Camp Mystic 

Nothing can diminish the horror of the disaster at Camp Mystic in Kerr County, Texas; and only the Father of compassion, the God of all comfort, consolation and encouragement can meet the awful anguish of soul of all the bereaved, most especially parents who lost beloved children. The hearts of all believers go to all who suffered irreplaceable loss, in unreserved sympathy and love in Christ Jesus. Well we know words will never suffice, but behind our words there is the deepest sincerity of each heart. How we long that you might know the peace that surpasses understanding as enfolded in the bosom affections of the God of love. We continue to pray for you, the ones who are left to sorrow.

I need to draw attention to the claim that this camp is a "Christian" camp for girls. The epithet, designation, the title "Christian" is used, bandied about constantly, without any regard as to its true meaning and implications; often without a fragment of  understanding or discernment; Used for so much that exhibits not a single distinguishing mark that would demonstrate that it has a Scriptural basis to at least have some resemblance to that which is Christian in its origin. 

I tentatively looked at their website after a brother had spoken about this appalling  tragedy during the prayer meeting. At that time i knew virtually nothing of the details, but naturally I felt an affinity with all who love Christ.

I will not enter into any details regarding the camp. But I was horrified by what the text that I read, and the photographs I saw. I have three grown-up daughters of my own, and I would never have allowed them to go near that place. I am sorry if this distresses any one who reads this "Post," but it is clearly time we exercised far more discernment when "things" are labelled as being "Christian." 

Just one final thing. I tried hard to learn whether there is a place in North America named "Mystic," or a river ,perhaps. But my research afforded me no help at all. I only wondered, as it seems to me to call a "Christian" camp, "Camp Mystic" is totally inappropriate.

These thoughts are mine alone, no one else has input anything. 

T.W. 

A Worrying Discovery about our Monarch

The U.K. has a self-confessed atheist as Prime Minister, something that would never have seemed a possibility even a decade ago. it is a frightful commentary on the ungodliness of our much favoured nation; a nation blessed of God, perhaps blessed more than any other; with a heritage of godly men and women down through many centuries; many of whom have left an indelible influence on the believing people of God found within its boundaries. We have a wealth of precious literature based on the Spirit-breathed Word of God. Along with a treasury of beautiful Christ-honouring hymns.

Now I find that our present King, Charles 111 is I suggest at best a humanist, at worst an idolater. Many of my brethren have somehow concluded that he is a Christian. How they can come to such a conclusion on the basis of his disgraceful behaviour, publicly aired, I cannot fathom. 

But today I discovered an article which leaves me candidly horrified and I make no apology for pointing this article out and pasting some of its content to this "Post."  

Under-linings for emphasis and context are all mine.

It wasn't exactly a run-of-the-mill royal occasion.

In the sunny gardens of the Highgrove estate, I stood in a circle with King Charles and an eclectic group who were attending his first "Harmony Summit".

We raised our arms in honour of nature as we stood around a fire, which was burning within a ring of flowers.

Presiding over the fire ceremony, in which we rotated as we honoured the north, south, east and west and then Mother Earth, was an Indigenous leader - an Earth Elder - wearing a headdress and a dazzling robe of blue feathers.

A conch shell was blown. Butterflies flew around the flowers. And, in a concession to modernity, as well as holding up feathers in a blessing for the King, the elder was reading his incantations from an iPhone.

Image source,Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation

The summit was a celebration of the King's philosophy of harmony with nature - an inaugural event that the King's Foundation hopes will become a regular gathering.

It brought together representatives from Indigenous peoples, including from tribes in the Amazon, along with environmentalists, climate campaigners, organic farmers, herbalists, educators, crafts people and philanthropists.

There were other visitors from Amazon too: a film crew from Amazon Prime, making a documentary for next year, who were poring over every moment as the sacred smoke coiled up over the apple trees in Gloucestershire.

The King, in a light summer suit, spoke a few quiet words of welcome, wearing a circlet of feathers and a scarf that had been draped ceremonially around his shoulders.

Image source,Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation

A humane, ruminative, humorous and quietly radical figure, he was at the centre of what he hopes will become the first of many such gatherings.

But it raised the question - and perhaps opened a window - into what the King believes. What is this thoughtful man really thinking about?

Harmony is the King's philosophy - it means that we should be working with the grain of nature rather than against it. Or "her", as he describes nature in his book on the subject, published in 2010.

It's about the inter-connectedness of all life, infused with a strong sense of the spiritual, and the idea that the human and natural worlds can't be separated.

It's the philosophy that stitches together his many different pursuits - on the environment, climate change, sustainable farming, urban planning, architecture, protecting traditional craft skills and building bridges between different faiths.

According to a source close to the King, it's "perhaps the single most important part of his eventual legacy", bringing together different strands of his work that might seem separate into "one philosophical world view about creating a better, more sustainable world for future generations".

In his book, Harmony - A New Way of Looking at our World, the King describes his purpose as a "call to revolution", and writes that he recognises the strength of the word.

Image source,Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation

His book moves from the importance of geometry, with patterns rooted in nature, to the designs in Islamic art and the inspiring dimensions of Gothic cathedrals.  

A sense of the sacred in nature, as well as in people, seems to be an important part of this world view.

At lunch at the Harmony Summit, grace was said by the Bishop of Norwich, Graham Usher.

The King's idea of harmony dovetailed with a very deep personal Christian faith, he said.

"My sense is that he draws much of his energy and ideas from spending time in prayer and contemplation," said the bishop.

He said the King sees his role as serving others and a sense of this "is seen in how he is always keen to learn from other religious traditions, building bridges and fostering good relationships built on respect and understanding".

Within strands of Christianity, the King is also said to be have been interested in the Orthodox faith and its use of icons.

Image source,Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation

Image caption,

A fire was lit within a ring of flowers

The focus of this inaugural Harmony Summit was drawing on the wisdom of Indigenous people, tapping into their knowledge and pre-industrial ways of working with nature.

Survivalist Ray Mears was there to welcome representatives of the Earth Elders group, who work to defend the rights of "original peoples", who have become the threatened guardians of the natural world. They were wearing traditional headdresses, face paint and ornaments, in among the flowers and trees of Highgrove.

"People's selfishness has taken them away from nature. They can't feel the breeze, they're too focused on the clock," said Mindahi Bastida, of the Otomi-Toltec people in Mexico.

The cacophonous modern world has broken our connection with nature, said Rutendo Ngara, from South Africa. She described our era as a time of "loud forgetting".

"It's well-being for all human beings, all living beings, visible and invisible, it's Mother Nature… Everything is connected and there's mutual respect."

These were people from forests and rivers who talked of the destructive pressures on them, from mining, oil and urbanisation.

Ailton Krenak, from Brazil, talked of rivers that that had been "erased by money" and seeing the dried-up, polluted waterways was like a much-loved "grandfather in a coma".

Image source,Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation

Image caption,

Rutendo Ngara described our era as a period of "loud forgetting"

Highgrove, winningly wobbly with its crooked tiles and trees growing through holes in the roof of a shelter, is a lyrical sight on a summer's day. It's a model of harmony with nature.

How does that message work, when you step outside into an often angry, noisy and brutal world?

What makes the idea of harmony relevant, is that it puts ideas into practice, it's not just a "thought exercise", said Simon Sadinsky, executive education director at the King's Foundation, which teaches crafts skills to a new generation.

"It's not just a theoretical concept, it's not just a philosophy, it's grounded in practice," he added.

"There's a lot of awfulness going on in the world, it's hard to stay optimistic. You can feel completely powerless," said Beth Somerville, a textile worker who completed a King's Foundation course.

But she says the idea of "harmony in nature" inspires her work and helps to create things which can be both beautiful and functional, in a way that is "all connected".

"It does drive me to carry on and have hope."

Image source,Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation

Image source,Courtney Louise/The King’s Foundation

I trust you will see why I have felt it necessary to inform a larger audience with this information. The departure from even a semblance of Christian values hastens on at an alarming pace. May our God have mercy on a ungodly and ungrateful nation, would it please Him. T.W.

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• A cruise ending catastrophically

 Gospel Hall Kings County Nova Scotia

I readily admit that I have no other reason for including this beautiful photograph than pure nostalgia. I have never been near this location, indeed I have never travelled further from the U.K. than Eastern Europe.

But this picture conjures up in my mind's eye my first movements among the Assemblies of God's believing people. The lovely simplicity of this Gospel Hall is almost the template for numerous halls in the U.K. in years gone by. it makes my heart ache for those halcyon days. What more can I say?

The Assembly there is holding Gospel tent meetings from July 13-25, if the Lord will, and I know they will value the prayers of the saints, that the Lord Jesus will be magnified and glorified in the salvation of souls, should it please the Lord.

                                             

  The above picture is of Avonport Gospel Hall  King's County Nova Scotia

Tattoos and Body Piercings: " What saith the Scriptures?"

The prevalence of tattoos and piercings of the face, and all over the body, has reached mammoth proportions at this present time here in the U.K. It has become the "norm," and has an attraction for both genders and just about every generation. Tragically even believers are not only happy to participate in these abominable practices, but are also prepared to display these unsightly marring's with impunity. I hasten to add that I am not condemning those believers who sought these things before they were saved, provided  they do their best to conceal them from public view; or preferably have them permanently removed.

Now this is not an unfounded accusation based on any individual loathing, although I personally find these things abhorrent. but my feelings and thoughts as to this matter are confined to the teaching found in the Word of God. Just to say "there is nothing new under the sun," and the Bible ever remains relevant in every generation. While I view these "body piercings" as an off-shoot of the "cuttings" frequently made in the flesh of demon-possessed idolaters. For example when the worshippers of Baal opposed Elijah on mount Carmel; these demoniacs in frantic desperation when their non-existent "god" failed to hear them, resorted to "cutting themselves after their manner," emphasis is mine.  It was the custom of the heathen nations that surrounded Israel. 1 Kings 18:28.

We have the same pattern of hopelessness clearly demonstrated in the time of our Lord Jesus in this scene. When He in infinite compassion healed physically, mentally and spiritually, the demon-possessed man who was titled "Legion." Legion had been "crying and cutting himself with stones" continually. Mark 5:5.

Under the "law of Moses" such cuttings, and tattoos were sternly prohibited: "And cuttings for a dead person shall ye not make in your flesh, nor put any tattoo writing upon you: I am Jehovah." Leviticus 19:28; 21:5. Furthermore, in Deuteronomy we read: "Ye shall not cut yourselves...for thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God." Deuteronomy 14:1; 

If we argue that these admonitions obtained under the law while presently we are under grace therefore it does not apply, then we infinitely lower the heavenly fellowship we enjoy with our God and the Son of His love, to earthly blessings and an inferior standard of walk and manner of life. The prohibition was to do with a divine separation of God's people from "all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth." Do we know nothing of such a separation from the world? A separation to our God? The "temple-nature" of our bodies, individually? The choice of each one of us to make up "a people for His own possession."

"Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God ... And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:1,2.

Biblical references quoted from A New Translation  by J.N. Darby 

Inter-Denominational Service

There is real hesitancy on my part to broach this subject, but withal a heartfelt constraint to rehearse it for the consideration of the saints. I am totally responsible for these thoughts, and have the earnest desire that not even one of the Lord's people will be offended by this sorrowful unfolding of that burdening my heart. I have truly been troubled by this subject for many years, and I still have misgivings in daring to air my thoughts. But I am in the sunset years of my life, if the Lord will, and I am less afraid of the consequences in daring to expose something of the departure, decline and declension of the testimony of many Assemblies who abandoned their distinctiveness for varying reasons. I have no intention of naming any Assembly, that would be most unrighteous. My knowledge of these things extends no further than the South East, and South West of England, and South Wales. This should assure readers that my information is based on personal  experience and communications with other believers.

Various "movements" and "missions" have done much to introduce an ecumenical spirit throughout Christendom, whether openly or covertly. Some of that feature has permeated many of the Assemblies over a number of decades. their distinctive character has disappeared gradually, and in many cases abruptly. This sad course of things continues to the present. 

Ecumenism is not alone in seducing Assemblies, and infiltrating their fellowships. "Popular evangelism," to give it an easily understood title, decimated the peculiar witness maintained by the Assemblies; "Crusades" in the U.K. took place during the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. Claims were made of substantial numbers of "converts," tens of thousands; but the impact of such a number was so incredibly negligible as to render these figures as gross exaggeration at best.

The very real and dreadful failing during the latter crusades, was the practice of sending "converts" to the "church" nearest to their own homes, even if it was Roman catholic! Ecumenism was the accepted order of the day. And many years later the celebrated evangelist was photographed knelt at the feet of the Pope and kissing his ring! 

Besides ecumenism and popular evangelism the Charismatic/Pentecostal movement periodically reared its hoary head, and beguiled many true believers with its "showy," emotion-driven way of "worship;" contending for a distinction between believers who had received the Holy Spirit, (not immediately on conversion,) but subsequently by their "tarrying" for Him, and their request to Him, (though there is no Scripture warrant for addressing Him,) to come. "Speaking in tongues" was the sole evidence that He had answered! I have witnessed this phenomenon on two occasions. Both were incoherent babblings, and caused me much alarm of spirit, proving it was not according to God. I hurriedly departed the meetings.

Finally I have discovered the introduction of that which is character of Judaism leavening the Assemblies of Gods people. There seems to be the idea that this addition to the Assembly's testimony somehow elevates them above others. But it is the exchange of the heavenly nature, call and inheritance of Christianity, for the "beggarly elements" of  that which has been brought to a close by God. Morally in the death of the Lod Jesus, publicly in the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, and doctrinally in the Epistle to he Hebrews, [Galatians and chapters in the Acts  Judaism has thus been set aside by God, and unequivocally demonstrated. 

I am suggesting that these erroneous teachings, ecumenicalism, mass-evangelism, charismatic emotion with its so-called practice of "sign gifts" that are "done away," and Judaism, are in the main the result of Interdenominational involvement. Separation from these things are vital if any of the current Assemblies are to continue to bear a testimony for the Lord Jesus "until He come."

I have witnessed the closure of many of the Assemblies in South Wales; and in the City of Bristol where I presently reside I doubt whether even two Assemblies now exist. Back in the 70's there were at least 27 and in Cardiff S. Wales, just in the city alone, some 20. I do not know how many remain thee, but the vast majority have permanently closed.

T.W.

Just to repeat these thoughts are mine alone, I am not speaking on behalf of any other believer.