Anointing

April 3, 2025

The Anointing

Acts 2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind,

and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when tthis sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”

But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:

‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ GOD SAYS, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT AND THEY SHALL PROPHESY. AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME. AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’

“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. For David says of Him,

‘I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN. THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE; BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’

“Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT ONE OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID HIS FLESH SUFFER DECAY. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:

‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”’

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Small & Waiting, Betrayed & Afraid

And on the Day of Pentecost it is the book of Ruth that is read in the synagogues, the story of a Jewish man taking a Gentile bride. It is the Jewish Feast of Weeks—“Hag Shavu’ot,” from Leviticus 23. This is the second of the pilgrim feasts when Jews would come from all over the world to celebrate this feast, and when the book of Ruth is read in the synagogues.

This particular Day of Pentecost, however, was one like no other. There was a very small church comprised of a very miniscule percentage of the population of the Jews who lived in the land of Israel at that time. Possibly no more than five hundred committed followers of Jesus existed, and we can only be sure that one hundred twenty of those were really solid in their commitment. As the lines get smaller and smaller, the circles concentrically begin shrinking: we have the apostles, the seventy, the one hundred twenty, and then five hundred or so—a very small church. But the church on the Day of Pentecost was the church that was waiting for something to happen. It was waiting for an anointing. (The the Hebrew word “mishchah,” the Greek word “chrisma”). It was a church that was not anointed. More than that, this was a church that had been betrayed. It had been betrayed not simply by enemies who pretended to be friends, it was betrayed by men among their own number. Describing Judas in the Old Testament, Jesus speaking through the Old Testament prophet says, “My friend lifts his heal against Me.” (Ps. 41:9; Jn. 13:18) Judas was called the friend of the Lord.

There are two kind of people who are going to be very close to Jesus: people who really love Him, and people who are backslidden. That is what was happening at the Last Supper. The apostle who Jesus loved was reclining on His chest on one side, but on the others side was Judas. Jesus will always leave the ninety-nine to go after the one.

Backsliders and very holy Christians both have something in common. Backsliders are under the continuous conviction of the Holy Spirit to repent, to return to Him. Jesus does not abandon backsliders, they abandon Him. He gives Judas the place of honor, and by giving Him the sop at the Last Supper, He gives Him the sign of acceptance, beseeching Him to repent. Backsliders are under the continuous conviction of the Spirit. But very holy Christians have the same kind of problem. They are also very close to Jesus, but the closer someone gets to the Light, the more they see the dirt and the little specks that all the people do not see. Very holy Christians usually do not have a very high opinion of themselves because they are too close to Jesus to be that deceived.

The early church was betrayed by one of its own, by one of its own who was one of its leaders, hand-chosen by the Lord Himself.

The second thing that is characteristic of this church is that it is such a small percentage of the Jewish society and it is quivering and it is terrified. Its leaders are afraid. Jesus died for them—He gave them a promise, but its leaders were afraid. The church was afraid. It was very small. Other people were caught up in their own religion, but the church was not only not anointed, it was betrayed, it was very small and it was afraid. And its leaders were afraid. There is no question that this church was a church that had no power, had no anointing and that was sold down the river, but all of the sudden, something dramatic happened.

The Outpouring of the Spirit

We have to understand the Jewish background of “Hag Shavu’ot” to understand this. He begins talking about “I will pour out.” Different liquids represent the Holy Spirit from different aspects. The “new wine” is the joy of the Spirit in worship. Oil—“shemen” in Hebrew, is the anointing of the Spirit. But the idea of rain water—fresh, clean rain water being poured out is “chay mayim:” “living water.” In John 4 Jesus says, I will give you the living water (Jn. 4:10-14), but in John 7:39 He says what the living water is:“this He spoke of the Holy Spirit.” Different liquids teach about the Holy Spirit from different aspects.

So this outpouring draws on the language of rain to teach about an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The whole idea comes from a lot of places in the Old Testament, one of which is Isaiah 44:3...

‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land
And streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring
And My blessing on your descendants;

The outpourings of water have to do with outpourings of the Holy Spirit.

In Israel we have the early and latter rains. These correspond to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the Church and at the end. When this happens the result is that the Spring rains prepare the Spring harvest and the Autumn rains prepare the Autumn harvest. This has a spiritual equivalent.

The rabbis tell us that the Torah—the Law—was given to Moses on this same feast, the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Pentecost. Only when the Holy Spirit was given on this anniversary of Moses giving the Law, something happened: when the Law was given on Mount Sinai, 3,000 fell; but when the Holy Spirit was given 3,000 were saved. Grace is greater than the curse of the Law; one undoes the other. The society was under a curse, but this outpouring of the Holy Spirit had the power to break that curse and to give a harvest.

Who Gets Anointed?

But look who gets anointed. Is it the Church who gets anointed? No, it is not. It is not the Church who gets anointed. Look at Acts 2:32. Who gets anointed?

“This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:

‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD,
“SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”’ (Act2:35)

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Jesus was anointed, not the Church.
What Peter was drawing on here was Psalm 133. To understand Pentecost, we have to read Psalm 133.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!

(Now notice this...)

It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his robes. (Ps. 133:1-2)

Aaron is the High Priest. Hebrews tells us that Aaron the High Priest is a symbol of Jesus. In the epistle to the Hebrews, He is our High Priest. The oil is poured on Aaron’s head by Moses, and it goes off of his head, over his body, down his shoulders, down his arms, all over his torso, and down to his feet. To get the oil on the hands, on the feet, on the shoulders, on the torso, we have to be under the head. One reason the Body of Christ is not anointed today is because it is not under the headship of Christ, it is under the headship of man.

We can have a very able hand, a very good foot, but it is useless unless it is attached to the body. And the body is useless unless it is under the head. The anointing is poured on the Lord Jesus. If the Body of Christ is not under His headship, it is not going to be anointed.

Unity of the Spirit

But then there is something else. What happens after the Church is anointed? They were all together, of one mind, of one accord. What does Psalm 133 say?

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity! (Ps. 133:1)

It is talking about the unity of the Spirit. If there is not a unity of the Spirit, there is no anointing. Another reason there is no anointing in the Body of Christ today is because there is not a unity of the Spirit; there is a unity of man. The Holy Spirit in Hebrew is “Ruach Qodesh”—the Spirit of Holiness. There can be no unity of the Spirit where there is an absence of holiness.

I firmly believe in the gifts of the Spirit, always have, and practice them myself. But it is one of my most frequent complaints (because I believe it is the complaint of God Himself) that the level of carnality and worldliness among Pentecostals and Charismatics is much higher than it is among Baptists or Plymouth Brethren or fundamentalists. Of all the churches in the Bible, it was not the legalistic or nomianistic Galatians, or the confused Thessalonicans that had to be reminded of the Holy Spirit, it was the charismatic Corinthians. That is equally true for today. There is no unity of the Spirit if there is an absence of holiness.

The first commandment is, “I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not make other gods (or have strange gods) before Me.” (Ex. 20:3) And the second commandment in the original Hebrew is this: “You shall not make a graven

image of anything in heaven above or earth beneath...you shall not bow down to them or serve them.” ( Ex. 20:4-5) In the north of England there are many people who are born-again Christians who are saved out of Roman Catholic backgrounds. They come out of that church seeing the truth of the Gospel, seeing that what they were taught and brought up to believe is not what Jesus taught. When someone bows down before a statue and lights candles and prays to the dead it is referred to in Hebrew terms as a “familiar spirit.” It is an act of idolatry and superstition. It is an utterly abhorrent sin.

To tell someone in the name of Christian unity that they can continue to practice this sin is no different than telling a homosexual who gets saved he can stay homosexual, or an alcoholic who gets saved to keep drinking, but that is exactly what is happening. There is no anointing because to be anointed is to be under the headship of Christ, not the headship of men who are teaching things contrary to Christ.

Secondly, the body must be unified. But the Holy Spirit—the unity of the Spirit—is the Spirit of holiness. When there is open immorality, open idolatry being practiced in the name of Christian unity, there is a problem.

I read the book by the Right Honorable George Carey. (What is “right” and what is “honorable” are issues I will not go into. It is not my place.) Nonetheless, the book is called The Meaning of Orders, a call by this person who claims to be a born-again Christian to reunite with the church of Rome. Those who are a saved Roman Catholic know very well that they are said to have left the one, true church. Unless one goes to confession and returns to mother Rome, they are going to hell. We can accept the other quote/unquote “Protestants” because they do not know any better. So on one hand, this church is telling them they are going to hell because they left it, but leaders in their churches, in their denominations, are uniting with these people, going into idolatry. Why is there no anointing?

The Spirit of Truth

But He is not only the Spirit of holiness, He is the Spirit of truth.

There are two kinds of division. One kind of division is not of God; the other kind of division is very much of God. The kind of division that is not of God is that division which divides Bible-believing Christians from each other; the kind of division that is of God is the kind that separates Bible-believing Christians from ones who do not believe it. Or worse still, who say they believe it, but their lives show differently. He is the Spirit of truth; He is not the Spirit of error. No one can build the unity of the Spirit based on error.

When we see people saying we are saved by the sacraments, we should pray to the dead, we are going to atone for our own sins in Purgatory—when that is being taught and we see born-again Christian leaders saying that it is OK to believe that and we should be one with these people, that is the spirit of error; it is not the Spirit of truth. Paul says there will be factions among you to prove which is true. (1 Co. 11:19) There are factions that are of God. Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring unity, I came to bring the sword, to bring division.” (Lk. 12:51)

I see the same thing in Ireland that I see in Israel. When a Jew gets saved it is said, “You betrayed your people” because Christianity is so associated in the Jewish mind with anti-Semitism and the pogroms and the inquisitions and the holocaust. “You betrayed your people. You have become one of those people who murdered your ancestors.” In Ireland it is the same. When a Roman Catholic gets saved it is seen that way. “You have become a Protestant. You have become part of the people who perpetrated the Potato Famine, and the war crimes of Cromwell, and the genocidal war crimes of the Puritans—the people who divided our land.” They are seen as a traitor to their people.

It is very difficult for a Jewish person who gets saved to explain to his family the difference between a “Bible-believing” Christian and what his family think Christians are. And it is very difficult for a Roman Catholic, in Ireland particularly, to explain the difference to his family between a “Bible-believing” Christian and what they think a “Bible-believing” Christian is, which to them is a Protestant. I know a case in Belfast where a Roman Catholic girl got saved. She came to an Assemblies of God church—a Pentecostal church, and the priest told her if she did not return to “the holy mother the church”, he would have the IRA deal with her.

He is the Spirit of truth; He is not the Spirit of error. No one can base a unity of the Spirit on error.

I am not talking about secondary doctrinal issues that exist among all of us. I am talking about the essential issues: how are we saved, the authority of God’s Word, the definition of sin. If it is not under the Head, there is no anointing going on the Body. And if the Body is not united in the Spirit, it is not going to be anointed.

It is the Same Today

Look at the church today. What do we have? The same thing as on the Day of Pentecost. On the average Sunday in England, 1.2% of the people go to church. Most of those are Roman Catholics who believe it is a mortal sin to miss mass. It seems like “Mother and Son Day,” “Memorial Sunday,” Christmas and Easter drag the overall statistics up to about 8% a month in England, but it is only 1.2% of the people who go to church on a given Sunday, and most of them are not saved. We are a very, very small minority, the same as the first Christians.

Secondly, we have very, very little power. Very little real power.

Thirdly, we too have been betrayed, and we have been betrayed by those we count among our leaders.

I used to be a Baptist—a Baptist who believed in the gifts of the Spirit, but I was a Baptist. I had to leave the Baptist church even though my own church stood with me because of the leadership of the Baptist Union who entered the Ecumenical Movement to be united with the Roman Catholic church and with liberal Protestant churches. I oppose this. I know many, many people in the Baptist church who knew it was wrong, but they were afraid to rock the boat. They were afraid to say anything about it.

There is an organization called “The Church’s Ministry to the Jews.” It is evangelical Anglican. When they learned there was going to be an evangelical Archbishop of Canterbury, they were elated. They thought, “That is it; we won! Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord, for such a faithful, faithful leader!” He became the Archbishop of Canterbury. He went on the radio with a chief rabbi, denounced giving the Gospel to the Jews, withdrew his patronage of the church’s ministry to the Jews, and totally went against the cause of giving the Gospel to the people of Jesus. Paul said the Gospel to the Jew first and they will be judged first if they do not accept it (Ro. 1:16), but “No,” says the Archbishop. Even a liberal would not have gone that far. This is the same one who wrote this book telling us we should go back under Rome.

About 2,000 evangelical Anglican clergymen signed a petition asking him to stop the worship of foreign gods in Anglican churches like Canterbury Cathedral, where they have Tibetan monks (Lamaist monks who believe the Dalai Lama is the incarnation of God), African witch doctors, Brahman priests from Hinduism, Muslim Imams, Orthodox rabbis and the rest of it, all getting together with the Anglican and Roman Catholic clergy in Canterbury Cathedral. “No,” says this born-again Christian leader, “I respect all religions.” In 1 Corinthians 10 and Deuteronomy, other gods are “demons” (Greek—“daimonoi,” Hebrew—“shedim”). “No,” say our leaders, “we respect all religions.”

Why is there no revival? Why is there no anointing? That is some idea of unity. Think about what is happening.

In England one out of every three males have a police record—a criminal conviction—before the age of 30. One out of three! In the inner cities it is one out of two, and in certain Council Estates it is more than three out of four. One-third of all children are born out of wedlock. In certain places like Liverpool it is two out of three and it is socially accepted. The crime rate is going through the roof. There are over two million auto break-ins every year in England. But it is growing at the rate of 32% a year! That is what is happening out there. This society is going to the wall. But the reason this society is going to the wall is because the people who God has called to prevent it from going to the wall are not anointed. Why are they not anointed? Because they have been betrayed, because they are afraid, and because they are not united. At least not united in Jesus.

Man's Ways

Many people have concocted all kinds of ways to deal with this problem. Nobody in their right mind will look out that window and think everything is alright. Wigan has the best rugby team in the world. Nothing wrong with rugby, it is a good game. But every Sunday that stadium, for the game, will be filled with people every time. Nothing wrong with rugby, it is a good game, but it is only a game. It is not going to matter a million years from now. Those children in that Council Estate, one of whom out of three are going to wind up in jail, they are going to matter a million years from now.

If we were to have a heavy metal concert with a rock band that openly admits to Satan worship, they would sell out. If we were to have strip club, the place would be filled. But when we have a church that is not preaching the truth, yet claims to be the Church, it is no worse and no better than a strip club or a heavy metal concert or whatever. There are different ways that people have tried to get this anointing they say we all need.

The Charismatic Movement is twenty-five years old in England. Look out there; is there any anointing? Where is the revival? I got saved in a revival. I saw what a revival is. I saw tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of hippies saved. We were out there getting stoned out of our minds, getting venereal disease, and radically changed by the power of Jesus overnight. I saw revival. I saw what it is like when there is a revival.

When Wesley had a revival in the north of England, the society was radically changed. The crime rate nose-dived, immorality plummeted, social injustice plummeted. Building societies to get housing for the working classes, the school system, literacy for the working classes, things like the Guardian newspaper and the trade unions to defend the rights of the disenfranchised, prison reform, hospital reform, slavery abolished in the British Empire, child labor abolished in the British Empire (children 4 years old were digging in coal mines in Wales and in Newcastle)—those things were changed directly because lives were changed by the power of Jesus. That is a revival.

To see a revival today, go to Korea. To see a revival today, go to Kenya. To see a revival today, go to Brazil. To see a revival today, go to Indonesia. To see a corpse, come to the western world. Look at the characteristics.

Anointed for Burial

Teaching in the Bible in the original Greek: “didaskein” (which is like a Bible study), something called “homilia” (which is like a sermon), and something called something called“kerygma,” which is preaching of the Gospel, mainly to the unsaved. This is Peter’s kerygma, and he begins talking about Jesus from two aspects: the suffering Jesus who was crucified and the conquering Jesus who had dominion.

This comes directly from Judaism: “HaMashiach ben Jozef” and “HaMashiach ben David:” the Messiah who is the son of Joseph and the Messiah who is the son of David. First Jesus comes as a suffering servant like Joseph, but then He comes as a conquering king at His return like David. In His First Coming He comes as a suffering servant; when He comes back to set up the Millennial Kingdom He is a conquering king like David. The point is this: before Jesus was anointed for dominion, Jesus was anointed for burial.

For it was fitting for Him .for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. (Heb. 2:10)

Jesus did not need to suffer. He did not have a fallen nature for God to deal with. But He underwent a process theologians call “kenosis,” and He identified with us even though He had no sin. For our sakes He put Himself into a position where God had to perfect Him by suffering as an example to us and to win the victory for us on the cross. Before the Lord Jesus was anointed for dominion, He was anointed for burial. Before the Church can be anointed for dominion, it has to be anointed for burial. It is very easy to see why all of these well-intended (but I must say unscriptural) formulas for anointing have not worked.

The Charismatic Movement is twenty-five years old in England. Can we say the schools are any better? Is there any less crime? Is there any less homosexuality? Any less divorce? Any less racism or hatred or social injustice? Are more people coming to church? Are more lives being changed? Is there any less sexual abuse of little children? No, there is more. After twenty-five years, what do we have to show for it? Nothing – absolutely nothing. I remember people saying with well intentions that this Charismatic Renewal was the key. This Charismatic Renewal had a unity, but it was not the unity of the Spirit. “It is OK whatever your church is, whatever your church believes. If you want to be a Roman Catholic, you want to pray to the dead, you go ahead.” No anointing.

Then there is the name-it-and-claim-it people: “Faith-Prosperity,” that is the key. Go to America; the only key they have now is the key that locks them up in jail (the ones who have been caught already – the others are still wanted men). These people have made “born-again” a household joke coast-to-coast, and these same people (and same kinds of people) are coming into this country even at this minute, even at this very hour. Faith-Prosperity proponents say that is the key to getting the anointing. “Just believe it, brother. Reach out and claim it by faith.” Well, if we want to know about faith, the best way to begin is by reading the faith chapter, Hebrews 11.

and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.

(“Believe God for that Cadillac ®, brother. Just believe God you are going to prosper, your business will prosper. Believe God you are going to grow, your church will grow.”)

They were stoned, they were sawn in two...

(Why? Because of their faith.)

...they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword...

(Why? Because of their faith.)

...they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute...

(Destitute! Impoverished! Their faith did not make them rich, their faith made them poor! They were not hoping in this world, they were hoping in what is going to come. I am not saying we should trust God for poverty, but we should trust God whether we have riches or poverty.)

...afflicted, ill-treated...

(They experienced sickness.)

...(men of whom the world was not worthy)...

(Living in mansions in Beverly Hills? No.)

...wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these, having gained approval... (How?)

...through their faith... (Heb. 11:36-39)

These so-called people who say their so-called Faith-Prosperity Movement is the key to the anointing, they are not teaching faith in Jesus, they are teaching faith in “faith.” This is faith. Anointed for dominion? Yes, but anointed for burial first.

Man-Made Ideas

I have seen so many failed businesses up and down England and all over America coast-to-coast. Christian businessmen who, wanting to pull through, understandably were seduced by these people telling them, “Just write a check for 500 and God will bless it and multiply it back”, and they did it. Now, if God tells you to write a check for 500 or 5,000, you do it, but you let God tell you, not some conniver.

The Charismatic Movement promised something, but it could not deliver. Why? It is not scriptural so it could not produce an anointing.

The Faith-Prosperity Movement promises something it cannot deliver. No one has to believe me, all they have to do is talk to one of the thousands of Christians who lost their businesses or their homes or their jobs. Why? Because it is not scriptural — no anointing.

About the most ridiculous and pathetic of all these man-made ideas for anointing (well, actually there are two) is the Restoration Movement. To restore something it has to be something that existed to begin with. It began with Arthur Wallace in the late 60s. He wrote and said a lot of good things, although a lot of wrong and very unscriptural things, but it began in the 60s. The movement has been blossoming for about 16 years. Where is the revival? They cannot deliver any revival because they are trying to restore things that never existed.

The first is not apostolic authority, but their version of apostolic authority. Their version of apostolic authority is not the version of apostolic authority in the New Testament. What they call apostolic authority is something known as “heavy shepherding.” It never existed in the New Testament, so they are trying to restore something that never existed. The second thing they are trying to restore is Kingdom Now theology, the idea that we are going to conquer the whole world for Jesus, set up His kingdom, then He is going to come back. This view says it depends on us. It does not depend on the return of Christ as such, it does not depend on God’s prophetic plan of which Israel and the Jews play a pivotal role — it does not depend on that, it depends on us and our movement.

Many people propagate this: Roger Forster, Terry Virgo, Gerald Coates. In America it is the likes of Kevin Connor and Rick Godwin. There are people who are trying to come to England now with this stuff from the States. It is what they are teaching. That movement has been around 16 years. Where is the revival?

No Such Place as Hell?

I firmly believe in Bible-believing Christians standing together and proclaiming Jesus. The March for Jesus seems to be a good idea to me in and of itself. But what do we do when the people who organize the March for Jesus say, “Jesus did not die to save people from going to hell, there is no such place”? Someone can march all they want, but if they do not think that the lost are going to perish, do not expect God to bring a revival through their marching. That is what Graham Kendrick believes. The man is an excellent hymn writer, but that is exactly what he believes: there is no such place as hell. That is what Roger Forster believes. And they are leading all people in these marches with this philosophy, thinking they are going to bring revival.

The apostles said, “Save yourself from this wretched generation.” (Acts 2:40) They knew about the Lake of Fire that burns forever and ever, as it were. The preaching of Wesley, the preaching of Spurgeon, of anybody whoever God every anointed to bring revival talk about the holiness of God and the judgment of those who reject the Gospel. Today, what do we have? The leaders are saying there is no such place.

I had a tremendous respect at one time for John Stott. When liberalism was at its real apex theologically, he stood up for the Gospel and the authority of Scripture. I respected him personally, but not doctrinally — I never thought much of his sermons or his books, but I respected him. Now he is telling his people there is no such place as hell.

It is Not Scriptural

These are the leaders. How is there going to be a revival? Do these people really think — really think — that they are ever going to stop what is happening to this society? Do they really think with leaders like this we are going to stop society from going to the wall and seeing revival with man-made ideas, a false unity? Of charismania? Of Kingdom Now theology and Restorationism? Of Ecumenism, sometimes going into open idolatry? They think they are going to bring a revival?

The Kingdom Now movement has been here sixteen years. I just watched a video recently of what happened in the Docklands Arena. I watched it again. We all know what happened with Mr. Wimber and his Kansas City Prophets. They came and they said revival is coming in October of 1990. He said, “We are the Joel’s army”. And then the other Kansas City Prophet came out and he said, “We are going for 100% accuracy — none of God’s Words will fall.” So what he is saying is he is speaking God’s Words and it is going to be 100% accurate. “I do not care what anybody says, you are going to go out of here seeing a visitation and a revival.” That was 2-1/2 years ago. In the last 2-1/2 years since the visitation and the revival, which was predicted by them to commence in October of 1990, more mosques have been built in England than churches. That is the truth.

I am not knocking or throwing rocks at anybody or anybody’s intentions or motives. I believe that people who get caught up in this nonsense are sincere people. I believe they are people who really are concerned with what is happening to this country and who really want to see Jesus lifted up and to see souls saved. I believe the people who are getting caught up in all these movements really have good intentions. But the devil knows they have good intentions; therefore he puts them on a road, a road to nowhere.
Once again, the Charismatic Movement has been here over twenty-five years. It made a promise it cannot deliver. Why? Because it is not scriptural.

The name-it-and-claim-it Faith-Prosperity people, if we really look at what they believe, if you we at the doctrines of Kenneth Copeland and Kenneth Hagin, it is their own doctrines, their own books. They quote E. W. Kenyon, “Jesus did not win the victory for us on the cross, He did it when He descended into hell.” That is what they believe. The cross is not central to their theology. But look how popular it is among people who want to have their ears tickled. But what happens? It cannot deliver. Their businesses go bankrupt anyway. They made a promise they cannot deliver. Why? It is not scriptural.

The Restoration Movement, the Kingdom Now Movement, they make a promise they cannot deliver. It should have happened in October of 1990, but it did not happen. They go around marching, making these proclamations: “Now is the time for us to march upon the land,” they are saying. “We are building a kingdom of power, not of words.” Well I have heard their words, where is the power? They have not got any.

We have had these people coming (again I am not slinging mud, I am just stating facts) like Rick Godwin and David Shearman. They come and they are giving these seminars such as “Training for Raining.” We hear what they are saying: “Thank You, Lord God, that Your kingdom is advancing forcefully, that Your kingdom is advancing mightily.” Whose kingdom? Satan’s? One-third of the kids in this country are going to wind up in jail! 1.2% of the population goes to church on Sunday, most of them are not even Christians! More mosques are being built all over! Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, New Age is being taught in schools, even the Church of England schools. They are teaching children to use condoms in sex education in schools. Whose kingdom is advancing forcefully?

These people may be perfectly honorable in their motives and their intentions — I am not attacking them. What I am attacking is their doctrines. I do not question these people’s sincerity or their integrity; it is not for me to judge, but what is for me to do is to say that what they are teaching is scriptural or not. (A) I look in the Bible and I see that it is not scriptural, and (B) I look out there and I see one thing: they all promise something they cannot deliver.

What is the Answer?

Peter says what happens on Pentecost is a shadow of what will happen at the end of the world. He did not say “this is that,” in Greek it is “this is like that.” (Acts 2:16) There were no signs of blood and fire and vapor as it is stated in the text from Joel 2, those things did not happen on Pentecost. It says “this is like that.” Somehow what happened then is a shadow of what happens at the end. What happened then teaches us what happens at the end. At the end, once again, we have a body that is been betrayed, we have a body that is afraid, that is miniscule, whose leaders are terrified, and that is not anointed.

The central theology of the Kingdom Now people, the Manifest Sons of God, or the Joel’s Army teaching is all the same. What these people do is engage in something called “Gnosticism.” Instead of dealing with what the text says exegetically, they read things into it which it does not say, claiming some kind of revelation. But they say something about Joel’s army which is not what it says in Joel.

God's Word through Joel

Joel is someone who prophesied very little for his own day, in fact almost not at all. He prophesied almost exclusively for the end of the world. But we know he either prophesied right at the beginning of the start of the Babylonian Captivity or right before it, and he is talking about the armies of Babylon. And look what it says…

Blow a trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the day of the LORD is coming;
Surely it is near,

(Now that is an eschatological statement – it is about the end of the world.)

A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As the dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a great and mighty people;
There has never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again...

(He is talking in his own time, about Nebuchadnezzar’s army of Babylon. That is what he’s talking about for his own time, but he is saying this teaches about the end of the world.)
A fire consumes before them
And behind them a flame burns.
The land is like the garden of Eden before them
But a desolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them. (Joel 2:1-3)

The Kingdom Now people say that this is them, their movement. And it describes this army. But look what happens with this army…

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
“Return to Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, weeping and mourning;
And rend your heart and not your garments.”
Now return to the LORD your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness
And relenting of evil.
Who knows whether He will not turn and relent... (Joel 2:12-14a)

In other words, Joel says if the people repent, God will call this terrible army back. And what happens to this army?

“But I will remove the northern army far from you,
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
And its vanguard into the eastern sea,
And its rear guard into the western sea.
And its stench will arise and its foul smell will come up,
For it has done great things.” (Joel 2:20)

God is going to judge and destroy Joel’s army, but that is who John Wimber says he is! John Wimber actually says, “We are the locusts.”

“Then I will make up to you for the years
That the swarming locust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust,
My great army which I sent among you. (Joel 2:25)

He called it His army, but it is His army in the sense of Nebuchadnezzar, the army of Babylon. It is an evil army. The way God judges His people is by bringing other evil people against them to make them repent. He has always dealt with Israel that way. That is the context. It is an evil army that God is going to destroy, but the entire Kingdom Now philosophy is based on the fact that we are this army, or at least they are, those in their movement.

Recalling Judgment

But what happens in the midst of all this prediction of doom and gloom?

“It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:28-29)

If there is a repentance, God pours out His Spirit and calls His judgment back. That is the key to the anointing. That is the key to get what the Kingdom Now people promise but cannot possibly deliver. That is the key to get what the Ecumenical people promise but cannot possibly deliver. That is the key to get what the Faith-Prosperity people promise but cannot possibly deliver. That is the key to get what the Charismatic people promise but cannot possibly deliver.

Joel’s army? The church is not Joel’s army; Joel’s army is what is judging the church. If we repent, God will recall that judgment and pour out His Spirit. That is the key.

That is what happened in the early church, and that is what is happening today. We have been betrayed, we are small and quivering, our leaders are afraid, and we are not anointed. It is all going to the wall. There is one hope: We repent or we perish. God bless you, and thank you.

God bless, †††
James Jacob Prasch

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Staying the course amidst isolation

By David Passmore • May 30, 2026

Staying The Course Amidst Isolation Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Living in Israel one gets the feeling that the metaphorical walls are closing in. Israel's reputation is being tarnished all over social media and the mainstream media, and this is reflected in massive public disdain towards this country. We are constantly told that there is near consensus amongst academics and commentators that a genocide was committed in Gaza. The very legitimacy of the state is brought into question. The majority of Americans are now hostile towards Israel. There is real fear that the next U.S. administration will turn against Israel. Even if this were to happen passively, by the U.S. refraining from exercising its veto power towards Security Council Resolutions condemning Israeli actions this could be catastrophic. Internally it is a fractured society leaning increasingly right wing which further alienates Israel from world opinion. An example in point is how Ben Gvir mocked the most recent participants of a global aid flotilla to Gaza. Such conduct further agitates outrage at Israel. The left-wing media presents the ruins of Gaza as a mortal wound in Israel's side. When the world observes this level of carnage no degree of public relations can ameliorate the sense of indignation towards Israel. We can liken the situation of Israel to that of a depressed person. All he sees is hopelessness and gloom. But this isn't the first time that the Jewish nation has been faced with such darkness. Things change and we don't know how the geo-political map will reconfigure in the future. We need to ride out this storm and keep going. On a historical note, the situation is reminiscent of what our ancestors faced when we returned from the Babylonian exile to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was faced with constant lies and conspiracies designed to entrap him by hostile actors: Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab. They employed deception, slander and ridicule in order to maintain their political eminence. There was also a certain sense of abandonment amongst the Jews in Israel then as in our own day. We read in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah about the anguish of the leadership in Israel concerning the lack of assistance from the Babylonian diaspora towards the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and the Temple. Only 20% of the exiles returned to the land. It was largely the poor who returned. Most of the affluent, established Jews remained in Exile. This is a continuing theme in Jewish history. It is also important to observe that from its very beginnings there were bible believing Christians who spearheaded the return of the Jews to their land. The idea of organizing a return of the Jews to Israel began as a Protestant Restorationist objective that can be traced to 17th century Puritan England. The protagonists of the Cromwellian Republic viewed themselves as the new Israel fighting the Papist forces of Satan. Alongside this, interest grew in the notion that biblical prophecies pertaining to the return of the Jews to Israel were a necessary precursor for the return of Christ. The growth of the British Empire in the 19th century lent political clout to Christian Restorationism with specific missions to the Jews established. Although there had been a longing to return to Israel as written in the thrice daily Amidah prayer, Jewish Zionism arose in the midst of mid nineteenth century nationalism and was further fermented by European antisemitism. It was an altogether secular enterprise. Although Israel's situation appears rather stark, we can draw strength from the Providence afforded to our ancestors in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah when they too were faced with defamation. This is also an opportunity to grow closer to our natural allies in the evangelical world who from the beginning of Zionism were steadfast supporters of the project to establish a Jewish homeland in Israel. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).

Signs of the Times - Tony Pearce

By David Passmore • May 25, 2026

Signs of the Times Tony Pearce ‍ ‍ Left, right or center – is our democracy in danger “Things fall apart, the center does not hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” W.B Yeats ‘The Second Coming. ’ ‍ ‍ Labour’s losses in the council elections and the battle for succession to their unpopular leader Kier Starmer have raised the possibility that we may soon have our seventh Prime Minister in ten years. Local elections saw Reform and the Greens make sweeping gains, leading Green Party leader, Zack Polanski to say that we are seeing ‘the end of the old two party system’. Maybe we are. In which case what comes next? Will we head to the far left, the far right or will the center hold on to power? Or will it end with ungovernable chaos as unqualified people take control of local and national government? Behind all this there are fundamental questions, ‘What is government for? Who does it represent and where is it going?’ ‍ ‍‍ ‍ According to the Bible (Romans 13) the purpose of government is to promote good and restrain evil. The government has the right to raise taxes for the common good of society and people should pay them. In 1 Timothy 2 Paul encourages us to pray for the government that ‘we may live a godly and peaceable life’. In other words, pray that the government will create an orderly and peaceful society and not interfere with our right to set up communities that teach and preach the Word of God. The situation becomes more difficult when we see government promoting things which are harmful and restraining things which are good and clamping down on freedom of speech with a threat to our ability to live a ‘godly and peaceable life’ ‍ Since becoming a Christian in my early twenties, I have wrestled with the question of how our faith applies to contemporary political issues. I started this quest on the left politically after leaving university and working as an English teacher with sympathies for Marxism. I then became a born again Christian in 1970, and joined my late wife Nikki in evangelizing the radical left, by handing out leaflets at their marches and demonstrations in London and attending their meetings to discuss matters of faith and politics with them. ‍ ‍‍ ‍ We had some good discussions with people and hope we made some consider the Christian alternative. However as we looked at Marxism from a Christian point of view and its practice in Communist countries, we understood that behind this ideology there is a strong anti-christian spirit. It denies the existence of God and promotes the idea of human perfectibility by our own effort. This is exemplified in the words of the Internationale, the socialist battle hymn, ‘No saviour from on high delivers, no faith have we in prince or peer, our own right hand the chains will shiver, chains of hatred, greed and fear.’ This Antichrist spirit led to the persecution of Christians in the Communist countries of eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and China. Far from creating the socialist paradise on earth that Lenin wrote about in ‘Socialism and Religion’, it created a society ruled by hatred, greed and fear, controlled by secret police, prison camps and responsible for the death of millions. ‍ ‍ In western society we have witnessed the growth of ‘cultural Marxism’ a movement aimed at infiltrating and changing society from within, rather than fomenting the workers’ revolution. Labour’s Fabian Society, with its (now discarded) logo of the wolf in sheep’s clothing, has been engaged in this process since the beginning of the 20th century. Social change really took off with the permissive society in the 1960s, which succeeded in changing traditional values, especially in the area of sex and the family. It replaced biblical values with a new ‘morality’ that is fundamentally anti Christian. These ideas have permeated large swathes of our society including the education system, the judiciary, the Civil Service, much of the media, mainstream political parties (including even the Conservative ‘wets’ and parts of the established church). ‍ ‍ Melanie Phillips describes the results of this in her book, ‘The Builder’s Stone.’ ‘Having decided that the West was rotten to the core, western elites set out to create a new culture that would usher in the brotherhood of man and eradicate hatred, prejudice, and war. Their Brave New World junked biblical religion with all its constraints on behaviour and revolved instead around self gratification. Everybody had the right to live as they wanted; nobody could say that their way of life was better or worse than anyone else’s; no one had the right to say that their culture was better than any other culture. That was ‘racism.’ At the heart of all this was the doctrine that there was no such thing as objective truth. Everything was relative; everything was a matter of opinion. Because there was no truth feelings became more important than facts. So the West abandoned the codes of morality, conscience, truth and lies, personal responsibility, and duty to others in favour of a culture of the self. In the process it junked its inherited traditions and biblical codes on which western culture was based.’ ‍ Britain changed from being a society that respected values based on the 10 Commandments and the teaching of Jesus Christ to one that discarded them for relative values. Ideas of ‘diversity, inclusion and equity’ became the norm, together with and a form of ‘tolerance’, that is really very intolerant if you oppose it. This ‘tolerance’ means accepting the virtues of multiculturalism and humanism and believing that all gods are equally valid or true (or none are). We must also accept that all lifestyles and family arrangements including homosexual and transsexual ones are just as valid as traditional two parent heterosexual families, with a father and mother committed to each other in lifelong matrimony looking after their own children. ‍ As society accepts this radical change in how we view culture, morality and religion, we are told not to criticize other cultures and world views or imply that they are anything less than equal to the culture, morality and faith derived from the Bible. ‍ All this has not improved society. Instead we have a collapse of values with no central idea to hold it together, just a group of competing ‘communities’ which are often only united in opposition to the traditional values and culture of Great Britain. A good example of this is the ‘red – green alliance’ of radical leftists and Islamists who come together to denounce Israel and campaign to ‘globalise the Intifada’. In practice this means a world wide war against Israel and Judaeo-Christian society and a desire to replace it with their version of either Islamism or Communism. However if one of them were to come to power, you can be sure that the Islamist’s would get rid of the leftists or vice versa. In fact that happened in Iran’s 1979 revolution, when Islamist supporters of Khomeini and Communists came together to get rid of the Shah. Then the Islamists seized power, turned on the Communists and wiped them out. ‍ Alisteir Heath wrote in the Daily Telegraph: ‘Ruined by decades of political vandalism, the Britain we knew and loved, a land of stability, pragmatism, and ancient freedoms, is no more. Today’s UK is uglier, impoverished, volatile and disorderly. We’ve lost our level-headedness. Anger and frustration have become our defining emotions. Our institutions have wasted away, and we have been taught to despise our history. The decline of family, community and faith have led to alienation, dependence on welfare and the rise of novel ideologies, mostly secular but also sectarian, turbocharged by social media. While the state becomes unnervingly authoritarian, the air reeks of insurrection and every variety of extremism. The British public’s sense of betrayal is as well-founded as it is dangerous. The machinery of state is incompetent and self-serving, a vehicle for social engineering in the global interest.’ ‍ ‍ ‍ Criticism of this process now risks being classed as ‘hate crime’ with a growing authoritarian society monitoring social media posts and public teaching of alternative ideas in ways which risk shutting down free speech in our society. A Christian teacher Enoch Burke is currently in prison in Dublin after he was suspended from his job and jailed after refusing to accept and teach transgenderism in the school. ‍ ‍ ‍ Nick Timothy, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, got into trouble when he questioned mass Muslim prayer in Trafalgar Square. He wrote: ‘Mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination. The adhan – which declares there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger – is, when called in a public place, a declaration of domination. The domination of public places is straight from the Islamist playbook.” He is right in this. Allah hu Akhbar actually means Allah is greater, greater than your God, Muhammad is greater than Jesus and the Koran is greater than the Bible. ‍ ‍ ‍ Tim Dieppe of Christian Concern for our Nation wrote: “The fact that we have mass Islamic prayer in Trafalgar Square at all is indicative of the massive culture change that we have seen in the last few decades. A culture change that was not voted for or ever agreed to by the British people. And, a culture change that can hardly be described as having been entirely beneficial to our culture as a whole. I only need to mention grooming gangs involving mostly Pakistani Muslim men , sharia courts, honour crimes, terror attacks, the assassination of an MP, an attempt to blockade Parliament, mass antisemitic marches through London, a convicted terrorist standing for local elections, sectarianism, and many other examples to make the point. Earlier this month, the Government gave Muslims special protection with the adoption of an official definition of anti-Muslim hostility .” ‍ ‍ ‍ You are not really supposed to question this in public life today. A message circulating on social media is an apt commentary on all this. ‘First they overlook evil, then they permit evil, then they legalise evil, then they promote evil, then celebrate evil, then persecute those who call it evil.’ Soviet dissident Solzhenitsyn wrote: ‘A Communist system can be recognised by how it spares criminals and criminalises its opponents.’ ‍ ‍ ‍ The root cause of all this is the rejection of God and biblical values. The 18th-century French philosopher Joseph de Maistre coined the phrase "people get the government they deserve." David Pawson followed up on this idea, arguing that in democratic societies like ours, the moral and spiritual condition of a nation's citizens is directly reflected in the leaders they elect. If the general public abandons moral truths, they will inevitably vote for governments that reflect those same compromises. David Pawson taught that God may use governmental leadership to judge or bless a nation, depending on the people's obedience. He noted that Hebrew prophets saw wicked rulers as a form of divine judgement on a society that has strayed from God's laws. Therefore a nation's ultimate hope rests on repentance rather than just political change. His conclusion is that Christians should actively stand for moral truth in society. He believed that the church is meant to influence culture upward, and that a decline in national morality inevitably leads to deteriorating governance. ‍ ‍ ‍ Sadly much of the church today has become the ‘salt that has lost its savour’ through compromise with antichristian forces in society and government. It may be too late to save our country and western democracy as social and economic pressures create a collapse of democracy and push us either towards anarchy or dictatorship. ‍ ‍ ‍ Yeats’ poem quoted at the beginning of this article ends with the enigmatic line ‘Some rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem to be born.’ Most likely he is referring to the coming anti-Messiah who is labelled the Beast in the book of Revelation. Many believe his is now waiting in the wings to replace the true Messiah (born in Bethlehem) and bring in the dictatorship prophesied in Revelation 13. The Bible indicates that the Beast or Antichrist will have power for a moment, but it will be short lived and doomed to destruction at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. Then the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our God and of His Messiah and He shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 11.15) and the ‘government shall be on His shoulder’ (Isaiah 9.6). ‍ ‍ ‍ Maranatha come Lord Jesus. ‍ ‍ ‍ Water, water nowhere and not a drop to drink. (Apologies to the Ancient Mariner) ‍ ‍‍ ‍ While nations worry about supply of oil and gas as a result of the war in the Gulf and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a much more vital commodity for human survival is water. And it is in short supply in a growing number of nations. ‍ ‍ As of 2026, over 25 countries face extremely high water stress, with the most severe crises located in the Middle East and North Africa. This region is home to the world's most water-stressed nations, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, and Libya. India and Pakistan face critical water scarcity due to overexploitation of aquifers and population density. Much of Africa , Somalia and Ethiopia in particular are facing severe shortages due to drought and climate change. Mexico and parts of the United States (particularly Texas and the west coast) are experiencing significant water shortages and declining groundwater levels. ‍ ‍ ‍ Iran is facing a severe, multi-year water crisis as of May 2026, with major cities like Tehran, Mashhad, and Karaj approaching the point where taps could run dry due to depleted reservoirs. Groundwater is depleted across most of the country, and nineteen provinces are experiencing severe drought. The crisis is driven by a combination of climate change and decades of poor water management, including excessive dam construction and inefficient, water-intensive agriculture. China is facing a severe, multi-faceted water crisis defined by extreme scarcity in the north, widespread pollution, and mismanagement, threatening its food supply and economic growth. ‍ ‍ ‍ Several countries are significantly affected by upstream dam construction that reduces downstream water flow, causing, environmental, and diplomatic crises. These countries include Iraq, heavily impacted by dams built on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers by Turkey and Iran, leading to reduced water for agriculture, destruction of forests, and increased sandstorms. Egypt and Sudanface significant water security risks due to the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile. Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laosare affected of dams built by China on the upper Mekong River ‍ ‍ One country which bucks this trend is Israel. Israel manages its water resources by transforming a chronic shortage into a surplus through large-scale desalination, extensive wastewater recycling, and a centralised national water carrier system. The agriculture sector has shifted away from freshwater, using treated effluent instead. Advanced drip irrigation technologies are widely used to minimise waste. Israel has exported its water technologies to countries around the world, particularly Africa where it has given advice on how to use limited water resources to great effect. ‍ ‍ ‍ Without water no society on earth can survive. Bible prophecies indicate that water shortage and pollution will be a global problem in the last days. Most obviously no water equals no food, so famine is an inevitable result of water shortages. Jesus warned of this as a sign of the last days in Matthew 24.7. Revelation 8.10-11 speaks of something called ‘Wormwood’ falling on rivers and springs of water causing it to become bitter and many to die from drinking it. ‍ ‍ Prophecy speaks of the two great rivers of the ancient world, the Nile and the Euphrates, being affected by a crisis causing the Euphrates to dry up (Revelation 16.12) and the Nile to become contaminated and its waters turn foul (Isaiah 19.5-11). Isaiah 24 speaks of a curse devouring the earth in the last days causing the earth to be ‘defiled (or polluted) under its inhabitants.’ ‍ ‍ ‍ According to the New Scientist, there are massive amounts of water hidden deep beneath the Earth's surface. Scientists have found evidence of a reservoir of water three times the volume of all surface oceans combined, located roughly 250–400 miles underground within the mantle. ‍ ‍ ‍ It may be that the Lord will release this water to replenish and clean up the earth in the Millennial kingdom when ‘waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.’ Isaiah 35. Zechariah 14.8-9 says, ‘In that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.’ Zechariah 14.8-9. See also Ezekiel 47. ‍ Rethinking Russia ‍ Things are not going well for Vladimir Putin in his ‘special military operation’. Four years after invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russia is not making advances and actually losing ground. Russia is losing as many as 25,000- 35,000 casualties a month and over 1.2 million have been killed and wounded since the war began. Ukrainian skills in drone warfare have destroyed large quantities of Russian equipment, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery and rocket systems, helicopters, and naval vessels. ‍ ‍ Russia is spending an estimated 40% of the entire federal budget on the war effort. As a result of this and western sanctions, Russia is increasingly unable to fix chronic infrastructure problems at home. During the bitter Russian winter thousands of people were left without heat, light, or even water. All forms of transport, trains, trucks and planes, are facing logistical problems, making it difficult to transport goods and people across the vast Russian regions. Russia is on the way to an infrastructure collapse that will likely take decades to recover. ‍ ‍ Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov warned the State Duma that Russia's faltering economy risks stoking a 1917-style revolution. He demanded urgent financial and economic measures by autumn to avert a potential economic collapse. This raises the danger of the Russian Federation fracturing. The Caucuses are restive, the far east is looking to China and Siberia is facing an acute problem as a result of melting permafrost, causing buildings, bridges and pipelines to collapse. ‍ ‍ In the present circumstances it is hard to see how Russia could lead the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel (Ezekiel 38-39). Some have said that it is more likely that Turkey is the lead power in the War of Gog and Magog. They say that Meshech and Tubal are not Moscow and Tobolsk, but regions of modern Turkey. Erdogan’s Turkey is backed by an Islamist world view hostile to Israel, seeking the recovery of its Ottoman Empire. He has his eyes on taking control of Jerusalem. Turkey is possession of a large land army already stationed in the region, some of it occupying part of Syria. ‍ ‍ The alternative is that the War of Gog and Magog is some way off, possibly part of Armageddon, giving time for Russia to recover from its present distress. We wait and see, but meanwhile spare a thought and a prayer for the people of Ukraine and Russia, suffering as a result of Putin’s futile war, oppressed by his corrupt dictatorship and facing an economic and social collapse caused by his failed policies. ‍ ‍

Trumps visit with Xi

By David Passmore • May 25, 2026

Trump's Visit with Xi Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM The tempest path of Sino-U.S. tensions came to a head during Trump's first term in office with the outbreak of Covid. Many commentators believed that the deterioration in relations was in terminal decline and that a major confrontation in the straits of Taiwan was fast looming. Trump held China responsible for the spread of Covid, insisting that he would pursue reparations. The election of Biden halted this commitment. Biden sought a non-confrontational policy towards Beijing. In the aftermath of the disastrous premature withdrawal from Afghanistan handing that country over to the Taliban and the Russian invasion of Ukraine under his watch, Biden became too preoccupied to assertively engage with China. Chinese State media portrayed Trump's visit as being rather unremarkable in the context of other foreign dignitaries lining up to meet Xi, pointing out that just a week later Putin would arrive in Beijing. China manifests that it is winning the trade war that Trump began in 2018, beating America at its own game of capitalism. They frame the U.S. as being in a position of weakness because China is able to source whatever products they buy from the U.S. elsewhere like oil from Canada, and soybeans from Brazil. The oil, soybeans and 200 Boeing's Xi agreed to purchase from Trump were presented as a mere gesture to placate Trump as China has already bought 350 Air Buses in the last year. China would have the world believe that it is only semi-conductors where America has the edge. Here China hints that it is not likely to buy H200 Invidia Chips because it would mean that China will always lag behind the U.S. in building their AI tech. China's major contention and concern is that the U.S. may impose export controls to contain China. China's strategy instead is to invest massively on indigenous innovation. China wants to become an innovation powerhouse that will export its own Chips to the Global South. China is fast catching up with America's lead in AI with the launch of Deep Seek and they claim similar progress with Chip making. China is now ostensibly only eight months behind the U.S. on Large Language Models. Running contrary to this narrative Trump insists that China is desperate to trade with America. China's economy has now peaked. Emblematic of this stagnating growth is rising youth unemployment. China is no longer America's biggest trading partner. Trump has shifted manufacturing back to the U.S. and Trump believes that China can't revive its economy without America. Lined up to meet Xi with Trump were the heads of some of America's biggest Tech Corporations. Corporations like nvidia seek a relaxing of export controls for Chips as they want short term profits, ignoring the risk that China will reverse engineer this technology. More broadly, China and the U.S. are playing a geopolitical chess game spanning the globe. Trump outmaneuvered China in Latin America with the removal of Maduro from power in Venezuela. China is exploiting its influence on Iran in order to get Trump to refrain from taking more active steps towards the defense of Taiwan. Indeed, Trump didn't say anything about Taiwan during his visit. Trump's instincts are of a transactional approach towards alliances, where he is only willing to underwrite defense assistance if allies pay up as an insurer would. It is also important to note that saber rattling the Taiwan card also serves the CCP agenda to distract internal dissent concerning the state of the Chinese economy. Most imminently Trump needs China to pressure Iran to open the Straits of Hormuz and get oil prices down before the midterm elections. China has largely insulated itself from the Gulf energy impact due to stockpiles. Trump would also like China to stop providing Iran with GPS for its missiles. Other Chinese weapons systems and technology sold to Iran have failed to perform well against U.S. and Israeli military hardware. Matters boil down to a leverage between whatever Trump can do on Taiwan, China can do on the strait of Hormouz with Iran. Human Rights concerns, espionage and the alarming rate of Chinese acquisition of U.S. land have been placed on the back burner for the time being. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).

Prayer request for Phil Malone

By David Passmore • May 17, 2026

Moriel & Jacob Prasch request prayer for Phil Malone and family “Please keep me and my family in prayer. My mum passed away on 13th May at the age of 93. It's a time of mourning, but may it be a time for the Gospel of Christ to be preached to my unbelieving family, especially my brother.”

Please Pray for Joanne Rizzetto, Pastor Dave Rizzetto's wife

By Mea Fredrickson • May 13, 2026

Moriel & Jacob Prasch request prayer for Sister Joanne Rizzetto, wife of Pastor Dave Rizzetto of Church of The Open Door in New York City. Joanne has developed painful complications and adverse side effects from medications following knee surgery. May The Lord intervene for healing and give guidance to her physicians. Lord, we humbly ask you to intervene in the life of our dear sister. We know you can do all things and that you hear our prayers and consider your servants. Please put a stop to the adverse reaction. Restrain and reverse its effects and restore our sister so that she can continue to serve you in the ministry that you have called them to. We do glorify Your Name. We don't ask as those who treat you as our debtor, but as those who have tasted your goodness and found such mercy and compassion at your feet. Grace and peace and mercy be with Joanne and Pastor Dave.

Will Lebanon miss its golden opportunity?

By David Passmore • May 5, 2026

Will Lebanon miss its golden opportunity? Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Converging new facts on the ground have transformed the political landscape in Lebanon. With Assad removed from power in Syria, a vital lifeline of arms supplies for Hezbollah originating in Iran has diminished. Hezbollah suffered considerable losses in its last round of fighting with Israel. The decapitation of its leadership with the targeted pager attack inflicted a severe blow. Hezbollah's new leader Naim Qassem is a weak substitute for the charismatic Nasrallah who was assassinated by Israel in 2024. Hezbollah in its frail state foolishly fell into line with Iran's instruction to join the fighting against Israel following the recent American-Israeli war with Iran. This was contrary to the wishes of the Lebanese government which was fearful of the inevitable destruction that would be wreaked by the Israeli response. The differing attitudes to Israel amongst Lebanon's population is reflective of its ethnic composition. The predominant groups in order of plurality are Christians, Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims with a smaller minority of Druze. The major concern of most Christians in Lebanon is the dire state of their economy. They have no appetite to further their plight by invoking Israel's rage. During the colonial inter war period the French envisaged the demarcation between Lebanon and Syria as carving out enclaves for Christian and Druze control. Within Lebanon there would be a shared government that by convention would have the Executive power split between a Christian President, a Sunni Prime Minister and Shia Speaker of Parliament. The Christians in southern Lebanon (particularly Maronite Catholics) saw themselves as being anthropologically descendants of ancient Phoenicians as opposed to an Arab identity where the Arab Christians were largely Eastern Orthodox. The schism between the Maronites and the Arab Eastern Orthodox dates back to the time of the Crusades. The Maronites were culturally French, speaking French as their main language and held precedence in much of the Lebanese economy. The first threat to Lebanese stability and cohesion was settled by the U.S. Eisenhower administration in 1958 which landed Marines in an amphibious operation. A repeated attempt at this by the Reagan administration in 1983 ended in a military disaster for the U.S. due to suicide bombings by Iranian controlled terrorists. Israeli efforts to bring in stability during the Lebanese Civil War in conjunction with its Lebanese Christian allies led by Major Saad Haddad likewise came to calamity when the Sabra and Shatila revenge attacks took place following the assassination of Lebanese leader Bashir Gemayel. The ''Good Fence'' policy of an Israeli friendly free Lebanon zone in Southern Lebanon eventually ended badly following Menachem Begin's second incursion into Lebanon called ''Shalom HaGalil'' aimed at stopping the PLO rocket attacks on Israeli border communities like Metulla, Kiryat Shmona, Naharya, Rosh Hanikra, Tzfat and Carmiel. The proxy Israeli occupation from the Israeli border to the Litani river became an imbroglio that many in Israel viewed as Israel's Vietnam with widespread domestic protest and a collapse of morale within the IDF. Eventually Israel absorbed Christian war refugees from Lebanon, while the Vatican and most of the Christian world turned their backs on the Lebanese Christians. Lebanon was then saddled with two states within a state. The first was in the aftermath of Black September in 1970 when King Hussein of Jordan defended his Hashemite throne and government from Yasser Arafat's attempt to take over Jordan due to Jordan having a 70% Palestinian Arab demographic majority. The Jordanian legion drove tens of thousands of its pro Arafat Jordanian citizens into Lebanon, creating a population base for the first state within a state under Arafat. However the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and other factions had their niche interests. Courtesy of the Israeli Air Force Arafat relocated what he saw as his government in exile to Tunisia. This was a missed opportunity by the Lebanese government to assert its autonomy and full territorial control by making a Camp David type peace with Israel inclusive of economic and mutual security provisions. Instead an Iranian backed Syrian intervention replaced Arafat's state within a state with a new one that morphed into Hezbollah. The fall of the Assad regime and the Israeli counter-offensive against Hezbollah re-presents Lebanon with the opportunity that it once lost. The predominantly Christian controlled Lebanese military could and should operationally coordinate with the IDF, to obliterate and remove Hezbollah as the Israelis relieved Lebanon of Arafat's state within a state. Such a rapprochement would likely have strong American and possibly French and British support, allowing Lebanon to be at a non-combative peace with Israel along the lines of Egypt and Jordan, and now some of the Emirates. The natural comradery of the Lebanese Druze community with the Israeli Druze and the pro-Israeli Druze of Syria would additionally re-enforce a regional harmony, as would the Maronite Christian community in Israel with their co-coreligionists in Lebanon. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).

Pastor John Angliss

By David Passmore • May 5, 2026

PASTOR JOHN ANGLISS It is with profound sadness that we learned of the temporary separation from our friend and brother Pastor John Angliss. We look forward to being reunited with John in the millennial reign of Christ and indeed in God's Eternal Kingdom. Jacob Prasch visited John a few weeks ago in the UK while John was in hospice care having been diagnosed preterminal in his illness. While medically correct, it was of course a misdiagnosis. John is now cancer free and is alive and well in the presence of Jesus awaiting us in glory while his mortal body is being renewed for resurrection and immortality. In the meanwhile, during this temporary season of bereavement we do request prayer for his beloved wife Mary and for his congregation, The Ark Fellowship in England near Reading, England. Because he has recently arrived in the USA and is scheduled to address the Moriel Canada branch conference in Winnipeg, Jacob Prasch will regrettably not be able to attend the memorial service in Britain. Our condolences however are very much with Mary and our brethren in the UK who like us knew and loved Pastor Angliss. John was one of a minority of faithful voices who upheld a traditional biblically based Pentecostalism in the era of counterfeit revivals and apostasy that overtook most of British Pentecostalism. John was a faithful friend of Israel & The Jews standing on the prophetic purposes of God for Israel and the salvation of the Jews. John was a loyal friend to Moriel and Jacob Prasch and a colleague of David Pawson and Derek Prince, both of whom likewise stood by God's promises to Israel. John was also a founding leader of CMFI - the Christian Ministerial Fellowship International, former pastor of Three Mile Cross fellowship , and former board member of Focus On Israel (a Pentecostal Ministry to the Jews). While this separation is temporary, John's eternal gain will be our temporary loss. O GRAVE - WHERE IS THEY VICTORY, O DEATH WHERE IS THY STING ? Hosea 13:14 / 1 Corinthians 15: 55-57

We made it this far: Israel at 78

By David Passmore • April 28, 2026

We made it this far: Israel at 78 Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Since the last anniversary milestone of Israel at 75, we have been embroiled in relentless wars. Citizens had little respite to enjoy this year's festivities, coming on the heels of a lull in fighting on the Iranian and Lebanese fronts. We are constantly waiting for a breakthrough on the horizon that will normalize our relations with our neighbors and secure our position on the world stage. It is acutely exhausting to be the focus of the world's attention. But also there is a sense of inevitability accompanying the Zionist project. Specifically that Israel is destined to be central in the wider region and global affairs. Why is this? Is it due to it being a western transplant? Being geographically positioned on the crossroads of three continents? Religious believers would point to prophetic fulfillment. It is short sighted to only look at how our problems are rooted in today’s' reality. Greater forces are at work that will dictate the direction that Israel is heading. The Jewish diaspora will likely find itself in a growing precarious position that will lead to increasing Aliyah (immigration to Israel) and will perhaps ferment the emergence of a second Jewish commonwealth that will not need to heed international pressure in the same way that todays' polity finds itself doing. In this light it is interesting to ponder how our posterity would view our predicament and gains. And I frame matters in these terms with intentionality. We are enmeshed in a seemingly intractable conflict with the Palestinians, and yet Israel has made great gains particularly in the technological fields. There is a current of thinking that perceives Israel's way out of its quagmire is by making itself indispensable to technological advancements. We don't know how tomorrows' world will be shaped by the rapidly advancing AI revolution but so far Israel has proven to be uniquely adaptable and innovative to technological change. This has proved to be a boon to Israel's economy, as have offshore natural gas discoveries being developed in concert with Greece, Greek Cypriot and American energy interests that are geographically and strategically removed from any Straits of Hormuz shipping impediments that strangle the Persian Gulf deposits shared by Qatar and Iran. On another note we should contextualize the situation. How different are Israel's challenges from other nations? Is Israel any less stable than other countries (particularly in the region)? Israel doesn't find itself uniquely challenged to define its identity (most European countries do also, particularly in light of immigration). Nor does the government experience any more volatility than other comparable democracies. Israel's real problems lay in the nature of how its Jewish citizens desire to govern themselves. It is arguable whether the judicial reform protests that occupied public discourse in pre-October 7th Israel would have led to serious civil strife. But it is without doubt that this impasse was allayed by the external attack. The underlying tensions remain unresolved and there are many ways that they could play out. It has been framed as a battle for Israel's soul. Israel's enemies predict that Zionism is imploding and that the State won't survive another 5-10 years. Supporting this claim, they point to Israel's increasing alienation and growing pariah status on the international stage. Our Prime Minister has been indicted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Even public opinion in our staunchest ally the U.S. has turned sharply against Israel. With 80% of the Democratic Party being anti-Israel in a growing climate of anti-semitism we have even witnessed the shift of Alan Dershowitz to the Republican Party which must be seen as emblematic of a trend. There is apprehension in Israel of a post-Trump America dominated by the Democrats. However, these seeming incontrovertible facts may be offset by other measures of fortitude. This may be partially countered by the high investment by Silicon Valley in the Israeli Hi-tech sector, making Israel an asset for purposes of Research and Development in America's AI race against China. New opportunities for economic relations have also been opened with Arab nations through the Abraham Accords and with the powerhouse India. Furthermore, it is difficult to imagine a world in which Israel's technological prowess will not carry the sway of western decision makers in the long run. Israel's 78th anniversary is a moment to take pause and not catastrophize what the future may behold. The entire world is currently in a state of transformation and Israel is not an outlier in this context. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).

Council attempts to shut down and censor local church’s evangelism efforts.

By David Passmore • April 23, 2026

Please click this link:https://mailchi.mp/christianconcern.com/action-alert-street-preaching-22-04-26?e=f1df30be3f

A critical juncture in NATO's future

By David Passmore • April 14, 2026

A critical juncture in NATO'S future Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM NATO was originally established in 1949 to keep the Russian hordes at bay from toppling those European countries not forked over to the Soviet sphere of influence at the Potsdam conference. Europe lay in ruins. Britain had passed on the torch of global hegemony to the U.S. by tacitly acquiescing to the decolonization of its Empire when Churchill and Roosevelt agreed terms of the Atlantic Charter for the post-war new world order in 1941. So from its start NATO was very much an American driven endeavor. American money with the Marshall plan was propping up western European economies and its military might was forming the bulk of their defensive capabilities. The lopsided nature of this dynamic has informed how tensions have persisted and recently erupted in the Alliance. During the Cold War the U.S. felt obligated to shoulder the costs of underwriting Europe's security in light of the broader interests to keep the Soviet's in check. Following the fall of the Iron Curtain European complacency became a sticking point with the 'peace dividend' further exploiting American largesse. European NATO allies spent ever smaller percentages of their GDP on defense expenditure at U.S. expense. Now in a multi-polar world U.S. and European perceived threats are less aligned. This was first tested in the aftermath of September 11th when for the first time NATO elected to trigger its article 5 collective defense protocol. And since then the U.S. has sought to continue to expand the traditional theatre of operations beyond Europe's borders. No longer is Russia perceived by America as being a proximate existential threat to its interests, but rather containing Chinese expansion in the Pacific arena. Parallel to NATO a discrete 'five eyes' intelligence sharing alliance comprising the Anglo-sphere (the U.S., U.K., Canada and New Zealand) emerged. This stands at the center of the U.S. – U.K. 'special relationship'. A relevant question would be can this signals intelligence (NSA-GCHQ) partnership persist should the U.S. withdraw from NATO? Conventional thinking would have led one to believe that with Brexit the U.K. would naturally pivot towards closer U.S. relations but under Starmer the U.K. is distancing itself. European powers misrepresent the present conflict as an aggressive, rather than defensive U.S. adventure while they themselves are more likely to be at risk. In this the Starmer government resembles the Labor party led committee for nuclear disarmament in the 1980's. It opposed the Thatcher supported deployment of U.S. cruise missiles in response to the Soviet SS20's pointed at Britain's cities. The British left branded their response to Soviet strategic escalation to U.S. aggression. This time however there is for the moment no Thatcher to bring common sense into an equation dominated by emotionally driven ideologies in the face of an aggressor with definite aims. In terms of the Russian-Ukraine conflict we are reverting to the old question dating back to the Napoleonic war era: to what extent is London happy with the European nations fighting it out alone for dominance of the continent. Britain was never willing to accept a single power in control. Many variables will dictate what kind of world emerges from the current conflicts in Ukraine and Iran. How will power be extracted from potential gains? What will be the strategic impact of this? What is sure, in the age of Trump this pattern of reliance on U.S. muscle is becoming quickly exhausted. Dating back to the Roman Empire, a factor in the decline of major powers has always been astronomical military spending, a budgetary demand that the U.S. under Trump is no longer willing to shoulder alone. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).