Globalist financier George Soros provided funding for anti-Brexit Avaaz and has destabilised nations all over the world while pushing an anti-Christian agenda in Africa.
Globalist financier George Soros provided funding for anti-Brexit Avaaz and has destabilised nations all over the world while pushing an anti-Christian agenda in Africa.
American billionaire George Soros gave a pro-EU campaign half-a-million pounds through his foundation, according to news outlets. (Note, all our links open in a new tab automatically).
Meanwhile, we have uncovered a video in which the financier shows a breathtaking lack of humanity and remorse. See below.
Best for Britain?
The Best for Britain campaign, which unashamedly advocates snubbing the Brexit referendum and remaining in the EU, received £400,000 from Soros-funded Open Society Foundation since the June 2017 election, sources told the Guardian.
Gina Miller founded Best for Britain. She took the UK government to court over the triggering of Article 50. The campaign is chaired by Lord Malloch-Brown, a leading political insider. Ignoring the 2016 Referrendum result, he says, ‘We, like millions of people, believe that Britain should lead, not leave, Europe.’ ‘Leading Europe’ is of course impossible for the UK or any other nation. The un-elected Commission, a self-perpetuating oligarchy, runs the EU.
This scary sculpture of a woman holding the Euro aloft while men grovel at her feet is outside the EU Parliament building in Brussels.
George Soros made more than £1bn at our expense by betting against the pound on Black Wednesday in September 1992. By the grace of God his actions forced the British government to pull out of the European exchange rate mechanism. That decision in turn kept the UK from joining the Euro, so some good came of it.
Recdently, Mr Soros has made no secret he believes holding the EU referendum was a ‘fatal error’. The billionaire has refused to ‘butt out’ of the debate. Last week he pledged yet another £100,000 to Best for Britain.
He said: ‘Prior to Brexit, Britain enjoyed the best of all possible worlds. It was a member of the European Union without adopting the Euro.
‘Britain, outside Europe, will lose much of its global influence. Economically, Britain will suffer because 45 years of successful integration with Europe will go into reverse.’
Secondly, the financier revealed another aspect of his thinking in this quote:
‘To make matters worse’, he said, ‘the divorce process will preoccupy both Britain and Europe for years ahead, when they should be uniting to resist external enemies like Putin’s Russia and resolve the internal contradictions that made some people regard the EU as their enemy.’
Members of “Pussy Riot” staged a foul-mouthed tirade in a Moscow Cathedral. George Soros put up money for it.
George Soros hates Russia. Under Vladimir Putin the country has been returning to its Orthodox Christian heritage. It is Russia, not the West, which defends Christian minorities in the Middle East. We denounced the blasphemous Femen group and its Pussy Riot desecration of a Moscow Cathedral here. We also reported on them and on Moscow banning a homosexual parade. And who is now the world’s biggest funder of pro-homosexual NGO’s worldwide? The same man whose foundations, together with the US government, funded Pussy Riot and Femen? Click here to see if you guessed right!
George Soros links to armaments
Mr Soros is also talking up the alleged threat from Russia for financial reasons. Peace with Russia would remove the need for vast armies to be facing each other making money for armaments manufacturers.
The Panama Papers leaks, ironically funded by Soros, inadvertently revealed his links to the secretive Carlyle Group which invests heavily in armaments.
Ironically, although George Soros is the primary foreigner interfering in our internal affairs, the mainstream media persist in fingering Russia. In this article on the RT website, security analyst Michael Maloof goes further and points out the history of interference by the US and UK in the affairs on sovereign countries. Russian senators have listed one hundred examples of the US interfering in the elections of other countries.
Ex-CIA director James Woolsey has even admitted the US has interfered in elections in the past, but “only for a very good cause,” and when they thought rigging the vote would benefit democracy. See here.
Interfering in sovereign nations
Mr Soros founded the Open Society Foundation. Recently he announced he was giving all his wealth to the Foundation. Ostensibly Open Society promotes democracy and open accountable government around the world.
However, Open Society has a history of interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign nations. Its activists promote the causes of feminism, sodomy and abortion throughout Africa and Asia. The Soros front funded the so-called Arab Spring uprising.
The billionaire helped set up Avaaz, the clicktist anti-Brexit eco-warrior group. Avaaz sent agents into Syria with propaganda and communications equipment. Their involvement helped start the Syrian civil war, with help from the US and the UK. That displaced tens of thousands of people, the majority of the Muslims, who then flooded into Europe. Naturally, George Soros is all for Europe welcoming the Islamists in with open arms. Although Hungarian-born, he hates the Hungarian government for refusing to take the anti-Christian migrants in.
Soros also collaborated with the EU to fund the Maidan Square trouble in Kiev. The uprising drove Ukraine’s elected but pro-Russian president from power. The resulting violence has left people dead, businesses ruined and Ukraine in turmoil. The eastern Russian-speaking minority turned to Moscow for help. Gleefully, the EU then blamed Russia for the instability it started itself.
Even today at the Munich Security Conference all the talk is about Russian ‘meddling’. It should be firstly concerned with protecting civilian populations from Islamic terrorists. Secondly, it should be promising to end the interference by the US, UK and France in the Middle East. It is that, after all, which led to the rise of Al-Qaeda and then to ISIS. And that is not even to suggest those Islamist organisations were set up with Western encouragement in the first place.
George Soros ‘there to make money’ video
Finally, we shall make one thing very clear. The fact that George Soros is Jewish does not make exposing the evil he does ‘anti-Semitic’. Theresa May’s former chief of staff, Nick Timothy, has picked up on the same donation as we have here. He has been accused of “peddling textbook anti-Semitic tropes” in a Telegraph article he wrote. The accusations have come from Bonnie Greer and Owen Jones. Both are quite happy with the anti-Christian amoralism of George Soros as well as his anti-Brexit credentials. But at least Owen Jones is pro-Jewish. Bonnie Greer is boycotting Israel.
Finally, as trailed at the top of this article, and thanks to the off-Guardian website, we can see an extraordinary interview with George Soros. The interviewer challenges him on the social implications of betting against national currencies and driving millions towards poverty. This is his response: ‘I am basically there to make money. I cannot and do not look at the social consequences of what I do.’ Watch this astonishing video here.
Everywhere Soros becomes involved, destruction, death and degradtion run riot. Sometimes he makes money from the turmoil. At other times it is merely his hatred of Christianity and his fanatical obesesion with advancing democracy and perversion which drives him. We must pray fervently that his works are exposed and brought to ruin.
But let us also pray with compassion for the man himself. Pray he repents at finds salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ even at this eleventh hour of his life. He may never be able to undo all the evil he has set in train, but at least one soul would be saved from the fires of hell.
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General Sir Nicholas Carter is head of the British Army
General Sir Nicholas Carter is head of the British Army
The MOD have enlisted a supposed Russian threat in their bid for more money. But are the armed forces now more keen on ‘diversity’ than effectiveness? What are they for in today’s world? And could they make cuts in their inflated levels of top brass?
Nick Carter: Russia Threat
First out of blocks was General Sir Nicholas Carter. The Chief of the General Staff was warning at the end of January that British forces must ‘keep up’ to counter an alleged Russia threat. General Carter said Moscow is building an increasingly aggressive and expeditionary force. It already boasts capabilities that outmatch UK forces, he said. Furthermore, last year Russia undertook simulated attacks across Northern Europe.
According to the Independent, the month before, the head of the Armed Forces spoke. Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach claimed Russia poses a threat to Britain’s internet access and trade.
Russia’s “modernised” navy would be cutting underwater transcontinental cables. The UK had to bolster its naval forces to counter the threat, he went on.
Gavin Williamson: They’ll kill thousands
Nick Carter had barely stepped from his podium when Rt Hon Gavin Williamson MP chimed in. The Daily Telegraph interviewed the Defence Secretary as its main front-page story on Friday last week. Russia was spying on Britain’s critical national infrastructure, claimed the Secretary of State.
Rt Hon Gavin Williamson MP, HM Secretary of State for Defence (R)
‘The plan for the Russians won’t be for landing craft to appear in the South Bay in Scarborough, and off Brighton Beach,’ he said.
‘What they [Russia] are looking at doing is they are going to be thinking “How can we just cause so much pain to Britain?” Damage its economy, rip its infrastructure apart, actually cause thousands and thousands and thousands of deaths, but actually have an element of creating total chaos within the country.’
Gavin Williamson asserted that Moscow had been researching the UK’s critical infrastructure and how it connected to Continental power supplies with a view to creating ‘panic’ and ‘chaos.’
‘Scaremongering’
But energy experts said Mr Williamson’s claims were scaremongering. As the Guardian put it, the lights were ‘unlikely to go out even if the electricity interconnectors, which supply about 5% of UK power, were somehow cut off.’
“It does sound a bit like scaremongering really. If you take out one interconnector it’s clear the UK can survive. We saw that last year with the one to France,” said Jonathan Marshall, energy analyst at the ECIU thinktank, referring to a major power cable to France running at half capacity after it was damaged by a storm.
John Feddersen, the chief executive of Aurora Energy Research, agreed. “Electricity is not a major problem, we’ve got a decent amount of capacity. No house lights are going to go out,” he said.
The Daily Express ventured Mr Williamson’s outburst was timed to deflect attention from an embarrassing story about him.
Non-existent Russian Threat
With virtually the whole of the Ministry of Defence talking up some kind of a threat from Russia, it is good to remind ourselves there is no actual threat to British interests from Russia at all. Of course the Russians will conduct scary exercises on their borders. NATO has enough forces spread across eastern Europe to convince the Russians they are under an imminent threat.
Britain currently has 800 infantry and 150 armoured personnel wasting their time and our money in the Baltics. The Americans sent 87 tanks to Poland this time last year. We reported on NATO’s sabre-rattling at the time. It all creates jobs in the armaments manufacturers, for sure. But NATO and EU expansionism worries the Russians, who feel they have to stress their capability to respond.
Psalm 120:7 I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
In reality, Russia can hardly govern its own vast territory. BAE Systems might not like it, but the Cold War is over. The Russians are neither our ‘enemies’ nor ‘our adversaries’. They are our allies in the real fight against militant Islam. The military and associated politicians need to grow up and smarten up.
Equality & Diversity
General Sir James Everard is Patron of the Army LGBT Forum
However, if the armed forces really are serious about their operational ability, why do they divert their energies into something as non-productive as equality and diversity?
The British Army has a full general (one of only three) in charge of equality and diversity. General Sir James Rupert Everard, KCB, CBE (born 23 September 1962) serves as NATO’s Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe. But General Everard is also, as Wikipedia puts it, a ‘strong advocate of diversity’. General Everard has served as Patron of the Army LGBT Forum since 2010 when he was a Lt-General. He himself is not that way inclined, being married with three children.
Furthermore, Christian Voice has learned the General has a whole department at Home Command headquarters at Andover working on the subject. The unit must be commanded by a Major-General or Lt-General reporting directly to Gen Everard. It could even be Lt Gen Patrick Sanders, who is ‘LGBT Champion for the Army’. (See ‘Stonewall’ below.) Equality and Diversity is now the main focus of the British Army.
Diversity Statistics
But what good is all the emphasis on women, BME personnel and gays doing?
According to the UK Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics of 1st October 2017, ‘18.8 per cent of service personnel declared a sexual orientation. There were 23.3 per cent of Officers and 17.8 per cent of Other Ranks declaring a sexual orientation.’
Now then, how many owned up to being homosexual? It might be more fashionable in today’s armed forces to be homosexual, but in any event, the Biannual Diversity Statistics failed actually to give a heterosexual / bisexual / homosexual / transsexual / queer / intersex etc breakdown. So for all the money spent on diversity no-one knows. And who cares whether female representation in UK regular forces is stable at 10.3%?
The Bible, of course, shows God expects men to do the fighting, but it also stresses the virtue of peace.
Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Black and Asian recruits
Soldiers from 5th Battalion The Rifles, Headquarters take part in a Military March and Shoot.
Turning to black and minority-ethnic personnel, here are figures from the same report. ‘BAME personnel accounted for 10.5 per cent of intake into the UK Regular Forces in the 12 months to 30 September 2017.’ But, according to the statistics for England and Wales alone, black people and Asians made up 10.8% of the population at the last count. Other ‘non-whites’ were 3.2%.
Talking about religion, Christians made up 71.9% of the total armed forces. ‘No religion’ was 25.5%. According to UK statistics, Hindus are outnumbered four-to-one by Muslims in the UK population. Despite that, Hindus provide 0.8% of the armed forces, double the Muslim 0.4%.
Given the reluctance of Muslims to join the armed forces, the Army, Navy and Air Force are not doing that bad. It could indeed be argued that recruitment should be colour-blind, and there is no need for a diversity unit at all.
Stonewall Equality Index
With General Everard in charge of appeasing the LGBT lobby, it comes as no surprise that the Army has made the ‘Stonewall 100 list’. It even boasts about it on its website.
‘The British Army is delighted to be counted once again, as one of the top 100 employers in Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index 2018. This listing is prestigious (sic) as it is judged against more than 430 organisations and companies. It is also testament to the increasingly inclusive environment within the Army’, it simpers.
“We are delighted to be included in Stonewall’s listing of Top 100 employers,” says Lt Gen Patrick Sanders, Commander Field Army and LGBT Champion for the Army. “It recognises our commitment to diversity and the importance we place on allowing soldiers to be themselves.
Darren Towers, Executive Director, Stonewall said: ‘The British Army and all those who have made this year’s Top 100 Employers list have done a fantastic job. Taking part in our Index shows real commitment to understanding and advancing LGBT equality. This year, for the first time, the Index looked at what employers were doing for trans equality in the workplace. This work is crucial.’
The previous ‘Be the Best’ adverts emphasised ruggedness and learning a skill
British Army Bedtime stories
On top of this, the Army gained ridicule in January for its latest recruiting campaign. Its previous ‘Be the Best’ adverts, (Here’s one on YouTube), emphasised ruggedness and action. It showed the benefits of joining the army. That was all the qualifications in jobs you could train for. There was only a gentle nod towards black recruits.
But the latest (shown here) is more emotional (’emo’) showing men under strain. Their mates are giving them coffee. Moreover, around half the section are black, making the video more aspirational than true. It has a ‘This is Belonging’ strap-line. One fully expects the Sergeant to read you a bedtime story if you are afraid of the dark.
An image from the new British Army recruitment adverts. Fewer than half a percent of army personnel are actually Muslim.
Even the Philistines in the Bible could do better than that:
1Sam 4:9 Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.
Another ad features a cartoon baby and mummy, a Muslim bowing down on his prayer mat, and apparently, someone asking whether they can be ‘gay’ in the army. According to this video, which shows some of the ads, on Channel 5 news, the British Army spent £1.6 million on the campaign.
Threats now more sinister
Major General Tim Cross thought it could reach out to ‘various aspects of the community’. But should marketing probe an unrepresented market, or play to the product’s market strengths? Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan is in the latter camp. He said the ad campaign was “neglecting the main group of people who are interested in joining” and will not solve the “recruiting crisis” facing the armed forces.
But if there is a recruiting crisis, the UK’s trend to full employment will not help. And threats are now more sinister, more home-grown, or arising from Islamist terror groups. The threat from expansionist nations (the EU excepted) is vanishing. Even North Korea is more concerned with Kim Jong-Un’s survival than with over-running its southern neighbour.
Is there a case for a British Army of the present strength at all? According to this excellent resource, it has no fewer than fourteen Lieutenant-Generals commanding just three or four corps, 112,00 personnel, in all. These split into Field Army and Home Command. There need to be soldiers doing paperwork, working on logistics, training schedules, procurement and so on. But fourteen Lieutenant-Generals?
How many Brigadiers?
The British Army Structure
A Division Contains 3 Brigades and numbers 10,000. The Army would have perhaps twelve Divisions spread out over the Field Army and Home Command. So why do we need thirty-nine Major-Generals to command them?
A Brigade Contains 3-5 Battalions and has 5,000 personnel. In terms of numbers, the British Army has perhaps twenty-four brigades. Now, guess who commands a brigade? Yes, it’s a Brigadier. Each of those twelve Major-Generals would have two Brigadiers under him. Each Brigadier would command a brigade. We understand that Brigadier is a rank, not a job description, but, seriously, why do we need one hundred and thirty-six of them?
Conclusion
We could go on. From scare-stories, to wasteful diversity programmes, to mis-directed advertising, the British Army has a quite different challenge from the simplistic financial one its leaders put forward. And apart from the ridiculous diversity unit, and the top brass overstaffing, we have not even touched upon the myriad ways in which the army wastes tax-payers’ money – in procurement for example. Maybe the lack of sufficient recruitment reflects society’s confusion about what the British Army is there for at all.
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And they are not above spreading some lies to achieve their aim.
’56 BILLION animals are crammed into filthy, windowless cages and slaughtered every year to feed our meat addiction’, screams the latest email from one ‘Danny Auron’. He sent that to the 46 million people (like me) on the Avaaz email list.
What does Danny want you and me to do? Well it’s not ‘send them money’ this time. Nor is it signing an Avaaz petition. There is no ‘clicktivism’ involved at all. He wants us to ‘go meat-free just one day a week’.
Perfect design – for our benefit
Leave aside that there are many people in the world for whom a couple of meals of meat a week would provide much-needed protein. And with around two-and-a-half times as much protein in chicken as beans, that’s important. No, this is directed at the West, where you can easily make up in supplements what you aren’t getting in your trendy vegan diet.
Sheep spend most of their time grazing, converting poor-quality food (that’ll be grass) into protein for us to eat. No-one is eating Dawn or her lamb though. They are breeding ewes.
There is a lot of grass in the world and sheep and cattle are designed by our gracious maker to eat it. We cannot eat grass. However, they turn it into protein which we CAN eat.
There is a good reason why a sheep spends nearly all its waking hours either grazing or chewing the cud. And there is a good reason us (and the farm cats) spend around half an hour a day actually eating. The grass they eat has low nutritional value. What we eat in a balanced meat-inclusive diet has high nutritional value. Moreover, the Almighty has designed it like that, for our benefit:
Psalm 104:14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
Avaaz have lied about conditions
Now, if people want to go veggie or vegan, fair play. But Danny, don’t lie to persuade them to do so. Where does the ’56 billion’ figure come from? Avaaz have lifted it straight off the Animal Equality website. Not that Avaaz own up to that.
The Animal Equality crew themselves are not averse to a bit of smoke and mirrors. But at least they only say: ‘Over 56 billion farmed animals are killed every year by humans’. Which makes sense. Just under one billion are slaughtered in the UK alone, according to the Humane Slaughter Association. Most of those are chickens.
But for Avaaz, those animals, every single one of them, are ‘crammed into filthy, windowless cages’. Well, ours aren’t. Our cattle are in the yard right now, eating the silage we harvested for them in the summer. Our sheep are out in the field, happily grazing. On our farm, there is not a single windowless cage in sight. Even in the poultry sector, the momentum is all against battery cages and towards barn-rearing, free-range and organic.
Avaaz: ‘Fueling mass animal torture’
Danny Auron, Campaign Director, Avaaz.org and product of Harvard Law School
But Avaaz will never use one egg in a pudding when a couple of dozen will easily do. Accordingly, for Danny Auron, every ranch and every smallholding is a ‘disgusting factory farm’. Our meat consumption is ‘fueling mass animal torture’, he yells. And of course, wouldn’t you know it, ‘it’s killing our planet!’
Apparently, ‘Livestock contributes more to global warming than all cars, planes, and buses worldwide’. ‘It’s gotten out of hand!’ he shrieks.
Well, here’s a funny thing. For the World Wildlife Fund: ‘Global warming is caused by human activities like burning fossil fuels, deforestation and farming.’ LiveScience.com say: ‘Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, are increasing greenhouse gas levels, leading to an enhanced greenhouse effect. The result is global warming and unprecedented rates of climate change.’ So, yes, farming contributes, if you accept the global warming hypothesis, but it’s only one part of human activity.
Bible: Dominion over the cattle
Theologically where is this coming from? On their ‘About’ page, Animal Equality say: ‘Our vision is a world in which all animals are respected and protected.’ Therefore, we should not see them as the Bible portrays them, as ‘inferior beings whose reason for existence is to provide us with meat, milk and eggs’ The Bible reports:
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
That, apparently, is ‘speciesism. ‘We need to stop thinking of them as just resources, and to start viewing them for who they are: individual sentient beings whose lives deserve to be respected and valued,’ say the activists.
In that case, there will be none of them. Farmers like us raise meat animals for slaughter. No demand, no animals on the land, however sentient they are. And make no mistake, animals are smart. They evaluate situations and make decisions. But they have no purpose in farming apart from their value to mankind. Even in the wild, they are prey animals who will eventually, mostly, be killed.
Emotional blackmail, dishonesty and hyperbole
People can go vegetarian or vegan if they want. But why does it need emotional blackmail, dishonesty and hyperbole to make the anti-meat case? In addition, if speciesism is a terrible thing, what have the animal rights folk to say about malaria or flesh-eating parasites? Surely the mosquito and the worm have a right to life? Intellectually and theologically their case is unsustainable, and it may well be it is ecologically bereft as well.
Secretary-General, António Guterres, addresses the UN General Assembly. The UN will vote today against US reconition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Secretary-General, António Guterres, addresses the UN General Assembly. The UN will vote today against US reconition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The United Nations meets today in New York to condemn American recognition of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the state of Israel.
A Resolution has been moved by Muslim Arab states. The President of Turkey has also been highly vocal.
The BBC reports here that the US is likely to be isolated. Moreover, President Trump has threatened to withdraw foreign aid from countries who vote against its position.
Astonishingly, the UK will probably vote with the Muslims, ignoring both scripture and our own history. It was one hundred years ago this month we British liberated Jerusalem from Turkish control. Our article refers.
Hanukkah festival ended yesterday
The eight lamps of the Hanukkah Menorah symbolise the eight days of the purification of the Temple. The ninth is the ‘servant’ lamp.
Also in 1917, in November, the United Kingdom issued the Balfour Declaration. The historic document approved a Jewish homeland in the Holy Land.
Without doubt, the Balfour Declaration paved the way for the modern state of Israel. Nevertheless, the UK spent the best part of the next thirty years trying to back-track from Balfour.
Above all, we did not allow Jewish settlement during the Nazi Holocaust., Moreover, it would be yet another betrayal of the Jewish people if the United Kingdom today voted against recognising a united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The timing of the Resolution is significant. It comes the day after an important Jewish festival concluded. Here is some history. The Maccabean revolt against the Greeks lasted from 167 to 160 BC. After their victory, the Maccabees entered Jerusalem in triumph and ritually cleansed the Temple.
Even in our day, the Jewish festival of Hanukkah celebrates this event. Furthermore, this year Hanukkah began in the evening of Tuesday, 12th December and ended yesterday evening, on 20th December.
And today the UN is meeting to condemn the USA for recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Prophecy of Jesus fulfilled
General Allenby entering Jerusalem on foot on 11th December 1917
Here is a bit more history. Astonishingly, the Romans only took full control of Jerusalem on the death of Herod the Great in 4BC.
The Lord Jesus prophesied of the Judeans:
Luke 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
From the time of the Roman occupation, the Holy City stayed under the control of the Gentiles. Christians and Muslims fought over it and the city passed into the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1617.
General Allenby liberated Jerusalem from the Ottoman Turks in December 1917, as we reported here. But under the terms of the British Mandate, the Holy City stayed under Gentile control. Ben Gurion declared the state of Israel in 1948. In the ensuing war, Jordan occupied the eastern half of Jerusalem. The Jewish people only regained control over the capital as a whole in the Six-Day War of 1967. Was that the fulfillment of the ‘times of the Gentiles’? In any case, the USA recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel one hundred years almost to the day of Allenby’s success over the Turks in December 1917.
No Muslim call on Jerusalem
We do not regard the modern state of Israel as perfect. Moreover, today’s ‘Israel’ is a Judean state. The other ten tribes of Israel never returned after their captivity by Assyria. It could be argued the state of Israel fulfills Zechariah’s prophecy about ‘Judah’s portion’ but not the numerous prophecies about the return of Israel as a whole:
Zech 2:12 And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.
We are also deeply concerned about the position of our brothers and sisters the Arab Christians and their economic well-being.
That being said, the Muslims have no call on Jerusalem at all. The Palestinian claim for Jerusalem as their capital rests on a totally fictitious story concocted by Mohammed. We investigate the ridiculous ‘Night Journey’ in our story here. Any UK support for the Muslim-driven motion today in the UN today will owe more to arms sales than to truth. And we shall be siding with those who hate the Jews and want to destroy the state of Israel itself. That is a perilous position, from a Biblical point of view.
‘Destroy all the nations’
Zecharaiah prophesied a time of turmoil for Jerusalem in his chapters twelve to fourteen. We can ask whether the whole of the passage refers to a future end-time. The references to people’s flesh ‘shall consume away’ in Zech 14:12 looks very like nuclear war.
My heart is to pray this never comes to pass, but acts instead as a warning. And do chapters twelve and thirteen refer to an earlier time, or the same time? Scholars will disagree.
The UK voted against USA recognition of Jerusalem earlier this month in the UN Security Council
But nevertheless, one verse in particular in chapter twelve indicates the Lord’s heart for a Jewish Jerusalem:
Zech 12:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Let us make no mistake. This is what today’s motion in the United Nations is doing. It is the nations coming against Jerusalem. We can only thank God they are doing it politically rather than militarily. Accordingly, for that, if for nothing else, we do thank God for the United Nations.
But even more do we thank God for the United States of America. In the recent past, over the position of our Christian brethren in Syria, we have thanked God for the Russians. But today, that nation will probably be against Jerusalem as well. But it really looks as if the UK will be on the wrong side both times and in danger of incurring the wrath of God.
Pray for Jerusalem
Let us pray the US will stand firm and that many nations will vote against today’s UN Resolution. Pray fervently the UK will be found in the pro-Jewish camp. You can email your MP via the Parliament link here.
Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee
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Theresa May has stated Britain will leave the EU's Single Market after Brexit. Does the May Deal do that?
Theresa May has stated Britain will leave the EU’s Single Market after Brexit.
There is everything to pray for as her majesty’s ministers meet today and tomorrow to discuss what kind of Brexit they will propose to the European Union as negotiations move onto the UK’s trading relationship with the EU.
The BBC’s Norman Smith says some ministers, ‘like Chancellor Philip Hammond and Home Secretary Amber Rudd’ want the UK to stick closely to the EU’s single market to preserve access for British firms.
Others, he says, ‘like Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Michael Gove’, want ‘more divergence so the UK has more freedom to strike its own trade deals with other countries’.
The United Kingdom is ripe for judgment. Indeed, the judgment is falling. We are becoming more secularist, more crass, less respectful, more immoral, more acquisitive and more brutal almost week by week, as our weekly news round-up shows. The prophet said:
Habakkuk 3:2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
We should pray fervently for the Lord to grant national repentance in his mercy. Much of our society is in a state of disorder. British troops are still unnecessarily deployed abroad. We must also pray for peace:
Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
The Hebrew word ‘shalom’ also includes prosperity. Ours is historically a trading nation. Much of our economy depends on trade overseas. Which Brexit outcome will best help the sort of trade which assists peace and prosperity? What should we pray for?
Is reversing Brexit an option?
Tony Blair and Jack Straw signing the EU Constitution in the same room in Rome as where the Treaty of Rome was signed.
The arch-remoaners want the UK to stay in the EU. According to the Independent, Former Prime Minister Tony Blair says Labour should even prioritise stopping Brexit ahead of winning the next election.
Early last year, I made a video record of my travels around three European capitals. I came to the conclusion the European Union was deliberately conceived as a revived Roman Empire.
That means it is at war with Christ:
Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
To have any chance of being on the right side in that battle, the Government must honour last year’s referendum result. We can see the June 2016 result as an answer to prayer.
Pro-Brexit: Suella Fernandes MP
However, so is the presence of Brexiteers (albeit of the closet variety) at the top of today’s Labour Party. Mr Blair’s calls will by the grace of God fall on deaf ears.
In another column in the Indy, Conservative MP Suella Fernandes remembers how much Tony Blair destroyed confidence in politics. We well remember the Iraq incursion.
But the MP also accuses Mr Blair of failing to give the British people a say on the EU’s proposed constitution. She says: ‘The electorate’s and Parliament’s clear will is to leave the EU. Reversing that now would be deeply divisive, fundamentally undemocratic and destroy the trust of the British people who now just want the government to get on with delivering Brexit.’
Remainers to be coordinated
Lord Malloch-Brown seeks to coordinate the Remainers
And yet the Guardian reported over the weekend: ‘One of Britain’s most senior former diplomats, Lord Malloch-Brown, is to take a lead role in coordinating the pro-remain groups towards a more coherent campaign focused on shifting public opinion before MPs hold a “meaningful vote” next autumn on Theresa May’s Brexit deal.’
Lord Malloch-Brown is trying to coordinate his own Best for Britain, Open Britain and the European Movement. If they cannot actually reverse the Brexit decision, the groups will try to force a ‘soft Brexit.’ This would keep Britain in the Single Market and Customs Union.
But Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says such an option would leave the UK as a ‘vassal state’ of the EU. We should be beholden to the bloc for our trade rules, unable to trade freely outside, but have no say in EU policy.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Mr Johnson said any deal must give Britain ‘that important freedom to decide our own regulatory framework, our own laws and do things in a distinctive way’.
He said if the UK was forced to mirror EU laws, many people ‘would say, “What is the point of what you have achieved?” because we would have gone from a member state to a vassal state.’
No Deal, Canada or Norway?
At the opposite end is the ‘no deal’ scenario, in which Britain leaves the EU with no agreement. The UK would rely on World Trade Organisation tariffs to trade with firms in the EU and elsewhere. We should also be totally free to strike trade deals around the world. But 25% of our financial services depend on EU trade. A last-minute collapse in negotiations would be the proverbial ‘cliff-edge’. No-one would be prepared.
Norway has an agreement with the EU which gives it membership of the European Economic Area, the EEA. This gives the country full access to the EU’s Single Maket. Fullfact.org said in August 2016 Norway was then paying the EU around £740 million compared to the UK’s £14,000 million a year to be a full member. They said ‘This translates to £140 per Norwegian, compared to £220 per Brit.’
A ‘Norway’ agreement would ensure virtually seamless trade with the EU. Nevertheless, it would be expensive and would constrain the UK in negotiating abroad. And Mrs May has ruled out staying in the Single Market.
Theresa May and David Davis appear to favour instead the ‘Canada’ model with additions. This is called ‘Canada-plus’ or even ‘plus-plus-plus’.
Negotiate free trade agreements
City AM says this: ‘Under this option, the UK would enter into a free trade agreement in goods with the EU along the lines of the agreement just concluded between the EU and Canada.
‘In addition, free trade in services and possibly in agriculture would ideally be agreed to as an add-on. At the same time, pursuing its broader Drakean strategy, the UK would negotiate free trade agreements with other, more economically vibrant, partners such as China, the US and India.’
But firstly, the EU insists free trade in services must be linked to freedom of movement of people. Secondly, ‘Canada-plus’ would take more time to negotiate than the fifteen months the two sides have left.
City AM even quotes scripture:
Eccl 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
From this scripture, it says slowing down the Brexit process was smart, but it is now to get on with negotiations.
Wisdom comes from the fear of the Lord
But another scripture now comes into play:
Prov 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
For prayer, our first objective must be for the Lord to safeguard the principle of Brexit. The spiritual dimension is vital. It says the UK cannot safely stay in a revived Roman Empire. Moving on from that, our prayer is for Her Majesty’s Government to seek a level of wisdom which only comes from the Lord himself. Which trade model will really be best for Britain? We will all have our own ideas. We cry to the Lord to have mercy, because unexpected things can happen:
Eccl 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Pray the Lord will at some stage make us stand, look up, and say: ‘How did you do that?’
Financier George Soros has one third of MEPs in his pocket, according to a book exposed by Nigel Farage.
Financier George Soros has one third of MEPs in his pocket, according to a book exposed by Nigel Farage.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Prominent UK Brexiteer Nigel Farage has condemned financier George Soros using MEPs to advance his own agenda during a speech in the EU Parliament, according to RT.
Hungarian leader Viktor Orban previously bore the anti-Soros torch. Soros himself is Hungarian and Jewish. But the wealthy financier fiercly opposes the State of Israel. Mr Farage is going one step further than Mr Orban. He seeks to investigate fellow EU MEPs who support the globalist anti-Christian vision of Soros.
MP’s in league with Soros’s Open Society
Nigel Farage speaking in the European Parliament
In a speech in Strasbourg last week, Mr Farage took aim at UK MP Ben Bradshaw (Labour). The latter was indecently quick to pick up on allegations of collusion between the Brexit Leave campaign and Russia.
‘Just last week, the electoral commission, in the UK, launched an investigation to find out whether the “Leave” campaign took offshore money or Russian money,’ Farage said.
‘This came about as a result of questions asked in the House of Commons by one Ben Bradshaw, somebody linked to an organization called Open Society.’
Mr Bradshaw’s entry in the register of parliamentary interests reveals a reference to the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung organisation. This is linked to Open Society. Mr Bradshaw also mentions Humboldt University, also receiving Soros money. Mr Bradshaw is not the only one. Open Society paid for a £2,713 trip to Washington USA for his colleague David Lammy in September this year. Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg secured a £21,000 grant for a favourite charity from Open Society Institute. This article carries more on on ‘the Soros web’.
Verhofstadt working against Hungary PM
Pro-Soros: Guy Verhofstadt MEP
Mr Farage went on to provide an example of an EU parliamentarian working on behalf of George Soros. This time it was against Hungarian PM Viktor Orban. Mr Orban has accused the financier of seeking to create ‘a Europe of mixed population.’ And Mr Farage had the chief anti-Brexit coordinator for the European Parliament in his sights:
‘We even had last week Mr. [Guy] Verhofstadt lobbying on behalf of Mr. Soros at the Conference of Presidents in a battle that is going on with Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary,’ Mr Farage said, pointing directly at Verhofstadt as he spoke.
‘I wonder, Mr Farage continued, ‘when we are talking about “political collusion,” I wonder if we are looking in the wrong place.’
Nigel Farage described Soros’s influence in Strasbourg and Brussels as ‘truly extraordinary.’ And his influence will only increase. Soros has donated the bulk of his wealth – $18 billion – into his pet Open Society project.
Mr Farage concluded his short, fiery monologue with a weighty statement: ‘I fear we could be looking at the biggest level of international, political collusion in history.’
Soros helped destablise Syria and Ukraine
Soros agents flooded syrian refugee camps with leaflets urging them to seek asylum in the EU
The Apostle Paul confirms Satan is working in men like Soros when he writes:
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Open Society Institute and Open Society Foundation campaigns for open borders and supranational structures. It is all for the Revived Roman Empire of the European Union. Working with local agitators, its activists destablised both Syria and Ukraine.
This led directly to civil war, loss of life and destruction of property and livelihoods in both. The Syria crisis led to a flood of refugees across Europe. This was in part because Soros agents were flooding the country and local refugee camps with leaflets explaining how to be granted asylum in EU countries.
Soros behind Merkel ‘Wilkommen’ policy
RT observes: ‘Thanks to the advocacy work of the Migration Policy Institute and the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), both Soros-sponsored organizations, the mass resettlement of Muslims from the Middle East and North Africa into Europe became the norm.’
Prov 16:12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.
And then Soros had his tame parliamentarians agitating for the fullest possible welcome to migrants. He knows the bulk of them are Muslim. In addition, he knows their attitudes are inimical to Western Christian culture and democracy. Moreover, he is aware that some were sleeper terrorists. Soros organisations are said to have encouraged Angela Merkel’s ‘Willkommen’ plan. The financier subsequently blamed her for implementing it too quickly. But elsewhere, Soros argued for 500,000 migrants to come to the EU a year.
Moreover, Soros organizations published a 177-page booklet providing details of 226 reliable ‘friends’ who serve in the European Parliament. soroskooptbrussel Mr Farage said he would call on the parliament to set up a special committee to investigate the issue. The booklet is called ‘Mapping: Reliable Allies in the European Parliament (2014-2019).’ It is an extraordinary display of arrogance which has revealed the entire Soros EU Parliament network:
Mark 4:22 For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.
Soros has one third of all MEPs
George Soros getting on well with Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission
According to the booklet, ‘The presence of an MEP in this mapping indicates that they are likely to support Open Society’s work.’ There are 751 members of the European Parliament. ‘Reliable allies’ of George Soros hold at least one-third of seats.
Firstly, the book details which supportive MEPs serve on which EU committee. Secondly, it lists each of the 226 MEP’s according to country. Thirdly, it labels and analyses them according to their political orientation and views. For example, the booklet describes Conservative MEP Charles Tannock both as ‘moderately Eurosceptic, but a potentially strong Open Society ally.’ His colleagues Timothy Kirkhope, Karim Sajjad, Kay Swinburne and Anthea McIntyre are all ‘moderately Eurosceptic, but a potential Open Society ally.’
Labour’s Claude Moraes ‘may appear easy to win over, but will require extensive engagement to ensure commitments are followed up effectively.’ His colleague Linda McAvan is apparently interested in ‘climate and the environment; public health; pharmaceuticals; gender equality; international trade; international development; and relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.’
Agitating in Africa
Ms McAvan serves on the EU Delegation to African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP). She sits alongside fellow UK MEP’s Seb Dance (Labour) and Catherine Bearder. Ms Bearder is the only remaining Liberal Democrat in the European Parliament.. All are strongly pro-sodomy, indeed Seb Dance, like Ben Bradshaw, is openly homosexual.
Their presence on the ACP committee will suit Open Society very well. In addition to campaigning for unrestricted migration and world empires Soros organisations also promote gay rights around the globe. They have a particular emphasis on overturning anti-sodomy laws in African countries. Very few African nations do not unwittingly have a subversive Open Society office in their capital city.
Anti-Russian
Yana Toom MEP. The Russian-speaking Estonian ‘may be pro-Russian’. And for George Soros, that would never do.
But then, most of the 226 Soros MEP puppets will support LGBTI, the EU project and open borders. However, an anti-Russia stance also helps inclusion in the list. One MEP, Estonia’s Yana Toom, is strangely included despite this damning verdict: ‘Refused supporting the European Parliament’s first resolution on the Ukraine-Russia conflict in July 2014, and may be pro-Russia to an unknown extent (and, in that case, not necessarily an Open Society ally).’.
RT says: ‘For anyone who questions whether Open Society works directly against Russian interests, that single line should dispel all doubts. Moreover, it provides some background as to why Russia in 2015 banned Open Society from operating on its territory due to the threat it posed to the country’s “constitutional order.”‘ African and Caribbean countries would do well to follow Russia’s lead.
Prov 25:5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
The Lord will have the last laugh
Eighteen billion dollars is a lot of money with which to promote the destruction of borders and Christian morality. And all we have is prayer, the word of God and the Holy Spirit. But on reflection, that should be enough:
Psalm 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision
Muslim women clutch a Tesco shopping bag. But Tesco don't have a halal turkey for them.
Muslim women clutch a Tesco shopping bag. But Muslims don’t believe the truth of Christmas and Tesco don’t even have a halal turkey for them.
Supermarket chain Tesco are under fire for including a Muslim family in an advertisement about Christmas. ‘However you do Christmas, we’ve got a turkey for you.’
Naturally, the ad is supposed to be ‘inclusive’ and ‘promoting diversity’.
But a supermarket does not have to do that. All it needs to do is make money for shareholders.
It does that by selling what it puts on the shelves. Moreover, it does that by bringing in customers, not by putting them off. Tesco did not have to sponsor London Gay Pride in 2012 either. But they did that too. And it backfired on them as disaster followed financial disaster in the succeeding years. Of course there are a couple of gays in the advert, one of whom is holding a baby, just so we get that grindingly politically-correct point as well.
So what we have here is a combination of social engineering and virtue signalling. Perhaps the food giant’s bosses are hoping for some kind of award for their advert. And there are hundreds of those to apply for.
No, we are not being ‘racist’
LBC’s Maajid Nawaz in full flow
Some are crying ‘racism’ here, as has LBC’s Maajid Nawaz. Mr Nawaz is deliberately trying to obscure the actual point. And he is hoping the smear will make us back off. But this is not a race matter. It is to do with religion. There is a black woman and an Asian family in the advert. No-one is complaining about that. It’s the women showing off their hijabs (headscarves) which has struck a discordant note.
Moreover, this is a deliberate, gratuitous, incongruous inclusion of Muslims in an advert about Christmas. And why are Muslims out of place in a Christmas ad? It is because Christmas is a religious festival. Also, it is because Christian festivals such as Advent, Christmas, Easter and Whtisun proclaim this nation’s Christian heritage. Above all, it is because Christmas celebrates God becoming one of us in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ:
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Muslims deny Christmas:
And that is an event Muslims and their Quran maintain did not happen:
Surah 19, Mary: 88. They say: “((Allah)) Most Gracious has begotten a son!” 89. Indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous! 90. At it the skies are ready to burst, the earth to split asunder, and the mountains to fall down
in utter ruin, 91. That they should invoke a son for ((Allah)) Most Gracious. 92. For it is not consonant with the majesty of ((Allah)) Most Gracious that He should beget a son.
Surah 3, The House Of ‘Imran: 59. The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: “Be”. And he was.
Surah 4, Women: 171. O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the
truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an apostle of Allah, and His Word, which
He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him:
Total hypocrisy
And now for the totally hypocritical part. Tesco are not even selling halal turkeys. So if you are Muslim, Tesco do not have a turkey for you. They sell halal lamb and chicken however without telling customers it has been dedicated to Allah. So not to include turkeys is a good thing. Every little helps. But don’t pretend you have a turkey for everyone when you don’t.
To be fair, many Tesco stores support food banks, most of which are run by churches. They often allow collections of tinned food. But to think a good deed outweighs an evil one is to fall into the Muslim error itself. There is only one who forgives sin, and his name is Jesus.
So once again, just like over London Gay Pride, we are calling for a boycott of Tesco. Tesco are trying to take Christ out of Christmas. So let Christians and all who value the UK’s Christian heritage buy our Christmas turkey elsewhere. Moreover, let us pray that Tesco will have mountains of turkeys left unsold. Lastly, let us pray God will be glorified and that supermarket bosses will trust in Jesus.
Prince WIlliam speaking at the Tusk dinner. Yes, that is entrepreneur Deborah Meaden in the background.
Prince WIlliam speaking at the Tusk dinner. Yes, that is entrepreneur Deborah Meaden in the background.
Prince William has been accused of racism after blaming a decline in wildlife on Africa’s growing population.
Gala event
The Duke of Cambridge was speaking at a gala event for a conservation charity last week in London. He is royal patron of the Tusk Trust.
As its name suggests, the charity started by opposing the killing of animals for their tusks. However, it now has a wider conservation remit and a long list of ‘great and good’ patrons.
Wildlife and conservation are certainly important if only because many African nations depend on their wildlife for tourism.
Too many Africans
The Prince proposed ‘a strategy that will allow humans and animal species to share the environment.’ He claimed: ‘In my lifetime, we have seen global wildlife populations decline by over half. We are going to have to work much harder, and think much deeper, if we are to ensure that human beings and the other species of animal with which we share this planet can continue to co-exist.’
The World Wildlife Fund came up with the 50% decline figure in 2014. They said it had happened in 40 years. The Prince is 35. They blamed ‘climate change’ and ‘the combined impacts of habitat loss and degradation, driven by unsustainable human consumption’.
But not even WWF specifically fingered Africans for the decline as Prince William did:
‘Africa’s rapidly growing human population is predicted to more than double by 2050 – a staggering increase of three and a half million people per month,’ he said. ‘There is no question that this increase puts wildlife and habitat under enormous pressure. Urbanization, infrastructure development, cultivation – all good things in themselves, but they will have a terrible impact unless we begin to plan and to take measures now.’
Duke of Edinburgh’s viral reincarnation
HRH did not suggest what sort of ‘planning’ was needed, but it clearly involves reducing at least the rate of increase of Africans. Would his solution be as far-sighted as that of his grandfather?
According to a run-down of his wit in an article in the Guardian, The Duke of Edinburgh said: ‘In the event that I am reincarnated, I would like to return as a deadly virus, to contribute something to solving overpopulation.’ Another website attributes the sentiment to the Duke’s foreword to a book ‘If I Were an Animal’ (1987) by Fleur Cowles. Mercifully, we are given just the one life to live:
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
In 2011 Prince Philip said he still believed a growing human population was the biggest challenge to conservation. He kindly ruled out mass sterilization. ‘Voluntary family limitation’, whatever that means, was the only way to tackle what he saw as this huge problem.
Overpopulation is a myth
The truth is, overpopulation, beloved of Malthusians, royal and commoner alike, is an atheist myth. Environmental scientist Erle Ellis debunks it in this article in the New Times. And here is a website dedicated to the subject. The most populous countries are the wealthiest, and as populations become wealthier, their family sizes reduce. We actually need population increase for economic growth and to support the elderly. The real population problem is Europeans not even replacing their numbers. That is leading to ageing populations and a pensions crisis.
The world is not overpopulated, and certainly not overpopulated with Africans. The average population density of Africa is 39.1 inhabitants per square kilometre. Reference Wikipedia. The corresponding figure for Europe is 59. Reference Wikipedia. Meanwhile, the population density (people per sq. km) in China was reported at 147 in 2016, according to the World Bank. Reference TradingEconomics. Putting all that in perspective, the equivalent figure for the United Kingdom is 271. Reference TradingEconomics
Prince William doing his bit
The royal family have certainly done their bit to achieve that UK figure. The Duchess of Cambridge is currently expecting Prince William’s third child. The Duke of Edinburgh fathered four children. OK, the Tusk Trust might have written most of Prince William’s speech. There are many similarities with positions on their website. But the charity does not quite blame Africans and their natural fecundity for decreases in wildlife populations. That appears to have been the Prince’s own idea. The Bible records the Lord’s creation mandate to Adam and Eve:
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them (Adam and Eve), and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
The Lord has yet to modify that with ‘Hold on, there’s too many of you – and definitely too many black people’.
The Duke of Cambridge would do well to apologise for his racism, seek humility and the word of Almighty God and learn the truth about human populations.
1.2 million personnel serve in the North Korean armed forces
1.2 million personnel serve in the North Korea armed forces
North Korea today set out a strike plan for the US island territory and military base of Guam in Micronesia, in the Western Pacific.
According to the Guardian, ‘North Korea has defied threats of “fire and fury” from Donald Trump, deriding his warning as a “load of nonsense” and announcing a detailed plan to launch missiles aimed at the waters off the coast of the US Pacific territory of Guam.’ The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) says it will launch four missiles into waters ‘30-40km’ off the US territory and called President Trump ‘bereft of reason’.
Sanctions against North Korea
On Saturday 5th August, the UN security council voted unanimously to impose new sanctions on the DPRK. But the sanctions and the threats from Mr Trump do not appear to have brought peace.
Meanwhile, the mainstream media have been keen to lay the blame squarely on North Korea. Only this morning, BBC news ran a piece in which a young boy on Guam, prompted by his mother and connected to London by Skype, implored Kim Jong-un not to bomb them. This was not news. It was propaganda.
Back in May, the United States was amassing its navy off the North Korean coast in a show of military strength. It was practicing bombing raids into the North. The North Korean military, for their part, have been busily testing missiles thought to have nuclear capability. The Pope urged diplomacy and called for Norway to mediate. How do we pray into all these aspects of what the papers call this ‘Hermit Country’? What has brought international tension over the DPRK to this point?
Would a more diplomatic, even a relaxed, approach have brought about a peaceful solution to the crisis already? Instead of an US apoplectic fit, what if a test launch of a North Korean missile was met with a shrug of the shoulders? Rather than isolation, what would be the result of a policy of engagement with Kim Jong-un and his crew?
After all, the Bible says:
Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
The sense of God’s word is that in general peace is good and wrath and anger are bad. Moreover, a bit of wisdom and diplomacy can defuse a dangerous situation. And in this case, it’s one that could adversely affect us all.
Religion in North Korea
Open Doors describes North Korea as the worst place in the world to be a Christian. Its ruling family are, in practice, deified. But this was not always the case. Historically, religion on the Korean peninsular was shamanic with elements of the humanistic Confucian self-improvement doctrine coupled with ancestral worship. In the nineteenth century there was underground Christian missionary activity. The state had focused on neo-Confucianism and repressed the nascent Buddhism and Christianity. But the materialism of Confucius was collapsing.
Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Accordingly, in the 1880s the government allowed large numbers of Western missionaries to enter the country. Protestant missionaries set up schools, hospitals and publishing agencies. The king of Korea and his family tacitly supported Christianity.
When Japan’s imperialism spread to the peninsular from 1910 the Land of the Rising Sun tried to impose its religion of Shinto. Like Confucianism, Shinto believes humans to be fundamentally good. The difference is, for Shinto, evil comes not from poor thoughts but from evil spirits. Consequently, Shinto rituals try to keep these away by purification, prayers and offerings to the kami (the divine – hence ‘kami kaze’ = ‘divine wind’).
Christianity and Nationalism
Christianity became associated with Korean nationalism as Christians refused to take part in Shinto rituals. But a reformed Confucianism called Cheondogyo also took hold. Cheondogyo translated literally means ‘religion of the Heavenly Way’. The word ‘Cheon’ means ‘Heaven’, ‘do’ means ‘way’ and gyo means ‘religion’. Cheondoism is agnostic about an afterlife. It tries to create paradise on earth through inner peace, moral virtue and Confucian propriety. It shares with Christianity the aim of reforming society but lacks the power of the Holy Spirit. The royal family supported the ‘Heavenly Way’ movement as well. But a movement opposed to the Lord of life cannot end well:
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
With the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Japanese were evicted from the Korean peninsular. Sadly, the country was then divided into a Russian-backed communist North and an American-supported South. Many Christians in the North fled to the South. They included around a sixth of the population of Pyongyang. The Cheondoists stayed put. To the newly-installed communist rulers of North Korea, Christianity was now associated with Americanism. That state of affairs exists to this day. If you are interested, there is only one mosque in Pyongyang, in the Iranian Embassy.
Constitutional Freedom
In the DPRK 1992 constitution, Article 68 grants freedom of religious belief and guarantees the right to construct buildings for religious use and religious ceremonies. The article also states, however: ‘No one may use religion as a means by which to drag in foreign powers or to destroy the state or social order’.
This may give us a clue to the problem. Christian Solidarity Worldwide supports economic sanctions against North Korea. But it says: ‘Christianity is repressed most harshly because it is viewed as a foreign religion, and Christians are suspected of being spies.
‘In Pyongyang, there are four churches – two Protestant, one Catholic and one Russian Orthodox – but these are widely regarded as … show churches for the benefit of foreign visitors.’
The imposition of economic sanctions hardly mollifies the view of Christianity as a foreign, aggressive religion.
Threats from North Korea
In 1950, the North Korean Communist army crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded non-Communist South Korea. As Kim Il-sung’s North Korean army, armed with Soviet tanks, quickly overran South Korea, the United States came to South Korea’s aid. In the ensuing Korean War, all the cities of the North and many of the South were flattened. The economies of both were shattered. South Korea rebuilt faster with the help of its US and European allies. Mired in Communism, the USSR-supported North started well but collapsed in the 1990s (see below) and is only slowly rebuilding, hampered by continuing sanctions.
It is only sensible to view things from another’s perspective. Although the North started the Korean War, today its supporters argue self-preservation is more on its leadership’s mind. It has the historic enemy of Japan allied to the US across the Sea of Japan to the east, a US fleet parked off its coast, the US-backed South Korea to the South, and China to the north and west. A small border with Russia in the far north-east completes the set.
Threats to North Korea
Bruce Cumings of the University of Chicago reminds us (in thenation.com) that President Bill Clinton persuaded North Korea ‘to freeze its plutonium production for eight years (1994–2002) … Clinton also signed an agreement with Gen. Jo Myong-rok stating that henceforth, neither country would bear “hostile intent” toward the other.’ He claims the Bush administration ignored both agreements and embarked on a policy of aggravation:
‘Bush’s invasion of Iraq is rightly seen as a world-historical catastrophe, but next in line would be placing North Korea in his “axis of evil” and, in September 2002, announcing his “preemptive” doctrine directed at Iraq and North Korea, among others.’ The sense of what he is saying is that the invasion of Iraq, the ruin of Libya and destabilisation of Syria have made the North Koreans wonder if they are next in line for ‘regime change’. If so, they would be foolish not to take steps to defend themselves.
With (let us say) unpredictable and bellicose leaders in charge of both North Korea and the United States, we are driven to our knees in prayer. Mr Tillerson’s earlier threat of ‘preemptive action’ can only result in death and destruction. It would bring unintended consequences across the region and beyond.
Faint Ray of Hope
As well as the cause of peace for its own sake, this ministry is most concerned about our Christian brothers and sisters in North Korea.
The US library of Congress reported a faint note of hope in 1993: ‘In the late 1980s, it became apparent that North Korea was beginning to use the small number of Christians remaining in the country to establish contacts with Christians in South Korea and the West. Such contacts are considered useful for promoting the regime’s political aims, including reunifying the peninsula. In 1988 two new churches, the Protestant Pongsu Church and the Catholic Changchung Cathedral, were opened in P’yongyang.
‘Other signs of the regime’s changing attitude toward Christianity include holding the International Seminar of Christians of the North and South for the Peace and Reunification of Korea in Switzerland in November 1988, allowing papal representatives to attend the opening of the Changchung Cathedral in October/November of the same year, and sending two North Korean novice priests to study in Rome. Moreover, a new association of Roman Catholics was established in June 1988. A North Korean Protestant pastor reported at a 1989 meeting of the National Council of Churches in Washington, D.C., that his country has 10,000 Protestants and 1,000 Catholics who worship in 500 home churches. In March-April 1992, American evangelist Billy Graham visited North Korea to preach and to speak at Kim Il Sung University.’
Visit of Franklin Graham
Franklin Graham Meets North Korean Christians in 2008
In 2008 Franklin Graham also visited the country, taking in a considerable amount of supplies for hospitals on behalf of Samaritan’s purse. He preached in Bongsu, the largest of two Protestant churches in Pyongyang. Preaching. ‘is not allowed outside of churches,’ Graham explained to an accompanying Fox News journalist at the time. ‘We will be preaching Sunday morning in one of their local churches. But as far as taking a stadium like we would in the United States or in other countries, no, that is not possible here. Many of the communist countries, or former communist countries, only allow you to preach on church property’. Essentially, then, this is encouraging the converted, which is good in itself. However, it isn’t preaching to the lost, which Mr Graham has a particular heart for:
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Nevertheless, we should not let the perfect be the enemy of good. Mr Graham, and his father before him, have been doing what they can.
Human Rights violations
In 2013, a different picture emerged. The UN Commission of Inquiry on human rights in North Korea now found that ‘the gravity, scale and nature’ of human rights violations in North Korea ‘reveal a State that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world.’
In 2014, the Commission of Inquiry went further. It said: ‘there is almost complete denial of the right to freedom of thought conscience and religion as well as the right to freedom of opinion, expression, information and association’ in North Korea, as well as possible crimes against humanity being perpetrated against the North Korean people. The Commission also noted that the regime in North Korea “considers the spread of Christianity a particularly severe threat”. As a result, “Christians are prohibited from practising their religion and are persecuted”. Severe punishments are inflicted on “people caught practising Christianity”.’ It was ever thus:
2Tim 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Importance of The Family
Family and family connections are important to Koreans. Franklin Graham shared with journalist Greta Van Susteren a story about his father’s experience in 1992. ‘It is a little bit of a mystery, but President Kim Il Sung for some reason liked my father, and gave my father a big bear hug when he met him, and called him family.’
Which brings us to the importance of The Family of the DPRK. The aforementioned Kim Il-sung (15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) is the grandfather of the current leader. Evidently, historians accept that, while Kim’s exploits were exaggerated by the personality cult that was built around him after the division, he was a significant guerrilla leader against the Japanese under occupation. He became Prime Minister of the DPRK from its establishment in 1948 and President from 1972 up to his death. His birthday is a significant public holiday, marked by the sort of military parades we saw last month, and styled ‘The Day of the Sun’.
Worryingly, according to an online encyclopedia, ‘many North Koreans believe Kim-Il-sung is an “almighty god” who “created the world” in seven days as a divine spirit millions of years ago, and came to Earth as a human in 1912 as a messianic figure’.
The Guardian says: ‘When he was very young he was taught in kindergarten about the magical powers of Kim Il-sung, then supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Kim learned that the dictator was the smartest man in the world and that he was able to fly around the countryside keeping watch over all his children.’
Kim Jong-Un & Juche
Kim Jong-un: ‘Crazy fat kid’, ‘Smart cookie’ or ‘A great person born of heaven’?
On his death (1994), Il-sung was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il. When Jong-il died in December 2011, his third son, Kim Jong-un, born in 1984, succeeded him. He gave titles to the deceased Jong-il reflecting Historic Korean ancestor-worship. Jong-il became ‘Eternal General Secretary’ of the Workers Party of Korea and‘Eternal Chairman of the National Defence Commission’.
US Senator John McCain crassly referred to Kim Jong-un as ‘that crazy fat kid’. Being rude is hardly a sign of statemanship. Donald Trump called him a ‘smart cookie’ whom it would be ‘an honour’ to meet. Of course, to North Koreans he is their Supreme Leader, and, like his father, ‘a great person born of heaven’.
The Kim family is also regarded as the custodian of ‘Juche’. This is a Confucian-Marxist semi-religious offshoot dreamt up in the 1940s. It is usually described as ‘patriotic self-reliance’ and has become the official state ideology of North Korea. Naturally, it is described as Kim Il-sung’s ‘original, brilliant and revolutionary contribution to national and international thought’. Juche says an individual is ‘the master of his destiny’. The North Korean masses are to act as the ‘masters of the revolution and construction’. Moreover, by becoming a self-reliant and strong nation they will achieve true socialism.
A Positive Effect
It is clear from the material on the Billy Graham Organisation website that Franklin kept to a personal message of the Gospel in his preaching in Pyongyang. He reported about his father:
‘”When we come to know Christ by committing our lives to Him, God comes into our lives and begins to change us from within,” Billy said after offering them a spiritual challenge. “And when we are changed from within, we become concerned about the problems of our world and we want to do something about them.” That is why I believe true religion has a legitimate place in modern society and why I believe Christ has a message for the people of the DPRK. In my experience in many countries, Christians – although often a minority – make good citizens and have a positive effect on their societies.’
Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
From that, and we cannot disagree, one would think any government would welcome a body of people caring for their fellows because of their love of God. Surely it could only be good if they were praying for their nation and its leaders. Think of the blessing which could flow. What could any national leader possibly find objectionable in sentiments like this:
Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
Another King and Saviour
Richard Burton as Marcellus the Centurion and Victor Mature as his servant Demetrius over-acting in the perceptive 1953 film ‘The Robe’
But there is a problem, and it is one which goes back almost two thousand years. Just like the Roman Caesars, the Kim family have become used to being subject to no higher authority. Those elevated to ‘Supreme Leader’ or ‘Caesar Augustus’ are regarded by the populace as divine. In a sense, they are the saviours of their country. All wisdom and all provision flows from them. But the Bible says it comes from God:
Prov 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. Matt 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
We remember Richard Burton’s character of Marcellus in the 1950’s film ‘The Robe’. The Centurion promised to be a faithful servant of Caesar. But central to his Christian faith was the understanding that Caesar is a ruler under the authority of God Almighty. That suggestion was as objectionable to Caesar as it could easily be today to Kim Jong-un.
Christ is a literal King of kings, more than a mere personal Saviour and helper. The idea of Christ demanding to rule in the here and now over the affairs of men has been spotted in the DPRK just as it was in first-century Thessalonica:
Acts 17:7 Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
Failure of Juche
According to the website NorthKoreanChristians .com: ‘The 1995-1998 North Korean famine starved to death an estimated 2 million people – about 10% of the population – and shook North Korea’s faith in Juche. The closed, self-reliant economic model it espoused was supposed to beat capitalism and conquer the world. Yet, there they were, unable to even feed themselves.
‘The fact that North Koreans are beginning to recognize the economic and spiritual bankruptcy of Juche is evidenced by the recent resurgence of shamanism. Having had their faith in Juche rocked, the North Koreans are turning to gods other than Kim Il Sung. The rebellion has already begun, at least spiritually.’
Fortune telling is illegal, but fortune tellers are everywhere, as people search for anything spiritual. But of course a more powerful answer to Juche lies in Christianity. The website says the Faith ‘is actually expanding’ in the North. Human rights activist David Hawk interviewed North Korean Christians in Seoul. Hawk writes, ‘Interviewee 29, a former Gugkabowibu police official who became disillusioned and fled to China and subsequently to South Korea, reported that North Korean officials are anxious to catch believers because they fear “Christianity will defeat Juche”.’ Hawk was able to use satellite imagery to verify the locations of prison camps the refugees said existed, but the DPRK regime denied.
A greater authority
Matt 8:9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
As the officer knew, a man acting on his own authority has less authority than a man under authority. Jesus Christ acts on the authority of the God-head. Imagine if Kim Jong-un acknowledged Jesus Christ as King of kings, as his Saviour and Protector, and led his people in prayer for peace and prosperity. He would enjoy far more authority than he currently has.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson wanted negotiation in May
One answer to previous prayer is that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in April and May 2017 that Washington would negotiate with North Korea with a view to removing nuclear weapons from the country, and not changing the government.
He told NPR radio in the US: ‘We do not seek regime change, we do not seek a collapse of the regime, we do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsula. We seek a denuclearised Korean peninsula – and that is entirely consistent with the objectives of others in the region as well.’
But sadly, that more peaceful approach seems now to have disappeared from view, as more punitive sanctions are imposed and the DPRK and US leaders shout at each other. Yet all the sanctions in the world, all the big ships parked off the coast, all the threats and all the insults could do much harm but will achieve precisely nothing of any good.
Do good and seek peace
Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
The United Kingdom is historically a trading nation. Our ambassadors should be arguing strongly against economic sanctions against North Korea, or any other nation for that matter. Trade in goods leads to trade in ideas. The Security Council’s imposition of sanctions is a piece of ‘virtue signalling’ which will not improve the UK economy. Furthermore it will impoverish, not Kim Jong-un, but the North Korean people. The resolution will entrench the feeling in the DPRK leadership that they are under attack. Sanctions will increase tensions and lead to more expenditure on armaments.
It is an uncomfortable thought that although Mr Tillerson’s pragmatic diplomatic approach would in the end improve ordinary trading links, it would not benefit the armaments lobby which appears to run the United States. At some stage we shall post an article showing just how much money the likes of Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon and Northrup Grumman have ploughed into re-election campaigns on both sides of the US Senate and Congress.
It would be a tragedy if the world went to war for lack of a ‘soft answer’.
PRAY: for our Christian brothers and sisters in North Korean. Pray the Lord deepens their faith, adds to their number and protects them. Also pray in the current crisis for diplomacy and understanding, for ‘soft answers’ to arise. As always, pray for peace. In particular, pray for President Trump and the UK Government and for all who think sabres are there to be rattled. Lastly, pray for Kim Jong-un to see himself as a man in need of salvation and the Cross.
On Tuesday 8th August, the people of Kenya go to the polls. Voters will elect the President and Deputy, Members of Parliament (Senate and National Assembly) and devolved government members. That’s county governors and ward representatives.
Kenya shaken by violence in 2007
Ten years ago (2007), an outbreak of tribal violence followed the presidential elections. The violence flared up after Mwai Kibaki narrowly beat Raila Odinga. Mr Kibaki is from the Kikuyu people, Kenya’s largest ethnic group. Mr Odinga is a Luo, who form the fourth-largest ethnic group. Raila was supported by many from the Luhya and Kalenjin communities, the second and third-largest tribes. When the result was announced, ethnic Kikuyus were targeted by elements of Luo and Kalenjin. The attacks led to retaliation. In all, thirteen hundred people lost their lives. On top of that, the criminal low-life came out, taking advantage of the disorder. From the violence, thousands were also internally displaced and many people were injured.
Kenyans were dismayed by the tragedy. Around eighty per cent of Kenyans practice Christianity. (There are also 10% Muslim, concentrated near the coast. 10% of Kenyans are Animist, found mainly in the rural areas). Pastors led prayers for peace.
Tribal jokes and a move for peace
Uhuru Kenyatta is running for re-election as President
Kenyans like to play down their ethnic divisions, especially to outsiders. However, amongst themselves, tribal characteristics are a rich source of humour. The Kikuyu have a reputation for running everything and never passing up an opportunity to make money.
The Luo inhabit the areas around Lake Victoria. They are renowned for their diet of fish and for taking themselves seriously. The Luhya are also characterised for their diet, which centres on chicken and the drinking of copious volumes of tea. The Kalenjin are Kenya’s distance runners and traditional keepers of cattle.
But election time is not a time for ethnic jokes. Even Kenyan comedians are emphasising togetherness. And they have taken their lead from the candidates themselves.
In 2012 Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Jomo, faced Raila Odinga in the Presidential race. But that is not the whole story. In order to avoid further ethnic tensions, and let it be said with an eye to winning, Mr Kenyatta, a Kikuyu, teamed up with William Ruto as his running mate. Mr Ruto is a leading Kalenjin. After the 2007 elections, allegations surrounded both Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto. Both were accused of inciting the violence. But for many Kenyans, the two men coming together on a single ticket was a clear call for peace and stability. Similarly, Raila ran for president with a member of another tribe. Again the church prayed. Accordingly, there was no violence following the 2012 elections, which the Kenyatta / Ruto ticket won.
Journalists stirring up trouble
This time, 2017, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto are running for re-election. Once more they are up against Raila Amolo Odinga. RAO has again appointed Kalonzo Musyoka as his running mate for the post of deputy president. Mr Musyoka is from the Kamba, the fifth-largest tribe.
Raila Odinga is challenging for the post of President
We should pray that everything passes off peacefully. And indeed we can feel we are pushing at an open door in that prayer.
But more than that, let us pray for an end to tribalism so that commentators stop feeling a need to talk about post-election violence every time there is an election in Kenya.
Above all, journalists should certainly not talk violence up. The Independent have a shabby story based on suggestions by Western-funded human rights activists that violence is about to break out again. It isn’t. The article, by Tom Odula of Associated Press in Nairobi, even claims some sad, inevitable and periodic clashes between nomadic herdsmen and farmers in the Rift Valley is ‘pre-election violence’. It isn’t. Those tragic shootings have nothing to do with the election. The Indy should have known better.
Elsewhere, the BBC is running a piece saying Kenyan ‘mixed-tribe’ couples fear animosity. It really is barely a story and it stokes trouble up. Wikipedia’s entry on the Kenyan 2017 elections has a ridiculous section on ‘pre-election violence’. They don’t stoop to Mr Odula’s level, but they still manage two entries. Firstly, an election official called Christopher Msando died a week ago in suspicious circumstances. Secondly, days ago a lunatic with a machete tried to gain entry to William Ruto’s home when the DP was away. A policeman was injured. That’s the sum total of your ‘pre-election violence’ in Kenya.
Giving God the glory
The author chatting to pastors in Nairobi, Kenya
Christian Voice is not taking a position on the candidates. Kenya has distinct problems. The Nairobi Star newspaper reports for example on high levels of youth unemployment.
The country is politically stable but corruption puts a brake on enterprise and opportunities. Kenya also faces challenges with immigration from unstable South Sudan to its north-west and Somalia to the North-East.
There is constant political interference from the US, EU and UK. China is trying to secure access to raw materials by building infrastructure that is not always as good as it should be. Moreover, in Kenya, as elsewhere in the developing world, Western governments and NGO’s funded by anti-Christian American and European foundations are constantly trying to impose immorality on the country, and undermine its stability.
Leviticus 26:3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; 4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. … Lev 26:6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. … Lev 26:12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
Every nation is called to keep the Lord’s statutes. The Bible says clearly:
Proverbs 16:12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.
The Apostle’s wish was for always for peace amongst the Lord’s people:
2Thess 3:16 Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.
So please pray for a peaceful election. Pray for great faith for the Christians of Kenya. Please also pray that whoever is elected to office in Kenya on Tuesday 8th August 2017 will walk in the Lord’s ways of obedience, honesty, justice, peace and prosperity.
Theresa May’s gamble has resulted in a hung parliament
After all the sound and fury, we have a hung parliament following yesterday’s General Election. You can check the results on the BBC website here. It looks very like the Conservatives will govern with the support of Ulster’s Democratic Unionist Party. The figures add up.
With one seat to declare, the Tories have 318 seats and Labour 261. The DUP had a good night, gaining two seats to go up to ten. The two parties, with 328 seats, would have a Commons majority.
We must pray the DUP will keep the Tories honest and a bit more moral on social issues. The transgender assault on schools springs to mind as something any government should oppose. And if Mrs May’s Easter message was not plain hypocrisy, sacking Christians for talking about their faith in the workplace must stop. We must have security and in foreign policy, the warmongering must stop. But its the impact on Brexit of a hung parliament which is looming large in the media this morning.
Proverbs 16:12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness. (KJV)
What went wrong?
Prov 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Firstly, they refused to rule out National Health Insurance increases. That followed an attempted raid on the self-employed in the March Budget. So they told the self-employed they were going for them. That’s four million people and their families.
Secondly, they alienated the elderly and their families. They abandoned the so-called ‘Triple-Lock’ on pensions. They proposed to take away the rule that pensions would rise by a minimum of 2.5%. It may have been right to do, but it contrasted badly with Labour assurances to keep the Triple Lock.
Mrs May forsook the counsel of the Cabinet
The care cost floor, dubbed the ‘Dementia Tax’, was a hasty policy. It was neither thought out nor trailed beforehand. There was no Cabinet consensus or even discussion. The policy was inserted in the Tory manifesto after a battle between advisers in No 10. The outcry was predictable. Ditching it after just four days made Theresa May look, not ‘Strong and Stable’, but ‘Weak and Wobbly’.
Prov 24:6 For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.
Mrs May’s director of communications until the election was announced, Katie Perrior, told the BBC she “needed to broaden her circle of advisers and have a few grey hairs in there who been around a bit and could say ‘don’t do that'”.
2Chr 10:8 But he (King Rehoboam) forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before him.
Who can be trusted to keep us secure?
Thirdly, the two terror attacks, on Manchester and London Bridge, focused attention on the relationship between security and foreign policy. People were able to see how the British attack on Libya in 2011 has put us all at risk. Mrs May, as Home Secretary, encouraged known Muslim extremists to go to Libya. Not only that, she allowed them to return here as trained jihadists. Mrs May made Jeremy Corbyn look strong on security.
Fourthly, voters liked the Labour Manifesto. I am not talking about extending the Abortion Act to Northern Ireland, recognising a state of Palestine and encouraging gay rights and transgenderism. I mean nationalising the railways and spending more on public services. These things chimed with voters. In addition, doing away with student fees brought out the younger vote.
Fifthly, Jeremy Corbyn came across as affable and genuinely interested in people on the campaign stump. Theresa May looked wooden and distant. Voters warmed to Mr Corbyn. They were somewhat put off by Mrs May and what they saw as a negative personal campaign against Mr Corbyn.
Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
Effect on Brexit of hung parliament
As I write, the mainstream media are pretending the hung parliament result is a rejection by voters of a clean (or ‘hard’) Brexit. The BBC quoted former Chancellor George Osborne who told ITV: ‘Hard Brexit went into the rubbish bin tonight.’ But Brexit and the form of it was hardly mentioned in the campaign.
The party most defined by opposition to Brexit was the Liberal Democrats. Tim Farron’s crew gained a few seats but their popular vote declined. They took two seats off the SNP in Scotland but lost their only one one in Wales to Plaid Cymru. Their idea of a second referendum was shot down by the voters. The Scottish Nationalist Party, and their IndyRef coupled with flat opposition to Brexit, went backwards.
UKIP voters appear to have thought ‘Job Done’. If so, they thought wrongly. But in any event, most have returned to the Conservatives and Labour whence they came.
DUP did not mention the Single Market
Labour’s position was to accept the referendum result and try to maintain access to the Single Market, not necessarily by being in it. The Conservatives said they want to take the UK right out of the Single Market and the EU Customs Union.
The DUP stated their position as follows: ‘The DUP will work to get the best deal for Northern Ireland as the UK leaves the European Union.’ The DUP manifesto, which everyone is studying this morning, did not mention the Single Market or the Customs Union. They obviously want a ‘frictionless border’ with the Republic of Ireland. (Maybe the Republic will follow us out of the EU.) The DUP say they want a ‘Comprehensive free trade and customs agreement with the European Union’. As a party which never wanted to join the EU in the first place, they should support a clean Brexit.
Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Should Mrs May resign?
The DUP’s Chief Whip and Defence spokesman Sir Jeffrey Donaldson will have a big role in negotiations with the Tories and in the new hung parliament
The Remoaner Anna Soubry MP (Con) and Bilderberg insider and globalist Ken Clarke can safely be ignored. As long as the UK maintains EU-style protections for working people, there will be enough Labour votes to secure a clean break from the European Union in a hung parliament.
The media love a story and if there isn’t one they invent one. So apart from Brexit, their other topic of conversation is whether Theresa May should resign.
The view here is that although she dropped the ball during the campaign, she still won the election. No-one else would have any kind of a mandate. She should stay on and clear up the mess. She must sack her foolish advisers and listen to her Cabinet. In addition, Mrs May has some tough questions to answer on her record at the Home Office and her ability under pressure.
Set up a church meeting about Brexit
So those of you who were praying for some sort of Con-DUP coalition have your prayers answered. We now need to be praying for those in authority even more. And the Brexit debate is back on the agenda. In that regard, I am more than happy to come to your church or fellowship and share what I learnt about the EU and its revived Roman Empire on my travels last year. All the Brexit videos are in this link.
Just ring or email to arrange a time.
Malachi 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
Prayer and the LBGT dimension
Pray for the Lord to extend mercy over this United Kingdom. In particular, pray for a godly government to be formed. Pray in particular for the negotiations between the DUP and Conservatives. Also pray for righteousness and wisdom from on high to penetrate and wash over the corridors of power.
Lesbian Ruth Davidson is the Tories’ leader in Scotland. She is about to get gay-married to her ‘partner’ Jen Wilson. She is very worried about the DUP and their staunch opposition to sodomy. Miss Davidson told the BBC LBGT rights means more to her than her Party. Mrs May has told her ‘gay rights’ will not be eroded in Great Britain. Furthermore, Mrs May will try to advance ‘gay rights’ in Ulster. We need to pray to the contrary. In addition, pray that DUP influence will mean the UK will stop promoting sodomy abroad.
Job 22:22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. 23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
Prayer and Brexit
Keep praying for Brexit, for security, for an end to political corrrectness, for the rights of Christians in the workplace and especially for Christians in Parliament, of whom not a few are in the DUP, as it happens. Indeed, the media are now attacking the DUP. Their opposition to gay rights, mentioned above, and abortion are well known. But one or two of them are sceptical about climate change and evolution. They need our prayer as a group.
1Tim 2:1I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
American and European top politicians, industrialists and bankers met last weekend to decide how the world will be run. The Bilderberg Group gathered at Chantilly, Virginia, USA from 2nd to 4th June 2017.
You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to be concerned about it.
Firstly, these wealthy individuals rather than politicians we elect are going to determine what should be done in the world.
Secondly, whatever they decide, be sure it will benefit these ‘kings of the earth’ first, and the rest of us a long way behind.
Lastly, the Bible teaches conspiracy not as theory but as fact:
Psalm 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, …
Overlapping membership with world elite
Kenneth Clarke was on the Bilderberg steering group for years.
Bilderberg is named after the Dutch hotel where the group first met in 1954. It is highly secretive and had to be pushed and shamed a few years ago even into having a website. Naturally, the website does the minimum, publishing a list of those attending and an agenda. Up until ten or so years ago journalists had to find out the annual guest list from staff at the latest venue.
Leading members have included Dennis Healey, Kenneth Clarke, Peter Lord Carrington, the Irishman Peter Sutherland and Henry Kissinger. Bilderberg has strong links by personnel to other groups of the world’s elite. Both the US and the European Council on Foreign Relations are part of the same network. The Trilateral Commission, founded by David Rockefeller, includes in addition the elite of the Far East. The TC membership linked off their website here overlaps with Bilderberg. The World Bank and IMF, Davos, the globalist Club of Rome and numerous think-tanks such as the Aspen Institute are also in the loop.
The Trump Administration: A progress report
Trans-Atlantic relations: options and scenarios
The Trans-Atlantic defence alliance: bullets, bytes and bucks
The direction of the EU
Can globalisation be slowed down?
Jobs, income and unrealised expectations
The war on information
Why is populism growing?
Russia in the international order
The Near East
Nuclear proliferation
China
Current events
Bilderberg clearly don’t like populism. It might upset their apple cart. They also talked about China and Russia. How many Russians do you think were there? Precisely none. And how many Chinese? Just the one, that nation’s ambassador to the US. There was no-one from Asia and no-one from South America. Naturally, no-one was invited from Africa or from Eastern Europe. Sorry, there was one Polish guy there, but only because he is a professor at Harvard. Furthermore, there was no delegate from Israel. However, five industrialists and economists came from Turkey. Apart from that, there was no-one from the Middle East. That’s because Bilderberg was ‘designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America’.
Charlie Skelton has been lampooning Bilderberg for years in the Guardian. Accordingly, here is his take on the inclusion of the agenda item on globalisation: ‘You think that the assembled heads of Google, AT&T, Bayer, Airbus, Deutsche Bank, Ryanair, Fiat Chrysler, and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange want to see a brake on globalisation? It’s the air that they breathe.’
Prospects and high-flyers
Bilderberg liked Tony Blair four years before he became Prime Minister
But make no mistake, Bilderberg is the primary concentrated gathering of those who see themselves as the world’s elite. The official 2017 guest list reveals the meeting was chaired by Henri de Castries, boss of AXA insurance. The king of the Netherlands rubbed shoulders with Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary.
Ultra-hawkish US Senators Tom Cotton and Lindsey Graham were there. In the past, Bilderberg has been good at identifying future Prime Minsters and Presidents. It is where Tony Blair was anointed in 1993 before he won the 1997 election.
Another website says: ‘Arkansas governor Bill Clinton, for example, who attended in 1991. “There, David Rockefeller told (him) why the North American Free Trade Agreement….was a Bilderberg priority and that the group needed him to support it. The next year, Clinton was elected president.” On January 1, 1994 NAFTA took effect.’
Of course, existing high-flyers are also in evidence. Sometimes they will be insiders, thinking along the same liines. At other times they will be those whom the inner circle wish to influence. Accordingly, this year, Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser, H.R. McMaster, attended alongside David Petraeus, former CIA Director. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s Secretary General, pitched up. William J. Burns, President of the Carnegie Endowment was there. So was Christopher Liddell, Who is an Assistant to Donald Trump, and Director of Strategic Initiatives in the White House.
UK Guest list
The UK Guest list was a little light this year, maybe because of the General Election. Nevertheless, these eight made it:
Andrew Adonis, Chair, National Infrastructure Commission
Marcus Agius, Chairman, PA Consulting Group
General Sir John Nicholas Reynolds, Former Chief of the Defence Staff
George Osborne, Editor, London Evening Standard
Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, The Financial Times
John Sawers, Chairman and Partner, Macro Advisory Partners
Sharon White, Chief Executive, Ofcom
Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times
The annual meetings take place under what is known as the ‘Chatham House rule’ which was invented by London’s Royal Institute of International Affairs. Consequently, ‘Participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.’
So don’t expect any report to come out. Of course, all the journalists present are sworn to secrecy. The website says of its meetings: ‘There is no desired outcome, no minutes are taken and no report is written. Furthermore, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued.’
Scripture
Psalm 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
As you pray into this, for the Lord to bring their plans to naught, be sure he will have the final word:
READ: Psalm 2:1-4, 48:7, 64, 76:12, 149; Isaiah 24::21; Luke 8:17; John 15:18; 2Cor 10:3-5; Rev 19:19-20.
Admiral Mike Rogers is talking up Russian hacking despite there being no evidence of it.
Admiral Mike Rogers is talking up Russian hacking despite there being no evidence of it.
A Russian hacking scare is doing the rounds in our newspapers.
Just for a change, this time the imaginary target is the UK’s General Election.
However, it is not clear what they are supposed to be doing. Are they firing off tweets? Did they leak the Labour Manifesto? Are they planning to flood the count with agents? Then what?
‘Russian hacking’ of Macron was actually from the US
The Sun Newspaper reportsUS National Security Agency head Admiral Mike Rogers confirming his staff were in contact with Britain.
Mr Rogers told a Senate hearing in Washington: ‘We had become aware of Russian activity. We had talked to our French counterparts and gave them a heads-up. We are doing the same with our German counterparts and our British counterparts.’
He also claimed Russia was behind an attack on new French leader Emmanuel Macron’s team on the eve of the election.
The hacking attack on Macron’s campaign — a day ahead of the run-off vote that saw him elected — led to thousands of files being leaked online. Experts said it was a clumsy and amateurish effort. It had none of the hallmarks of a sophisticated attack, let alone involvement of a state agency.
Indeed, Andrew Rettman in EUObserver said: ‘The spread of stolen emails designed to harm Emmanuel Macron was linked to US-based neo-Nazis, according to a French investigation.’ Admiral Rogers was plain wrong. And he must have known he was giving the Senate misleading information.
Russians are capable
Boris Johnson chimed in, claiming there was ‘no question at all’ that President Putin hacked the Democratic National Convention. (Actually it was a Democrat insider who leaked the material to Wikileaks.)
In apparent response to a question about hacking our election, Mr Johnson said there was ‘plenty of evidence that the Russians are capable of doing that.’ Going further, he said there was ‘no doubt they had been up to all sorts of dirty tricks.’
No doubt any number of states have people capable of hacking into computers. But clever boys and girls out there can do the same. Moreover, the channel to Wikileaks is always open to whistle-blowing insiders.
Talking of Wikileaks, in March they released material from the US Central Intelligence Agency. It was leaked by an insider. Among the documents, WikiLeaks exposed the CIA’s ‘UMBRAGE’ group. These software engineers use malware to steal and replicate the digital ‘fingerprints’ of a foreign hacker. That allows the U.S. to blame the hack on a foreign enemy. And today, sadly, the US elite see Russia as an enemy. Stick in some ‘Russian script’ and it’s ‘job done’.
The false story will run because everyone in the mainstream media and every Establishment politician wants to believe ‘the Russians did it’.
US interference in elections
The Washington Post has led on the Russian hacking nonsense. It has even had its fingers burnt with posting fake news about the Vermont Utility in its eagerness to see the Russians everywhere.
He speaks of the USA’s ‘most infamous episodes’. These ‘include firstly the ousting of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953‘. Tharoor says his government ‘was replaced by an authoritarian monarchy favorable to Washington’. That will be the Shah. Secondly, there was the ‘removal and assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba in 1961’. Thirdly, Tharoor says the US did not care for socialist Chilean President Salvador Allende. He writes that his government ‘was swept aside in 1973 by a military coup led by the ruthless Gen. Augusto Pinochet’. And who backed Pinochet? The US gave him assistance.
But the US did not just oust left-wing governments in a cold-war fever. Tharoor says: ‘Sometimes that agenda also explicitly converged with the interests of U.S. business’. In 1954, he writes, ‘Washington unseated Guatemala’s left-wing president, Jacobo Arbenz’. Arbenz ‘had the temerity to challenge the vast control of the United Fruit Co., a U.S. corporation’. The President brought in agrarian laws that would be fairer to Guatemalan farmers. Writes Tharoor: ‘The CIA went on to install and back a series of right-wing dictatorships that brutalized the impoverished nation for almost half a century.’ The whole article is well worth a read.
Modern history of US / UK interference
And all of that is to neglect modern history. The US and UK together brought about the ruin of Iraq, the desolation of Libya and the destabilisation of Syria. The EU interfered in Ukraine, toppling a democratically-elected president because he was pro-Russian. And of course that man George Soros was ready with his ‘Open Society Foundation’ to enable a bit of violent street action in support. Recently, President Obama tried to interfere, albeit clumsily, in the UK’s Brexit referendum.
So let’s all try to be a little bit grown up, shall we? Of course states want to deal with those who are friendly to them. And of course they might try to influence things so that friendly people come to power. Or those to their advantage. And if they are not doing it, the bankers or other elites are doing it. Or even organised crime. The Mafia no doubt influence elections on Sicily and in cities like Rome and Turin. And we can be sure the very last thing armaments manufacturers want is nation states getting on well with each other and defeating terrorism. It follows they will do their best to interfere at election time everywhere.
During this general election, can we get around and ask for some evidence of the Russians hacking it? All the talk of Russian hacking might leave President Putin feeling flattered and amused. All the same, it degrades those who spout it and wastes everyone’s time. Is there no real news out there?
2Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God
The LGBT group designated Prince William as ‘straight ally of the year’. It appears the Prince was duped into supporting the homosexual activists’ Trojan horse of ‘anti-bullying’.
He has even appeared on the front cover of a homosexual magazine promoting the cause. Neither Prince William nor his advisors seem to have realised the anti-gay-bullying campaign is just another gay propaganda tool. The Bible says:
Proverbs 25:5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
Activists use anti-bullying in schools, to recruit vulnerable teenagers. Firstly they sucker schoolchildren into supporting the gay cause.
Secondly, if a child experiences any kind of homosexual attraction phase in adolescence, teachers and other authority figures encourage them to see themselves as possessing a ‘homosexual orientation’.
Sarah Garrett, promoter of the post-truth world
Sarah Garrett and twins with Linda Riley
Lesbian activist Sarah Garrett founded the British LGBT Awards through the Square Peg Media (SPM) group. She built up SPM from 2005 with her lesbian partner Linda Riley. Ms Riley remains as managing director.
Nevertheless, she nauseatingly refers to Ms Garrett as ‘my ex-wifey’. Sarah Garrett gave birth to twin daughters by a sperm donor in 2007, when she was ‘with’ Ms Riley. Two women can now be named on a birth certificate. Welcome to the post-truth world.
Mark 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
As well as the LGBT awards, SPM also started something called ‘Alternative Parenting Week’. Naturally, the Queen made Ms Garrett a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Years Honours List. We cannot be bothered to look it up, but the excuse was probably ‘Services to Diversity’. Sarah Garrett was no.36 on the Pride Power List at this time of writing. Linda Riley does not appear. Yes, Sir Ian McKellen is no.1 on the list and the ghastly God-hating Stephen Fry is no.2.
‘Progess on Equality’ means LGBT awards not needed
In a sign of the times, the National Westminster Bank is the major sponsor of the LGBT awards. The awards become the ‘NatWest British LGBT awards’. But if that makes you want to switch banks, Barclays and HSBC are also sponsors and Lloyds was slated for an award. The Independent newspaper is ‘media sponsor’.
Ruth Hunt of Stonewall
Psalm 14:3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Sarah Garrett started up the LGBT Awards in 2015, when the Stonewall Awards closed down. Stonewall is the UK’s major sodomy-promoting pressure group. Their awards were notorious for including a ‘Bigot of the Year’ category. This author was nominated for that category but disappointingly lost out to Melanie Phillips in 2011.
Why did Stonewall end the awards? Stonewall Chief Executive Ruth Hunt cited society’s ‘progress on equality’ since the awards were first launched in 2005. So did Stonewall drop the awards and Sarah Garrett just pick up the loose ball? Did Stonewall possibly agree for Ms Garrett to take over? Or did she just muscle in? We shall probably never know.
SPM will have agreed the award with the Prince’s office before he was nominated. It was a bad decision to link up with those trying to destroy the Christian faith and promote sodomy to schoolchildren:
2Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
Given that, it was a good call to stay away from the actual event. The ex-athlete and Kardashian associate Bruce Jenner won an award called ‘Loud and Proud’. Of course he won this posing as ‘transgender women’ ‘Caitlin Jenner’.
The gay anti-bullying propaganda campaign now has royal sanction. Consequently, Pastors and parents will need to be on even greater alert. What are the schools teaching your children? You need to find out.
Meanwhile, we can only pray the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will keep Prince George well away from the gay scene itself. But all their mixing with the ‘luvvies’ of the entertainment world at a time when the whole Establishment is promoting an anti-life lifestyle of disease, death and degradation will make that hard to do. Moreover, if his parents have totally lost their moral compass, the infant prince will be in real spiritual danger.
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Psalm 11:3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
David Lord Howell of Guildford has urged the UK to recognise a State of Palestine
David Lord Howell of Guildford has urged the UK to recognise a State of Palestine
An influential House of Lords Committee has suggested the UK Government recognise a new State of Palestine.
The Lords International Relations Committee today published its report, ‘The Middle East: Time for New Realism’. It calls for a major re-shaping of UK policy in the Middle East. It also ‘questions some of the assumptions and attitudes which have underlain both UK and Western policies toward the region for more than a century’.
High-Flyer
The Rt Hon. the Lord Howell of Guildford is chairman of the Committee. David Arthur Russell Howell was educated at Eton and Kings College Cambridge, where he took a First in Economics. The high-flyer was elected MP for Guildford. He was a cabinet minister under Margaret Thatcher. Later he was a Minister of State in the Foreign Office. His daughter, Frances, is married to the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Conservative MP George Osborne.
The Committee bought into the US Syrian chemical attack narrative. Consequently, it endorses ‘the military action of the US in Syria as justified and appropriate given Russia’s determination to block action at the UN Security Council, and the violation of the Syrian regime’s obligations under the Chemicals Weapons Convention.’
Nevertheless, Lord Howell has not slavishly followed the US lead. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed to tear up President Obama’s deal with Iran. But the Report says, ‘The UK should work with Iran despite US policy to ensure the stability of the Iran nuclear deal.’ That would be a way of peace in a region needing stability.
Palestine State comments
But it is the comments on a political strike against Israel which have garnered most publicity. Coincidentally, the Report was published on Israel’s Independence Day, 2nd May.
Paragraph 270 of the report says: ‘The balance of power in the delivery of peace lies with Israel. If Israel continues to reduce the possibilities of a two-state solution, the UK should be ready to support UNSC (UN Security Council) resolutions condemning those actions (of settlements in Judea and Samaria) in no uncertain terms. The Government should give serious consideration to now recognising Palestine as a state, as the best way to show its determined attachment to the two-state solution.’
Where the borders of the State of Palestine would be the eighty-one-year-old peer does not specify. Nor does he say who should run it. The Hamas terrorists of Gaza and the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas are squabbling. The latter operates in the so-called ‘West Bank (Judea and Samaria). Abbas is trying to seize control of Gaza right at this moment, according to press reports. Hamas have responded, says the Times of Israel, by accusing Abbas of ‘crimes against humanity’
Palestine UN non-member observer status
A State of Palestine represented by the Palestinian Authority has been recognised by 136 out of 193 United Nations member states. Of course every Muslim state recognises it. Most of Eastern Europe, Asia, the Far East, Africa and South America also side with the PA. So do Russia, Iceland and Sweden.
In September 2011, Britain said it would recognise Palestine as a state, but only with non-member observer status, rather than full membership, at the United Nations. Such status was agreed.
On 29 November 2012, the UN General Assembly passed a motion changing Palestine’s “entity” status to “non-member observer state.” The vote was 138 to 9, with 41 abstentions.
Those voting against were Canada, Czech Republic, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Palau, Panama, United States. The United Kingdom was among the abstentions.
The recommendation in Lord Howell’s Report would move the UK to the side of opposing Israel. But Scripture shows that is not a good place to be.
Some Scripture on Israel
Jeremiah 31:35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: 36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
Zechariah 12:2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. … 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
The triple-lock matters to pensioners - and there are almost twelve million of them.
Theresa May has stated Britain will leave the EU’s Single Market. But she could easily lose the General Election.
As the political parties write their general election manifestos, one of them faces a particular challenge.
The Conservatives might think they have an unassailable lead, but they could easily snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And that would put Brexit in peril.
NHI for the Self-Employed
Firstly., they would dearly like their manifesto to give them fiscal carte blanche. Their previous manifesto promised no rise in VAT, income tax or national health insurance (NHI) contributions. That may have been foolish, but it’s why Chancellor Philip Hammond came unstuck in March.
His March 2017 budget proposed to increase NHI for the self-employed. The Guardian found at least 18 Tory MPs prepared to vote that down. Hammond and Mrs May retreated.
But this time, if they take out the pledge, every Tory candidate will be signed up to the change. It follows they will be unable to object. But they may not have the opportunity. According to National Statistics, there are now over four and a half million self-employed in the UK. The trend shows not sign of slowing down. ONS say: ‘The level of self-employment in the UK increased from 3.8 million in 2008 to 4.6 million in 2015.’
The pensioners’ ‘triple-lock’
The triple-lock matters to pensioners – and there are almost twelve million of them.
Secondly, the Conservatives would love to abolish the so-called ‘triple-lock’ with this general election. The coalition government began this scheme in 2010. It increases the state pension each year by inflation, the increase in average earnings or 2.5%, whichever is the highest. Maintaining the triple lock until at least 2020 was another David Cameron 2015 manifesto commitment.
Labour have already pledged to maintain the triple-lock. If the Tories take it away, they could alienate every one of the UK’s 11.8 million pensioners in one go. Nearly one million over-75s live in poverty, according to the BBC. At April 2014, the basic state pension was around £440 a year more than it would have been if it had been increased only in line with the increase in average earnings. So it matters to people. Almost 2 million pensioners may live in a household with a millionaire, but if self-interest or altruism kick in, Mrs May could be in trouble.
So that is twelve million pensioners and four-and-a-half million self-employed. Fifteen million is a huge voting block to alienate. There are just 44.7 million electors in the UK, according to ONS. You do the maths. The Tories stand to lose the votes of over a third of the electorate. And these are people who actually vote. Lose them and they lose the general election.
LibDem leader Tim Farron is chief of the ‘Remoaners’
The Brexit dimension
The LibDems want to remain in the EU, or at least in the Single Market and Customs Union, which amounts to the same thing. Their leader, Tim Farron, is also promising a second referendum.
Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer said today that his party would scrap Theresa May’s Brexit plans. Labour would unilaterally guarantee the rights of EU residents to stay before talks even start. Furthermore, he said the EU single market should be kept ‘on the table’.
Frankly, a general election yielding a Conservative majority is the only way of guaranteeing a full, proper, clean exit from the revived Roman Empire. Without putting trust in princes, Mrs May looks like she could achieve that. More EU jobs are dependent on the UK market than vice versa, but even World Trade Organisation tariffs are not actually that high across most sectors. Trade deals are good for trade, but companies manage to trade with foreign partners without them. There is no EU trade agreement with China, for example.
Pray for the General Election
Ben Gummer MP is writing the Conservative’s General election manifesto. If ever a man needed wisdom…
They may not realise that there is a massive spiritual battle going on over Brexit right now. Behind every material reality is a spiritual reality and we are aware of that.
Pray the Tories do not alienate voters by abandoning the NHI pledge and the triple-lock. The Chancellor will have to wait. The most vital matter today is Brexit. If the Conservatives mess up the election and put Brexit in jeopardy there will be massive public anger.
Easter Message
We also need to pray that Theresa May takes this opportunity to make good her Easter message. She clearly said people in public service should be able to share their faith without risk of losing their job. But they are losing their jobs. So dispel accusations of hypocrisy by making that a manifesto pledge.
She also said the UK should be standing up for Christians overseas. So stand up for the Christians of Syria, and support the Syrian Government which is their only protector. Stand up also for persecuted Christians in Pakistan, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, for example.
We should obviously like to see measures promised opposing the abortion industry and euthanasia. Reform of the family courts and the scandal of overbearing child protection is overdue. Crucially for the nation’s children, the Tory manifesto should stand against the fashionable transgender scam, especially in schools. That would cause outcry, but not fifteen million voters’ worth of outcry.
Finally, on foreign affairs, let us pray for a manifesto commitment of peace. Pray to have a Secretary of State for Defence, rather than – as we currently have – one for Provocation. Pray for a reset with Russia. Mrs May could pledge in this general election never again to destablise other nations. She could promise the UK will approach diplomacy with maturity. At the moment, Boris Johnson and Sir Michael Fallon seem like a couple of adolescent stags trying to prove their virility. The anti-Russia rhetoric is ludicrous and embarrassing.
Be sure every lobby group will be doing the same. Not the praying bit, obviously.
And do also pray for the other parties. On some matters, their general election manifestos could at the very least change the parameters of debate. Labour and UKIP could be better disposed towards peace, for example. There are plainly other issues attracting attention in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and Wales to some extent. But if you live outside England, or even overseas, please spare some prayer time for the overall UK picture.
Deuteronomy 3:24 O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?
1Samuel 12:23 Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: 24 Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.
1Thess 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
1Tim 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
Theresa May has left herself wide open to criticisms of hypocrisy after this year’s (2017) Easter message. The Prime Minister said ‘Easter is a moment to reflect’. TEXT HERE
In that case let us just reflect how her actions and those of Her Majesty’s Government measure up to what she said. We can go further and measure the actions of Her Majesty’s Government against the principles of the Christian faith itself.
Firstly, let’s just applaud a Prime Minister who talks openly about faith, and her own faith. The days when Alastair Campbell said of Tony Blair’s administration ‘We don’t do God’ seem to be over.
Of course, I’ll sit up and notice when the first British politician says ‘our thoughts and prayers’ are with the victims of a disaster, rather than just ‘our thoughts.’ Nevertheless, the mere issuing of an Easter message declares the UK to be a Christian nation. Which indeed constitutionally we are.
Opportunities and challenges of Brexit
I recognise there are areas in which Theresa May’s Christian faith as expressed in the Easter message appears to be lived out in action. The enthusiasm with which she is leading the United Kingdom out of the European Union’s Revived Roman Empire is commendable. We must pray she sees it through. And she is being positive about it. That is fine. Mrs May also wants to keep the United Kingdom together. There is nothing wrong in that.
In case I am thought to be nationalist and ‘right-wing’, let’s just emphasise workers’ rights. The Bible is clear that workers need fair dealing from employers. Parliament will need to untangle Britiah law from EU regulatons. In so doing ministers must ensure employment rights in an independent Britain are not eroded.
The vulnerable in the heart of God
The Christian faith is clear about the place the most vulnerable have in the heart of God. Christ singled out the poor, the homeless, the destitute, the sick and the hungry. He emphasised the duty of Christian people to nourish and protect them. Should that be individuals, or the state stepping in?
At a practical level, the targets culture of the 1980s built on the expansion of the role of local authorities in the 1960s to the point where people now are paid to care, so anyone calling for more money from the state in response to any deficiencies in provision for Christ’s identified groups can make out a good argument.
The family
This baby at six weeks already has a beating heart.
The insttution of the family used to be a bulwark against too much power ending up in the hands of the state, but gay ‘rights’ and gay ‘marriage’, coupled with no-fault divorce on demand and a bit of laissez-faire condom-promoting sex education have put paid to that.
There are none more vulnerable today than the unborn. The womb is the most dangerous place to be in Great Britain today. Mrs May only voted for the age limit on abortion to come down to twenty weeks last time around. The House of Commons diagreed. It stayed at 24 weeks. But we now know from modern imaging that a baby’s heart is beating three weeks after conception. Neuroscience shows babies can feel pain certainly at 16 weeks and react to a stimulus as 8 weeks. So elective abortion is living on borrowed time.
But to be fair, Mrs May did not raise the matter of the vulnerable, or the importance of the family in her Easter message. She stuck to Easter-time, Brexit, shared values, the importance of Christian witness, sacrifice, the role of Christianity, religious tolerance, freedom of speech and the persecuted church.
So what of my three identified areas of hypocrisy.
Easter message: Freedom of Speech
Firstly, to Mrs May’s confidence ‘about the role that Christianity has to play in the lives of people in our country’. That was coupled in her Easter message with a stated determination to ‘treasure the strong tradition that we have in this country of religious tolerance and freedom of speech’. Furthermore, Mrs May pledged to ‘continue to ensure that people feel able to speak about their faith, and that absolutely includes their faith in Christ’.
Sarah Kuteh
Only last week, Sarah Kuteh was in front of an Employment Tribunal in Ashford, Kent. Sarah has been a nurse for 15 years. Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust sacked her last August (2016) for ‘gross misconduct’. What was her terrible offence? She discussed her faith with patients.
Now those in the National Secular Society would contend that sick people should be insulated from faith. That is precisely how NHS Trusts are acting. That is their clear policy.
‘Comfort and guidance’
But in her Easter message Mrs May implied this was not happening. She gave the clear impression she disagreed with such a policy. She spoke of Christians ‘providing comfort and guidance to many in our country at some of the most difficult moments in their lives’.
So why has she not already told her Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to issue a directive to NHS Trusts to encourage Christian doctors and nurses to actively share their faith with patients and provide that ‘comfort and guidance’? Why, on her watch, are NHS managers sacking Christian staff?
For that matter, Christian open-air preachers are being hauled before the courts. Why has Amber Rudd, her Home Secretary, not sent a directive to police forces and public prosecutors to tell them to lay off Christian preachers and allow them to ‘speak about their faith’?
Someone who says one thing and does another is a hypocrite.
Embrace the World!
Secondly, the Prime Minister spoke in her Easter message of Christian values ‘of compassion, community, citizenship’. We are going to ‘embrace the world’. She might remember the Bible saying something about guiding our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1:79). Or perhaps castigating those whose ways are ‘destruction and misery’, those with no fear of God who do not know ‘the way of peace’ (Rom 3:16-18 cf Isa 59:7-8).
The Russian corvette ‘Boiky’
Yet our famously Christian PM re-appointed as Secretary of State for Defence a man lacking both the fear of God and the way of peace. In particular, Sir Michael Fallon insults, rather than embraces, that part of the world known as the Russian Federation.
His latest display of petulance was to send out a destroyer to shadow a couple of corvettes, named Soobrazitelny and Boiky, as they steamed through the English Channel from their Baltic port en route to the Mediterranean.
Fallon said: ‘HMS Sutherland is carefully marking these Russian ships as they pass close to UK waters. The Royal Navy maintains a vigilant watch and is always ready to keep Britain safe.’
No doubt it does and it is. But what was he suggesting? That Soobrazitelny was preparing to shell Dover, or Boiky to land an invasion force of marines on Bognor beach? Does he think we are all stupid?
Department for Provocation
A Christian administration would not pretend there are threats where none exist. Its ministers would not think the Ministry of Defence is really the Department for Provocation. They would not be talking up threats from another Christian nation to sell armaments. They would not make bellicose noises every time the ships of that nation pass through the busiest shipping lane in the world (which happens to be near our shores). There was no indication the French or Belgians burned diesel oil putting to sea. The Channel is international water.
In February, Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for Defence described the Russian aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov as a ‘ship of shame skulking through the Channel’. It was simply on its way home after helping the Syrian army liberate Aleppo. The defeat of the UK’s favoured and financed jihadists had irritated UK politicians. But why not be magnaminous? Why expose a petulant display of aggression and military impotence which diminished Her Majesty? It drew unwelcome attention to the fact that the UK does not even have an operational aircraft carrier.
To invoke the message of Easter while beating the drum of war is rank hypocrisy.
Persecuted Christians
Churches in Syria have been looted and damaged by jihadists
Thirdly, mention of Aleppo draws our attention to yet another hypocritcal section of Mrs May’s Easter message.
The Prime Minister said: ‘And we must do more to stand up for the freedom of people of all religions to practice their beliefs openly and in peace and safety.’
But the UK continues to support, politically and financially, Syrian Sunni Muslim jihadists whose reason for being is to murder or expel ‘people of all religions’ – except their own.
Speaking of alleged Christian freedom in the UK, Mrs May went on: ‘We must be mindful of Christians and religious minorities around the world who do not enjoy these same freedoms, but who practise their religion in secret and often in fear’.
So why not support Assad?
We should expect ‘being mindful’ to include some measure of support. So why in Syria does the UK not do everything it can to bolster the administraton of President Assad? After all, he has a track record of protecting ‘Christians and religious minorities’?
Instead, she is carrying on the policy of her predecessor of destabilising Syria. That nation had done nothing to us, yet we cheered with the Devil, who loves to destroy, as it was reduced to rubble. If Theresa May really believes ‘we must do more’ to stand up for Christians worldwide, she should order a complete turn-around on Syria, on the Foreign Office’s attitude to Russia, and on aggression against Christians worldwide.
Because right now, when Her Majesty’s Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, tells the Russians they are on the ‘wrong side of history’ by their alliance with Shia Iran and Syria, he himself is precisely wrong. It is the British Government’s support of Sunni Muslim jihadism and our alliance with Saudi Wahhabism which is on the wrong side.
Practising Christianity in fear
Theresa May with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud (left)
Going further, Mrs May should be speaking to the Government of Malaysia, to that of Egypt and to the rulers of Saudi Arabia demanding freedom for Christians. In fact, she has only just come back from Saudi Arabia. Did she demand freedom for those ‘who practise their religion in secret and often in fear’? There are many secret Christians in Saudi Arabia, some in high places. Where is any evidence of Mrs May ‘doing more’ for them?
Come to that, when was Pakistan’s High Commissioner last summoned to a talking-to from the Foreign Secretary over his country’s failure to protect Christians from spurious blasphemy charges?
Mrs May is playing mere lip-service to persecuted Christians. She is doing nothing to help them. Homosexuals are more welcome in the UK than refugee Christians. Tragically, for her, trade deals and selling arms are more important. That is yet more hypocrisy.
Three major areas raised by Mrs May in her Easter message from her Christian faith. Three glaring examples of hypocrisy. How Her Majesty’s Government needs our prayer.
Donald Trump waxed emotional about ‘beautiful babies’ but it was Ivanka Trump who started him off.
News has emerged that President Trump’s emotional line about ‘beautiful babies’ in Syria’s Khan Sheikhoun came about after pressure from his daughter Ivanka.
Ivanka urged her father to launch missiles into Syria last Thursday night, in blatant contradiction of his non-interventionist election stance.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was in Moscow yesterday trying to explain US foreign policy to Sergey Lavrov. He was possibly trying to understand it himself, after a series of U-turns.
Meanwhile, President Trump met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and reversed his election stance that NATO is obsolete. Not any more, not with the threat of terrorism around, Trump said, as if terrorism had just popped up since his inauguration. But despite the Moscow meeting, he said US relations with Russia are ‘at an all-time low’.
You probably agree with Mr Tillerson that ‘The world’s two foremost nuclear powers cannot have this kind of relationship.’ If you have the mind of God you are almost certainly praying for peace between them. And you probably recognise the threat to the US and UK is not Russia, but Sunni Muslim terrorism.
‘Russian Aggression’
But do not suppose everyone in power shares those sentiments. A vast majority of US Senators and Congressmen, both Republican and Democrat, think being on bad terms with Russia is just great. So does the mainstream media.
Rt Hon Philip Hammond is of the same mind. According to the Daily Express, the Chancellor told Sky News: ‘The British Government’s position has been, and will remain, to lead the way on arguing for a robust approach towards Russian aggression in Syria.’
Beautiful missiles
‘Russian aggression in Syria’? Is this serious grown-up political discourse? The Russian Federation has been invited in by the legitimate Syrian government. The Syrians have asked Russia for help to defeat Western&Saudi-sponsored jihadist terrorists together with Islamic State. If you want aggression in Syria, look no further than 59 American Tomahawk cruise missiles (beautiful missiles, so we hear) fired into Syria by the US last week.
Does Mr Hammond seriously believe the British people are so stupid, or so unable to get online, that he can persuade us of something which is palpably, demonstrably, blatantly untrue? He just brings himself in particular, and politicians in general, into ridicule and contempt. If it were not so serious, it would be laughable.
As it happens, Mr Hammond was defending his colleague and successor as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. The latter went to Monday’s G7 meeting boasting of his plans for new sanctions against Russia. In the event, he failed to persuade the other European leaders even to look at them.
Beautiful babies
But why are British and American Neo-Cons so desperate around the ‘Assad must go’ line? No, it isn’t concern about ‘beautiful babies’, as Donald Trump described them. The Emo (emotional) stuff does not extend to the four children killed by his Tomahawks of course. Nor to the Yemeni babies our ‘allies’ from Saudi Arabia are bombing in Yemen. Nor to the Iraqi babies the US has accidentally bombed in Mosul.
Iraqi babies are not so beautiful as Syrian ones. Especially when they are buried under tons of rubble from a US air-strike. And of course, President Trump doesn’t want the beautiful babies and their ‘helpless’ parents pitching up in America as refugees any time soon.
No, it’s not the alleged gas. That’s just more Emo. And quite possibly false flag. It isn’t that Assad ‘fires on his own people’. Our allies the Bahrainis use brutality against ‘their own people’. So do the Egyptians. And President Erdogan of Turkey.
As Luke Harding put it in the Guardian: ‘A few days earlier Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said it was necessary to accept “political reality” in Syria. Up to this point Trump had been a longstanding sceptic of US military action. Back in 2013 he tweeted that the president, Barack Obama, should refrain from intervening and “stay away and fix a broken US”. The “rebels”, he added, were “just as bad as the Syrian regime”.’
Then Trump was ‘got at’
But since 2013, in fact even since the 2016 campaign trail, Donald Trump is now President of the United States. He is trying to get legislation through Congress and political appointees confirmed. Day after day we have heard relentless allegations about contacts with Russian officials, as if these were a bad thing. There has been constant unsupported drivel about Russians hacking the Democrats. Republican Congressmen have been as bad as their Democrat counterparts with the anti-Russian rhetoric. If the public are punch drunk from it, imagine what it is like for the man in the middle.
It must be that constant pressure which finally brought the President to ditch all his pre-election pledges about keeping out of the Middle East, draining the swamp, etc, etc.
Ivanka, of course, is married to Trump advisor Jared Kushner. Kushner is a wealthy American real estate investor and developer. He has some business links to the swamp Trump vowed to drain. He started off in Goldman Sachs, and knows that bank’s Gary Cohn, who is now Trump’s economic advisor. His political contacts on the other hand appear limited. So although Ivanka may have been the catalyst for intervention, she could have pushing at an open door.
Because, just after the alleged gas attack, Senator John McCain was describing White House inaction as ‘disgraceful’. When it came to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s declaration that the Syrian people alone should determine who lead them, McCain described that as ‘one of the more incredible statements I’ve ever heard.’
Beautiful Chocolate Cake
BBC’s beautiful chocolate cake
So Ivanka’s missiles started flying. Yesterday President Trump revealed he told Chinese premier Xi Jinping about the missile strike over dessert. ‘And we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you’ve ever seen,’ he told Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business. Full of himself, he went on: ‘So I said, we’ve just launched 59 missiles, heading to Iraq’.
An astonished Miss Baritromo corrected him: ‘Heading to Syria?’ Unabashed, Trump steamed on, ‘Yes, heading toward Syria. And I want you to know that.’ It was a masterclass in how a friendly interviewer can bring out more damaging information than a hostile one.
So now we know roughly how it came to pass that Trump allied himself with the warmongers. We do not yet know what drives the warmongers themselves. Why do they like tensions with Russia? Why must Assad go? We know it isn’t altruism or genuine concern about babies, however beautiful. Seek the Lord in prayer, as I shall, leave your comments below and I’ll try to draw it all together after the Easter break.
Scripture tells leaders not to ‘go with the flow’:
Exodus 23:2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
Leaders must be even-handed:
Leviticus 19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
Flip-flopping between policy is not commended:
James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
But every ruler needs wise and God-fearing counsel:
Proverbs 25:5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
Indeed, if Trump carries on doing evil, seeking war, acting erratically, his position will fall:
Proverbe 16:12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.
President Trump must never forget what brought him into the White House in the first place …
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Prayer over Easter
Please pray into this whole situation. Lift up the world’s leaders, and your own in particular, in prayer. And look at this: This year, 2017, Easter Sunday is the same date in both Western and Eastern traditions. It does not often happen like that (list of dates).
It means our Orthodox brothers and sisters in Russia and Syria will be celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus this coming weekend, the same as us Western-calendar folk.
I cannot believe a coincidence like this is from nowhere. The Lord has given an opportunity for believers world-wide to lift up the name of the risen Lord on the same day, at such a crucial time as this. And during the Jewish Passover 10-day feast as well! How awesome is that?
Finally, here is a positive snippet for you. On Monday 10th April 2017, President Trump celebrated the start of the Jewish Passover at a Seder dinner in the White House. And who started that tradition? One Barack Obama!
Not just Boris Johnson but the House of Commons now faces a Brexit Dilemma.
Christian Voice Press Release – 16:00 hrs 8th April 2017
Boris Johnson
Christian Voice has expressed astonishment at the decision of Boris Johnson to cancel a meeting with his Russian opposite number Sergey Lavrov.
Stephen Green, National Director of Christian Voice, said today:
‘I am saddened and astonished that Boris Johnson has cancelled his planned meeting with his Russian opposite number Sergey Lavrov.
‘The heart of God is for peace between nations. “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation” is the millennial vision. Christ said “Blessed are the peacemakers”. For Boris Johnson to pull out of his meeting with Sergey Lavrov in a huff because the Russians call attention to the lack of evidence for the alleged Idlib gas attack is small-minded and lacking statesmanship. It is not the action of a peacemaker.
Sergey Lavrov
‘This ministry prays constantly for the Christians of Syria. They and all that country’s religious minorities have historically been protected by President Assad, despite his faults. The Sunni Muslim jihadists whom the UK supports would destroy the Christian community in Syria, together with the Druze, Yazidi and the various Shia Muslim sects, including the Alawites.
‘We are disappointed by the speed with which President Trump ordered his missile attack. He did not wait for the UN to investigate where the gas actually came from. He did not heed Syrian Government denials. Trump went against his own advice to President Obama to seek Congressional approval of any military action. He took illegal action against a sovereign state. The UK should never endorse or support illegal aggression.
‘St Petersburg just suffered a horrendous attack, reminiscent of the 2005 London Tube Bombings. At such a time, when Islamic terrorism threatens the whole of the civilized world, close communication and even solidarity between Britain and Russia is the way of peace, security and indeed sheer common sense. We shall have to redouble our prayers for peace and safety. Boris Johnson’s unreasonable decision has not made the world a more stable place.’
Isaiah 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Jesus Christ said:
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
