Showing posts with label Charles Gardner. Show all posts

Friday, September 28, 2018

A Declaration of War: Zulu King Comes to Israel's Defence - Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY

A Declaration of War: Zulu King Comes to Israel's Defence

Thursday, September 27, 2018 | Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY

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As Jews everywhere mark their holiest time of the year seeking forgiveness of one another and of God, they are experiencing unprecedented hatred around the world.

But a Zulu king has come to their defence, challenging the status quo of a South African government apparently steeped in anti-Semitism.

At the same time millions of South African Christians – many of whom are strong supporters of Israel – are expected soon to descend on Pretoria, the country’s administrative capital, to continue praying against corruption and immorality in the nation.

As it happens, a call for Christians to prepare and pray for revival is increasingly being heard even in the UK, regarded now by some as practically virgin territory for the good news of Jesus – capable not only of transforming individuals and communities, but whole nations too.

All of this is very encouraging, but the South African situation in particular reflects the indelible link I believe exists between Jewish aspirations and revival.

The reason we are experiencing such a vicious attack on our Judeo-Christian foundations in the West is because…well, our foundations are Judeo-Christian. The Christian faith is firmly built upon its Judaic roots, without which it would never have blossomed nor continue to bear fruit. In fact, a church cut off from the nourishing sap of the ‘olive tree’ that is Israel will surely wither and die (see Romans 11.17).

So when the church begins once more to defend the Jewish people, as they should have been doing all along, blessing will start flowing again and revival could well ensue as we re-dig the wells of our faithful forefathers like Wesley, Whitfield and Wilberforce.

There’s clearly still all too little evidence of this in Britain, but in South Africa, the Zulu king of the Mthethwa tribe, a Christian, has come out in strong support of Israel following a visit to the Jewish state, adding: “The Jews are not going to suffer under our watch…We need to begin to vote according to our heritage as Christians.”(The Zulus are the country’s largest tribe, thus having great potential for positively influencing the make-up of the South African Parliament, currently led by the anti-Israel African National Congress).

Expressing gratitude for being able to visit Israel on the bi-centenary of a royal ancestor’s death, the King said: “I understand there are people who have an interest in saying that there is apartheid, but without coming here, they simply feed on the media…I came to lend my voice of support that as a believer myself, I can’t keep quiet. I will mobilise Christians all over the world to support, because this place (Israel) is our tangible and intangible heritage site.”

But South Africa’s Christian leaders are realists; they know their country is in trouble. Farmer-evangelist Angus Buchan (pictured addressing a mass Christian gathering), who has called for a third It’s Time prayer gathering on October 27 following previous meetings in Bloemfontein and Cape Town attended by a total of nearly two million people, says: “If God doesn’t intervene in South Africa, we could be on the brink of a civil war.”

Yet prayers answered since the earlier two gatherings include the downfall of an allegedly corrupt President, the strengthening of the currency, the best maize yield in years and one of the wettest winters in many years following a three-year drought in the Western Cape.

But are British Christians serious enough about the need for change here; do we realise how close we are to the abyss? Or are we going to stand by and do nothing while the Jewish people in our midst suffer gross indignities and disgraceful treatment at the hands of our main Opposition party which, in general over the past century, has had a creditable record of governance?

The news media has given huge coverage to the ongoing scandal of anti-Semitic tendencies among our leading politicians and many of our Jewish friends are now seriously planning to leave the country – people who, for generations, have contributed enormously to our national pride and productivity, and without whom we would be sorely bereft.

But our pulpits remain largely silent. Does this not ring alarm bells? Have we still not learnt from history? Will we walk by on the other side of the road, ignoring the wounded victim of robbers, and do nothing? Will we ape the church in Germany which, for the most part, made no protest against Hitler?

Why is it that so many of us close our eyes and ears pretending the Jewish cause has nothing to do with us? And yet we owe them everything – our Bible, our civilization, and Jesus himself, the Jewish Messiah who, in his great mercy, also reached out to us Gentiles as he died to set us free from sin and condemnation (see Romans 15.27).

As King Mthethwa said: “It is clear that we need God… and it’s the God of Israel. That is the heritage we have been left with.”

Here in Britain we have plunged to such depths of insanity that a senior policeman has become the subject of an internal investigation for encouraging his colleagues to be above reproach – or “whiter than white” as he unfortunately put it – in carrying out their inquiries. He now faces the sack for alleged racist language and the inquiry is expected to take up to a year.

Ironically, the officer is attached to the Metropolitan (London) force’s anti-corruption squad. But what could be more corrupt than embarking on such a waste of police time and resources as we face the constant threat of terror attacks?

It’s about as farcical as the conclusion to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, when Alice is called to give evidence at the trial of the Knave of Hearts, accused of stealing the Queen’s tarts. Her Majesty announces: “Sentence first – verdict afterwards.” And when Alice objects in the strongest terms, the Queen orders: “Off with her head!”

By which time, fortunately, Alice realises they are nothing but a pack of cards and wakes up from her strange dream.

Lewis Carroll would not have had to be nearly so imaginative if he were writing for children today (the book was published in 1876). As fellow journalist Richard Littlejohn of the Daily Mailoften puts it, you couldn’t make it up.

Borrowing Angus Buchan’s call-to-prayer catchphrase, It’s Time to wake up from our dream and pronounce a sentence of death on the odious politically-correct world of secular-humanism. Yes, let’s take a leaf from the farmer-evangelist’s harvest manual and say, It’s Time to take back territory from the God-haters and restore Christ, upon the foundations of which our great country was built, to his rightful place among us.

As the old hymn says, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”

Charles Gardner is author of Israel the Chosen, available from Amazon; Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com; and A Nation Reborn, available from Christian Publications International

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Thursday, September 20, 2018

COMMENTARY: Reclaiming the Honour of Zion - Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY

COMMENTARY: Reclaiming the Honour of Zion

Thursday, September 20, 2018 | Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY

Topics:

Jerusalem

As Jews across Europe come under increasing fire, and the scandal of anti-Semitism continues to wreak havoc in Britain’s Labour Party, there is an ever-present danger of misunderstanding as to what it’s all about.

Why have Jews, and Israel in particular, become the focus of so much vilification? And what on earth is Zionism, a catch-all word generally being used in a disparaging way by opponents of the Jewish state?

Among the many unsavoury allegations of anti-Jewish sentiment surrounding Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn, he was recently cited as having said in a 2013 speech that Zionists in the UK had “no sense of English irony”, which critics said implied they weren’t fully British.

Quite apart from this being a nasty slur that is patently untrue – for British Jews have surely been the most loyal of minorities, contributing hugely to our success in so many fields, not least the economy – let’s put that aside for a moment in a bid to unpack what is meant by Zionism.

So it’s a form of insult for some – we get that – meant as a kind of synonym to describe a ‘racist’ people accused of stealing Palestinian land. But the reality is very different, and we need to rescue this skewed meaning from common use.

In truth, Zionism is among the most noble, holy concepts found in the English language (or any language) and those who take up its cause should be justly proud of doing so. For it is essentially a biblical concept of the place where we go up to meet with God to worship him.

Specifically, it refers to Jerusalem, God’s dwelling place on earth also known as the “city of the Great King” (Psalm 48.1f). It is a very special domain which God himself has chosen as a “resting place” (Psalm 132.13f). So to use it as a form of insult virtually amounts to blasphemy because it involves denigration of something sacred to the Creator.

In the time of Jesus, Jews were expected to make a special pilgrimage to attend three major feasts a year – all in Jerusalem – when they would sing about going “up to Zion”. The Book of Psalms is liberally strewn with joyful expressions of the holy wonder of these regular journeys. The city is built on mountains, including Mt Zion, at an elevation of nearly 3,000ft, which thus requires a stiff climb of some 4,000ft within the space of just 30 miles from the Dead Sea – which, at 1,200ft below (normal) sea level, is the lowest point on earth.

Zion describes the city of Jerusalem (Isaiah 40.9) and the nation of Israel as a whole (Zechariah 9.13, Isaiah 60.14). And it is a place God loves (Psalm 87.2f), having first assumed significance when King David brought the Ark of the Covenant into the stronghold of ‘Zion’, also named the ‘City of David’.

Similarly, Zionism is a longing expressed by Jews dispersed around the world for a return to their ancient land, encapsulated in the late 19th century by Theodor Herzl and his Zionist movement that propelled the initial waves of Jewish immigration to the Holy Land. For Jews everywhere, it is like returning ‘home’, even if (as in most cases) their ancestors have been exiled for 2,000 years. It is a divinely appointed location, and Jews have a divine right to live there.

And so Zion, as a homeland for the Jewish people, has also come to describe their right to self-determination in the re-established state of Israel. After all, Jews have prayed towards Jerusalem for thousands of years. Even the Western church, which has somewhat lost sight of its Hebraic roots, has traditionally built its altars facing east – towards Jerusalem!

But there are also Christian Zionists, who support Israel’s right to exist and make every effort to help them in any way they can, including sourcing the documents and finance to enable persecuted Jews to make ‘aliyah’ by becoming Israeli citizens.

So, more broadly speaking, Zionism is also an expression of longing by Gentiles who yearn for Emmanuel (God with us) to live among us, bringing love, joy and peace into our lives. This was clearly the sentiment behind William Blake’s patriotic British anthem Jerusalem, expressing the desire to bring heaven on earth to “England’s green and pleasant land” and sung with such gusto by thousands at the Last Night of the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall recently. Though the words are a little strange, seemingly wrapped up in a belief that the British are among the lost tribes of Israel and that Jesus actually visited these hallowed shores for which there is little evidence, it does surely echo something of a general longing for Christ to be among us.

Christians United for Israel, noting the church’s “deafening” silence on the anti-Semitism scandal, points out that an attack on Zionism is also an attack on Christians.

Remaining silent because of fears of engaging in what is deemed a ‘political’ controversy “could be one of the biggest mistakes by the church so far this century” because it is central to Christian faith and theology and “has consequences that may only be realised when the church becomes the next target of the same ‘flames of hatred’ that have reappeared throughout Europe”.

In answer to the first question posed at the beginning of this article, well that’s a big subject that would best be tackled another day. But, in short, it is just because Jews are God’s chosen people that they are so reviled. It is a fit of jealousy on the part of all who rebel against God’s choice. But those who love God will love whoever he loves, especially Israel, “the apple of his eye” (see Zechariah 2.8).

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Wednesday, September 12, 2018

COMMENTARY: The Dreadful Consequences of Touching the Apple of God’s Eye - Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY

COMMENTARY: The Dreadful Consequences of Touching the Apple of God’s Eye

Wednesday, September 12, 2018 | Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY

Topics:

Christians

As we once again recall with horror the terrorist atrocity witnessed by the whole world when New York’s Twin Towers were reduced to rubble in 2001, few will be aware of an earlier 9/11 that destroyed an entire city.

It happened on the night of September 11, 1944, when the German city of Darmstadt suffered a devastating air raid by RAF pilots sent out from my home town of Doncaster, headquarters of Bomber Command.

Twelve thousand residents were killed and many more made homeless amid ongoing controversy even in Britain as to whether it was really necessary as the war was almost won by then.

But as fire swept through the smouldering ruins, a devoted young German Christian wept bitterly over her nation’s terrible sin against the Jewish people – she clearly saw the bombing as the judgment of God.

Basilea Schlink determined to do something about it and subsequently founded the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, dedicated to confessing the sin of her nation and making restitution with God’s chosen people, chiefly by loving and serving them in whatever way they could.

More than 70 years later, the order is represented in nations across the globe, including Australia and the United States, and I have just spent a weekend at their UK base near London where a coffee table book on their history recalls that fateful night in Darmstadt:

“For years our mothers had prayed for revival in the girls’ Bible study groups they led; now their prayers were answered – far differently than they had ever expected. That night the girls encountered God in his holiness as Judge and Lord over life and death… Following that night of terror, there was a move among those young girls to bring sin into the light and receive forgiveness… God’s moment had come. Out of the ashes emerged new life.”

Not surprisingly, the British-based sisters are deeply grieved at the rise of anti-Semitism all over Europe so soon after this terrible disaster caused by the Nazis’ sickening murder of six million Jews in the death camps of Poland and Germany.

Have we still not learned that there are shocking consequences for those who touch the apple of God’s eye, which is how the Bible refers to Israel (see Zechariah 2.8)?

According to Alex Brummer in a Daily Mail article, all the talk among British Jews is now focused on which country to flee to if Jeremy Corbyn gets into No 10 as he has failed miserably to deal with the rise of anti-Semitism in his party, which has traditionally had the support of the Jewish community. (And it now appears there has been a cover-up over party members allegedly involved in anti-Semitic hate crimes.)

According to my sources, many have already fled traditionally Jewish suburbs like Golders Green in north London in order to set up home in safer areas following a series of anti-Semitic incidents.

And although British Jews have become accustomed to bias against Israel in recent decades, “never before has a major political party in Britain regarded the creation by the post-war so-called Great Powers (including Russia) of the state of Israel in 1948…as an act of colonialist occupation”, Brummer writes, referring to Mr Corbyn’s stated beliefs.

“But that this (fleeing the country) is even being discussed, just 70 years on from the horrors of Auschwitz; that British Jews should be feeling so insecure in the country they love, is deeply disturbing,” Brummer adds.

And he pointed out that Israel wasn’t necessarily their first choice of destination, because some see it as a move from the frying pan into the fire. But I disagree with that. I go along with a participant on BBC 2’s We Are British Jews programme who said that “It’s the safest place in the world to be”.

Yes, the Jewish state is surrounded by implacable enemies with an insatiable desire to wipe them off the map and, yes, they are threatened once more with annihilation. But Israel’s security is very tight – and effective.

In any case, should physical safety be their only consideration? Isn’t the safest place of all in the loving arms of God – the God of Israel? And his purpose is that they should return to the land of their forefathers, the land promised to Abraham as a permanent possession (Gen 17.8). After all, the Tenach (Old Testament) prophets foretold of a great ingathering of Jews from every corner of the globe.

Almost half of world Jewry are now living in Israel and, according to the Bible, it would appear to be God’s will that they should all return (Ezekiel 39.28). But don’t misunderstand me. I do not wish to encourage persecution so that they feel forced to flee. Jewish contribution to European societies has been priceless – without the ongoing input of their high achievers we would all suffer. But woe to those whose intimidation does cause them to leave; for they will come under a curse (Genesis 12.3).

Nevertheless, it is God’s purpose that his chosen people should be back in the land before Messiah returns. Yes, there will be a battle over Jerusalem, and the nations will come against it, but the Lord will intervene and defeat the enemies of Israel, once and for all. (See Zechariah 12-14)

When Jesus ascended to heaven as his perplexed disciples watched in wonder, angels explained to them that he would one day return in the same way he had left – and this took place on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. (Acts 1.11)

The prophet Zechariah confirms this – that Christ would indeed place his feet on the Mt of Olives and that the Jewish nation would have their eyes opened as they recognise Jesus as the One they had pierced. (Zech 12.10)

The Messiah for whom Jews have longed will appear on earth, and they will acknowledge that he has been here before – as the suffering servant (Isaiah 53). Although they will mourn over what they did to him (we all need to confess our sin in order to be cleansed), their hearts will be sprinkled clean – and “all Israel will be saved” (Ezekiel 36.25, Zech 13.1, Romans 11.26).

Jesus is coming again – and the establishing of the people of Israel in their land is a major sign.

PHOTO: Sister Thekla (sitting) and Sister Glory pictured at Jesus’ Return, their home near London. (Charles Gardner)

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Friday, August 10, 2018

COMMENTARY: The Welsh Revival and Love for Israel, Part I - Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY

COMMENTARY: The Welsh Revival and Love for Israel, Part I

Friday, August 10, 2018 | Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY

Topics:

Christians

Amid great expectancy of a renewed outpouring of the Spirit in the land of revivals, my wife and I were profoundly blessed and stirred by a recent visit to Wales.

We sat in the Moriah Chapel at Loughor, near Swansea, where the famous Welsh Revival broke out on October 31st 1904, and had a real taste of those momentous times as we were guided around the premises by a man whose uncle was a close friend of Evan Roberts, the human instrument used by God as the spark of that great movement affecting much of the world including Africa.

I also noted the significance of the chapel’s name as it was Mt Moriah where Abraham was prepared to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice and where, close by, Jesus died for the sins of the world at Calvary.

And this was not the only connection with Israel – more of which later.

In recalling the total surrender of those young men (the initial outpouring effectively started with a youth meeting), one of our group prayed “Bend us, Lord!” as she echoed the heartfelt cry of the revival’s 25-year-old leader for God to break their resistance to the Holy Spirit’s power.

It was an awesome moment as we became aware of the great need of our nation (in the UK as a whole) for restoration and reformation. Then we sang Here is love, vast as the ocean, one of the revival’s key hymns – first in Welsh, then in English.

Our visit there was part of a weekend conference of the UK Fellowship of Full Gospel Churches, an international network of ministers dedicated to proclaiming Christ in all his fullness.

The event was hosted at the Bible College of Wales, which has itself been mightily used in world mission and was a product of the 1904/5 revival. We enjoyed glorious worship in the same room where legendary intercessor Rees Howells and his students prayed through to victory for Britain and the allies during World War II and later for Israel’s recognition at the United Nations.

Participants had flown in from throughout the United States as well as from Holland, while others came from across the south of England and Wales – we were the lone visitors from the north.

Although a relatively small gathering with no more than 50 taking part, most of them were men and women of great spiritual stature and faith – at least one had met with U.S. Presidents while others had walked with the likes of Billy Graham and had witnessed God’s miraculous guidance over many years.

Dick Funnell, from New Orleans, shared his extraordinary journey of how God had led him to come and live on the west coast of Wales where he and his Guatemalan wife Gladys now have keys to a small chapel where they have been praying daily for the past 13 years, convinced that revival is on its way.

As we prayed and lifted our hands in worship, we were aware of the crucial part played by Howells and his students who interceded day and night for a nation facing disaster at the time of Dunkirk. Their God-ordained prayers brought us back from the brink of destruction. They also prayed through to victory at the UN for Israel’s recognition in November 1947, having also made provision for Jewish children escaping the Nazi net.

Jewish Connection

A love for Israel was due not only to a proper understanding of the Bible, but also to the part they had played in the founder’s conversion. Howells actually committed his life to Christ in America, where he had gone to seek his fortune, and it had come about through a Jewish evangelist, Maurice Reuben, who had paid a huge price for following Jesus, being disowned by his wealthy family and denied his part-ownership of a Pittsburgh store.

Maurice himself had found the Lord through the witness of a man he had asked – because he always seemed cheerful – if he had been ‘born happy’, to which the man had replied that his happiness only dated from his ‘second birth’.

Rees, who was the same age as Evan Roberts, returned to Wales to help with the revival.

Following a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit, he lived a radical life of faith as he reached out to drunkards and tramps – cutting down his meals in order to identify with them. And he took on formidable challenges such as praying for – and witnessing to – a village untouched by the revival and healing for sick people doctors had written off.

Evan, meanwhile, was unschooled as, when his father was injured down the mine, he took his place, aged 11, in order to provide an income for his family.

Later, feeling called to pastoral ministry, he left home to acquire the necessary academic qualifications but before long had a deep experience of the Holy Spirit after hearing a speaker from the Welsh equivalent of the Keswick Convention.

He returned to his home village and asked if he could hold a youth meeting to which 16 youngsters turned up. Revival broke out, and services lasted virtually through the night. Miners coming off their shift would join the queues for the chapels; as soon as one was filled they’d tramp off to find the next. Lights would be burning through the night as tens of thousands throughout the principality were convicted of sin by the presence of God and the preaching of the gospel. It is estimated that as many as 100,000 were swept into the kingdom over a four-month period as people couldn’t get enough of being in God’s presence.

It wasn’t the first time Wales had seen revival – Howell Harris and others had led a similar movement in the late 18th century, and even John Wesley had preached at Loughor in those days. Another revival broke out in 1859 – also touching many other parts of the world.

In fact, it was in the midst of the earlier movement that a hugely significant event took place that was to lead to the foundation of the Bible Society through which the Word of God was translated into hundreds of languages and distributed throughout the world.

The event in question was a 26-mile walk over the mountains of North Wales by 15-year-old Mary Jones in order to purchase a copy of the Welsh Bible for which she had saved up for six years. Her extraordinary feat awakened the need for God’s Word to become available to everyone in their mother tongue.

One of the effects of the 1904 awakening of dynamic Christianity was that the police and magistrates had nothing to do except help control the crowds queuing up for the gospel meetings.

The revival spread across the globe, even touching Asia, Africa and St Petersburg in Russia, and it inspired others praying for a similar move in their own localities. This was particularly the case in California, where news of what was happening in Wales galvanised the prayers of American saints and led directly to the Azusa Street, Los Angeles, revival of 1906, the beginnings of the modern-day Pentecostal movement, with a similar outpouring taking place in Sunderland, England, in 1907 led by Church of England vicar Alexander Boddy, who had earlier come to witness the work of Evan Roberts in Wales.

The revival produced outstanding leaders including George and Stephen Jeffries and, of course, Rees Howells who helped spread the blessing to South Africa when he and his wife Elizabeth went out as missionaries under the auspices of the South African General Mission founded by Rev Andrew Murray.

He later founded his world-changing Bible College in 1928. One student, a young German called Reinhard Bonnke, graduated in 1960 and subsequently won millions of people to the Lord through his huge missions across Africa and other parts of the world.

A young Billy Graham also visited the Loughor chapel back in 1946 when he is understood to have had a profound experience of the Holy Spirit. Millions the world over benefited from that!

Part II next week.

Additional material sourced from Rees Howells, Intercessor by Norman Grubb published by Lutterworth Press

PHOTO: Evan Roberts. Picture by Linda Gardner

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Friday, September 28, 2018