ARCHIVED NEWS REPORTS
Second News Update of 1999
Contents
This News Update has been a long time a-comin! What should have been an easier start to the year turned out to be very fraught, busy and troubled. In particular, for some reason it has been an uphill struggle to get the new graphics and front pages online, but now that they are here I hope you approve. The rest of the site will have to wait for a facelift, as there are so many hundreds of pages. (I am slowly reformatting all the articles into the new template).
Strange Hiatus
NOT a hiatus hernia if that's what you were thinking... but an odd pause in proceedings. I have been waiting to re-do this News Page for ages, but somehow I feel held back. That's interesting because the other time it happened was in the early months of 1994.
At that time, I was trying to prepare my newsletter, "Mainstream". Usually God led me to several important items to share before the publication date drew near. However, in early 1994, with the Summer issue pending, I just had nothing - nada, ziltch.
The time for the next issue came, and went - and still I had nothing. I felt under increasing pressure to produce an issue, and I could have lumped together a number of news reports and snippets just to get the newsletter into print. But that seemed wrong. Unless God had something to say to His people, what was the point of my producing a newsletter? It had to be God's voice to his people, not just a 'Teletext' list of news items.
Every morning with increasing alarm I would pray and ask God what I should put in the newsletter, but I got nothing. I was getting frustrated, and worried that the issue was overdue.
Chance Encounter with RHB
Eventually, I decided I just HAD to make a start, so I said to the Lord "I will wait on you for the subject matter, but if you don't specifically lead me by the end of this weekend, on Monday morning, I will use what I have got to hand, trusting that is Your will."
Monday morning came, and I still had nothing specific from the Lord except that I felt strongly about a video I'd seen in the States of a South African minister called Rodney Howard Browne.
While staying with Berit Kjos in her lovely home in California in 1993, we'd watched a video together about a new phenomenon of laughing that was taking place in churches. The video contained an interview with RHB and his wife, and extracts of his meetings.
Berit and I were upset and shared our concerns about the laughter, which we felt was ungodly and unbiblical.
So, in the absence of anything else, I decided to write a small piece about RHB and laughter. I started work on this, in complete and utter ignorance that a massive new movement was on its way!! What we now know as the worldwide "revival" had been launched from the Airport Vineyard (as it was then) and Rodney Howard Browne's laughing phenomenon was about to take the world (and UK churches) by storm.
The next day, Tuesday, the phone rang and it was an acquaintance on the other end who had something to share with me. Her son had attended a meeting in the UK where laughter had broken out. She felt concerned about it, didn't know what to make of it, and wanted my opinion. How coincidental!
I talked with her at some length, then asked if I could phone her son for a testimony, which later formed the basis for my first article on the subject of the "Toronto Blessing".
In the days that followed, the floodgates opened, and story after story of the "laughing experience" came in. Little did I know that it was going to be this big!
But as I look back, I am SO glad that I waited, and did not simply produce a routine newsletter filled with irrelevant items dredged up from my store of news clippings and Christian magazines.
Now I'm feeling the same kind of 'check' in writing anything for the web site. There's something going on in the background and I feel a new wave of deception approaching. We will need all our energies and time to deal with what is around the corner, so the rest of our work must be put on hold. (Do you feel the same way?)
A New Wave?
Now that the churches are reporting 'gold miracles' I have a bad feeling about the way we are going. If Christians show willing to accept supernatural phenomena at face value, and become as superstitious as the Catholics, then who knows where we might end up.
It seems to me that if a person can accept a tooth turning to gold (or, as reported in the articles on this site) glory clouds, spinning wheels of fire, angelic appearances and all manner of other manifestations such as the face of 'christ' appearing in a watercolour painting, then they will stop at nothing. Where do we draw the line?
Of particular concern is the convergence of false prophecies in the Protestant, Catholic and non-Christian religions. Each religion is looking for a climax of glory in which "righteousness" prevails (although not biblical righteousness in Jesus Christ).
Each religion is also looking for global acts of judgement in which 'God's enemies' are killed or removed. The New Age devotees are also looking for the same thing, as is almost every cult on earth. There is a tremendous consensus of opinion that (a) opposition must be removed somehow and (b) the world must be changed to a better place.
So where do we, as biblical believers stand in this scenario?
Well, unfortunately for us, we are standing in the way of progress because we do not believe in either of the two above options.
The only renewal of the world that we believe in is the Millennial rule of Jesus Christ. It will not come about by social engineering, nor by spiritual transformation, but by the return of the King (visibly, physically and literally) to his world. The Church consisting of erring and fallible human beings cannot change the world, nor can humanitarians, nor Governments; only GOD Himself can change things here on earth.
Secondly, there WILL be judgement, but it is NOT given to US (Christians) to carry out that judgment nor to promote it, nor to desire it.
Our desire (like God's) is to save people and to love them, not to kill them or damn them to a lost eternity. If the people on this planet are so foolish as to follow satan rather than God, then they will end up paying the price; but we grieve at their folly and would do anything to change their minds about Jesus.
Please take a look at what the Lord showed me about the reality of hell: HERE
How different is the attitude of the revival-mongers in all the churches! They have declared this year a year of judgement poured out on all those who do not conform to their view of Christianity. They hide this desire behind doctrines of "pulling down strongholds" and "cleansing the heavenlies" but what they really desire is judgement upon everyone who is holding up their revival.
Before I go any further, let me say that since I wrote the above about a fortnight ago, things have moved on dramatically. Along with others, I'm sensing a tidal wave about to burst. I have been led to research certain areas of the revival that astounded me, but the more I look the more evidence I see all around me of a major new (but ancient!) heresy springing to light.
To save time repeating myself, I urge you to get hold of my latest article as soon as it appears on these pages. Such is the urgency I feel to warn people of what is coming that I plan to post the article as soon as it contains the bare bones, and fill it out with more evidence and back-up quotes from the leaders as I go along. It will be a work in progress.
I am experiencing unprecedented demonic enmity against writing this material, but I will press on, asking you to hold me up in prayer so that I receive all that the Lord is telling us. He wants us to know these things so we can be ready.
Is it the 11th hour for Britain?
The total eclipse is almost here. Although as a Christian I don't believe in the zodiac governing our lives, I do believe that God sometimes uses his creation to point to a spiritual situation or world event to come. (EG, before both the world wars there were signs in the heavens.) Jesus said there would be signs in the sun, moon and stars heralding His return. Recently we have seen a few of these, and the eclipse is just another in a long list. (In the year 2000 there will be a unique planetary alignment.)
Quite apart from the signs that God sends us, an eclipse is universally regarded in religion as a sign of coming evil. The sun and moon gods were thought to rule mankind, the sun god being the benign ruler of the Day while the moon goddess was the witchcraft priestess of the night, goddess of the Underworld. When the sun was eclipsed (or swallowed by) the moon it was thought to be a very bad omen. Order would break down and evils would follow.
Few people seem to have noticed one fact about the eclipse that surely is of some significance: the moment of totality as it touches the tip of this island is 11.11am on the 11th of August.
For me this is just one more signal from God that we are "in the eleventh hour" which means "we are VERY near to the events of the End".
In Matthew 20:1-16 the "eleventh hour" represents the very last moment. Hours were counted from sunrise to sunset. The eleventh hour of the day would therefore have been a ridiculous time to take employment because it would have been already dusk with the night drawing on.
In John 1:35, the disciples who walked with Jesus after His resurrection invited Him to stay with them overnight because it was by then the tenth hour, about 4pm in Springtime, with night approaching . One hour later would have been dusk at that time of year. The 11th hour would therefore have been the very last hour of daylight before night set in. This is prophetic of the days in which we now live.
In John 11:9 Jesus refers to the "day" allegorically as the time of work before the "night" of the Tribulation comes. He asks, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?". Thus the eleventh hour would be very near to the End.
Britain has been rebelling against God for decades, overthrowing all that the Lord planted here. We have angered and grieved God, and now in this last decade the Church has plunged into its deepest darkness of confusion and heresy, taking almost all the young people and large numbers of other Christians with it. How long will God put up with these things taking place within his own meeting places, in His own name?
God has been so very merciful to us in this country, but Christians continue to provoke and grieve Him. Judgement is overdue and we cannot expect to continue in peace and harmony, prosperity and fertility for ever.
This News Update is not going to be as full as usual, as I want to return to writing the more important article mentioned above. However, you may be interested in a few items of news:
Church restores heresy trials for priests who defy doctrine
Tuesday 13 July 1999
Closed tribunals are to be introduced for the purpose of judging and disciplining clergy. The General Synod has agreed to a proposal by bishops to include offenses against doctrine, ritual and ceremonial matters in new streamlined structures for disciplining clergy. Since 1847, when the last heresy trial took place, clergy and bishops have been able to deviate from doctrine without fear of punishment. The new legislation will introduce tribunals based on the industrial model, held in private, although the findings will be made public.
Some at the Synod were fearful that anyone with a dislike for their vicar's preaching could bring a complaint of heresy against him. Ian Garden, a barrister from Blackburn, questioned the bishops' decision to replace the criminal verdict of "beyond reasonable doubt" with the civil one of "on the balance of probabilities". He said: "Only when the standard of proof is fixed can we be assured of fairness". The synod referred the proposals legislation to the revision committee, which will prepare a fresh draft for the November meeting.
This new proposal for heresy trials is a two-edged sword, since genuine heresy is usually overlooked in the cause of liberalism, but evangelical/charismatic and fundamentalist doctrine attracts criticism. I find it hard to believe that the Church of England will begin reining in its heretical Bishops. However, I see an opportunity in this legislation to silence and expel any genuine Christian clergy who will not toe the line. We wait and see.
Promiscuity may not be immoral, says Bishop
Extramarital sex may not be immoral according to The Most Rev Richard Holloway, Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. He has written a book, "Godless Morality: Keeping Religion out of Ethics" using coarse language that was condemned by traditionalists, calling for a more relaxed attitude to biblical strictures on sexual behaviour. He says "If we think of God as the dictator of our moral systems, we run into difficulties."
Bishop Holloway, 65, says we cannot dismiss the promiscuous sex of youngsters today as immoral behaviour. The bishop (an avid proponent of homosexual rights) also uses his new book to call for the legalisation of cannabis.
Vatican Changes its Tune over Heaven and Hell
The Pope told pilgrims gathering in St. Peter's Square that Heaven in not a physical place above the clouds but a "state of being" after death. He said he wanted to make clear that Paradise was "a living and personal relationship with the Holy Trinity".
Just as Hell was separation from God, so Paradise was "close communion and full intimacy with God . . . Heaven is a blessed community of those who remained faithful to Jesus Christ in their lifetime, and are now at one with his glory".
As for Hell, that was not a physical place either, but "the condition resulting from attitudes and actions which people adopt in this life." The Pope said. "More than a physical place, hell is the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy, so eternal damnation is not God's work but is actually our own doing."
Earlier this year the Pope told pilgrims they should not visualise God as an "old man with a white beard", but as a Supreme Being with both masculine and feminine aspects.
He also hinted that non-Christians who "devote themselves to others" might also get to Heaven, even if they had not believed in Christ. Monsignor Carlo Molari, a Vatican theologian, said that "those who live a form of spirituality without speaking of God or Christ" were worthy of Paradise, since "what matters is to recognise our limitations and realise that there is a life beyond".
No hellfire say Jesuits
Shortly before these statements by the Pope, Jesuits announced in their magazine "Civilta Cattolica" (Catholic Civilisation), that Hell was not a place of literal damnation and torment but a state of banishment from God's presence. Hell is simply a condition in which God is absent. Those who consistently refused to do good would be excluded from the presence of God, the article stated.
The editorial went on to dismiss Hell as a place of punishment or torment, saying "We must not believe, despite popular images, that God, by the intermediary of demons, inflicts dreadful torments such as that of fire."
Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope seek Unity
The ongoing talks between the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches bore fruit recently when both the Church of England leader and the Pope agreed on a dramatic gesture for the Millennium. They plan an international conference in Canada in May 2000 of all Anglican and Catholic archbishops, the first ever full CofE/RC conference on unity.
Unity talks broke down after the Church of England's ordination of women in 1992. Although there are areas of disagreement, such as the authority of the Pope, women's ministry and the place of the Virgin Mary, there will be open discussions on all these topics. However, the meeting between the Pope and Carey had led to "very close agreement, except on the ordination of women". The question of authority remained the area where there was least agreement.
The key to this new-found zeal for unity is the "JUBILEE" of the year 2000. "We look forward to the opportunity offered by the celebration of the great jubilee for Churches throughout the world," said their statement, "to demonstrate their unity in Christ and their common commitment to justice, particularly in encouraging Christians to play their part in the campaign against unpayable debt in the global south."
After the historic announcement, Dr Carey preached for the first time in a Catholic Church in Rome, the basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, and asked Catholics to be "more patient" about divisions among Christians.
Outbreak of Violence orchestrated by Anarchists?
According to the police, Britain is heading for outbreaks of civil unrest and violent protest led by anarchist groups and fringe political movements. In June (1999), violent riots broke out in London's financial centre featuring " a level of sophistication and planning not seen before. The level of gratuitous violence and criminality was unprecedented, unprovoked and unforeseen."
The "Carnival Against Capitalism" was organised to attract environmental protesters and opponents of capitalism. Cars were attacked, buildings, statues and seating were damaged. Shops were attacked and smashed, and Tube and mainline stations were closed as police tried to contain protesters who, in some cases, seemed bent on confrontation.
In some of the worst violence, several hundred protesters smashed down the doors of the Liffe building, London's futures market. Clashes between police and protesters took place outside St Michael's, Paternoster, the church founded by Dick Whittington. Men wielding staves fought with riot police, others lit fires in the street and some daubed slogans on the church walls.
Police believe the confrontation was orchestrated by members of two of the 34 groups behind the protest. Using mobile phones, the ringleaders appeared to move others around the streets as many City workers cowered in their offices for safety. Dozens of police officers and demonstrators needed hospital treatment.
Later, on Midsummer Day, a peaceful gathering of Druids at Stonehenge was invaded by more than four hundred violent protesters wielding bricks and bottles. Some of the City of London mob were again in evidence at Stonehenge. An Internet website had advertised the event and encouraged protest.. Bricks and bottles were thrown at police and security guards after the crowd trampled down barriers protecting the site. Twenty-three people were arrested for assault, public order and drug offenses.
Now the same anarchist groups behind the City of London riots and the invasion of Stonehenge are promoting illegal "free" festivals in Cornwall at the solar eclipse. Police fear violence once more at the prospect of an organised influx of alternative groups, some bent on confrontation.
Nazi revival in Russia
Blackshirts are here again! A neo-Nazi group in Russia is on the march, taking to the streets and alarming the Kremlin with its anti-Semitic message of hatred. The RNU (Russian National Unity movement) has a swastika-like symbol, a high-arm salute and a warcry of "Glory to Russia". Its creed is one of hatred for Jews and all foreigners in Russia. It also pays cult-like homage to its leader, Alexander Barkashov.
A southern Russian city, Voronezh, plays host to the Nazi group who have been ignored by the authorities. Their emblem and slogans are everywhere in the city. Members hold party conferences and parades in Voronezh and regularly turn out in uniform to distribute their newspaper "Russian Order". Last winter local members patrolled the streets, SS-style, in long leather trenchcoats with alsatian dogs at their side. Recruiting films show members practising with firearms and learning martial arts at a network of secret camps throughout Russia.
There have already been attacks on Jews, yet the local authorities take no action against the neo-Nazis. It is difficult to estimate the level of popular support or membership of RNU, but it boasts of widespread popular support in Russia.
Do You Understand the Real Horror of Hell?
Just recently there have been some truly dreadful pictures in the papers and on TV, together with reports of atrocities almost too awful to bear thinking about.
A couple of nights ago, after they discovered the Serbian torture chamber and described it, I went to bed very troubled. I don't want to write about those things, although it would help you to understand my train of thought if I did.
Instead of repeating the reports in detail, I simply hope you, too, have been watching the news so you'll understand my feelings. I lay in bed and my mind was upon these events, and I couldn't help putting myself in the place of somebody trapped in that awful dungeon.
And I thought, no matter what a person has done in life, they don't deserve to suffer such demonic terror and pain - how can these things be! What sort of a world are we in? This is beyond humanity, and it's not just Kosovo, but all over the world --- this is too much to bear and I don't want to think about it but I can't get it out of my mind.
My reaction is to want to make it stop, to save those people --- I empathise with them in their suffering. Natural human compassion drives us to care about the suffering of others, however sinful, and if we could help them we would. Right? As I thought (and tried NOT to think!) about what might happen in that dark, dank, terrifying dungeon with tis instruments of torture, I felt God say to me "if you feel so strongly about that, what then do you feel about the terrors of Hell? They are much worse!"
You know, in all the years I have thought about hell, I don't think I ever had a clearer understanding of its real nature. Also, I came into a much deeper understanding of the love and mercy of God. Because I realised something that night. I'll try and share it with you if you bear with me for a moment.
I nearly headed down another path, a path often trodden by unbelievers and critics of Christianity. They say (and it's tempting to think this way) "why doesn't God DO something? He's supposed to be a God of love, all-powerful, Highest Ruler, but he seems to just sit there and let people suffer in the most hideous ways. How can such suffering be allowed to exist, if God be God?"
Yes, there have been many fine explanations of the answer to this riddle, and theologians throughout the ages have written books and papers galore on the subject. Biblically we could spout the right answer. But, until you understand it in your heart, you don't really understand it. You go on blaming God in your mind for not doing enough to alleviate the sufferings of innocent people in this world.
However, when you get a tiny little taste of the horror of evil (such as we have seen in Kosovo) and it prompts a natural reaction of compassion for the victims, THEN the light begins to dawn and you can understand the love and compassion of God.
While we have a concern for a few people in a limited way, on a small scale, God has compassion for all, on a universal and eternal scale!!
If we can feel deeply for others, and want to rescue them from suffering, how much more does the God who is Love yearn to save mankind from evil, pain, and suffering?
How can we ever accuse God of "not caring" when he cares more than any of us can begin to appreciate! God's love, compassion and concern also impels him to DO something to rescue people.
But first let me say something about the reason the world is in such a state. God didn't mean it to be this way, but mankind actively and deliberately chose to align himself with an evil overlord. It was OUR choice! Nobody on earth can blame God for suffering, since it was our will to serve the devil - and the devil IS EVIL.
All bloodshed, oppression, torment and loss on earth is the direct result of our choice to turn our backs on God - so who is to blame for suffering? We are.
Serving the devil didn't seem like such a bad choice when it offered the fruits of secret wisdom and psychic powers, and the "pleasures" of sin. Unfortunately it came as a package deal with all the things we see going on around us. When you become a victim of a terrorist attack, then you see it cuts both ways; rejecting God means rejecting the goodness and blessing of the Lord and replacing it with anarchy and bloodlust. Everybody suffers as a result.
Satan is the god of this world. His fallen angels are the powers that rule our nations and motivate all that is going on. His demons inspire dreadful unspeakable things in men's hearts. We are living here on earth, and this earth scene at the moment is ruled by evil powers. There is no way to avoid it.
So what can God do to rescue men and women from this terrible fate? Believers know the answer. God in his love made the ultimate sacrifice and sent his Son to suffer and die in our place. He gave himself up to evil and death, and then defeated them, so that WE might share his victory. He opened a door out of this satanic world system, a Way of escape.
Far from being uncaring and distant, God HAS responded in love and compassion to the plight of mankind. He's offered us a way out if we are willing to take it. Strange then, that so few do!
But here comes the next puzzle, and this is the central core of what I'm trying to say. God has made a way of escape from the evil system of this world, so logically we should expect to be relieved of pain, suffering and death if we become Christians. WHY then do Christians suffer?
WHY is it that Christians throughout the centuries have been the prime target for murder, torture, imprisonment and death as well as a host of lesser evils such as hatred and persecution? How can this make sense?
There are those who try to create a doctrine around this puzzle, saying that God's intention is for us to develop our spiritual powers to a point where we can deflect all suffering - and even death. Such people are unable to face up to the problem of suffering, and invent a cop-out.
In some cases, the doctrine of the Rapture, if taken to extremes, offers the same sense of security, i.e. "nothing bad will happen to us because God will remove us before that time."
That doesn't answer the question of how Christians even now lose their houses in hurricanes, or find their children murdered by a maniac. In this country we have seen believers struggle to forgive a rapist who attacked their teenage daughter on her way home from Church, and in the States we have seen how satanically-inspired teenagers went looking for Christians to gun down in their High School.
The murder of Jill Dando, a committed Christian, shook the faith of Cliff Richard he confessed earlier this week, because he could see no reason for it.
Who is willing to say that those Christians died because they did not have enough spirituality or faith to resist evil? Certainly not me. What then are we to make of this? God has offered us a way of escape from satan's dominion, yet we still suffer, and the world still goes on its evil way getting worse and worse.
Here is what we must learn: that although this world's evil is terrible, THE HORRORS OF HELL ARE INFINITELY WORSE! God DID save us from earthly torment, but the REAL intention is to spare us eternal torment in hell after we die. From that there is NO escape except in the Lord Jesus.
I do hope this comes home to you with the same force that it struck me that night. Unless we grasp the seriousness of eternal damnation, we will never feel enough for people to offer them salvation in Jesus. The motivation behind evangelism has to be, not earthly blessings, but eternal salvation.
Now, I do want to stress that God also cares for us on this earth. Many could tell of the miracles of deliverance from evil they have had. I certainly don't want to deny that aspect of God's love and power. Even unbelievers testify to being spared death on occasion. Angels are despatched to help those who cry out in anguish. We could expect that in a time of distress we are protected, helped, guided - but the fact is, we cannot expect to be spared ALL evil.
My main point remains: that Christians still suffer on this earth. THEREFORE, the real horror is not earthly suffering but the everlasting torments of hell.
Put yourself, for a moment, in the position of a man or woman, in a country that cares nothing for human rights, imprisoned by desperately evil and possessed men, brutalised, tortured, beaten and with no prospect of release.
Most people in that position would cling onto any shred of hope they could. Maybe the evil regime might be overthrown and the prisons emptied; maybe the prison staff would be exposed and brought to justice; maybe the end of the imprisonment would come with a repeal of the sentence, or perhaps a move to another prison would make things bearable. ANYTHING to provide a hope that the torment might some day come to an end.
For everybody there must be a little light at the end of the tunnel. And what if there is no end in sight? Those who lose all hope generally go insane, because the human frame is not designed to bear unending trouble and pain.
Many see the way out, if there is no hope, as suicide. Death is supposed to bring a swift end to this earth's problems. But does it? Not if you accept the truths of the Bible.
Imagine the situation of somebody (not a Christian) who has taken that route, suicide, to escape his/her troubles. After the sharp and terrifying pangs of death are over, they hope for something better, even if just a black void of nothingness. But instead they are conveyed to the ultimate nightmare, the realms of the dead where demons have rule.
Now, they face a fate worse than death - and there is NO escape route, and NO hope!
Imagine! If you put yourself in the shoes of somebody in prison you can believe the day of release will eventually come, even after 20 years or so, and within that time there are subtle changes that might make certain improvements in your life. There is always some kind of hope to cling to. Yet in hell there is NO hope, NO change, NO improvement, NO relief.
NOBODY is going to rescue you, and the opportunity to seek God for salvation is now GONE FOREVER. This is difficult to grasp, since it is too awful for words. If you do come near to thinking about it, you'll understand God's desire to offer us a way of escape. You'll also be fired with a new enthusiasm for offering God's salvation to other people.
Nothing was too much for the Father to give, in order to make a way out of the eternal nightmare of Hell. If we see things correctly, then nothing is too much for us in offering that Way of salvation in Jesus to the people that we meet. We might just rescue them from a FATE WORSE THAN DEATH.
God bless you for your support,
Tricia Tillin
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