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O W O N D R O U S D A Y O G L O R I O U S M O R N I N G • W h e n t h e S o n o f M a n s h a l l c o m e24“The end-timers are responsible forpoverty and aids in Africa”Robinson took a trip to Uganda where he was appalledto find preachers telling people we are living in the endtimes which, he claimed, made them fatalistic and dropout of school and (amazingly) fornicate so much that theyspread Aids by not using condoms. Uganda seems to beuniquely a place to be liberated from this influence becauseit has an evangelical Christian president and gets help fromAmerican Christians.Actually Uganda is by African standards a moderatesuccess story. It has pulled itself out of the abyss left behindby the tyranny and slaughter of Idi Amin (not an evangelicalChristian by the way—after being deposed he soughtasylum in Saudi Arabia which may tell you something ofhis religious persuasion). It has its problems of course, oneof which is fanatical cults which have led to tragic suicidesand the horrible “Lord’s Resistance Army” which has nothingto do with Christian belief or practice as a brief reading ofthe Sermon on the Mount will soon tell you.There are some other African countries Robinson couldhave shown on his programme, like Zimbabwe, potentiallyone of the most fertile and productive countries on thecontinent, now being wrecked by a mad Marxist. Or Sudanwhere black African Christians and Muslims are slaughteredand enslaved by racist Arab Muslims. Correction. He couldnot have shown these countries on TV because he wouldnot have been let in to make his film. Enough said.Regarding aids and condoms, evangelical Christiansbelieve that sexual abstinence outside of marriage andfaithfulness inside of marriage is the way to avoid allsexually transmitted diseases. This outrageous opinionoffends all right thinking people in the western media whoargue that having sex with as many partners (of the oppositesex or the same sex or both) but using a condom is the bestway to avoid spreading STDs.Rapture, Tribulation, Antichristand ArmageddonRobinson mocked evangelical beliefs on this subjectwith the help of a lady vicar from America who he took asthe ultimate authority on this subject. What is interestinghowever is that even a casual look at the averagenewspaper reveals a strong degree of fear and forebodingthat we are heading for disaster because of:• Violence everywhere and the collapse of cohesionand morality in society• Environmental problems / global warming threateningthe future of the planet• Fears about energy sources running down causingthe system to crash• The clash of Islam and the West causing a conflict inwhich weapons of mass destruction could be used• The Middle East conflict dragging the world into apotentially catastrophic crisis• Abuse of power causing poverty, corruption and tyrannyYou don’t need much imagination to see that all thesethings could come together in a global crisis which wouldbring about a surrender of freedom in order to save theplanet with some kind of world government taking over. Thatis what the end time Bible view says will happen with powerbeing given to the Beast (antichrist) of Revelation.All these things are prophesied in the end time passagesof the Bible—in both Old and New Testaments. They arenot happening because a few evangelicals in America areorchestrating them, but because human beings have failedto care for the earth as commanded by God in Genesis 1 andhave disregarded His commandments and the salvationHe offers us through the Messiah Jesus. The Bible doesprophesy signs of this event, some of the main ones whichare as follows:1. There will be an increase in wars, famines, plaguesand earthquakes leading to a time of great trouble on theearth (Luke 21:10-11).2. The earth will be full of violence “as in the days ofNoah” and many people will be afraid of what is going tohappen (Luke 17:26-27, Luke 21:25-6, Genesis 6:11).3. There will be great sexual immorality “as in thedays of Lot” (Sodom and Gomorrah) causing a breakdownof family life and disease (Luke 17:28-8, Matthew 24:12,Romans 1:24-27, 2 Timothy 3:1-9).4. There will be many false cults bringing religiousconfusion while organised religion will form a union knownas Babylon which will persecute true believers in the LordJesus Christ (Matthew 24:5, 24:23-27, Rev 17:1-6).5. There will be an apostasy in the church with falseteachers denying the truth of the Bible, especially thedivinity of the Lord Jesus and the power of His shed bloodto save us from our sins (Matthew 24:10-11, 2 Timothy4:2-5, 2 Peter 2, 1 John 2:18-23).6. The Jewish people will return to Israel and Jerusalemwill be a source of conflict involving all nations of theworld (Ezek 36:9, Zech 12-14, Luke 21:20-24, Rev 16:16).7. There will be widespread pollution of the earth(Isaiah 24, Revelation 8:6-11).8. There will be an increase in technology and travelhelping to bring the world together into a one worldeconomic and political system (Daniel 12:4, Revelation 13).9. A world leader will emerge, known as the beast orAntichrist, who will take control of this system (Daniel 7,2 Thessalonians 2, Revelation 13, Revelation 17).10. The message of the gospel will reach all nationsdespite opposition and persecution (Matthew 24:9-14,Matthew 28:18-20).It is not only in Revelation that these things are spokenof but throughout the Bible. Revelation sums them up andis anything but the product of a drug induced hallucination.It is a well ordered and amazing book whose symbolsmake perfect sense in the light of the interpretation givenwithin the book itself or in relation to other passages inthe Bible, mainly in the Hebrew prophets. Jewish Christianwriter Arnold Fruchtenbaum in his book, Footsteps of theMessiah, says there are over 500 references or allusionsto the Old Testament in Revelation. Early church leaders(who were much closer to the event than modern liberaltheologians) Polycarp, Irenaeus and Eusebius, all testifyto the apostle John as its author during the persecutionsof the Roman emperor Domitian in about 95AD. Polycarpwho passed this information on to Irenaeus was a discipleof John. I have written an article, When was Revelationwritten? 1 giving further information on this subject.According to the New Testament the day will comewhen believers will be separated from unbelievers (therapture) and the Lord Jesus will return in person at a timeof unique trouble (the tribulation) on the face of the earthto save the world from destruction. He will judge the worldrighteously. He will bring in the millennium in which Hewill reign on earth from Jerusalem bringing peace andjustice to the Middle East and to the whole earth. Howeverfar fetched and scary it may sound to Tony Robinson it isgoing to happen. Better to look in to what the Bible actuallydoes say than rely on sensation seeking TV promoters whoalways have an agenda to undermine it.1 CWM plans to publish this article in a future CETF, God willing.About the AuthorTONY PEARCEworked for a numberof years as aschool teacher inLondon. He nowpastors BridgeLane ChristianFellowship in Golders Green,north London. He also publishesLight for the Last Days, a quarterlymagazine on Bible prophecy andcurrent events. This magazinenow appears in French, German,Russian and Romanian as well asin English. Tony has written threebooks ‘The Omega Files’ aboutend time prophecy in general,‘The Messiah Factor’ written toanswer questions Jewish peoplehave about Jesus as the Messiahand ‘The House built on the Sand’about the crisis facing the worldin the light of Bible prophecy andthe answer to be found in the Lord.Books available from Light for theLast Days at £6 each or 3 for £15 +10% postage.ENQUIRIES:Light for the Last DaysBM4226, London, WC1N 3XX, UKor enquiries@lightforthelastdays.co.uk
M a y w e w i t h l a m p s a l l t r i m m e d a n d b u r n i n g • G L A D L Y W E L C O M E H I S R E T U R NThe following was published in the EveningStandard newspaper, London, 4 September 2006 andis republished with the author’s express permission.By Dr PATRICK SOOKHDEOInternational Director of Barnabas FundONCE there were tens. Then there werehundreds. Now Peter Clarke, head ofScotland Yard’s anti-terrorist branch,speaks of thousands of militant BritishMuslims, indoctrinated and radicalisedin British mosques and madrassas like the JameahIslameah school in Sussex raided at the weekend[Sept 2 2006].This is not, primarily, because of the influenceof a handful of a few “preachers of hate”. Islamicextremism has spread in Britain thanks to aparticular brand of multiculturalism encouraged bythis government. And until the government tacklesit —especially the influence of Muslim faith schools—all their new efforts to build cohesion will cometo very little.The context goes far beyond Britain.Contemporary Islam has burst out of its colonialrestraints. Once colonialism removed power, jihadand territorial control from Islam, it was left abenign force focusing on prayer and good deeds.But contemporary Islam has reverted back to earlyIslam, with all its theological rage against the non-Muslim world. Issues like Iraq and Afghanistan havebecome valves for expressing this anger and hatredagainst Britain and the West.Increasingly, it is the values and culture ofIslam which defi ne the identity of British Muslims.A senior British Muslim leader has defined Muslimidentity as: creed, sharia and umma.The Islamic creed is non-negotiable. Thosewho do not share this creed are despised as kafir(infi dels). Hatred of non-Muslims is preached inmany British mosques.Meanwhile Islamic law, sharia, is deemed bythe majority of Muslims unalterable. Its medievalformulations cannot be updated. Yet it is thisdiscriminatory law, which many British Muslimswish to see enforced.Finally the umma, the worldwide communityof Muslims, is the primary focus of loyalty. Itrepresents the political as well as the religious.Muslims have a duty to defend each other. Thisdefensive jihad is what leads Muslims to go andfight in places such as Iraq.It might seem paradoxical that the UK, which hasgranted Muslims greater freedoms than any otherWestern country, should be the greatest Westernincubator of Islamist violence. The explanation liesnot only in the radicalisation of Islam but also in thegovernment’s policy on multiculturalism.There is a positive aspect to a multiculturalismwhere people share and enjoy each other’s cultures.But the UK’s well-meaning policy of validatingevery faith and ethnic community culturally, in adepoliticised way, is naïve when it comes to Islam.For Islam does not separate the sacred from thesecular: it seeks earthly power over earthly territory.The result is that already the UK has reached thestage of parallel societies, where purely Muslimareas function in isolation.Worse, this is about to be made semi-offi cial.In West Ham a gigantic mosque is planned by theradical Tablighi Jamaat group. The London ThamesGateway Development Corporation says that thenew mosque will make West Ham a “cultural andreligious destination”. This will be nothing lessthan an Islamic quarter of our capital city. But hasanyone asked the people of West Ham? The non-Muslims? The moderate Muslims such as Barelwisand Sufis? The Muslim women? And shouldn’tthe government be looking into why a movementclaimed as inspiration by a number of convictedterrorists should be allowed to control a wholecommunity?One must feel grateful for the police’sinterception of terrorist plots. Yet we must tacklethe root causes, rather than dealing with this threatsimply by vigilance and appeasement. Giving in tothe demands of Muslim extremists will not turnthem into liberals loyal to the UK. They will simplywant further concessions.This is now the government’s dilemma. Withthe launch of the Commission on Integration andCohesion last month {August 2006], it recognisedthat it must address the development of separatesocieties. Privately, ministers are deeply worried.Yet at the same time the government seemsfixated on empowering an ultra-conservativeMuslim leadership embodied by the Muslim Councilof Britain and Muslim Association of Britain. It sayssharia will never be permitted in Britain, yet it hasallowed sharia-compliant mortgages, and admitsthat many British cities have sharia councils.Just as important, communities minister RuthKelly has already excluded faith schools fromthe remit of her examination of integration andcohesion. Yet many Islamic schools are known tonurture values that are radically different from thoseof the prevailing society.Faith schools have a long and noble traditionwithin the British Isles. Christian denominationalschools as well as Jewish schools continue toplay an important role in community cohesion.Whether Islamic schools can fill such a role is highlyquestionable.Has the time come to say no to Islamic schools,whilst allowing the others to exist, even thoughthis may seem unjust? Or should we consider anew kind of school where all children can studycore subjects together in the same environment,with religious teachers—be they mullahs, rabbisor priests—instructing the children in their ownfaiths?I believe Islam needs different treatment fromother faiths because Islam is different from otherfaiths. It is the only one which teaches its followersto gain political power and then impose a lawwhich governs every aspect of life, discriminatingagainst women and non-believers alike. And this isultimately why a naive multiculturalism leads not toa mosaic of cultures living in harmony, but to onethreatened by Islamic extremism.Most British Muslims are not supporters ofterrorism. Some have embraced Western liberalvalues and society. Others are peaceful but simplyprefer to live in their own separate community.Mainstream fi gures such as Shahid Malik MP havecourageously called for British Muslims to fi ghtagainst extremism.But unless all of us, Muslim and non-Muslimalike, join forces against the kind of multiculturalismwhich has nurtured extremism, we may eventuallyfi nd that whole swathes of London and other citieshave become “cultural and religious destinations”dominated by Islamic extremists—men who wouldremove the very freedoms so many moderate BritishMuslims now appreciate.About the AuthorDR PATRICK SOOKHDEO is internationaldirector of the Barnabas Fund which offershope and aid to the persecuted Church.www.barnabasfund.org25
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