Signs of the Times – September 2022

Queen’s funeral

As well as the 2000 dignitaries present in Westminster Abbey, an estimated 5 billion people, around 60% of the world’s population, watched the Queen’s funeral on September 19^th. As well as marvelling at the British genius for organising such spectacular events, they heard clear reference to the Queen’s Christian faith. Bible readings focussed on the uniqueness of Jesus Christ (John 14 – ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me’) and the Christian hope of the resurrection of the dead.

Prayers and hymns also gave testimony to the Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord. The Archbishop of Canterbury gave tribute to the Queen, stressing her Christian faith as the inspiration for her life of service.

We can only hope that some of the assembled dignitaries and people around the world saw beyond the pomp and ceremony, to the reality of Jesus Christ as the one way to God and the hope of eternal life which is available to all who call upon His name for salvation.

Defender of the Faith

One of the traditions of the British monarchy is that the monarch should pledge to be the ‘Defender of the Faith.’   This title was originally given to Henry VIII, who, together with his secretary Thomas More, wrote a pamphlet entitled “Declaration of the Seven Sacraments Against Martin Luther”, dedicated to Pope Leo X in 1521. The Pope rewarded Henry by giving him the title Fidei Defensor, ‘Defender of the Faith’, in recognition of his defence of the Roman Catholic faith against the Protestant Reformation led by Luther.

After Henry broke with Rome in 1534 and the Church of England separated from the Church of Rome, this title was passed on to succeeding to Kings and Queens of England. Since the time of the Reformation, it came to mean defender of the Protestant religion.

In his accession oath King Charles declared on 10^th September:

He then gave a speech in which he referred to the sovereign’s role as head of the Church of England and called it “the church in which my faith is so deeply rooted”.

King Charles brings a great deal of baggage as he steps into this role. His adultery and divorce from Diana and marriage to Camilla are contrary to the Lord’s teaching on divorce and remarriage in Matthew 19. In a keynote speech which triggered a storm of protest back in 1994, then Prince Charles said he would be “defender of faiths”, rather than the historic title of Defender of the Faith, in a desire to reflect Britain’s religious diversity. There were suggestions that his coronation oath would be altered.

Almost a decade later he made an attempt to correct that impression while appearing to leave the door open as to what his actual position was. Since becoming King, he has met with leaders of different faiths speaking of his desire to ‘protect the diversity of our country’ and ‘the space for faith itself’.

According to the book ‘The Prince and the Paranormal’ by John Dale, written in 1986: ‘There is evidence that deep inside himself the prince is a super-ecumenist – someone who believes that each of the world’s religions including Christianity contains a relative truth rather than an absolute one.’  

Dale tells of a spiritual experience Charles had in 1977, while on an expedition with the Wilderness Foundation to a remote part of Kenya. This was led by Laurens van der Post, who grew up in South Africa where he lived for a while with the bushmen of the Kalahari, studying their myths, witchcraft and dreams and giving credence to their ‘spirit gods’ who should not be offended. He was also a student of the psychologist Karl Jung, who developed his ‘Theory of the Collective Unconscious’. Jung believed there is a spiritual dimension to human existence which is stored in our unconscious mind and passed on from generation to generation which we can contact through religious quest, including psychic experiences, dreams and the paranormal.

Van der Post introduced Prince Charles to such ideas and experiences while on his safari to Kenya, where the prince had some kind of spiritual awakening. In 1985 Charles said in an interview,

We don’t know if he still holds this view, but if he does it means he believes that every faith alongside Christianity contains a path to God. In other words, all gods are equal. It also opens him up to psychic and spiritualist activity, which has played a part in his spiritual quest, according to John Dale’s book. This contradicts the biblical revelation that there is one God, who created us and one Lord Jesus Christ who redeemed us through His death on the cross and resurrection.

Another issue of concern is his long-term involvement in the global government agenda. In her book ‘Prince Charles – the sustainable Prince’, Joan Veon writes,

He endorsed the pivotal World Economic Forum WEF conference in 2019 where its Chairman Klaus Schwab launched the ‘Global Reset’ agenda, calling for a total reorganisation of our society in order to resolve global crises, in particular the Covid pandemic and the threat of Climate Change.

At the COP 26 UN summit in Glasgow in November 2021 he urged world leaders to take urgent action to combat climate change, saying that time is running out. He called for:

It is not clear in the text of his speech who Charles meant by ‘his’ when he called for trillions of dollars to be put at ‘his disposal’ to save the world from climate change. Some have interpreted this as being a reference to the coming antichrist as the one who will bring this to pass. Whether or not this is what he meant, it is clear from this statement that he favours the investment of trillions of dollars in a programme aiming at the fundamental economic change of the present world system, as advocated by the WEF and the UN. Critics of this programme say it will lead to the antichrist government along the lines of Revelation 13.

In conclusion we say that ‘Defender of the Faith’ is not a title which should be given to any King or Queen. They are put in this place by accident of birth and may or may not be believing Christians. We are grateful for the personal faith in Jesus Christ of our late Queen Elizabeth II. However, during her reign, we have seen a massive departure from true Christian faith in the professing church and the nation. This has been caused by liberal theology in the church, multi faith religion in the nation and the assault on biblical moral values.

Because of the constraints of her position, Queen Elizabeth could not be, nor did she choose to be, a Defender of the true Protestant Faith against this spiritual decline, as she gave royal assent to parliamentary legislation on issues like abortion and homosexual marriage.

The job of defending the faith in the nation rested principally with the leaders of the Church of England, whose archbishops and bishops have failed dismally to stand up for biblical Christianity during the Queen’s reign. It is unlikely that on current form King Charles will do anything to defend the Gospel and true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He may contribute to the further decline of biblical Christianity, even leading to it being suppressed in this land.

Nevertheless, we can pray ‘God save the King.’

Could Russia lose in Ukraine?

At the time of writing (September 17) news is coming in of Ukrainian victories, pushing back Russian troops from areas they occupied in eastern Ukraine. Well-motivated Ukrainian troops equipped with the latest weapons from the west are proving a stronger force on the ground than the demoralised and badly led and equipped Russians.

There are accounts of abandoned Russian tanks and weapons, ammunition dumps blown up and demoralised Russian troops taking off their uniforms, putting on civilian clothes and deserting their posts. Evidence of war crimes and atrocities committed by the Russians are being revealed. A furious Vladimir Putin has sacked his top generals, as a catalogue of errors, bad planning and poor leadership have contributed to what threatens to become a fiasco for Russia, endangering Putin’s hold on power.

There is growing criticism of Putin within Russia, from hard liners saying he is not doing enough to crush the Ukrainians and from opponents of the war. Critics have now raised their voices on the heavily censored state TV channel ‘Rossiya 1’ and in St Petersburg’s city council. A group calling itself the National Republican Army has called for revolution, declaring Putin:

On the other side, hard line nationalists are calling for mass military mobilisation and for Russia to use its power to crush Ukraine. A cornered Putin could resort to desperate measures, including the use of tactical nuclear weapons and mass missile, rocket and artillery strikes on Ukrainian civilian targets.

Newsmax’s Dick Morris said on 10^th September that recent developments have put Russia on the verge of a seismic shift against Putin, perhaps lead to his ouster: 

Retired General Ben Hodges, former commander of the U.S. Army Europe, told London’s Times Radio that the debacle in Ukraine could have grave implications for Russia itself:

There is a view that forces in the West want to use the war to bring down the Russian regime and divide up the Russian Federation to incorporate it into the West’s world order programme. Russia and Ukraine came close to ending the war in April, when they reached a tentative fifteen-point peace plan to end the war, brokered by Turkey. Key points were that Russia withdraw from all Ukraine except for breakaway Donbas and Crimea. Ukraine would forgo future NATO membership, pledging neutrality between Russia and NATO. Ukraine security would be guaranteed by neighbouring countries, but no foreign troops would enter Ukraine.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, then went to Kyiv, urging Ukraine to press on with the war, promising arms with which to defeat the Russians. Two weeks later, the US sent Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to Kyiv to reinforce Johnson’s warning and make clear the US and NATO were determined to use the war to “weaken” Russia. Turkey blamed the US and UK for sabotaging a promising chance to end the war early on.

According to a report in Newsweek (13/9/22) ‘Ukraine wants a ‘NATO-esque’ bloc which can be called upon to immediately defend borders with Russia. This was proposed by a working group established by President Zelensky. Crucially it would include the United States and other NATO allies providing Ukraine with “security guarantees”. The Kyiv Security Compact (KSC)—proposed by Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelensky’s office, and former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen—would also establish a “multi-decade” plan of investment, military training, and intelligence sharing to bolster Ukraine’s defensive capabilities as the country pursues full NATO membership.

The Kremlin’s reaction has been swift and fierce. The Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, said that a nuclear holocaust would be the end result:

If Putin fails in Ukraine and his regime collapses, it will raise a question about how the prophecy of Ezekiel 38-9 (the Gog and Magog war) will be fulfilled. A weakened Russia with a demoralised army could hardly get involved straight away in another major war in the Middle East.

On the other hand, if Russia turns the tables and wins in Ukraine or Putin is replaced by someone even more hard line, who mobilises a massive increase in the Russian army, it could be the first step towards the Gog and Magog conflict. Behind all this Medvedev has raised the danger of the situation getting really out of hand and leading to nuclear war.

A ‘perfect storm’ is hitting food production

Crops have failed all over the world this summer. In Britain there have been crop failures with losses of up to 50% for a wide variety of crops, including potatoes, carrots, onions, sugar beet, apples and hops. Agriculture across Europe has been hit by drought. Some farmers in Italy have already lost up to 80% of their harvest, with 50% losses in parts of France and Germany. Across the US Mid-West, one of the world’s main food producing areas, the crop belt is plagued with drought conditions, where plants aren’t producing ears of grain that can be harvested. Rivers and lakes in the southwest are drying up damaging tomato and fruit production in California.

In East Africa, more than 20 million people, are currently experiencing severe drought and water shortages, killing livestock and crops, displacing populations, increasing malnutrition, and pushing children and families to the brink of death and destitution.

China’s Yangtze River has shrunk as heatwave and drought threaten crops. Wheat, corn and cotton now at risk, with around 33% crop loss in the North China Plain. This means China needs to import roughly 20% of the world’s internationally traded corn and 13% of the world’s wheat. This will raise the cost of food and make key food items economically inaccessible to hundreds of millions of people in poorer countries.

The floods in Pakistan have affected around 33 million people, destroying more than 400,000 homes across the country, and bringing agriculture to a stop. Thousands of domesticated animals have drowned. A shortage of rice in India means the country has now cut back exports of rice to feed its own people. Millions of people in Asia rely on imports of Indian rice.

Add to this the results of the war in Ukraine, cutting off supplies of food that people in the Middle East and North Africa rely on, and we have the prospect of mass hunger coming on the world in the coming year. There simply is not going to be enough food for everyone in 2023, and it will be the poorest countries that will suffer the most. Famines will increase.

Where is all the money coming from?

The cost of the UK government’s plan to deal with the energy crisis has been estimated at £100bn by the government and £250bn by others. This borrowed money will add to government debt now standing at over £2 trillion. It may give some temporary relief to the cost-of-living crisis but will only add to the financial tsunami which is coming down the line to hit us.

Europe is facing an energy crisis due to Russia shutting off its gas supply. This is adding to the economic crisis caused by record of inflation of 9.1%. This winter, we are likely to see shortages, rationing and very high energy bills all over Europe. EU officials intervening to prop up energy markets are talking about a cost of €1.5 trillion.

The US inflation rate hit 8.3%. There are fears of a dollar collapse as the dollar’s petro-reserve status is in question. The dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency is what enables the US to maintain a high standard of living while running up a debt of $30 trillion.

While Russian propaganda says the sanctions are not hurting them, there are signs of an implosion of their economy, as imports are cut off and consumer spending has plummeted. China’s recession is going from bad to worse. Severe long-term drought has caused major increases in the cost of transportation, water, and electricity.

A government sponsored housing scheme which has wasted millions on unfinished and unwanted developments. The Belt and Road Initiative that was intended to link China to Europe and other parts of the world has failed due to many of the poorer countries to whom China has loaned money – Tajikistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and other African countries – defaulting on their payments. Finally, they continue their zero COVID tolerance policy that is shutting down whole cities and sections of the economy.

Mix all this together and you have a perfect economic storm.

Global religious conference in Kazakhstan

More than 100 delegations from about 60 countries met from 14-15 September at the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan. Pope Francis and the leaders of major religions called for an end to warfare and bloodshed, urging governments and their leaders to end violence and work towards greater understanding between religions.

They signed a declaration which will be distributed as an official document of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, reflecting efforts towards promoting interreligious dialogue and fostering inter-civilization cooperation. In it, the participants express their shared desire for a just, peaceful, secure and prosperous world, affirming the importance of shared values in the spiritual and social development of mankind. The participants noted that all forms of violence and wars, whatever their goals,

They did not specifically mention the Ukraine war.

The declaration goes on to recognize the importance and value of the 2019 Document on Human Fraternity signed by the Pope Francis and Sunni Muslim Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, which calls

It states:

The bottom line of this is that all gods / religions are equal. Religion should not be used to oppress people. It also includes the idea that you must not try to persuade someone to change their religion, particularly by Christian evangelism. Nations and religions should unite in a one world religious and political system in order to save the world. Ecumenical Christianity and Islam should come together in a new religion – Chrislam. A good idea or the coming together of the religions of the world in the antichrist Babylon union of Revelation 17?