Tag Archives: #Government

Governmental and Parliamentary matters

Two brief recommended readings

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1. United Kingdom’s decrease of values

A few posts ago I referred to a careful critique of an item on the Conservative Party and Israel by the Telegraph’s chief political editor Peter Oborne. He has now done a further analysis of this governing party’s loss of its core values and which His Grace Cranmer rates as, “one of the most perceptive analyses of the contemporary Conservative Party in a very long time”.  You may therefore like to read this review on Cranmer’s blog. (The cartoon refers to Her Majesty’s attendance at a Cabinet Meeting as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.)

2. God’s Kingdom increase in China

If you’ve not yet read the very well written article to which the previous post linked then I would urge you to do so now.  The underground church’s strategy for the Islamic bloc of nations and the Jews is most inspirational in view of the vision that blessed me in 1992 (as here).  Also, the fact these marvellous things started after a Holy Spirit visitation in 1988, years before coming to Toronto and then to Brownsville was new to me.

In addition, this exceptional report reminded me of the extensive footage from China shown in The Finger of God dvd, as well as the true stories of Brother Yun and of the tremendous visions bestowed upon non-Christian orphans and street urchins in Yuman province.  These may be read in The Heavenly Man and in Visions beyond the Veil, the details of which may be read below.:

BroYun reverseBroYun coverVisions_Veil coverVisions_Veil reverse

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.The Lord bless you as you read…

Weekend catch-up: UK events

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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?

Cameron’s ‘gay weddings’ minister under investigation

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DON’T ROCK THE BOAT – THERE’S A WHOLE LOT OF SHAKIN’ GOIN’ ON..!

FORGET MIXED METAPHORS – BLENDING BLOGS IS THE NEW THING!

And maybe it’s a new mode of prophetic gifting? 🙂

Perhaps you noticed my last two postings took a similar tack on the PM’s decision and the ministerial announcement in Parliament about same-sex weddings?

Buried in the 3rd para of the first blog was a reference to the Telegraph’s investigation into that same minister, Maria Miller. My remark was updated earlier today with [PS. The investigation continues, as here, and may lead to an interesting outcome, maybe ‘fall’?]

Also, I modified the existing comment to read, Moreover, is all this going to be part of the ‘holy shaking’; ie. of everything not of God?

NOW, upon visiting the local store I saw this morning’s edition refers to The Telegraph being warned off the investigation by No.10 yesterday – rather Machiavellian, is it not?

JUST NOW I find online latest Maria Miller under investigation over £90,000 expenses  and another article with video David Cameron: Maria Miller has my full backing. On how many occasions have we heard the very same??  The plot thickens…

Maybe my comment should now read ‘THERE’S A HOLY LOT OF SHAKIN’ GOIN’ ON? especially as the PM’s communications chief at 10 Downing Street told the Telegraph – Don’t rock the boat!

Perhaps it was unwittingly right of me to write DON’T MISS THE BOAT! about the other same-sex wedding minister (Lynne Featherstone) in my last post?

Well, we’ll see what happens next. What do you, my reader, think?

Don’t miss the boat!

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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?

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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

Does B.B.C. = Bigoted Broadcasting Corporation?

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Back in August I asked Is the BBC becoming a ‘Badly Biased Corporation? regarding Christianity in the Olympics. This was a week after having observed The biased BBC doesn’t know about Jerusalem; that is, its reporting and editorial staff are plainly ‘pig ignorant’ of the basic facts on that location’s especial history and status. Next, a few  days later events confirmed my remarks and I couldn’t escape concluding.:

“Thus, it’s clearly evident the Badly Biased Corporation does display double standards.”

A month later fellow blogger Gillan Scott wrote Don’t believe everything you read (even if it’s by the BBC) and noted:

“In order to simplify the narrative of a news story or to present it from a certain angle our broadcasters and newspapers will not always give viewers or readers information about the bigger picture.  Most of us who follow the news know this happens, especially in the newspapers, but the problem is we don’t know what we’re not being told and that can lead to inaccurate beliefs and perceptions being reinforced even if we’re aware of biased reporting.

“Even the BBC, supposedly balanced in its coverage of the news, can’t always be trusted…” [emphasis mine]

Gillan then proceeds to give three examples of unhappy experiences of contact with the BBC all in the space of one article and remarks, “Not what you’d hope for”.

Once renowned and envied worldwide for practising the highest standards in journalism the BBC is now verging on bigotry. This is a most regrettable situation and directors are now taking the consequences for allowing a long decline in falling ethical standards. So a fortnight ago Gillan reblogged a commentary by Christen Forster under the heading The BBC and the dangers of rejecting your Christian roots – regular readers may recall my earlier references to Christen, whose updated comments are found on his original post, British Institutions and the Promises of God << NB: Highly recommended reading.

Last week The Commentator observed Shocking BBC bias as EU talks get under way, remarking it would have been logical for the PM’s aides to prepare by looking at what’s appearing in the press [again, emphases are mine]. :

Across the traditional media they (PM’s aides) would have found a plurality of views reflecting the broad concerns that British people routinely express when the question of EU membership takes centre stage.

Not if they’d consulted the BBC.

If you open up the BBC website you’ll find a prominent article entitled: “Viewpoints: How experts see UK role in EU“. It all sounds very promising; just the sort of thing a political advisor would be looking for….

It’s not funny. It violates every rule of journalistic objectivity in the book. And it’s an insult to British licence fee payers who have a right to expect an even handed approach to all issues, but especially one so central to the UK’s vital national interests.

The Commentator concludes:

And there we have it. Not a single analyst or representative offering the view that Britain might do well either out of the EU altogether or with a radically reformed relationship.

We think that this is unacceptable.

A bigoted broadcasting corporation?

The Oxford Dictionary describes ‘bigoted’ as an adjective and gives this definition:

  • having or revealing an obstinate belief in the superiority of one’s own opinions and a prejudiced intolerance of the opinions of others: a bigoted group of reactionaries a bigoted article.

The Merriam-Webster has ‘bigoted’ as the adjective of the noun ‘bigot’, which means:

  • a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially: one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance.

To my mind it certainly appears that the BBC is verging upon, if not, exhibiting bigotry. I will show briefly in the next post how this makes its Middle-East reporting unreliable.

Has the women bishops vote triggered a bigger crisis in the CoE?

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Gillan Scott could have written this helpful post especially for those who, like myself, wish to be aware of developments within the CoE but who haven’t been able to do so. He is to be commended for having dug into reviews and and published an informative overview. More importantly, in answering his own question Gillan’s sound logic gives due regard to the perilous impact of likely legislative issues and, more appropriately, he closes to suggest major changes may be on the way – which wouldn’t be surprising in view of several prophecies for this year and the near future! [Details > Cooper, Morris, Meyer, Stone in Jan & Nov.] So I agree – Church of England: “Wake up and watch out!”

Britain has left the EU in all but name…

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Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor for The Telegraph, writes today under that headline as follows:

To all intents and purposes, the UK is already out. We stayed still. Europe galloped away without us.

No doubt we can find some elegant formula to paper over the split. As my friend Daniel Hannan puts it, we could devise a Swiss arrangement while pretending that we are still EU members. No point frightening the horses.

For those readers who missed it, the UK is preparing to pull out of almost all areas of “Justice and Home Affairs”, the so-called Pillar III of EU jurisdiction. (Pillar I is the single market, and Pillar II is foreign affairs)

This is revolutionary. We are withdrawing from 130 directives, covering everything from the European Arrest Warrant, the European Public Prosecutor, to the European justice department… <emphasis mine>

As ever, this solid journalist logically yet succinctly makes his case; read here to gain its full impact. It brings some foreboding:

Meanwhile, the EU’s onward march to a banking union, a fiscal compact, and variants of fiscal union have simply left us behind. To whom – by the way – will the new banking union be accountable? To national parlia-ments and courts? Obviously not. It will “answer” to MEPs and the ECJ.

A whole superstate structure is coming into being. It cannot be democratic because there is no European political nation or shared political language, and all attempts to mimic the vibrant democracies of the ancient states have failed. The European Parliament has its charms but it is not a body that can hold a powerful executive to account.

Eurosceptics warned from the outset that EMU was unworkable as constructed. Monetary union would engender crises that forced ever more extreme solutions to keep the show on the road, acting as a powerful catalyst for full political union. They have been entirely vindicated. This is exactly what has happened.

Yet there is welcome relief to come for us in the UK because, in Ambrose’s opinion:

It is now clear that Britain’s decision to stay out of the euro at Maastricht was a de facto decision to leave the EU as well, as Britain’s political leaders feared even then. It has a taken two decades but we can almost all see now that a free and self-governing Britain can no longer be part of the Project.

This is the backdrop to William Hague’s speech this morning, his ‘cri de coeur’, his warning that anger over EU encroachment has reached boiling point. “A great machine that sucks up decision-making from national parliaments to the European level until everything is decided by the EU. [Click for report on Foreign Secretary’s speech in Berlin.] That needs to change. If we cannot show that decision-making can flow back to national parliaments then the system will become democratically unsustainable.”

Obviously, nothing is about to flow back. The EU is going headlong in the opposite direction. What Mr Hague is really doing is preparing the ground for withdrawal.

In concluding, he forecasts the next few years will probably be stormy, yet:

once the boil is lanced, we may find that our relations with Europe improve dramatically. The moment that the EU no longer threatens our laws, our parliament, our democracy, and our way of life – that is to say, the moment we take the stone out of our shoe – almost all hostility will drain away. We can all become lovers of Europe again. Good fences. Good neighbours.

YET, even so, I surmise that the trend towards global monetary union will not leave this nation to one side – unless the Living Lord God has other plans…

Healing in Parliament

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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?

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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).

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

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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 →

Listening to Jesus in the Palace of Westminster

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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]

“I asked God to protect me…He didn’t let me down”

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Thus ran yesterday’s Sun on Sunday ‘world exclusive’ front-page headline about Fabrice Muamba’s recovery from ‘death’ after a heart attack. Click here to read his down-to-earth personal account of being grateful not to be left brain damaged. The follow-up story of who inspired Fabrice’s recovery is on this link.

I’d previously mused in the email below as to whether God’s hand could be discerned in this event as it followed upon the heels of the ASA’s decision to ban any statements about our Lord’s healing power.  We can rejoice in His ‘cocking a snook’ at the thought control behind authoritiarian political correctness.

As before, Gillan Scott quickly reported upon this news and sensitively discusses its appearance in this particular journal. His own conclusion is well worth noting:

This weekend God’s greatest evangelist was a footballer who used a tabloid to tell the world just how amazing God is. God knows what He’s doing and we need to learn to follow His lead.

Amen.

Copy of earlier email:

From: Richard Barker
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2012 4:05 PM
To: Undisclosed Recipients
Subject: Fw: Christians in Parliament challenge ASA’s ‘God can heal’ ban

…Thank you to Paul for having alerted me, to Gillan for this news, and to three Christian MPs dealing with this important issue. (You may recall my emails of early February and  my blog’s post on this issue.)

Gillan reports (link) that the All-Party Parliamentary Group, Christians in Parliament, has asked the Chairman of the Advertising Standards Authority to provide scientific substantiation for the ASA ruling against Healing On The Streets, failing which the matter will be raised in Parliament. The ASA decision sought NOT ONLY to ban claims that God can and does heal physically, BUT ALSO TO SUPPRESS PUBLICATION OF TESTIMONIES of such healings!!

In case you may not understand the footballer reference, see Gillan’s post God is in control and Peter Kirk’s post about the BBC’s suggesting prayers for him!  Is the Lord using that unfortunate incident to state, “Who says I cannot heal?”..?

1,000s of Americans applaud UK Christian ‘fight-back’

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“What’s happening in England right now is blowing my mind (I hear of more miracles)…I was there a few weeks ago…in the city of Hull, where miracles were happening – one week later our Prime Minister stands up in the Houses of Parliament and he says this..: Continue reading →

Update on review of Clearing the Ground

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In the 3rd part of his review of this Parliamentary report, Gillan Scott looks at turning the tide against the myth of secular neutrality.

His sterling summation may assist Church leadership in understanding how legal issues may or may not be changing, and what can be done in the meantime. Just a few snippets, to whet your appetite and I’d like to emphasise elements of his concluding paragraph:

Re. the courts

Given the levels of religious illiteracy in government and other public bodies highlighted earlier in the report, reservations were made about the capacity of the courts to take an active role in deciding what is or is not reasonable in relation to the accommodation or manifestation of belief. In particular concern was raised in relation to the courts lack of acknowledgment of the orthodox Christian belief that marriage should be between on man and one woman….

Attention was then turned to the problems relating to relationships between local authorities and churches or Christian organisations…Following recent high profile court cases regarding the religious beliefs of those wishing to foster or adopt, there is now some confusion about the place of religious people as prospective foster parents and adopters. Local authorities lack guidance as to how they should work with people with religious beliefs.

Re. tolerance

The report believes that the bar has been set too low as to what constitutes ‘insulting behaviour’. As it stands, judgment is based on the subjective feelings of the person who has been offended. This application of the law has in several cases led to an undue restriction of the freedom of expression.

Re. ignorance

The final part of this section considers the ignorance and deep-seated lack of understanding about the nature and outworking of religious belief in government, the courts, local authorities and the media. The report finds that there is an urgent need for better coordination of government policy in relation to religious belief. Currently the way that the human rights, legal, and community aspects of religion and belief are handled is too complicated.

Conclusion

The final recommendation of the need to bring religious awareness and education into government presents a challenge to faith groups. This is extremely unlikely to happen without the proactive support and work of faith groups. If the Church and Christian organisations wake up to this need and begin to coordinate and develop a strategy to deal with it, then the benefits to society could be considerable. It is a big challenge, but one that needs to be seriously addressed with a good deal of urgency.

At present I’m seeking the Lord’s perspective on all this but realise it may relate to the word given through Bill Johnson about 1st Sept 2011 being “the day things changed in the UK”  (the Inquiry started in August 2011).

Also today, I picked up on the word given in Clifford Hill’s Feb 2012 Newsletter.

Let us mull over these matters…

Clearing the Ground–brief update

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Further to my previous, Gillan Scott has reviewed the Inquiry’s finding on the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) as not being fit for purpose. The official 4-page Executive Summary of the preliminary report may be found here.

You may disagree with me that the EHRC is an authoritarian body. However, a recent posts about the ASA reveals my grave concern – no pun intended, but it drew upon a  real life or death situation – over the implementation of Equalities policy within hospital. (See ‘Proof of Political Direction’ sub-section of Muhammed knows more..). Hence, the Inquiry’s recommendation for a review and restructuring of the EHRC is, in my opinion, quite proper and long overdue.

In advance of the report’s release, last week’s Sunday Telegraph reported the Inquiry:

(Had) heard submissions saying that the EHRC had been “hijacked” by secularists to the extent that it was now “ideologically biased” against religion. It condemns the commission for inviting secular humanists groups with “tiny” memberships to discussions intended for faith groups, saying the policy effectively shut down formal consultations with religious organisations. “With secularists using a veto to block most proposals by religious groups, the EHRC group eventually ceased to function formally.”

Aughton Ainsworth, a firm of solicitors involved with a number of the cases cited by the report, told the inquiry: “The EHRC has been so thoroughly ‘infiltrated’ by an anti-Christian bias that even when the EHRC tries to do the right thing it is ‘hijacked’ and forced to backtrack”.

It is hardly surprising, therefore, to read in the published report about the EHRC’s failings and that,

After numerous requests, the commission did provide a very brief written response that consisted of material already in the public domain. Initially unable to find the time to attend either of two dates offered to them to give oral evidence, after the sessions concluded the EHRC offered to meet the committee for discussions. We hope that following the publication of this report we can develop a more fruitful dialogue than we have experienced to date.

Finally and returning to the Sunday Telegraph, a fascinating interview with the former Home Secretary Charles Clarke reveals his opinion on the Labour government’s big mistakes, for example:

Is Clarke saying that Labour let the Church down? “Yes, I accept that. Lack of engagement is the way I would put it. Our tendency was to say, ‘That’s not a matter for us.’ We were ill-equipped to deal with the issues raised by faith, and that was a mistake.”

Quite an admission, and look at the woeful results!

Landmark Parliamentary Inquiry

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Could this slow the rot?  Does it mark the low-tide in our national fortunes and favour with The Almighty?

Clearing the Ground is a preliminary report into the freedom of Christians in the UK published by Christians in Parliament in conjunction with The Evangelical Alliance.

I understand it is of landmark importance to leaders and believers within every church denomination. Therefore, we should be aware of its findings and so I’ll give links to an excellent summation by my friend Gillan Scott. Before that, however, I’ll provide a short detour into very little-known history.

First, the Parliamentary report opens very briefly:

Christians in Parliament, an official All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), chaired by Gary Streeter are launching ‘Clearing the Ground’ a preliminary report of the committee’s findings.

The Clearing the Ground inquiry were tasked with considering the question: Are Christians marginalised in the UK?

This report reflects the findings and views of the committee and is issued by Christians in Parliament.

The Inquiry was instigated in the light of media reports and court cases and, if taken seriously by the government, has the potential to define how legislation should accom-modate religious belief. There’s a suggestion it may even rewrite iniquitous equality laws!  Furthermore, as PM David Cameron proclaimed, “We are a Christian country”, then perhaps we can hope for improvements. I have good reason to believe he’s supportive of Christian social campaigns.

Early British Church History

The very necessity of this Inquiry is an indictment of our post-imperial history and an affront to our national dignity of over 1900 years as a Christian land. Do you know that Christianity was already well established before the Roman Church’s mission to send Augustine in AD597 to the court of Saxon King Aethelbert at Canterbury?

The early church historian Eusebius and British historian Gildas stated the Christian faith had arrived here in the time of the original Apostles – before 37AD!  Furthermore, the precedence of the British national church ABOVE ALL OTHERS, including Rome, was recognised by no less than four official church councils in 15th Century. This was based on the donation of land in Glastonbury for a church by King Arviragus to Jesus’ uncle Joseph of Arimathea, and between AD179-190 King Lucius established more churches (details here).

Antiquarian John Chapel writes, “It is claimed that the ancient British royal family converted to Christianity within 20 years or so of Jesus’ death”. (Linus and Claudia mentioned in Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy would have been children of King Caractacus, and the later Emperor Constantine’s Christian wife Helena was of that family.)

The Inquiry’s Findings

The Inquiry’s findings reveal the extent of ‘religious illiteracy’ at all levels of British society. That is, regrettably Britain has become what would have been called in my childhood, a heathen nation!  But we’re simply reaping the degradation that my generation engineered.  For my part, I sincerely repent for having taken part in the 1960’s rejection of a holy heritage and specifically encouraged a liberation in cultural ethics and ‘New Age spirituality’.

The descriptive term at the turn of the Century for Britain was ‘Post-Christian’. Have we now gone worse: ‘religiously illiterate’?  The good news is, however, it’s yet another call for Christians to take a stand – where’ve we heard that before?

At Arise, Frontline Generals! conference we attended in Torquay last week the Lord presented personal surprises. One, was things we have in common with a couple who sat beside us, and one of these being a vision received a year or so before and related to mine of 2004 (read here) of Britain’s restoration – the sleeping giant awakes!

Gillan concludes his initial post on the Inquiry by quoting the report’s final point:

Christians need to take seriously their historical role in leading and serving in public life, and church discipleship needs to account for this role – because the gospel is good news for society.

He is to be highly commended in taking great pains to provide articulate analyses and summation of the report’s findings. Thus, they facilitate a good grasp of these issues:

Clearing the Ground: a Game-changing Report

Clearing the Ground: a Review –

Part 1: Religious illiteracy is strangling freedom of belief

Part 2: The Equalities and Human Rights Commission is not fit for purpose

Part 3: How to turn the tide against the myth of secular neutrality

Part 4: If the Church doesn’t defend justice, who will?

Exciting times, are they not? Lead us onwards Lord…

Personal Plea from MP

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Further to my email below, if you’ve yet to sign the petition please note this plea from a Christian MP on Twitter :

Jim Dobbin MP: There are Christians in Parliament who want to fight to save marriage but they really need the support of the church (My emphasis and here’s the link)

Richard Continue reading →