of Jerusalem the visionary prophet Ezekiel, or rather the Living Lord God, explained what was disagreeable about those ‘losers’:

Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit. (Ezekiel 16:49-50 NKJV – emphases RB)

My previous post referred to Jesus’ prophecy that the attitudes of people everywhere will again be as in ‘the days of Lot’ – and then He will return in all His glory and power in the company of the heavenly host of angels and all saved souls.

PRIDE

The unsavoury aspect of this attitude within government has now been reported by my friend Gillan Scott. His blog publishes and comments upon an email from the previous Equalities Minister : ‘Lynne Featherstone proudly takes credit for railroading gay marriage legislation’.

On the face of it her remarks rightly convey a sense of relief in an objective achieved. But this post, which deserves to be read in its entirety, reveals how spiritually dead at worst, or clueless at best, our national leaders really are – and many commentaries lack an appreciation of the gravity of the situation. Our politicians urgently need to be raised to fullness of life in all its abundance because this email shows how this deathly attitude has sought to prevail throughout national life.

Therefore, I added the following to the debate on God and Politics in the UK:

‘The minister’s email conveys the woeful ignorance of the implications and price to be paid. I believe Rev Billy Graham’s late wife said something along the lines that if LGBT agenda becomes legally ‘right’ then God would need Sodom & Gomorrah’s forgiveness!

‘But Jesus said their inhabitants would have repented and lived had they witnessed His miraculous works, whereas His fellow Jews refused. Therefore, He decreed “…it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgement than for you” (Matt 11:20-24).  So, if not just pockets of ‘God’s Presence’ but the wider church starts doing ‘the greater works’ Jesus spoke of, then there will be hope for modern disbelievers awakening to spiritual – NOT religious – realities. (Bless them Lord out of their ignorance of the difference.)

‘The core of the issue is ‘LGBT Pride’, and this arrogant attitude is proudly displayed in the email. Those in Christ know God’s attitude to the proud. Pride was found in the king of Tyre and likened to that of Satan (Ezekiel 28) and is ruled by the Spirit of Leviathan.

‘What the Lord told Job about Leviathan is instructive in implying a link with ‘equality’ : “..Nothing on earth is his equal – a creature without fear. He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud”. (NKJV has ‘king over all the children of pride’) Job 41.34 NIV.’

Does David Cameron’s decision line up with the Bible?

Eagle-eyed, detail therof: John Mark Long propheticartists.comWHAT THREAD links Prime Minister Cameron, yours truly and a revivalist – and scripture? This evangelist’s already arranged funeral was cancelled because he did not die of cancer. His wife had even bought the burial plot!)  To learn more, please carry on reading.

WHICH DECISION? The one to go ahead with redefining marriage to include same-sexes and by a consenting religious organisation (except for specific ones). After Mr Cameron’s decision was announced last Friday many felt angry, deceived and betrayed (see Links below). This will be no small furore. The first casualty is the consultation exercise which totally ignored over 500,000 objections and 64,000 agreements – see Ministers accused of ‘sham’ consultation over gay marriage. The main headline in my Daily Telegraph of 11th December reads, Ministers ‘dishonest’ over gay weddings.

And today’s front page headlines of Gay weddings are not the answer, Cameron told (in MP’s open letter) and The minister and a warning to the Telegraph before expenses story, PLUS editorial and item on the legal challenge and op-ed comment Does he not care who he’s losing? all indicate increasing unease within Conservative  party ranks. I particularly like the ominous warning from the minister ‘for redefining marriage’ over her expenses and implementation of the Leveson Report, ie. gagging the press!! [PS. The investigation continues, as here, and may lead to an interesting outcome, maybe ‘fall’?]

Moreover, is all this going to be part of the ‘holy shaking’; ie. of everything not of God?

Friday

I’ve not taken up time keeping apace of developments, save for occasionally keeping an eye on some debates online. Eventually, I commented on Stuart James’ popular blog upon his item on the PM’s response to Anglican mainstream (see post), and we sent a letter to David Cameron. After learning on Friday about his decision I recalled my unanswered comment, which reads as follows:

“I rarely dip into this topic but would be interested if anyone could furnish answers (on a postcard) to some simple questions:

1: what did Jesus say about marriage? 2: did he define who should be married?  3: on what grounds did he make any comment? 4: what does Jesus have to say about our PM’s proposals? 5: how would the PM respond to these questions? 6: if a Christian, how will the PM respond to Jesus?”

D CameronOn this blog I’ve commented upon Mr Cameron’s support of Christianity and was therefore disappointed to learn about his decision. I tried not to be judgemental towards him or others, or to speculate upon how he’d answer my questions, especially that of accounting for his actions before Jesus Christ. But I considered him to be completely out of order. Were the PM to be given a preview of his judgement as had I, he’d realise the error of his false assumptions and become deeply convicted and repentant about his sinfulness – as indicated in my personal account of this inevitable event awaiting all disbelievers.

How, therefore, could someone who holds his own future life in jeopardy be fit to lead a Christian nation?  And, furthermore, unwittingly would thus bring the consequences of such a governmental decision upon the whole population? David Cameron has, more or less, associated himself with those who stick fingers up to the Holy God and to Jesus Christ, the one He sent to deliver us from such unrighteousness.

Saturday

Early Saturday brought a realisation that, although highly unwelcome, David Cameron’s intention may accord with holy writ – but not as one may surmise. Almost everything of what little I’ve read on this issue is personal opinion and where the Bible is mentioned it’s usually belittled, taken out of context or misunderstood, even by some confused and scripturally uninformed Christians!

Nevertheless, I awoke at peace over this highly contentious issue, as though having an insight from God’s perspective.  I recalled what Jesus said in the Gospels about sifting and the harvest of unsaved souls.

After teaching the public in parables Jesus explained their meaning to his disciples (see Matthew 13). The one about the field of wheat and tares is significant. Tares, or ‘darnel’, are identical to wheat and are indistinguishable until the grain appears. Jesus gave this explanation of that parable:

He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

On the occasion of their eating the Passover meal (‘Last Supper’) Jesus again spoke about sifting to his leading disciple, knowing that one (Judas) had already been sifted and taken by the adversary (as at Luke 22.3):

 Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.(Luke 22 vv 31-32 NIV)

John records his master’s reference to the betrayer during an intimate prayer-time that reveals Jesus’ identity and mission (contemplate John 17). In praying for the disciples  the way He spoke of Judas Iscariot strikes the reader with reverential fear of God:

While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. (John 17.12 NIV – emphasis mine)

Now, that parable means ungodliness is ripening throughout nations at the same time as many are coming to faith in Christ, and that the Church is ripening into how it should display Christ. So the harvest is ripe and will be gathered but only after the ungodly has first been removed and eradicated from within the mixture. Thus, the unwarranted and unauthorised attempts to redefine what God ordained; ie. marriage between man and woman, are leading into – if we’re not already part of – that End-time scenario.

[PS. I’d forgotten all about the prophetic word for 2012 entitled ‘A Ripening Season’ from Dr Sharon Stone, which goes into detail about the developing ‘shaking’.]

The instruction, again with metaphorical reference to wheat, about sifting indicates that God will use whomsoever He will to achieve His purpose – and it could be inimical to our own survival. He’s used many rulers and persons in authority, some of whom came to acknowledge Him, but we have no knowledge that they gained life everlasting. So what of our national rulers David Cameron, Barack Obama, et al.?

But such thoughts were merely in passing as they led into Jesus’ description of what the world would be like just before He returns. Read what the careful doctor Luke recorded of Jesus’ prophetic words, which the New King James Version prints under a sub-head, The Coming of the Kingdom:

The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. 24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:22-30)

Now Jesus didn’t refer to people having beliefs or Godly practices but were doing what so ever they desired whilst utterly ignorant of the gravity of their dire situation. Their situations were grave because, in the day’s of Noah, ‘The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time‘ (Genesis 6.5).  In the day’s of Lot ‘ the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous…’ (Genesis 18.29). There was no need for Jesus to spell it out because his disciples were familiar with the holy writings.

Who can deny this is the same today?  ‘Wickedness’…thousands murdered by Islamists just because they’re of a different religion, millions of babies murdered, children viewing and circulating pornographic images as well as committing murder, millions are sexually promiscuous, commit adultery and/or deny or ignore their obligation to their creator…etc etc. In Sodom and Gomorrah sodomy was legally permissible and practised in public and was thereby a societal ordinance, as it has become today.

I think it’s only because of the existence of millions of righteous people (ie. who believe God) around the world that His grace continues, and so we don’t yet receive the penalty we deserve for all our obnoxious behaviour. (Abraham’s pleas in Genesis 18 refer.)

BUT the truly better news is that such undesirable conditions mean Jesus’ promised return is very, very close.  As revealed in January this year,

“…I am setting the stage for that which I have foretold in My Word and it will quickly and swiftly come to pass. For the days are coming when the lawless one shall be revealed and the son of perdition shall take his stand.

“Let my people know that those who are lukewarm, those whose hearts are far from Me, even this year satan will seek to sift you – but they will not hear My voice!… (emphases mine – read full post here.)

See also, Follow-up on recent prophetic words concerning the return of Jesus.

AND the fact this Parliamentary announcement has been made during Advent is also of significance. As noted in my previous post, Advent’s principal focus is upon the Second Coming, or return of Jesus Christ to reign and rule, as well as to judge of the world. So there seems to be a connection with the PM’s decision and what Jesus said about the days of Lot.

FURTHERMORE, the arrangement for consenting (my term) religious bodies to marry same-sex people will greatly facilitate the SIFTING within churches, as considered  above. Thus, ‘churches’ that compromise and are disobedient to Jesus’ commands as in The Great Commission (Matt 28) will no doubt be pruned as unfit to become His Bride.

Sunday

In view of the preceding two day’s events described above, a third day brought more from a totally different source.  We decided to spend the evening catching up with the 5 hour Revival Reunion of leaders and evangelists from the Brownsville and Bay of the Holy Spirit revivals.

steve-hill-portraitSteve Hill, the renowned evangelist from Brownsville days, took the lead speaking upon the effects of living in or near the city of Sodom. Under a strong unction Steve taught about how the Days of Lot apply to today!   This message begins at 3hr 10m here, and in tears Steve explains.:

 Forgive me, this message has never been preached except alone with Holy Spirit…and I have cried and cried and  cried as revelation after revelation was downloaded into my spirit…by the One who wrote these words..

When Steve drew to a close, hundreds of Christians attending the Reunion had come to deep repentance and a personal re-commitment to their Lord. Thus, it was necessary to cleanse and purify the Church by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

To sum up, a scriptural appreciation of current events suggests that David Cameron’s decision on redefining marriage does line up with the Bible, BUT not how people would think!  However, as he has no mandate whatsoever from the people or his party for his actions, he has assumed personal responsibility for them with all the consequences that ewill bring – a most invidious position.

After a ‘coincidental’ walk-through of pertinent scriptures on subsequent days, it appears the Lord is indicating that the Church needs to be aware of the full implications of living in the Days of Lot and of Noah and to seek His face, as well as to intercede for our leaders and nation.

PS. Please read Steve’s account of his miraculous recovery from terminal cancer – and his very recent vision about a warning for the Church at this hour, which opens.:

This is coming to you from a man who has just passed through the valley of the shadow of death. Since my close call with eternity just a short while ago everything has become clearer. I can hear His whisper. Unabated obedience has become my mandate. That is why I’m writing this word from the Lord…(cont’d in The Spiritual Avalance)

Note: in view of its great importance in the light of debates within the Church and in the blogsphere over the recent vote in Parliament, I have ‘re-blogged’ the full article here.

A few good links:

echurch – a good introductory overview that refers to the legal implications

Cranmer – Roman Catholic Church to Cameron: “You are out of your depth”

Cranmer – Cameron not only redefining marriage, he’s constricting Conservatism

God & Politics – Gillan Scott’s first comments on Cameron’s decision with debate

God & Politics – Today is the day Government seizes control of marriage

God & Politics – A prayer for marriage

Dr Sharon Stone: Prophetic Word on Hurricane Sandy

A National Prayer Evening was held on 3rd November by Christian International Europe in Windsor, Royal Berkshire. Daytime sessions included prophetic training and several prophetical voices shared what they believe God is saying for 2013.

The first to speak on what the Lord is saying at this time was Dr Sharon Stone, who opened with this important caveat:

“I do not believe that when I bring forth a prophetic word it’s ‘the beginning’ or ‘the end’ of what The Spirit of God is saying; it’s just my part that God has given me at that time.

I also believe there are different types of prophetic gifting, and I realise that about myself. I am not called to deny the darkness or even the judgement, or the shaking, that is going on in the earth, but the type of prophet that I am is that I am called to be a voice of hope and solution in the midst of the darkness and in the midst of the shaking…it is not a denying of the one or the other…” (my emphasis)

In view of my discussion with Sharon earlier in the year about the special locality possibly being a ‘link’ between heaven and earth, I was interested to learn that she and husband Greg had just moved into Windsor.  They didn’t have phones other than a mobile until the previous day, and the TV system in the new  house needed a specialist technician to hook up and demonstrate its use. So they weren’t able to keep up with the latest world news except on the internet, and this is what Sharon shared about  ‘superstorm’ Sandy.:

“I don’t want to talk about the hurricane only hitting New York – it hit the Caribbean, it hit New Jersey, it hit New York, it went on up into Canada. There were deaths everywhere and so we don’t downsize any of that. In matter of fact, its eye hit New Jersey but the greatest amount of damage was done in New York and I think the reason people put the emphasis on that is simply because that’s the financial district, that has the Statue of Liberty, a place of identity for the nation, a place of rule in the nation. And so that’s why I believe people’s focus is upon there, even though that’s not the only place that it touched…

“I only got to see it once in a while…and one time the Lord said,

 “The hurricane Sandy is a punctuation.”

“…and so when I would see it, one time it would look like a full stop with the eye in the middle…another time with it swirling it would look like the question mark, with the dot, and when I’d see it another time it was elongated and it looked like the exclamation mark with the dot on the bottom!

“And the Lord kept saying that this hurricane and these winds are ‘a punctuation’ – not  just in the US but a punctuation in the world. Now a type of punctuation means that it draws the line, and it brings a separation and there is an alteration after that, and this is what the Lord said; He says,

“These are re-arranging winds and they’re changing the course of nations.”

“…This is a “re-arranging winds and a changing of the course of nations” and the Lord spoke this, and forgive me as I’m going to read some of this because I want to get the words right. The Lord said:

“The Old World’s time has cycled around again to become a New World (we’re part of that Old World, here in Europe) to rewrite history, no longer a Constantine conversion that advances religion without Christ. Hidden winds of change have been developing on the inside of My people and they are now blowing change into the world. The western New World, particularly the USA, will enter accelerated crisis-shaking to hasten their journey to learn that I am their true resource and I am their defender. The USA has been a champion of freedom for much of the oppressed world, but you cannot represent freedom without representing Me, Jesus, Who is the provider and Who can bring sustainable protection to the nation.

“The Lord says,

“Parts of these winds that are blowing, part of these winds that are bringing a re-arranging, are blowing away what has confused nations of their identity.

“We’re not the only nation that has been in an identity crisis. I believe that many of our nations have had skewed identity and the Lord is saying this; He says,

“I will bring you out of what you have designed by your own thinking and by your own hands – listen to that! – that I may redesign it by My thoughts and My plans.”

FULL TEXT of this session now available > click to read.

[Transcribed and published with permission of CI Europe; also see Copyright page.]

Transcript of prophetical song for Britain and Europe

In The Bridegroom Cometh video clip Julie Meyer begins to sing, to the accompaniment of a crescendo of cheering from the congregation:

“Even today…I can see the Bridegroom Jesus –

And He’s got His eyes on Europe – He’s got His eyes on Europe, Europe, Europe.

“Even this morning – I can see the Bridegroom – dancing, dancing –

He’s making His plans, He’s making His plans, He’s making His plans –

His eyes are on Europe – His eyes are on Europe –

He’s going to dance all over the land –

He’s going to set the captives free – He’s going to set the captives free – He’s going to set the captives free…free.

“And it’s going to start in Britain –

The Lord says, “Keep your eyes on Britain – 

Keep your eyes on Britain – Britain – Britain – Britain” .

There’s something greater – there’s something greater coming to Great Britain,

There’s something greater…than John Wesley – there’s something greater –

God, God, God’s the bridegroom – He’s going to dance all over the land –

He’s going to start in Britain –  and that’s where John Wesley started –

Oh, you’re part of the great, great storyline – Britain –

And it’s not over – it’s getting bigger – it’s bigger, it’s bigger, it’s bigger.”

“You’re NOT left out Europe – you’re not left out Europe –

I’ll make you a sign – and a wonder – a wonder – and a sign

For the nations are Mine – for Europe is Mine – for the nations are Mine – are Mine –

But keep your eyes on Britain – keep your eyes on Britain –

It’s going to start…in Britain – like a wildfire! –

like a wildfire! – like a wildfire! – like a wildfire! –

It’s unstoppable! – it’s unstoppable! –

because I’m God – and I choose you!”

Hallelujah.”

A short piccolo solo follows and we return to Julie, “We just declare that over you this morning, Britain and Europe, we prophesy…” and vocalists also pick up the refrain:

“BEHOLD! The Bridegroom COMETH”

We prophesy over you Europe, we prophesy:

“Behold – The Bridegroom cometh!”

We prophesy over Europe:

“Behold – The Bridegroom cometh!

I’m arising – I’m arising – I’m arising!

Behold – The Bridegroom cometh!”

It’s not just a song – it’s a prophecy – it’s going out, it’s going out this morning:

“Behold – The Bridegroom cometh!

Britain, I’m coming!

Europe, I’m coming!

Behold – The Bridegroom cometh!…” 

Dear reader, you too may join in here…

“The Bridegroom cometh…”

The following video of an highly encouraging prophetic song by Julie Meyer was played at the close of this afternoon’s Life Group in our lounge.  Nina was chatting to someone at the other side of the room and didn’t realise that the leader and I were showing it on the TV, nevertheless, she was struck by a power-surge from the Holy Spirit!

Be mightily blessed as you listen and replay:

On his blog Decree, Andy introduces Julie and the song as follows:

Prophecy over Great Britain and Europe

Julie Meyer is a worship leader and songwriter at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.

“She is a prophetic singer who carries the glory and the presence of God as an abandoned worshipper. Her passion is His presence as she trumpets the message of the Bridegroom preparing His Bride!

“Knowing her King and Bridegroom through the lens of the scripture and prophetic experiences has led her to write many spontaneous choruses and worship songs. Her worship leading and prophetic songs have inspired many to lean into their Beloved.

“During Global Awakening’s the Voice of the Apostles conference this weekend in Lancaster, PA, Julie delivered this prophetic word over Europe…(which) can be summarised as:

“The Bridegroom has his eyes on Europe … He’s going to set the captives free and it’s going to start in Britain… We are part of the great, great storyline… it’s going to start like an unstoppable wildfire!” <emphasis mine.RB>

[Click to read transcript by RB]

Confirmation of 2008 Bobby Conner Prophecy

Updated 25 October: On the preceding weekend, 13 October, Johnny Enlow brought a word to Christian International Europe’s Annual Conference in Windsor that harmonised well with Julie’s song. Furthermore, what she released ties in not only with earlier posts on this subject [Get Ready, its Follow up, and my comments upon Tony P’s Watch] but also with a prophetic word for the UK through Bobby Conner given in Lakeland, Florida on 13 May 2008, ie. four years ago:

I’m telling you, there’s going to be a holy, unstoppable fire – a firestorm is going to come to the UK – God says He’s going to send a firestorm to the UK. It won’t be stopped. It won’t be stopped. It’s going to rage, rage, rage!! God’s going to be bringing a firestorm! This is a night we need to be praying for the UK because God said, “I’m going to start a firestorm!”.

I’m tired of smoke. I want to see a fire – don’t you? And the Lord’s going to do it…Malachi 3:1 – the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to His temple. He’ll come like a refiner’s fire, a fuller’s soap. He’s going to come…

…I’m so excited…but I’m so tired of people not being excited about this. There’s an awesome, an awesome anointing here…God says, “I will pour water on those who are thirsty, floods upon dry ground”… and when we position ourselves God will pour out His Spirit…

…I hope none of us think, “I’ve seen that, been there, done that”. It’s wrong…to be blasé for this is a new, wonderful thing that God is doing – “See, I am doing a new thing”.

AMEN, and again Amen.

The amazing beginnings to…

In the midst of a sequential graphical calendar of major football and rugby events on Wembley Stadium website appears this unusual page devoted to the National Day of Prayer and Worship. It describes the amazing beginnings of this event as follows.:

Several years ago, Jonathan Oloyede, a convert from Islam, had several vivid visions of renewal, revival and transformation coming to the UK. These included graphic pictures of Wembley Stadium filled to capacity with worshipping and praying Christians (emphases mine, RB).

The inspiration which sparked him into action was a vision of people all over the four Nations praying the Lord’s Prayer at the same time; in pubs, churches, schools, offices, homes and on the streets. As the Christians prayed in one accord, Light and Healing spread across the British Isles.

His vision will be realised on September 29th with The National Day of Prayer & Worship, a once in a generation gathering at Wembley Stadium that will unite the church across class, colour, creed and culture.

The website concludes by quoting Jonathan,

Wembley 2012 will be an historic opportunity for the church as thousands across the British Isles converge in unity and prayer. We invite Christians, churches and delegates from every village, town and city to come for an unforgettable occasion.

Thank you to Wembley Stadium for being so helpful and supportive of Jonathan’s work, and to you for that splendid mission Jonathan. Amen to your prayers and may the Lord powerfully bless and work through the marvellous legacy of this project > What Next?

[My personal impressions are on previous, updated post.]

National Day of Prayer & Worship

A night very wet with wild winds belies the morn’s destiny to be the  third consecutive Saturday of warm bright sunshine!  The morning view atop Worldham Hill t’wards far hills of Surrey hints at autumnally tinged trees. (‘Neath the top of far ridge a long hole unblocks a once heaving road over its crest, linking London with ancient, naval Portsmouth.)

A fortnight ago today was my birthday ‘on the town’ in Trafalgar Square, where we went to practise healing on the streets.  And a week ago today we were at Wembley basking under its open-roofed stadium – reminded me of an ‘open heaven’. Arriving as the gates opened at half-past midday, we found our seats only nineteen rows from the lush-green turf and directly across the pitch from the musicians’ stage.

Within minutes the various bands, choirs and well-known worship leaders greeted us with worship songs and a tremendously uplifting day commenced. As may be seen from the programme below, it focussed upon various national and international needs and went by far too quickly.  Some time was spent in repentance in accordance with the out- come of the ‘Listening Hour’ in Parliament on 12th June (click for brief summary).

Click to read this brief report how Wembley was submerged with waves of prayer and praise and flick through this photo gallery to get a glimpse of what was going on. Also,  read about the amazing beginnings to this event in my next post.

Worship was woven so well between all the prayer strands and took us all soaring as we approached the close. The rousing chorus to There’s a Battle Raging Over This Land, sung by Godfrey Birtill, left most folk humming all the way home – so listen/join in to get a feel for the day through this song.:

“Just one touch from the King…changes everything!”

Our deep gratitude goes to Fleet Baptist Church and their secretary’s skills in organising a couple of coaches packed full with those wanting to attend this stirring event.

THEN, next day at church we found the following prophecy from 2010 about Wembley had been submitted and printed onto the new schedule for October: a God-incidence?

AMEN to all the above!

A logical outcome to this government’s silliness?

Britain’s unique flag, known as the Union Jack, could be radically changed if the case pompously argued by Her Majesty’s government in Strasbourg (see para 1 here) is taken to its ultimate conclusion. See letter highlit below to the Telegraph’s editor from fellow resident of Hampshire, George Langton.  But, in fact, the flag’s whole design would vanish because it consists of not one but  three crosses of patron saints of England (St George, red cross on white), Scotland (St Andrew, white diagonal cross on blue) and Northern Ireland (St Patrick. red diagonal cross on white).

In fact, when these national flags are combined the whole becomes a radiant cross.  Is there no more fitting emblem of our very ancient Christian heritage?  It’s a heritage few  secularists prefer to ignore or consign to historical oblivion, as the first letter attests!

And what would thousands have waved in the Olympic Stadium and for London 2012? Or, what would hundreds of our glorious Olympic and Paralympics medallists have worn after their splendid wins? (See BBC Sport and news photo galleries here and here.)

My favorite contribution is that of the civil servant Richard Ford. He satirises the folly of inverse standards that have become increasingly evident today. Personal probity is the hallmark of the British civil service, and used to be rigorously maintained.

If the cross is to be removed from public life then our flag would become the white flag of surrender!  NOT on my watch!!

Related posts:

The biased BBC doesn’t know about Jerusalem

Further to my previous about the USA’s non-recognition of Jerusalem I offer a further point published in Bible Prophecy blog. Therein, Chad Groening reports upon the BBC’s ignorance of Israel as displayed in its Olympics website, as herein.

Furthermore, Britain’s own solidly sensible political blogger ‘Cranmer’ informs readers that:

His Grace has been following this story closely for the past week: The Commentator blog drew attention to the fact that the BBC’s online Olympic coverage was manifestly anti-Israel and pro-Palestine: every participating nation had its capital city listed, bar the state of Israel, which was left blank. Yet the non-state of Palestine had its capital listed as ‘East Jerusalem’. Despite Israel’s seat of government – the Knesset – being in Jerusalem, and despite a plethora of foreign embassies being located in Tel Aviv, the BBC opted to identify neither as Israel’s capital city. And yet, despite the Palestinian seat of government being in Ramallah, and despite Jerusalem not being divided, the BBC opted to carve the East away and hand it, lock, stock and barrel (Temple Mount, Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre) to the self-proclaimed Palestinian Authority.
This was a blatant bias and factual inaccuracy…Yet the BBC summarily dismissed what Israel says of and claims for Jerusalem, while validating and authenticating what Palestine says and claims of the city.

As ever, Cranmer is facetious in his castigation of the outright bias in the BBC:

The changes to the BBC’s website are inadequate: they not only constitute an overt attempt to deny and de-legitimise Israel’s capital; they amount to a breach of the BBC’s own Charter which requires impartiality and factual accuracy (emphasis mine).

His single-page ripost, BBC Slams Pro-Israel Jewish Lobby and attendant discussion, is well-worth taking time to read.

Enjoy and be well informed.

Healing in Parliament

In view of developments in Christian activity in Parliament (eg. see Listening to Jesus in the Palace of Westminster), my weekend was blessed upon receipt of news from Paul Skelton of a presentation in Parliament upon the work of Healing On The Streets. He mentions the intriguing fact that Prime Minister’s Question Time had just taken place – thank you Paul for linking to my post for this. (See also reblog of Gillan Scott’s in-depth analysis.)

(Regular readers may recall my recent report of Christen Forster’s comment upon the growth of HOTS being faster than that of the Alpha course – see latest announcement.)

HOTS’ full update is as follows:

HOTS becomes ‘HIP’ – Healings inside Parliament

“Following on from the many opportunities that have opened up as a result of the recent promotion of Hots Bath by the ASA, this week both our Chair (Rev Steve Hughes) and myself had an incredible chance to both give a presentation about the work in Bath and also to release healing within the four walls of Parliament itself.

This God-given invitation had come via Timothy Webb on behalf of Prayer for Parlia-ment and is key in building relationships with Christian MPs and equipping the body at large in an informed way, to help us pray for our leaders and be a voice in our land.

“It is fascinating to me to see how Jesus can take any situation which at first glance may look daunting and to see what He brings out of it.

“So, in a packed parliamentary committee room of around 80 people which included a couple of MPs, we shared on God’s Goodness and told stories of the Healings that we are seeing in our City and beyond, as well as Father’s desire to encounter those on the streets of our nation.

I had written out a few notes that I thought I would use, but in true Luke 12 style, I can now say that He clearly gave the words as He promised He would in these situations, as well as the ability to make prophetic declarations about revival for our Nation and for us to release Healing into the atmosphere.

“As we did so, there were 2 reports immediate (sic) of backs which had been healed when we took Authority and a lady testified to something happening in her knee.

“Due to the shortness of time, it was hard to get feedback to the fullness of what the Holy Spirit was doing in that moment, but it was evident to all in the room that God had just healed people and was continuing to do so.

We were also encouraged that only just 2 hours earlier, when David Cameron was questioned in PM Question Time about the case of the lady sacked because she had worn a cross to work, he had announced – “then we will change the law and make clear that people can wear religious symbols at work.”

“As Beni Jenson would say “Shift happens”. [Intercessor i/c Bethel Prayer House.]

Releasing Healing to the Nations
“This has been a busy year for us internationally with already 3 mission trips undertaken:- one to Africa (by invitation of David and Faith Dalley), India and Slovakia,  as well as a brief explosion of healing while on holiday in Spain recently in the local church there.
We are also training in Switzerland and in Venezuela (by invitation of  In-courage), and are in the process of lining up potential trips to Turkey and Amsterdam.
“It has always been our policy not to fundraise but instead to let Father bring the resources to fulfil what He has called us to. If you feel you would like to be part of this resourcing and become a Benefactor of Hots Bath, please do contact us or simply clickhere.”

Cameron says “people can wear religious emblems at work”, so what’s bugging me?

In this post, my friend Gillan Scott proffers a detailed, well-researched analysis of the issues and governmental confusion. It is well worth reading to gain a fuller consideration of the matter to which I recently drew readers’ attention (here).

A spiritual slant on the Olympic torch’s route

Further to my earlier posting a very visual log of the Praise Bus’ journey is available on Facebook.  Especial appreciation goes to the exceptional skills of the drivers (see June 17 video on Fbook), whom we met in May in Kingsbridge, Devon (photo).

I was intrigued to learn from a fellow reader of an encouraging encounter with some Welsh Christians during his hike from Newport, Wales to the Lizard in Cornwall . This group been in contact with people involved in new age etc and had been told “such groups were aware something was going on in the spiritual realm”!!

Now if we overlook the media exuberance over what is in essence a pagan festivity and consider that this is being ‘converted’ by being blessed by daily prayers to the Living Lord, then we may appreciate what He could be doing in all this to change the nation’s hearts.

When seen on a map, the torch relay’s route across the UK seems quite haphazard but it actually resembles a vivid flash of forked lightning.  Now if one bears in mind the two-part vision Joan Darnall received, the latter part speaks of bolts of lightning hitting the scattered holy fires (like Queen’s Jubilee beacons??) across Britain.

This week I came across a word from the Lord received last August and which refers to such a combined possibility – The world will see a land where I Am glorified. You may, therefore, wish to read and weigh this and then read and watch the video posting for 7 July on the Praise Bus. (NB. need to open up ‘See more recent stories’ on Facebook’s timeline.)  Allow the music and imagery to set the scene for considering both words!

We’ll meet up with the bus team in Petersfield first thing Monday morning as the relay zigzags towards Guildford.

The Lord bless you and keep you.

Interesting remarks by the PM – “an absolutely vital freedom”

PostScript Friday 20 June: see also reblog of Gillan Scott’s view and commendable interviews by Paul Burgin with the Rt Hon Gary Streeter MP about the group Christians in Parliament (of which he is chairman) and with Danny Webster, Parliamentary Officer with the Evangelical Alliance, mainly about the role of Christians in the media.

In today’s Telegraph Rosa Prince writes that during Prime Minister’s Question Time, David Davis MP asked about the case of Nadia Eweida. She is appealing to the European Court of Human Rights after  having been barred by her employer from wearing a crucifix whilst working at Heathrow Airport.

Mr Davis described British Airways refusal to allow Miss Eweida to wear her cross as a “disgraceful piece of political correctness”.  He asked the PM why the Government was opposing her appeal to complain that there are no protections under UK law for workers who wore religious symbols.

The Telegraph quotes Mr Cameron’s response: Continue reading

What’s up with the weather?

Taken in case of need, this holiday photo is now serving its purpose – to remind me what wall-to-wall, cloud-less sky is like!  And it’s not hard, but not easy, to recall what lies beneath this azure zenith!  But 8.30am today I walked in warm sunshine, yet a bank of cloud soon rolled over like a gray blanket – but at least it’s not raining and occasionally getting a bit brighter as cloud thins now and then.

Regarded as the wettest April to June (see report and video) since full detailed records for temperatures and rainfall across the UK began in 1910 – they’re forecasting over a month’s rain in 24hrs!  (In the night we heard it like never ever before – it fell so heavily and quickly it sounded like one long roar!)  Even now in July it’s unwise to stow away one’s winter wear!  There have been ‘exceptional’ torrential rains, stormforce winds, at least one small tornado and widespread flooding, sadly with loss of life – all as was anticipated in my dream reported in What’s prophetical about weather? )

But there’s a blessing, nationally and personally – although much earlier than usual, our holiday took place during a fine fortnight with cool winds, and only one wet day. Two winters of abnormally low rainfall left reservoirs and underground aquifers very dry but they’ve been replenished. Also, plans to ban the use hose-pipes have been scrapped. So thank you Lord – let the river of Your Holy Spirit flow…

Over the ‘pond’

On this side of the Atlantic we’ve got away with things very lightly!  Over in the States it’s been a very bad month indeed, as I’ve noted from a couple of blogs. My older cousin south of Tucson, Arizona, is hoping for the ‘monsoon’ as it’s hot and dry (temperatures over 100 degrees F daily) with only a trace of rain this year. The extreme heat then headed eastwards, to affect 25 states and 45 million people, for example:

Now, it’s an interesting and pertinent fact that President Obama had declared June as being devoted to ‘gay pride’, as well as having declared shortly beforehand his personal interest in changing the laws to allow ‘marriage’ for such folk. Many black pastors have challenged and registered strong objections to his actions.

Now, it’s been noted that Obama signed off his official declaration as follows,

“IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Indepen-dence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.” (emphasis added)

Now, is it not an extraordinarily contrary thing to mix this matter with a reference to the life of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour?  Can we not sense where His heart is in this matter and what His response is?  This president has surely put himself in an invidious position and I would not like to be in his shoes.  After all, isn’t it written that Sodom and Gomorrah suffered from intense fire? (Genesis 19:23)  Jesus indicated that those cities  would, however, have repented had they witnessed His mighty works. Furthermore, His statement implies that there is hope for all who do not reject Him (Matthew 11).

Could this be why the United States has been suffering such stupendously atrocious storms, and continues to reap the whirlwind of darker days? (For fuller discussion see  Dr John MrTernan’s Insights blog with journal of events: Defend & Proclaim the Faith.)

I criticised the content of President Obama’s speech in Cairo Speech and expressed reservations about the nature of his faith. After recent ‘clarifications’ on that issue and  his address during the National Prayer Breakfast, I have reviewed my reservations – especially the claim that he may be ‘born again’.  However, I’ve yet to be convinced.

The fact remains, that whomsoever President Obama is acountable to as his spiritual mentor or pastor seems to have ignored Jesus’ instruction to His Apostles, and hence to all those in spiritual authority, about how to make disciples of believers:

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  19 Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

This is New King James text, but New International Version renders verse 20 as,

 “…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded…”

So just what did Jesus command?

=========================

Back to the blue sky…aaahhh.  And what was beneath it?  A favourite beach….

 

Listening to Jesus in the Palace of Westminster

I thank Christen Forster for this post on his Blog about the initial outcome of the special listening-prayer meeting, to which my previous post referred:

“On June 12th 2012 more than eighty Christian leaders from throughout the UK gathered in St Mary’s Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster alongside Parliamentarians for an hour of listening to God in silence. Anglicans, Baptists, Catholics and Christian leaders from a wide cross-section of ministries were present. Two hours of feedback where then held in Committee Room 16 and written submissions made to the organisers. [For more details click here.]

“Below is the initial summary issued by the Organising group, a coalition of ministries under the banner “Together for the Nation” chaired by Maranatha Prayer Community.  A full transcript will be available on request. [See Christen’s blog for more information, as well as my notes below.]

“Many of those who attended have said it was a very special time for them. Apparently this is the first time a group has gathered in Parliament just to listen to God with no other agenda. The summary contains a very sobering and challenging message. We are told to weigh prophecy, because while we see in part and prophesy in part, the seed of God’s “now” word are too valuable to miss.

“Don’t treat prophecy lightly, test it all; hold on to what is good and hold back from what seems bad.”  1 Thessalonians 5:20-22

“So, please read the summary below and where it seems good let it shape and inform your praying and ignore what doesn’t seem right to you.

“It is probably worth observing that like most prophecies to whole nations, it is quite broad – after all, it needs to frame the prayers of a million and more potential hearers and intercessors. So look for your own guidance within the framework it sets out.
If you accept this message, it demands an urgent response involving practical preparation and action. As one attendee wrote: “God is looking for people of skilful hands and integrity of heart who will listen to Him”.

These five themes and words repeated again and again in the verbal feedback session. Other more specific guidance and thoughts can be found in the full transcript.
  • God’s appointed time to judge the nations of the world is very nearly upon us. Our nation and its church have turned away from God and His standards and we are beginning to see and feel the resulting judgement.
  • A remnant of Britain’s covenant past, its Christian heritage and the good fruit of our worldwide missionary zeal, remains. We should embrace our spiritual sons and daughters from the nations who have returned to help us. It is possible that God may yet act out of mercy to avert the very worst of the judgement that we have brought upon ourselves. The Church is called to be the voice of hope and compassion.
  • The shaking of every part of man’s world-wide economic, social, political and religious systems has begun. It will be a time of great humbling, purification and refining in every aspect of society. Only what is built on the foundations that God requires will be permitted to remain – righteousness, truth and justice.
  • When the judgement has run its course, God has promised to restore us. This restoration must follow God’s revealed strategies and guidelines and not be led astray again by Man’s initiatives and good ideas.
  • Because of His great love for this nation and all of its people, God’s heart is breaking and He longs for us to respond to Him, as individuals, as a church, and as a nation. The time to respond is now.

“A theme only hinted at in the list above (see point 4) that struck a particular resonance with me was the call to the church, for reformers and builders to be released and to step up.  We need to prepare for what is coming down, but Jesus is a builder, he clears the way not for destruction’s sake but to make space for the new.”

Notes:

My previous post referred to the forum at which Christen presented a detailed summary of the meeting. If you’d like to listen to those sessions their recordings are available free of charge here.  Christen stressed the importance of recalling and honouring our very ancient Christian foundations, which I’d already had occasion to do in my earlier post Landmark Parliamentary Inquiry and provided a link to a fascinating historical item.

Christen also reported that the group had recognised that institutions and people had broken past covenants with the Lord (presumably not just our reneging against the one with Israel) – “A tree doesn’t stand without good roots and severe storms are coming!”

Since 1993 the Marantha Community has been committed to speaking out to challenge the steady and deliberate removal of Christian values from our society. The Community  believes that if the people of God speak with one voice, the voice of God will be heard in the land.  Over recent years they have researched prophetic words given to the wider Church and found that common themes emerged, from which collated messages have been compiled – click for their Prophecy page and One Voice Messages.

[Houses of Parliament by Vichaya Kiatying-Angulsee, courtesy FreeDigitalPhotos.net]

Paws-4-thought: a special town in the Thames Valley?

Yet again – right place, right time.  Some may think it ‘spooky’ – but please, it’s definitely not some sort of boast.  Maybe, it’s just that I’m alert to these kind of things, or perhaps it’s a  gift of discernment.  Whatever it is, it’s far too frequent to be my imagination, especially as actual physical events are involved.  My last few postings considered a strange series of serendipity which ended up being validated by yet another ‘coincidence’!  So, would you bear with me once again?

Last Saturday I attended a day’s teaching led by Christen Forster, senior leader of River Church in Maidenhead, at The Emmanuel Centre, Marsham  Street, Westminster.  He spoke about authority, power and control in the Church and in the world.

I was particularly interested to learn the outcome of a recent gathering of about 90 senior leaders from church, commerce, culture and politics who met in St Mary’s Undercroft directly beneath the House of Commons. They’d listened to Jesus in silence for an hour and then fedback what they felt He was saying to the nation.

As Christen reports in his blog:

This was a historic event and at the same time a single step in a flow of developments putting the Word and Presence of God back into the Foundation of the United Kingdom. On the floor in the middle of the corridor that divides the House of Commons from the House of Lords there is a Latin inscription. In translation it read…

“Lest the Lord builds the house, those who labour do so in vain…”

Words that remind us that despite the Godless direction of so much policy conceived and enacted at Westminster today, the roots of authority in the UK are in the word and presence of God.

(click on Listening to Jesus in the Palace of Westminster.)

He said that the listening-prayer time under Parliament was unique and it had started and closed with the ringing of a bell – where’ve we heard about that before? (here and here).  Yet even more remarkable was the consistency of the spirit and themes. There was weight and authority in what God is saying yet, being nationally-relevant, it is quite broad. Even so, some points could be applied to us as individuals.

Of the many points I was impressed with the recognition that the nation is reaping the consequences of our moral collapse.  Also, divisions and death in the nation have reflected those between/within the body of Christ. The church must, therefore, be changed, improved and rebuilt and not hold back in proclaiming the Gospel. As a nation we should recall and build upon the former solid foundations of Christianity.  The whole report will verified, signed and published in due course. (Initial overview now available here.)

Next week, there will be a follow-up evening of prophetic prayer for Parliament and government at The Emmanuel Centre (see Kingdom Come).

NOW, I was surprised that Christen briefly referred to two other matters for they are relevant to this blog’s recent posts.:

  1. Healing On The Streets is taking off faster than did the Alpha course!
  2. “Windsor and Westminster” are important in what the Lord is doing!
  3. Jesus is moving evangelists into focussing upon proclaiming the Cross.

[This last from my notes was reserved but is added for cross-referencing here! – 25/7.]

Where did we last encounter a Godly reference to Windsor? – the previous post.  And the next day at a church we’d been invited to, this royal town on the river Thames  cropped up in the pastor’s conversation about the vision for starting that church! So, serendipity strikes yet again!!  Therefore, it really must be of God.

But there’s much more. Here’s what I talked about with Dr Sharon Stone during a conference in February:

After talking about her class in Windsor an image of its 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, courtesy CopyrightFreePhotos

Combine all that with this unique photo Alan May took (original link removed as demand crashed website but see copy here) during Garter Day on Monday 13 June 2011 at the Castle..:

WOW, WOW, WOW !!

Prophecies and visions for Great Britain

A new header Prophecies & Visions on this blog covers a brief introduction to Biblical prophecy. It also explains the difference between the office of prophet and the gifting of prophecy. For those interested in how the prophetic may apply to current national and international affairs, links are given to a number of fulfilled reports and others ‘pending’.

First listed is Smith Wigglesworth’s prophecy concerning revival in Britain. Do you know that its two preparatory aspects have already happened?  Or do you know of his prayer partner’s surprise fifty years later upon seeing the same vision?  Or, are you aware of: Continue reading

If in you’re London this Good Friday afternoon…

…then perhaps you could go to Trafalgar Square by midday for a couple of open performances which have our highest personal recommendation: The Passion of Jesus.  We’ve booked for a third trip to ‘partake’ in this modern rendition of The Life of Christ, as well as an amazing Nativity, in open fields on the North Downs, south of Guildford. There, the actors mingle among the audience and it seems as though we travel back in time.  It’s as though one’s there alongside Jesus and the disciples, watching and listening to all they say and do.

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