The Last Days

April 3, 2025

Introduction

We know from the Gospels that the year “2000 AD” has already come and gone.

The historical timing of the reign of Caesar Augustus and the differences between the Jewish lunar and Gregorian solar calendar tell us that the year 2000 happened somewhere between two and four years ago and, for theological purposes, the year 2000 as the Western world counts it, irrespective of whatever it may mean for computers, is a big nothing of no doctrinal significance whatsoever. We do know, however, that the we are closer to the return of Jesus and that, of course, it is the real new millennium we should be concerned about—the coming Millennial Reign of Jesus. 

From the globalization of the world economy, to the re-confederation of the nations in the Roman Empire and Holy Roman Empire into an increasingly less and less democratic Federal Europe, to the rise of ecumenism, to a host of environmental factors; from increased seismic activity to thermal pollution, to the ethnic cleansing of “nation against nation”, to the quest for a false peace in the Middle East, to the seduction of the evangelical church, we certainly see ourselves drawing closer to His coming—and a church less and less prepared for it. In God's grace, however, we also see a faithful remnant being raised up and prepared by the Holy Spirit. These are those not enthusiastic about the year 2000, unlike the world, nor about the post-millennial seduction of hyper-charismatic Dominionists and hyper-Calvinist Reconstructionists, but rather who will CO-reign with Christ on earth in the real New Millennium. Yet an important aspect of God's preparation of the faithful is to prepare them for what must precede the return of Jesus.

One of the clearest and most important predictive prophecies we have in the New Testament about what will transpire before the Return of Jesus, however, is in chapter 4 of Paul the Apostle's first epistle to Timothy. As we point out on "The Future History of the Church", the 1st century Church in certain respects typologically prefigures the Church of the last century. It is, of course, entirely possible (some would say likely) that we have now entered that last century. It is against this background that Paul writes to Timothy and to us:

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.

In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

Prescribe and teach these things. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. (1 Timothy 4) 

This text, of course, contains Paul's apostolic instruction and exhortation by the Holy Spirit for Timothy to in turn disseminate these instructions and exhortations to others (1 Tim.4:6,11), which, via the cannon of the New Testament, includes all believers for all time, not only including us, but if we are in the "Latter Days", especially us since the context is eschatological—that is, speaking of the Last Days. 

The first feature of what the Holy Spirit says explicitly concerns a falling way. The Greek word is “apostasontai” the future tense of the verbal form of the word “apostasia”, meaning “to depart out from" and is the same word used for the great falling away in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 associated with the Antichrist. (Moriel has often warned that the ecumenical movement, charismania, hyper-Pentecostalism, liberal theology, and Word-Faith deceptions are all preludes leading up to, and helping set the stage for, this mass backsliding). The same falling away Paul predicts in association with the Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians is dealt with from a more pastoral perspective in his epistle to Timothy. We might say that in 2 Thessalonians Paul deals with the apostasy itself, while in 1 Timothy he deals with the trends within the Church leading up to these events, and as a senior shepherd, urges a younger pastor to protectively alert the sheep (and via him in the providence of Scripture to alert us) as to what to expect.

The first danger here is the belief that Christians cannot fall away. (This is a complex subject in its own right dealt with in the sermon, "Once Saved, Always Saved?"). One cannot “depart” from what one was never actually in to begin with. The Bible warns clearly of a mass apostasy and the notion that only unsaved people can fall away from something they were never in to begin with is linguistically, theologically, and logically absurd. 

The Epistle to the Hebrews was written to Jewish believers in danger of departing from the faith and going back under the law in the face of possible persecution. It is absurd to suggest that those who received a knowledge of the truth and a sacrifice for their sins and are now in danger were not believers to begin with in Hebrews 10:26, just the same as it is illogical to say someone could have tasted the powers of the age to come and been a partaker of the Holy Ghost who are in danger if they commit apostasy. The word for “apostasy” here is “parapipto” (related to “apostasia”) from the infinitive of the verb “to apostatize”. Once more, there is a double illogicality. How can one apostatize from that which one never believed? Secondly, to suggest a nonbeliever can be a partaker of the Holy Spirit is in itself ludicrous. This is the theology of liberal bishop Desmond Tutu who said Hindus can have the Holy Spirit, but it is not the theology of the Word of God.

Such warped reasoning is truly a reductio ad absurdum, where a hollow premise misleads one into making a hollow and logically incoherent deduction, thus reducing the conclusion of the matter to an absurdity. Instead of approaching a text objectively and allowing the text to interpret itself from the context, one redefines and thus reduces the stated meaning in order to accommodate one's presupposition, even though no one looking at the text in its own context without that presupposition would arrive at such a reduced meaning. It is a flawed premise with convoluted reasoning demanding exegetical acrobatics to sustain itself in order to defend a presupposition that is contradicted by the explicit assertion of the text. Simply stated, because a direct unprejudiced meaning of a text like Hebrews 6 or Hebrews 10 taken in context goes against their presupposed ideas, they must reduce its straightforward meaning in order to protect their presuppositions. This they achieve by a contorted exegesis that can only seem to make sense if one takes on board their presupposition to begin with. If however, one allows the text to speak for itself, their reduction of the meaning of the passage becomes self-evidently absurd from the context. 

In fairness, we must acknowledge that when John Calvin formulated what became known as the “doctrine of perseverance” ("once saved, always saved"), he was trying to debunk the heretical exploitation of medieval Roman Catholicism which held people in continual bondage by telling them the lie that there is no assurance of salvation. This helped facilitate their corrupt sale of indulgences to finance their Renaissance building programs. The solution to error, however, is truth not another error. We are, of course, eternally secure in Christ, providing we use the free will restored at the cross and appropriated by the new birth to remain in Christ by cooperating with God's grace. In denying that the free will lost at the fall of man was restored at Calvary, Calvinism (akin to Roman Catholicism in a different way) denies the full power of the cross of Jesus. Ironically, one of the biggest threats to the eternal security of a believer is, in fact, this misplaced idea that believers cannot fall away. No one can snatch us out of the Father's hand, but we can misuse our restored free will to leave. This why verse 16 states that it is we who insure our salvation. This chapter tells us that it is rather those who are forewarned of these dangers and act accordingly who can be assured of their security, and not those who deny it can ever even happen (1 Timothy 4:16). In the Last Days, the Spirit explicitly says that it shall. 

Doctrine of Demons

From here Paul tells us by the Holy Spirit the initial form the Last Days apostasy will take and he begins by pointing out it will be hypocritical liars in the Church propagating doctrines that are demonic in order to mislead Christians. The Holy Spirit does not inspire Paul to mince words in his description of these people, nor does he make any appeal for them. They are not sincere people in error but bad people of the kind Jeremiah, for instance, was told not to even pray for (Jer.14:11). Neither does Paul place the blame only on the demons. The doctrines come from demons but are proclaimed by evil leaders in the Church.

Specifically, the first of these doctrines is a soft form of legalism called “Nomianism”, here concerned with dietary regulation. It is not that these people abstain from certain foods for cultural or testimonial reasons as a matter of personal choice, but they doctrinally advocate it. This is Judaization (not a recognition of the Judaic origins of the Christian faith, but a return to religious bondage). It is no coincidence that Seventh-day Adventists, Mormons, hyper-Messianic extremists, (and concerning “Days of Abstinence”, even Catholics) engage in such demonic practice as placing people into bondage to dietary laws. 

One danger is that with the emergence of Post-Millennialism and Dominion theology comes what is known as “over-realized eschatology”, better known as “Kingdom Now”. In its more extreme forms its advocates, who combine Reformed Reconstructionism (the Calvinistic idea of theonomy where the Church takes over the institutions of law and government and establishes the Divine Kingdom prior to the return of Jesus after the models of the police states of Calvin, Knox, Zwingli, and the Massachusetts Puritans) with Charismania, suggesingt a restoration of the earth to its Adamic state before the Fall. In Britain, during the Toronto Experience, one Anglican church in Sheffield (still to this day following the Kansas City Prophets) was exposed on national TV for its famous alternative service where people were topless and semi-naked in the church services, heralding back, of course, to the nakedness of Adam and Eve. As man was seemingly herbivores and not carnivores before the Fall, a Christian prohibition on meat would fit the same notion.

With the influx of New Age philosophy into evangelical circles via the Vineyard Movement and writers such as Clark Pinnock, William De Artega, Patrick Dixon and Yonggi Cho, saved Christians become predisposed to all manner of New Age influences. It is probably no coincidence that in certain quarters in the USA, ideas of holistic medicine and vegetarianism as a route to higher spirituality are already being repackaged in evangelical jargon for consumption by the naïve and doctrinally ignorant believers.

From here Paul moves on to mandatory celibacy, a doctrine of demons which for its clergy still remains a cardinal doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. Thus by denying the natural expression of marriage, we today at long last see exposed the ages old Roman Catholic plague of homosexual and pedophile clergy as well as an avalanche of conventional forms of adultery and fornication. From the convent whore houses of the Dark Ages and Renaissance (these were simply a continuation under the auspices of the papacy of what had previously been the religious bordellos of the vestal virgins of pagan Rome and the hieros gamos temple prostitution of ancient Greece) to the more contemporary scandals that literally helped bring down the Irish government a few years ago for covering up the sexual violation of small children by the Roman Catholic clergy, we see the results of such demonic doctrine. When the natural and moral is forbidden, the unnatural and immoral finds an outlet (1 Corinthians 7:9).

The origins of such demonic doctrine are found in Augustine of Hippo who brought the influences of Manichaeism, a dualistic Gnostic sect to which he had been a member before his conversion to Christianity under the tutelage of his doctrinally deranged mentor Ambrose of Milan. The Manicheans held the Gnostic view that all that was physical was wrong as it was the domain of the lesser god. Thus Augustine adopted this for Christendom by saying, "The only good thing about marriage is having children who will be celibate." While Augustine was right in his refutation of the heretic Pelagius who denied original sin, the violence perpetrated in the name of Christ over the centuries including the crusades and inquisitions stem initially from the seminal influence of Augustine who maintained that the Church could use violence to convert people. It was also Augustine who is largely responsible for the propagation of such erroneous doctrines as Post-Millennialism (the basis of Reconstructionism and Kingdom Now Theology) which departs from the Pre-Millennialism of the Apostolic and Pre-Nicean Church. It was also Augustine who essentially rewrote Christianity as a Platonic religion and developed the "Invisible/Visible Church" notions that furnished a bogus doctrinal basis for Constantine, who made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire.

Tragically, as is covered on our "What the Reformers Forgot" teaching, while posing to reform the church, John Calvin, instead of going directly back to the Bible as the Anabaptists did, went back to Augustine. So, like Augustine, he likewise ended up with a mixture of truth and error in his doctrinal theology. It is ironic that both Roman Catholicism and Reformed Protestantism derive from Augustine, each stressing different aspects of the same man's doctrinal beliefs while sharing other aspects. Celibacy, however, was one aspect they did not share and the Reformers rightly opposed this demonic doctrine. 

Yet the Holy Spirit says explicitly that this demonic doctrine will likewise feature prominently in the latter days. In America the “Church of Bible Understanding” cult, led by Stuart Trail which grew out of the Jesus Movement, but like the Children of God, turned into a demonic cult, is one noted supposedly evangelical group with a policy of virtual celibacy. Disturbing also is the anti-matrimonial bias of Bill Gothard and his youth seminars. The potential consequences of Gothard's bias can be devastating. He discourages marriage until the age of 30, the gynecological age where if a female has not already had a child she runs a higher clinical risk statistically of infertility, miscarriage, and a host of possible congenital birth defects for her baby. Gothard is neither medically nor theologically qualified. Not surprisingly, a sex scandal involving Gothard's brother and office staff rocked his Illinois-based organization. Still, many pastors will yet urge their youth groups to attend Gothard's seminars.

More distressing, however, is the accommodation of Roman Catholicism and its acceptance as Christian despite such demonic doctrines by theologians claiming to be evangelical, such as Norman Geisler (who actually adheres to the Aristotelian heresy of Thomas Aquinas and is associated with the Roman Catholic Loyola University) and the reformed Calvinist theologian J. I. Packer who joined Chuck Colson, Pat Robertson, and Bill Bright in signing the “Evangelical and Catholics Together” acceptance of Roman Catholicism and its included refusal to evangelize Roman Catholics. With a compromise with Rome comes not only a compromise with another gospel called “Sacramentalism” (making them accursed of God—Gal. 1:8), but also a compromise with Rome's doctrines, including its celibacy: a doctrine of demons.

Proper Nourishment, Not Fables

In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; (1 Timothy 4:6-7) 

 In verse 6, in a play on words in the Greek text, Paul contrasts the wrong doctrines forbidding food in the previous passage as “bad food” to right doctrine which is “good food” or “entraphomenos”, meaning “to be nourished”. He takes his comparison further by referring to false doctrines as fables (or in Greek “muthos”), where we get the word “myths”, which most English Bibles, in my opinion, inaccurately translate as "silly" fables that are old womanish. The actual Greek word is not “silly”, but “bebelous”, better translated as “something that profanes.” I am not sure if any commentators would agree with me, but I do not see Paul's description of them being "old womanish" as either misogynic or misogeriatric, but probably an allusion to Hellenistic female mystical sorceresses in the groove of the Delphic Oracle (called “pharmakos” in Revelation 21:8 & 22:15) who conjured up mythical revelations while in occult trances apparently induced with the help of hallucinogenic potions or plants. 

Such mythical doctrines, which profane are indeed rife today within the realm of popular charismania as opposed to biblical charismatic, proliferate in the latter times. Thus, from such fables as Augustine's Manichaeism, a dualistic mythical belief that sex is inherently undesirable because it is a physical act and the physical is inherently bad (which the divine Logos becoming incarnate in John 1 goes directly against) emerges two things. The first is demonic doctrines (in this case required celibacy) and the second is those "liars" (as Paul calls them) who propagate such demonic doctrines. In verse 2 Paul calls these liars in Greek “pseudologon”, meaning a “false logos”, or more precisely a demonic counterfeit of the true incarnate Logos—the Lord Jesus who reveals Himself in the flesh, through the Holy Spirit and in the Living Word of Scripture. Remembering that the theme of both 2 Thessalonians 2 and 1 Timothy 4 is the same Last Days apostasy, in both we see the relationship between the coming Antichrist and this coming apostasy. In 2 Thessalonians he is the man of perdition, a false Christ (the Greek term literally meaning "in place of Christ") who features in the end times apostasy. In 1 Timothy 4 we have the term pseudologon; merely a different case ending in the Greek text for pseudologos or “false logos”, meaning "in place of the true Logos", once more featuring eschatologically in this same end times apostasy.

Therefore in 1 Timothy Chapter 4, instead of the true Logos revealed in the flesh, the false logos says the flesh is bad (also a key Antichrist characteristic in 1 John 4:1-3). Instead of the true Logos revealed through the Person of the Holy Spirit, the false logos is revealed through a demon. Instead of the true Logos revealed in A living Word, the false logos becomes revealed in a stupid superstitious fable (such as “gold fillings”). And instead of the true Logos being preached by faithful servants of the Lord such as Paul and Timothy were, the false logos is preached by backslidden liars—all of which results in profanity. This, as God's Word in this chapter forecasts, is exactly the kind of ridiculous mess we see having emerged and still emerging today, the end product of which can only be the complete and utter apostasy explicitly predicted here by the Holy Spirit Himself via St. Paul to Timothy and also to us.

The Savior of All Men

For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Prescribe and teach these things. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. (1 Timothy 4:8-12)

From here Paul continues with a list of personal exhortations and commendations to Timothy, including an encouragement akin to the Lord's exhortation to Jeremiah not to be made to feel to be inadequate due to being a youth. God measures age in how long we have known Him and in terms of spiritual maturity, not in the abject notions of maturity of the secular world nor on mere biological age alone. Much of this exhortation could just as well apply to many sincere believers today, but in verse 10 Paul reveals that "God…is the Savior of all men, especially of believers". This is both a Christological statement about Jesus and a soteriological statement about salvation, where the Holy Spirit is inspiring Paul to refute two significant doctrinal errors the Lord knew would emerge after the time of the Apostles. The first is the denial that the Savior (Jesus) is God and the second is the Calvinistic error that Jesus did not die for the sins of the world as the Bible teaches but only for the elect. Indeed, in this same epistle, the Holy Spirit declares through Paul that God desires all men to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). As Peter writes, the Lord is wanting none to perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9). 

God is in eternity and by definition therefore exists outside of time (which is why past, present, and future things are all concurrent in the book of Revelation). Therefore relative to eternity where time does not exist, the number saved is ordained from before the foundation of the world, but with the incarnation God entered time from eternity to bring salvation to all who would respond to His undeserved and unmerited grace. Thus relative to the sphere of time, the Lord declares He takes no delight in the plight of the wicked but prefers they would rather repent (Eze. 18:3). Hence, quoting Joel in his kerygma, Peter says, “whoever” calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21). The Holy Spirit knew that deceptions and false doctrines denying the wonderful truths of a just but loving God making His sovereign grace available to all would one day infiltrate His Church, and here He makes doctrinal provision for it. 

Such reformed errors in understanding sovereignty and election have continually wreaked havoc throughout Church history. We must point out that not all Calvinists are so extreme or virtually heretical to effectively remove verse 10 from the cannon of Scripture as to say that “Jesus is not the Savior of all men, especially of believers”. Only the hyper-Calvinistic lunatic fringe holds to such contra-biblical particularism, saying that God created some people to burn in hell forever, when God's Word states He is wishing all to repent.

A glance at Calvin's commentary on Seneca's De Clementia shows the hermeneutic root of Reformed exegesis derives from humanism, not Scripture. A review of Calvinistic Post-Millennialism, Erastianism (a state church) and infant baptism reveals Calvinist ecclesiology (the doctrine of the church) derives from Roman Catholicism. A search of the Scriptures to find a single verse substantiating the Reformed “Covenant Theology” of the Calvinists, where God only made two covenants—one with Adam and one with Abraham (from where Replacement Theology arises), shows no such passage exists. But above all, the Calvinistic misunderstanding of predestination has a common philosophical root with the fatalistic determinism of the Inja Allah of Islam, and not biblical Christianity. 1 Timothy 4:10 disproves the hyper-Calvinistic error of “limited atonement” which restricts the sufficiency of Jesus' blood to save anyone. Indeed the Lord chooses those He knows from eternity who will respond to His drawing, and we cannot save ourselves nor even respond to His grace without His quickening of us. But God creates no one for hell—hell was created for Satan and his angels, not for men (Mt. 25:41). He is a loving God, willing and wanting to save all, although not all will receive Him and God foreknows those who shall and shall not. Jesus is God and the Savior of all men, especially believers. We can either believe Paul or Calvin. 

The Divine Balance - Attention to the Word and Neglect Not the Gift

Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. (1 Timothy 4:13-16)

 

In verse 13, Paul issues his admonishment that attention be given to the reading of Scripture, to exhortation and to teaching. John Wesley would one day lament that Methodism would decline because of these three priorities on the ministry of the Word, as will any other movement or denomination that ignores them. Today we witness the essential ruination of the United Reformed Church, Methodism, and most of Presbyterianism and, of course, the Church of England whose latest UK statistics indicate a further reduction by 36,000 in regular attendance since the last tabulation according to BBC News Night, (proving that things like Alpha Courses have made no overall difference to the downward spiral of the divided denomination that produce it); the growth has been among Eastern Religion, Neo-Paganism and Cults. Under the leadership of Bernard Green and Douglas MacBaine, there has similarly been a journey down the ecumenical road away from the Bible by the Baptist Union, while we have witnessed the phenomenal decline in the Assemblies of God with decreased conference attendance and churches pulling out. And the out and out moral scandals rocking Elim in the secular press in both Britain and New Zealand can all be attributed either directly or indirectly to the departure from Paul's emphasis on Scripture.

Fortunately, in relative terms, the Independent Evangelical Churches have not made major moves in the direction of departing from a biblical premise and should probably be regarded as the true Baptists. Likewise, Calvary Chapels, Light & Life Mission and other more conservative Pentecostals Movements are being raised up by the Lord to replace the declining Pentecostal churches of yesterday. While there are clear areas of hope, the overall picture is not a happy one, with even the caliber of Bible teaching among the Brethren not, for the most part, more than a shadow of what it was a generation ago.

It is noteworthy that Paul first contends for the reading of Scripture. In the First Century Church, there were few codices or scrolls and the congregation was reliant on having the Scriptures read to them. But today it is amazing how many people actually come to church without a Bible and simply listen to a sermon without reading the text for themselves. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, but the stress here is on the reading. Today, instead of a text being read and expounded, so often a few verses are taken out of a passage (and not infrequently out of context altogether) as a mere launching pad for a make-believe preacher to hype people up with anecdotes, often centered on himself. 

Once on the Gold Coast of Australia in an Assemblies of God Church, I sat through an hour and a half of a gentleman named Col Stringer doing just this. Taking two verses out of all reasonable context about the “joy of the Lord being our strength” and “the wise man controlling his spirit”, he proceeded with a series of colorful anecdotes about how among other things he laughed off a fire that destroyed his bungalow. A bungalow may even be insured and rebuilt, but the life of a child cannot be brought back! For the duration of his presentation he failed to mention the Name of Jesus even once, placing the stress on the “joy”, instead of on “the Lord”, as does the actual text in its context. This is pop psychobabble, "feel good" psychology masquerading as Christian doctrine. More seriously, this was a meeting supposedly designed to assist Christian men to be better spiritual leaders of their families. With such nonsensical rubbish that will never avail in a real crisis being taught to them, I can only wonder what would become of their poor families if, God forbid, real tragedy struck. This is why God warns, “Let few of us be teachers, for teachers will be judged more strictly than the rest” (James 3:1). It would not be fair, however, to single out Col Stringer. His approach is only typical of so much of the popular foolishness passed off today as Bible teaching. More distressingly, however, is the sad fact that in their ignorance, the hearers mindlessly accept it. Thus Paul asserts a text is to first be read. This alone establishes the correct context and CO-text. 

Secondly, Paul commands that the text be used in exhortation. As Watchman Nee rightly stated, there is a difference between real knowledge and mere information. The Bible was never given to increase our knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but to change our lives. Paul uses the Greek word “paraklesio”, meaning to implore as in an exhortation with a view on comforting and is directly related to the Greek Word “parakletos”, a descriptive title of the Holy Spirit who gets next to us as our Comforter; but His chief means of doing this is through the revealed Word. “Spirit” and “truth” are mutually dependent, not mutually exclusive. The Holy Spirit only operates according to the Bible He inspired. 

This brings us to Paul's third exhortation, “teaching”, where the Greek word is “didasklia”, whose New Testament usage is “to explain doctrine”. This word comes directly from the Greek word for “doctrine” which is “didaskein”. Biblically, while a false teacher like Paul Crouch openly denounces biblical doctrine on so-called Christian TV as “excrement”, biblically, the Holy Spirit calls it the teaching of Jesus. Scripturally, to reject the teachings of Jesus as “excrement” as Crouch urges is to reject Jesus Himself. In the context, the comforting role and exhortation of the Holy Spirit is based first and foremost on Scripture, but to exhort without right doctrine is not to exhort at all, but rather to mislead and deceive! 

Only in first highlighting the primacy of Scripture and its doctrine does Paul move on to urge Timothy that the gift bestowed upon him through prophetic ministry not be neglected. The word for gift here is “charismatos”, a grace given through an individual through the Body to equip him for a ministry, which in this case is associated with a further charismata in the form of prophetic ministry. Unless a firm doctrinal basis is in place where such gifts are exercised in accordance with Scripture, the result will not be biblical charismata but unbiblical charismania. Such gifts, as well as the ministry gifts and the charismatic gifts, help equip us for fulfilling our calling (1 Cor. 12:4-5), and are compared by Jesus to talents by which we will be judged according to how we invested them on His behalf (Mt. 25:14-26). 

This is one reason why the devil uses charismania to discredit the gifts so others will not want them and be under-armed for the battle (1 Cor. 14:23) as well as causing the unsaved to think we are mad. It is also why Satan uses men like Peter Glover to condemn the gifts and those who use them. Romans 11 deals with God's prophetic purposes for the Jews while Romans 12 opens with Paul teaching on a combination of both charismatic and ministry gifts. There is no chapter division in the original Greek text, so it for good reason Paul links God's election of Israel to charismatic gifts. In Romans 11:29 the word is again “charismata”, saying both "go forth without repentance". In other words it is a deception that draws a line between the early church and the present church. Among the Exclusive Brethren, following the errors of John Nelson Darby and Jim Taylor, this error is called “hyper-Dispensationalism” (which is a re-modification of the ancient heresy of “Marcionism”). While the Closed Brethren have a wrong doctrinal basis for claiming the gifts ceased, Reformed secessionists have no basis either. 

The reason Paul links “gifts and calling” in Romans 11:29 is because the doctrinal error that God is finished with the gifts, and the doctrinal error that God is finished with the Jews, are merely two aspects of the same error. In 1 Corinthians 14:23, Paul actually calls those uninstructed in charismatic gifts “idiotai” from where we get the English word "idiots". In 1 Corinthians 13, the gifts last until the “perfect” comes, which in the context of the epistle is the “parousia”, or return, of Jesus, not the cannon of the New Testament. In opening the epistle in 1 Cor. 1:7-8, the “charismatai” (“charismatic gifts”) last until Jesus comes back. Looking at the text in its context and in light of its CO-text, it is “idiotic” to argue otherwise.

While claiming to be on opposite ends of the theological spectrum, the Peter Glovers and Col Stringers of the contemporary Church are really six of one, and half dozen of the other; both divorce text from context and CO-text. Both Charismania and Secessionism alike are beliefs that Paul in effect calls “idiocy”.

The Conclusion

Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. (1 Timothy 4:15-16) 

 Paul drives the point underscoring the importance of these truths by imploring Timothy to “take pains” to implement these teachings for the sake of "all" (both saved and unsaved), not only as a witness and testimony to the lost but as an example and vindication of his ministry to the Church (including those who looked down upon his youthfulness). Paul closes by again urging Timothy and, of course, us to pay due attention to both ourselves and to our teaching. It is not enough to have right doctrine if our conduct is otherwise.

Britain's premier Baptist preacher and a member of the Evangelical Alliance Executive, Roy Clements of Eden Baptist in Cambridge, was a good expounder of Scripture but was nationally exposed when he recently abandoned his church, wife and children for a homosexual lover as was reported in the press. Yet, until he came down on the fence on the Toronto issue, his doctrine had always been fine.

Conversely, there are those who suggest if someone's life appears right, we should ignore their doctrinal errors. God's Spirit, speaking through Paul, however, says otherwise. Wrong doctrine will inevitably result in wrong conduct. If our conduct and our doctrine are right, we need not fear this apostasy the Spirit explicitly warns of, but we will, as verse 16 states, insure salvation for ourselves and for those hearing us.



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).