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WESTMINSTER : Protest and witness outside of Parliament over dangers of Islamophobia legislation

By Pastor Peter Simpson

Pastors Peter Simpson and John Sherwood staged a witness and time of public preaching time outside of the House of Commons in Westminster on Wednesday March 12th, with a particular emphasis on the grave concern felt by Bible-believing Christians at the establishment by the Government of an ‘Islamophobia Council’ to look into the whole issue of redefining ‘Islamophobia’. Their task is to deal with the increasing problem, as the Government sees it, of anti-Muslim prejudice in the UK. The preachers had with them special posters and a specially prepared leaflet on the subject produced by the Christian Watch organisation, and which was written by Pastor Simpson.

Far from their being anti-Muslim prejudice under which Muslims are labouring, Islam seems to be ever increasing in numbers and influence in the UK, and if there is in a few quarters serious criticism of Islam, this in no way implies any hatred for Muslim people or prejudice against them personally. There is, however, genuine concern in the country about Islam’s inability, because of its very nature, to integrate into British culture and into the country’s Christianity-based civilisation. It needs to be remembered that Islam is an all-pervasive political and social system, as well as a religion, and the goal of any faithful Muslim adhering to its core teachings nothing less than the Islamisation of the whole earth.

The preaching by the pastors outside of Parliament was of course in the context of the Christian loving his neighbour. Such love, however, does not negate the duty of any true Christian to point out the dangers of all religious falsehood and error which are contrary to the Biblical revelation. Christian love does not demand weakness and the abandonment of primary Christian teaching in order to promote what is called multicultural community cohesion.

The posters on display read as follows : 1) ‘Islamophobia legislation is a threat to free speech, especially of Christians. It represents a pro-Islamic blasphemy law’; 2) Christians love their Muslim neighbour, but must be free to criticise Islam on Biblical grounds”; 3) ‘Christians are persecuted in Islamic lands. It is not hatred to highlight this and condemn it’; 4) The Lord Jesus Christ says that He is the only way. That means that other religions are false. Christians must have the freedom, in love, to say so’. It was encouraging to see members of the public walking by carefully reading them.

Islam refutes uncompromisingly the very heart of the Christian message, namely the deity of Christ as the eternal Son of God appearing on earth as a man, and His sacrificial death upon the Cross as the only means of atonement between God and the sinner. In short, Islam and Christianity are completely irreconcilable. As far as Christians are concerned, to deny Christ’s deity and Sonship is to deny God the Father also. So we are not in the realm of two mildly different approaches to worshipping the same God. Any faith system which denies the deity of Christ, and His unique mediatorial role, is not worshipping the God whom Christians worship.

This is why the preaching outside of Parliament strongly criticised the recent holding of an Islamic Iftar event in St. George’s Hall, Windsor Castle on March 2nd. This event included Islamic prayer, and that is the crunch issue; it was in effect an act of Islamic worship endorsed, obviously because of the venue, by the Supreme Governor of the national Church. We must take this on board. This was an act of worship not directed to the one true Trinitarian God (Muslims openly deny the Trinity).

The chief executive of the Ramadan Tent Project who organised the Windsor Castle event praised King Charles for his commitment to ‘community cohesion’. One might courteously ask, however, how many mosques, either in the UK or anywhere else in the world, would be willing to host Christian pastors offering up prayers to the Lord Jesus Christ as being the final prophet to bring God’s revelation to mankind, the fully divine Son of God, and the only way for sinful men to reach heaven?

The leaflet which was handed out in Westminster pointed out that all around the Islamic world Christians are being severely persecuted for their faith. Of the top 12 persecuting countries in the Open Doors World Watch List for 2025, in no less than 10 of these the persecution is at the hands of Islam . Therefore, Christians must have the freedom to criticise and condemn Islamic teaching and practice. We must be free to assert that Jesus Christ is the only way. Also, the Government must have a proper regard for Britain’s distinctively Bible-based Christian identity, which is integral to the very constitution of our nation.

After the witness at Westminster Pastors Sherwood and Simpson moved on to Marble Arch and preached the precious gospel of salvation there for a while. May the Lord be pleased to use these proclamations of Biblical truth in the capital city to His own glory.

 

Written by Christian Watch on . Posted in Articles, News

CHRISTIAN RESOURCES EXHIBITION

The CRE (Christian Resources Exhibition) was held this year on 9th and 10th October at Milton Keynes – the first time the CRE has visited this area. Over 160 stalls were in evidence, promoting a range of products from holy socks, curious berries and Christian puppetry to church insurance, church furniture and church amplification, together with a wide-ranging variety of missionary organisations.

The backdrop to our stall comprised of full length portraits of Jon Huss, William Tyndale, Hugh Latimer and Martin Luther, which created considerable interest and comment, together with TBS (Trinitarian Bible Society) text posters which were much in evidence.

Vast supplies of free literature were handed out in specially prepared bags displaying Bible texts, including calendars (with Gospel texts), Gospel tracts, Christian Watch Newsletters, ‘Perilous Times’ books and various sundry booklets and leaflets – on abortion, LGBT, Conversion Therapy, the Authorised Version and National Borders.

Although the CRE is a Christian exhibition, it is sadly abundantly clear that many ‘professing Christians’ who spoke with us knew little or nothing of the Scriptures.

However, it was good to meet with several Christian Watch members who visited the stall – and we give God all the praise for His provision for us throughout the two days.

Next year – for its 40th anniversary – the CRE is returning to Sandown in Esher, Surrey and, if the Lord wills, Christian Watch will again be present to distribute God’s Word, together with good Christian literature, to all who pass by.

“Speaking the truth in love”

(Ephesians 4:15)

Written by Christian Watch on . Posted in Articles, News

Remembrance Sunday is not just about the fallen – it is about nationhood

By Peter Simpson
 
 

REMEMBRANCE Sunday is a solemn reminder of our distinctive identity and culture as one of the most important occasions in Britain’s national life. Its ceremonies are carried out in the context of a national and constitutional alignment with the historic Christian faith according to the Scriptures.

The contemporary liberal establishment, the elite class which now dominates all aspects of our national life, has, tragically, no comprehension either of this meaning or of the enormous benefits the Christian faith has brought to Britain, not least in the development of our parliamentary democracy.

Biblical Christianity, when keenly embraced by even just some of a nation’s citizens, carries with it an immense purifying influence on the greater whole – it is a source of salt and light, to use the Biblical metaphors. It makes society gentler and more wholesome. It makes the country a good place to live in. As King Solomon, inspired by the Holy Spirit, tells us, ‘Righteousness exalteth a nation’ (Proverbs 14:34). To cite a single example, it was not globalist secularists who initiated all the great social reforms of the 19th century, it was Bible-believing Christians.

The Bible has much to say about individual countries with distinctive borders; and it is abundantly clear that God deals with nations as nations. For example, in Isaiah 13-23 we have separate prophetic announcements concerning the God-ordained futures of ten different countries. So God judges individual nations in different ways according to whether or not they honour Him. Therefore, it is not remotely ‘unChristian’ for those belonging to a specific nation to have a distinctly national perspective. Furthermore, it needs to be emphasised that the very concept of nationhood ceases to have meaning if national borders are not controlled rigorously.

What was it that the honourable fallen whom we especially remember today actually died for if it was not the defence of their country’s borders and their unique cultural identity and way of life?

Another benefit they fought for and was worth fighting for was the personal freedom to hold views other than those the state tries to impose; something that was a major factor in being British. We now, however, live in a society where to maintain national identity is not valued at all, and where personal freedom of conscience is seriously under threat where, for example, Christians are losing their jobs for not accepting the dictates of LGBT activism. A society which bans silent prayer in public spaces.

There is enormous ignorance in modern Britain concerning the doctrine of God’s providence in respect of the destiny of nations. Many today might laugh in disbelief at the highly significant role which prayer played in getting through of some of the most challenging and testing times during World War Two. There were no fewer than 12 national days of prayer during the war, which were widely supported, as shown by packed churches up and down the land. People were humbled by the Nazi threat and the horrors of another war so relatively soon after the Great War. They realised that the ultimate solution lay not just in strong political leadership and military might, but in belief: that the hand of the sovereign God was also at work, and that His aid had to be sought.

Those days of prayer speak to us of a distinctive and unifying national identity linked unashamedly to the Christian faith. The modern idols of diversity and multiculturalism, along with rampant secularism and the abandonment of the Bible by compromised churches have, together, destroyed this Christian identity. Today such exclusively Christian national days of prayer would, perversely, be deemed harmful to social cohesion, or even unfair, because people of other faiths or no faith reside in the land.

In fact many in government as well as opposition circles deeply regret Britain’s departure from the European Union and would seek to draw us back into the EU fold and its globalist approach to political action. How many of the political leaders publicly paying their respects today as they should do, to the fallen, believe any longer in national self-determination as a fundamental and inalienable principle? How many understand that God Himself ordained nationhood from the earliest times in the world’s history, as is clearly demonstrated in Genesis 9-11?

Globalism, not nationalism, is the order of the day. The contemporary ‘progressive’ preference with politicians is for defining and tackling problems through global organisations such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), rather than through the national parliament of a United Kingdom at Westminster.

This desire to dilute and emasculate British identity is also seen at the other end of the spectrum, in the agenda for further devolution and regionalisation of the UK, from citizens assemblies to a Council of the Nations and Regions as opposed to the single national gathering of parliament.

The contemporary Indian philosopher and author Vishal Mangalwadi sharing his insights into the influence of the Bible upon western society in The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization, points out that from the 16th century onward in Europe the translation of the Scriptures into national languages had a critical and beneficial effect upon the development of the national identities of Germany, the Netherlands and Britain. It was as people read God’s word in their own tongues that they became more aware of their identity as a distinct grouping in the sight of God.

In the 19th century, Mangalwadi also explains, it was Christian missionaries who worked on bringing system, form and structure to various Indian dialects, so as to translate the Bible into those tongues. This became, he says, a major factor in the development of what are today the national languages of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

In other words, Christianity is quite simply good for nationhood, because nationhood is the Lord’s own institution.

Thankfully, some in the West are finally waking up to the significance of nationhood and national identity. The outcome of the US election this last week can certainly be seen as a positive step in this direction. Belief in nationhood is not, however, enough on its own. The ultimate solution to all our national woes is not merely to rely on a certain political philosophy, but rather to engage in a national turning, in repentance and faith, to our precious Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

 

Peter Simpson

Pastor Peter Simpson has been Minister of Penn Free Methodist Church in Buckinghamshire since 1990, and is a keen open air preacher. He is the author of a book on World War II entitled ‘When a Nation Prays’, which is currently available on Amazon.

 

Written by Christian Watch on . Posted in Articles, News

SHINING GOSPEL LIGHT INTO THE DARKNESS OF THE 2024 MANCHESTER PRIDE PARADE

Christian Watch committee member, Pastor Peter Simpson, was involved in preaching the gospel at the Manchester Pride parade in the centre of the city on August 24th. He was alongside Pastors John Sherwood (Finchley, N. London), Pastor David Carson (Chester) and Mr Christopher Wild (also from Chester). They were helped by a small and valiant number of others in support. Various relevant portions of Scripture were on display, which the many thousands of people attending the parade could not help but reading.

The Manchester parade is big, taking some 3 hours to pass through the streets. The band of those witnessing was located on a major thoroughfare of the city on the parade route. What was especially distressing was seeing parents bringing their young children to watch the proceedings, and their encouraging them to wave LGBT flags in an act of celebration. Children were even on some of the floats in the parade. What appalling harm is being done to impressionable young minds by the public display of drag queens and others who were cross-dressing. This event was nothing less than a public trashing of God’s commandments. It was a specifically anti-Christian event in that it involved the public rejection and mockery of the Bible, which is the very word of God.

Parade supporters frequently tried to drown out the preachers by blowing trumpets, and cover up God’s word by waving rainbow flags in front of those witnessing. Drivers of parade-float lorries made a point of incessantly blowing their horns when in the front of the preachers, making it much more difficult for the amplified preaching to be heard. We are reminded of Zechariah 7:10 : “They refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear”.

Many of those walking by the witnessing Christians uncannily adopted the same practice of shaking their heads and laughing, as if to say, How can anyone in this day and age hold such primitive and unenlightened opinions? However, one wonders if the laughter was in fact no more than a feeble device to try and shake off being suddenly confronted with the harsh reality and fearful consequences of ignoring Almighty God’s holy commandments.

At one point a large number of opponents stood in front of the preachers and their helpers repeatedly chanting : ‘God loves gays’. By this of course they meant that God finds their lifestyle acceptable, and condones their sin, not that He reaches out to

sinners in mercy, if only they will repent. This chant was actually bordering on the blasphemous, implying that the holy God happily embraces flagrant moral wickedness. This action was in effect no different to chanting, say, ‘God loves adultery’, which is listed alongside homosexuality in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 as keeping men outside of the kingdom of God.

The fashion-following parade supporters, hopelessly captive to the spirit of the age, were obviously oblivious of Bible texts such as Luke 13:3, where the Lord Jesus declares, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”. To publicly lie and deceive many others about God’s righteous laws, and about His anger at the sins of men, is no minor aberration, but an arrogant shaking of the fist at Almighty God in an act of foolish and reckless rebellion. Furthermore, what a terrible guilt lies upon the false, Bible-denying churches which promote such lies and deception.

Out of love for their unbelieving neighbours the preachers did not shrink from speaking of the reality of the wrath of God and of the place of eternal condemnation for all the unrepentant, namely hell. At one point Pastor Simpson told the parade participants and supporters that they were merely conformists, the establishment, the mainstream, those who were meekly following the crowd. It really is about time that the homosexual activists ceased claiming that they are an oppressed minority. They have the complete upper hand, having won over the education system, big business and our major national institutions. This is demonstrated by the following list of some of the bodies involved in the parade :

The National Trust, Aldi, the Civil Service, the NHS, Cadent Gas, the Quakers, Cheshire Fire Service, Greater Manchester Fire Service, Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s, Astra­Zeneca, The Science and Industry Museum, Wickes, Argos, the National Education Union, United Utilities (water company) and even the Royal British Legion.

One Roman Catholic young woman tried to justify her support of all that was taking place by saying that she went to church every Sunday. It was pointed out to her that church-going never saved a single soul, and the witnessing brother questioned what her church must be teaching her. Attending a place of worship is very important, but the message of the Christian gospel is all about inward transformation by means of repentance and faith. It focuses on the reality that “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). All need a complete radical inward change, because “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9).

A parade supporter asked one of those witnessing, “Why do you care so much about what we are doing?” She was told that it is because all have immortal spirits, and as

Christians we care for our neighbours, and do not want to see them end up in hell. We want them to experience true “joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15:13), not the shallow and fleeting exuberance of fleshly indulgence, worked up as it is by music with a heavy beat and by the euphoria of belonging to a crowd.

Towards the end of the parade there were some meaningful conversations with some pro-LGBT young people, and at least two of them seemed to be genuinely moved by the Biblical arguments put forward to them, and were beginning to rethink their attitude. May the Lord work powerfully on their hearts and lead them into all truth, as indeed is now being prayed for the thousands who heard and saw the word of God being set forth in the midst of all the gross spiritual darkness which characterised this day.

Written by Christian Watch on . Posted in Articles, News