The Great Church Robbery

April 3, 2025

Introduction

We are going to focus on two main Greek words: “kleptos” is the primary New Testament word for “thief,” and “harpazo” is what a kleptos does—“to seize away by force; to rip off.”

Harpazo is to rip something off and a kleptos is the one performs this action. (This is where we get the word “kleptomaniac.”)To be absolutely accurate, some people try to tell us the word “rapture” is not in the Bible. It is in the Bible coming from the Latin Vulgate derived the Latin translation of “harpazo.” The word “rapture” comes from Latinizing the Greek word “harpazo,” and is most certainly in Scripture. However, it is in more than one place in Scripture. We are going to examine every place it occurs in the New Testament because every place it occurs teaches something about the Rapture. But we must take this a bit further.“Harpazo” plus “anastasis” equals “episunagoge.” The “snatching away” plus “resurrection” equals our “gathering together” to Him. The Greek prefix “epi” means “around.” So in other words, the Rapture and Resurrection are simultaneous; they are two aspects of the same event with the return of Jesus, which is called the episunagoge. It is functionally the same as “parousia,” the revelation of Jesus Christ that is coming. This is not “revelation” in the sense of “apocalypse,” but the revelation of the true believers. “Apocalypse” is a different word for “revelation” that means “unveiling.” This will not be an unveiling but takes place instantly–every eye shall ultimately see.

A Practical Example

I have a friend in England who is a computer software engineer. He is a nice guy with a family, and is an elder in a church near Stonehenge. He runs his own business with an interesting line of work. He is a computer consultant but he is hired by banks, credit card companies and corporations to hack into computer systems. He is actually hired to hack into computer systems to steal highly confidential information, usually of a financial nature, in order to test the strength of their security. He tells me that Chinese triads and Russian mafia are the most dangerous computer thieves. They are not like American gangsters but are usually ex-KGB agents from the old Soviet Union who have masters’ degrees and PhD’s, and are multi-lingual. If they do not themselves have degrees in computer science, they will hire such to do the hacking for them. He says this is a growing problem and therefore he has a growing business. He does the same things a thief will do: he hacks in and steals the information.When he gets a contract the people in the company do not know when he is going to do it and he does not tell them when or how he is going to do it. He does it remotely such as going through Hong Kong to hack into a system in England so they cannot trace it to him, the same kind of thing a professional hacker would do. He tries to steal that information before a real thief steals it, on the supposition that if he can do it they can do it. Therefore he is going to find out how to do it before they will. As it were, he comes to rob the thief. This is his livelihood. He is a Christian who has never stolen as much as a paper clip, but he does the same thing a thief does. He is hired to break into secure systems.

Aware of the Harpazo

“So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force …”

…harpazo Him—rapture Him. It is the same word. Jesus perceived that they were coming to “rapture” Him.

“…to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. (Jn. 6:15)

Notice He was aware the rapture was coming. This same Jesus will make us aware the Rapture is coming. Every time we see this word it teaches something about the coming Rapture. He knew it was going to happen before it happened. We will not know the day or the hour, but we will know it is getting closer and we will know what action to take.Of course, they were coming to try to forcibly make Him king, and since His kingdom was not of this world (which was not the purpose for His first coming but the purpose in His second coming), He did not allow himself to be raptured and made king; He will come back and make Himself King when He returns. In other words, they wanted to rapture Him, but no, He is coming to Rapture us. But He knew it was going to happen.Grammatically it occurs here in the future-passive—it is “harpazomai,” but it is the same word.

Snatching by One Hand or the Other

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;”

(“Kill”—“thuso,” “destroy”—“apoleso” where we get the word “Apollyon.”)

“…I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches…

…”harpazos”…
…them and scatters them.” (Jn. 10:10–12)

The wolf “harpazos” them—raptures them. Going back to my friend in England, his job is to rob the thief, to steal the information before the thief can steal the information. He does the same thing the thief does. Satan comes to harpazo—to rapture, to snatch away by force.

“and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out…

…”harpazo” them…

“…of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out…

…”harpazo” them…

…of the Father’s hand. (Jn. 10:28–29)

This is saying that if we are in the hand of Christ, Satan cannot snatch us away from Him; he cannot touch the new creation. He cannot snatch us out of the hand of Christ.This Scripture does not address the issue of backsliding. People have taken it out of context and given it a meaning that is not warranted in the context. It does not say someone cannot get out of the hand, it simply says they cannot be snatched out of the hand, and has nothing whatsoever to do with a person choosing not to be in the hand of Christ. It simply says if someone chooses to be in the hand of Christ they cannot be snatched away.Unsaved people do not have a free will; their will is in bondage—they cannot choose Christ unless they are convicted by the Holy Spirit. They have to be empowered and convicted to choose Christ and it requires divine intervention for them to be saved. “Nobody comes but that the Father draws him” (Jn. 6:44). In our salvation we get back our free will when we come to Christ. He empowers us to be able to make that choice we could not make had He not so empowered us. Free will is restored at the cross; free will is something we get back; it makes it possible to choose and remain in Christ. John 10:28-29 has nothing whatsoever to do with backsliding or the will of the individual; it only says that the thief cannot do it. Very often this has been misapplied.

“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.” (Mt. 13:19)

Somebody hears the Gospel, gets convicted, and they think about getting saved. No one can snatch them out of the Lord’s hand, but if they have not gone that far yet and the seed has fallen to the earth and died, we know what is going to happen: the devil is going to try to snatch it away. That is how he operates.We witness to someone, tell them the Gospel, they believe it and say they will come to church on Sunday, but the next day Jehovah’s Witnesses knock on their door. The devil sent them there. That is the devil coming to snatch away what was sown. But in Matthew 24 we see…

He is coming like a thief in the night. In other words, He robs the thief. Jesus comes in the character of the devil and snatches us away before the enemy does. It is the master gambit—He beats the devil at his own game. The devil is a kleptos. Jesus is not a kleptos but comes like a kleptos and does the same thing a kleptos does. In other words, to understand the nature of the Rapture we have to understand the nature of the devil. The Lord comes to rob the thief.

The Modern-Day Kleptos

Let us look at this idea of the kleptos who comes to “steal and kill and destroy,” how the devil does this, and how it manifests itself. Everybody gets robbed, but the question is, who is going to do it? We are either going to be “harpazoed” by the kleptos or “harpazoed” by the one who is likethe kleptos.In Psalm 50 the leadership of the nation was being castigated and they were told…

“When you see a thief, you are pleased with him,And you associate with adulterers. (Ps. 50:18)

Notice the relationship between impropriety and immorality. So often when we see these ministers fall from grace it involves spiritual pride, financial impropriety, and sexual immorality. It is usually one of those three things, and in some cases they hit the jackpot. The same guys fooling around with women are very often the same ones who are preaching Word-Faith or have their fingers in the cookie jar. This is not a new problem but, as described in this Scripture, existed in ancient Israel.Todd Bentley, a criminally-convicted homosexual pedophile who was in prison for molesting a seven year-old, claimed to become a Christian, had himself covered in tattoos, was kicking old ladies in the face, and night after night was preaching that the Lord showed him there were a thousand people attending each of his services who were going to give him $1,000. And he was getting the money, sometimes raking in over $1 million a night it would seem. The whole time this was going on he was being unfaithful to his wife and yet being trumpeted as a hero by Rick Joyner and C. Peter Wagner. After they prophesied over him that he was going to lead a great revival, four days later he abandons his wife and three children and takes off with this other woman. Soon after, he divorces his wife and marries her. Now they are trying to bring him back into ministry.

“When you see a thief, you are pleased with him,And you associate with adulterers. (Ps. 50:18)

He is an adulterer! They are pleased with him! This is only one contemporary example, but there are many examples of this. In other words, they are getting clipped already.

When I would heal Israel,The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered,And the evil deeds of Samaria,For they deal falsely;The thief enters in,Bandits raid outside,And they do not consider in their heartsThat I remember all their wickedness.Now their deeds are all around them;They are before My face.With their wickedness they make the king glad,And the princes with their lies.They are all adulterers,Like an oven heated by the bakerWho ceases to stir up the fireFrom the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. (Hos. 7:1–4)

(Leaven, of course, is a figure of sin and false doctrine.)Look at this: these people are adulterers and they are thieves, but the kings and the princes are happy about their lies—they make the king glad!Why do we see major pastors and leadership figures lending credence to these con-artists? They make them happy with their lies! They make them happy with their thievery! This brought about the Assyrian Captivity—God’s judgment—on the ten northern tribes, and it is bringing God’s judgment on the contemporary church. As it says in Romans 11, if He did not spare the natural branches He will not spare you either. If Israel and the Jews could not get away with this kind of activity, neither will the church. And yet they continue in it.Todd Bentley leaves his wife and children and they are actually trying to bring him back. It means nothing to them. Money talks. They do not care about the adultery.

Your rulers are rebelsAnd companions of thieves; (Is. 1:23a)

Their leaders are in rebellion against God and companions with thieves!It is so shocking that it has been hard for me to believe this has happened, but when I recite these things in the public domain I am not throwing mud; I am simply stating facts.When Oral Roberts said a nine hundred foot tall Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him if he does not cough up $6.5 million by the end of the month He is going to kill him, people like Jack Hayford defended him and somebody gave him the money to save the hospital. (The hospital wound up closing down anyway and Jesus did not kill him.) He was on television crying, “Please, He’s going to kill me.” Apparently there was a nine hundred foot Jesus who was running a protection racket—that is what gangsters do. And yet there were pastors defending him.

Your rulers are rebelsAnd companions of thieves; (Is. 1:23a)

Jesus warned us how His Father’s house became a den of thieves. (Mt. 21:13; Mk. 11:17; Lk. 19:46) He did not use the word “kleptos” because a kleptos harpazos; these were swindlers.That is how the devil kleptos—he steals and destroys. Jesus is coming in the manner of the enemy to do the same thing the enemy does with an entirely different motive. He comes like a kleptos. To understand what Jesus is going to do we have to understand what the enemy does. The kleptos is always the enemy, but He comes like a kleptos.

The Example of Paul

Let us look at the other side. Everywhere this word “harpazo” occurs it teaches something about the Rapture.

And as a great dissension was developing, the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force…

(To harpazo him—rapture him. It is the same word in Greek.)

…and bring him into the barracks. But on the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side… (Ac. 23:10–11a)

That is the Peshet, the straightforward meaning. Paul was going to be seized; they were going to rip him in half, literally tearing him to pieces. So the Roman commander dispatches his soldiers to rescue Paul before they could rip him to bits. Notice he harpazos Paul before the mob could harpazo him. This is a picture of the Rapture. The Antichrist is going to try to rip the body to pieces. “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather” (Mt. 24:28). But before that can happen, our Commander is going to send His angels to gather His elect. He will harpazo us before the enemy can. Every time we see this word it teaches something about the Rapture. Our Commander is going to snatch us away before the enemy can rip us to pieces; there will be a rescue.

There Is Always a Rescue

“But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. (Mt. 24:43) “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. (Dan. 12:1)

Notice that those whose names are in the book will be rescued. There is a rescue coming, and this rescue is the Rapture. In England we have Gerald Coates, and in America there is Rick Joyner—people who teach against the doctrine of the Rapture, saying there is no rescue. How is someone going to get rescued if they do not believe there is a rescue?In the Olivet Discourse Jesus gives a list of signs to look out for and He says, “I am coming like a thief in the night, so look out for these signs. This will tell you it is getting closer. If you had known at what time he was coming you would not have allowed your house to be broken into. Well, I am coming just like that burglar.” We are told by Paul that day should not overtake us like a kleptos (1 Th. 5:4); it is the world that is to be taken by surprise; it is the apostate church that is to be taken by surprise, not the faithful Bride. But in Matthew 24 Jesus says, “Be alert, watch for these signs, I am coming like a thief in the night” (Mt. 24:42-43).Suppose you were going to take your children or grandchildren down to Orlando to Disneyworld and somebody says, “Don’t bother to turn on the burglar alarm. Turn off the lights, leave the door open, drive off to Florida and have a good time.” Who is going to do that? Who is going to believe somebody who tells us that? If we visit the website of Rick Warren and his Purpose Driven Lie we are told to avoid End Time prophecy because it is a diversion. Jesus says to watch out, He is coming like a thief, to be alert, but who cares what Jesus Christ said if you have Rick Warren? Who needs the New Testament if you have the Purpose Driven Lie? Jesus commands that we be alert and watch for these things, but Warren says no. Do you understand who he works for? He works for the thief—the burglar.This is not a “mistake,” this is blatant. Jesus teaches to do one thing, Warren teaches people to do the other. It is unbelievable, but that is what is happening.

Paul’s Personal Example

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up…

(…harpazo – raptured…)
…to the third heaven. (2 Co. 12:2)

He did not know if he was in the body or out of the body. When we are raptured we will not know if we are dead, we will just know that we are alive in Christ.The ancient Greeks had three concepts of heaven: the first was the atmosphere of the earth, the second was outer space, and the third was eternity. We have two Greek words for “time”: “chronos” and “kairos.” “Kairos” is the clock, but eternity is not a clock that keeps going; eternity is no clock at all. Yet there is in eternity “chronos” where we get the word “chronology.” It is an order of events, but they take place out of time, such as where it states in Revelation that the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). John says in Revelation, “And then I saw…and then I saw…” but he speaks of future events in the past tense and past events in the present tense—there is no “kairos,” just “chronos.” There is an order of events which take place out of time. Time as a clock depends on the second heaven (outer space), on planetary motion.Strictly speaking there is a time and a clock that works by particle emissions. It does not work by planetary motion but it still has to be calibrated in nanoseconds; it still has to express its measurements by planetary motion. Even the one clock we have that does not have to work by planetary motion still has to be calibrated in terms of planetary motion.So when we read in Revelation or Zechariah that the “shamayim”—“sky” is rolled up, this means that eternity meets earth; time and space meet heaven because the “second heaven” is “rolled up.”

And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows—

Notice that he says this twice because it is a mystery; he did not even understand it when it happened to him.

…was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. (2 Co. 12:3–4)

Paul was raptured—“harpazoed,” caught up. This teaches about what it is going to be like to be raptured. We will not know if we are dead; we will just know we are alive. We will not know if we are in the body or out of the body.

Always an Earthly Return

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away;

(…”harpazoed” him, raptured him…)

…and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea. (Ac. 8:39–40)

Notice when Paul was “harpazoed” we see him again back on earth and when Philip was “harpazoed” we see him back on earth. There is a Millennial Reign of Christ. Every time we see somebody “harpazoed” we see them coming back to earth. It is not a one-way ticket—it is a return ticket, only it will be back to the earth as it was before the Fall of man.Always remember that if someone has only six months to live, they actually have one thousand years plus six months to live. Believers go to sleep and then wake up again; death is for unsaved people.In Acts 8:39 he is “harpazoed” and they do not see him any longer in just the way that Enoch was snatched away and they did not see him anymore.

Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up…

(…”harpazoed”…)

…together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Th. 4:17-18)

I have heard people say the word “rapture” is not in the Bible. Should they rather say “harpazo”? The word “harpazo” is many places in the Bible, and every time it occurs it teaches something about 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

The Nativity Narrative

And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up…

(…”harpazoed”…)

…to God and to His throne. (Rev. 12:5)

As I have explained in other teachings, this is a Pesher interpretation of the Nativity narrative. Herod wanted to kill Jesus coming out of Mary, but Jesus by divine intervention was rescued. Herod comes and kills the other babies and so we see here the dragon was enraged with the woman and makes war with the woman and the rest of her offspring. It is a Pesher interpretation of the Christmas story (if you want to call it that), but it is a future event because as Jesus was taken to Egypt, the man-child is here taken up to God and to His throne.There is going to be a harpazo; there is always a rescue. In the context of Paul it is a rescue. Before the dragon could snatch the child away, God snatched Him away. Before the mob could snatch Paul away, God arranged providentially for the commander to snatch Paul away. There is always the context of a rescue. But if you do not believe there is a rescue, how are you going to get rescued?

The Amputation

For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief…

…kleptos…

…in the night. (1 Th. 5:2)

Remember that the “Day of the Lord” is inaugurated by the episunagoge. When the Church is removed, God pours out His wrath on the kingdom of Antichrist. This is the “Day of the Lord,” but it comes suddenly.Another term for “rapture,” as it were (or at least it is synonymous in its use for “rapture”), is “kolobo”—“the amputation,” as in, “Had those days not been cut short”—“kolobo” (Mt. 24:22).If someone has a highly metastasized cancer in an extremity or organ, he needs a surgical incision before it can spread to other organs. Or if someone has gangrene in an extremity it is necessary to amputate in order to prevent the entire body from dying. This is what is going to happen—the bad parts of the Body of Christ are going to be cut off; there will be an amputation. It will be cut short before the Body dies. When the shattering of the holy people happens (Dan. 12:7), the suffering of the faithful Church is going to be cut short. The faithful Church will not experience the wrath of God, but it will experience persecution, but that persecution will be cut short by an amputation, the kolobo. This is an important word in eschatology.

JUST Like a Thief

In 1 Thessalonians 5 it does not say that it will come like a thief, but “just like a thief.” How does the devil operate? That is what Jesus is going to do. Just like my friend back in England, they do not have a clue they are going to get robbed, they do not have a clue how he is going to do it, they do not even have a clue when he is going to do it. He might hack into their system at 2:30 in the morning when everything is closed but the system is running. He may hack into their system remotely through another computer in Asia or Africa. They do not have a clue. It says “just” like a thief—it is emphatic.

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; (1 Th. 5:4)

It should not overtake us like a thief! I am frightened when people are ignoring End Time prophecy or are taught to avoid it by Rick Warren and company.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief…

(There it is again: like a kleptos.)

…in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. (2 Pe. 3:10)

That word for “elements” in Greek is “stoicheia” where we get the word “stoichiometry” for elementary chemistry and the period chart of the elements. The Greeks knew about elements, but they did not know about subatomic particles or subatomic physics. They did not know about positrons, electrons, neutrinos, or protons, they just had an idea about elements and had a word for “atom”—“atomos,” which meant “that which is most indivisible.” They did not know it could go any smaller than an atom elementally so that was the smallest to them. It was not until the 20th century that people knew an atom could be dissolved, but this fishermen from Galilee said that not only can an atom be dissolved but the biosphere can be destroyed by doing it. This was long before anyone knew about the critical mass of plutonium or cobalt or uranium 238. It is amazing, but that is exactly what it says in Greek, that an element can be dissolved, that which is indivisible, with enough explosive energy to destroy the biosphere.

“I will make it go forth,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night within that house and consume it with its timber and stones.” (Zech. 5:4)

This is referring to the flying scroll—“magillah” in Hebrew. It goes into the house of the thief and will leave that house in ruins.How many people used to be in crazy churches that were teaching seriously false doctrine, and the Lord got them out of it through His Spirit—through showing them what the Scriptures meant? This is the scroll that went into house of the thief. There are people who through no fault of their own are in these loony churches which preach money, ecumenism, and God knows what else—who do not know any better; it is all they were ever told. I was saved in a cult called “The Children of God.” You would not believe the things I believed when I was first saved, but that was all I knew. I did not know it was crazy. There are people is these places who just do not know any better, who are in ignorance; I was in ignorance. But the scroll goes into the house of the thief.

‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent.

“Sardis” comes from the Greek word “sarx”—“of the flesh.” It was the church who heard and knew the truth at one point

Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. (Rev. 3:3)

These are people who used to know the truth, and He is warning them to wake up and remember what they heard.There are churches which at one time stood squarely and solidly on biblical truth. Not many years ago you would have been hard-pressed to find a Baptist church that was not biblical. You would have been hard-pressed to find a Pentecostal church that was not biblical. I am only talking 30 years ago. They heard the truth, but they are not ready for the coming robbery.

(“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”) (Rev, 16:15)

He keeps saying it over and over and over: “I am coming like a thief.”The people who are caught up in this lunacy of the televangelists and things like that are being robbed already. I know Christian businessmen who have been taken to the cleaners by religious con-artists. They are being robbed already. I do not mean giving money to missions, to honest ministries, or to Christian charity, I mean that these are con-artists. They are fleecing the sheep. But there is a bigger robbery coming. If someone cannot see through an obvious false prophet, what is going to happen when theFalse Prophet comes? If we cannot see through a petty thief cum televangelist, what is going to happen when the real crook shows up?

Which Thief Shall It Be?

Jesus is coming like a thief. He is going to rob the thief. He is going to do exactly what my friend in England does. He is going to behave just like a thief and He is going to do exactly what a thief does before the thief does it. Everybody is going to get “harpazoed”; everybody is going to get ripped off; everybody is going to be snatched away. The only question is, who is going to do it?

The kleptos comes to harpazo in order to kill; the one who is like a kleptos comes to harpazo in order to save.

The kleptos comes to harpazo in order to destroy; the one who is like a kleptos comes to harpazo in order to rescue.

The kleptos comes to harpazo what is not his; the one who is like a kleptos comes to harpazo those who are His by His own blood.The kleptos comes to harpazo in order to bring death; the one who is like a kleptos comes to harpazo in order to bring life.

The kleptos comes to harpazo in order to steal; the one who is like a kleptos comes to harpazo in order to restore.

One way or another everybody gets “harpazoed.” You are going to be “harpazoed,” I am going to be “harpazoed.” Your family is going to be “harpazoed,” my family is going to be “harpazoed.” Your church is going to be “harpazoed,” my church is going to be “harpazoed.” We all get “harpazoed.” The only question is, who is going to do it?

We have no choice about being “harpazoed,” what we can chose is who we want to do it—either the kleptos or the one who is like a kleptos. That day should not overtake us like a kleptos—that day should not overtake us like a thief.God bless.

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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).

Urgent Prayer request for Malcom Betts, his daughter and others

By David Passmore • April 9, 2026

Please keep brother Malcolm Betts from the New Life Pentecostal Church, Winsford in prayer. He is suffering from heart failure, valve problems and spinal stenosis. Your prayers for healing and intervention are coveted. Also, Malcom’s daughter Laura-Louisa is having complications with her pregnancy. Her baby boy is due on the 22nd of April and was in a breach position, however he is now moved to an oblique position which carries serious risk and possible surgical intervention. Laura is also at risk of postpartum haemorrhage. Please pray for the midwives and obstetricians skill and wisdom. Please also pray for Malcolm’s sister Susan who has sepsis in her leg. And please pray also for Sheila Carlisle. She is undergoing knee replacement surgery.