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"Take
Heed" Ministries
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Cecil Andrews, PO BOX 13, Ballynahinch, BT24 8AL, Northern Ireland. Telephone/Fax 028 9756 5511. E-MAIL - takeheed@aol.com WEBSITE - http://www.takeheed.net |
‘Hope 2008’ – not “that blessed hope” of Titus
In January of this year I received an email from a
Christian couple in
In my reply to them I wrote
this concerning “HOPE 2008” – “You mentioned the involvement of
Gerald Coates so on that basis alone I would steer well clear of it”. Very
briefly, Gerald Coates has promoted many charismatic deceptions such as the
so-called ‘Toronto Blessing’ and with his track record of failed ‘prophecies’
he should be thankful that he doesn’t live in Old Testament times [see
Deuteronomy 18:20].
In recent days I have received
another email from a Christian parent who expressed gratitude for our ministry
warning about an August 2007 event held in Ballymena called “Spark ‘07”. In
that email she also referred to “HOPE 2008” and wrote of “Hope
08 which is nationwide and the opening speaker is Steve Chalke”.
As for being ‘nationwide’ in my reply to her inquiry I wrote – “I am aware of Hope '08…On a page that I printed off some months
ago [from
their website] they had a 'Missions in cities' section relating to
activities next July-September [2008] and the cities listed included
Glasgow, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Belfast”. The
There is an uncanny similarity between “Spark
‘07” [see
article on http://www.takeheed.net/Spark07webarticle.htm] and “HOPE 2008” in
that the central theme and thrust of these initiatives is ‘community action’
and not ‘gospel proclamation’. When you read shortly of the
ecumenical/interfaith scope of “HOPE 2008” it is easy to understand why
‘community action’ trumps ‘gospel proclamation’.
In my research so far I have not been
able to identify any official Gerald Coates involvement but as you will read
shortly Steve Chalke is very much to the fore in the launch of this initiative.
On the grounds of involvement by
Steve Chalke, this “HOPE 2008” initiative has forfeited ALL right to be viewed
as ‘Christian’ for the simple reason that currently Steve Chalke publicly
denies the very heart of the Christian Gospel namely the substitutionary
atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the
Cross of
This crucial issue of Steve Chalke’s denial of ‘penal
substitution’ has already been dealt with by me in a number of articles
and these articles an be accessed on
http://www.takeheed.net/DECEMBER2004.htm
http://www.takeheed.net/MARCH2005.htm
http://www.takeheed.net/SEPTEMBER2005.htm [2
short articles]
http://www.takeheed.net/JUNE2006.htm
Returning now to the issue of “HOPE
2008” I simply want to share extracts of items from their own website of http://www.hope08.com/Group/Group.aspx?id=32586 plus items from related websites that will show that
this is an initiative that no faithful Christian should lend any support or
involvement to.
However, before doing that I want
to include an item from the news today that I believe has relevance to this
latest ecumenical/interfaith “HOPE 2008” initiative. This report was
gleaned from the AOL Internet news service that I use on a daily basis –
Expansion moves for faith schools
Ministers prepared the ground for a dramatic expansion in
the number of faith schools, promising to remove "unnecessary
barriers" for religious groups that want to provide state education. More
than 100 independent Muslim schools could apply to join the state system while
the Government acknowledged that there were not enough free school places for
Hindu and Sikh children. In a new joint document, the Department for Children
and the major religious groups set out to "dispel some of the common myths
and misunderstandings around faith schools".
The document said: "The
Government and faith school providers believe that all schools -
whether they have a religious character or not - play a key role in
providing a safe and harmonious environment for all in our society, thereby fostering
understanding, integration and cohesion.
The Government recognises that, in relation to the overall
size of their populations, there are relatively few faith school places in the
maintained sector available to Muslim, Sikh and Hindu children compared to the
provision available for Christian and Jewish families." While there were
376,000 Muslim children aged between five and 15 at the last census, there are
only 1,770 pupils in the seven state-funded Muslim schools in England. But
there are 115 independent Muslim schools, where families have to pay fees.
The document, Faith In The System, said: "The
Government will work with local authorities as the commissioners of
schools and school places in each area and with faith organisations to
remove unnecessary barriers to the creation of new faith schools. In
particular, the Government will encourage independent schools to enter the
maintained sector in their existing premises so that the need for capital
funding is not a barrier to entry." Where there are no existing buildings
which can be used, the local authority or the Department for Children, Schools
and Families could provide cash to buy or build new premises, the document
said.
The document was backed by the Department for Children,
Schools and Families, the Association of Muslim Schools, the Board of Deputies
of British Jews, the Church of England Board of Education, the Hindu Council
UK, the Catholic Education Service and the Network of Sikh Organisations, among
other groups. But teachers attacked the plans and questioned whether any
religious groups should receive Government funding to run faith schools. Mary
Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said
school staff were concerned over the way faith schools operate.
In an interview on the lunchtime
BBC 1 News government minister, Ed Balls was at pains to emphasise time and
time again that their belief was that ‘Faith’ schools were an instrument for ‘social
cohesion’. That’s the government’s priority but for Christians,
Christianity should be all about the ‘soul’s conversion’ and so initiatives
such as “HOPE 2008” that also have government backing, as you will read
shortly, are no asset in proclaiming the gospel and thereby fulfilling the
Great Commission. For centuries people have campaigned for the separation of
‘church and state’ – today the campaign should be for the separation of ‘state
and church’ [remember how a few months ago Tony Blair advocated
spending one million pounds of public money on training ‘moderate’ Muslim
Imams! – see http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-20/0706047768203255.htm] as any
such alliance will be subject to the exclusion of the proclamation of the
unique Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is “the power of God unto
salvation” – as it divides [as Christ Himself said it would in Luke
12:51-53] it must be jettisoned in favour of community action that promotes ‘social
cohesion’ and not the ‘soul’s conversion’.
What
is the ‘hope’ for “HOPE 2008”
To get a glimpse of what the
organisers are hoping for the following has been extracted from the HOPE
2008 website and as you will see their ‘hope’ is to ‘make a real
impact on their communities’. As you will see from the photo the emphasis
appears to be on cleaning up areas rather than allowing Christ to ‘clean up’
lives – this strategy was very much at the heart of Spark ’07 that I
referred to earlier.
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State support for “HOPE 2008”
I mentioned earlier
official state support for HOPE 2008 and this is clearly seen in the
make-up of the Board of Reference for the initiative. Herewith are the details
-
HOPE
2008 Board of Reference
We
are very excited that the following people have agreed to support Hope by
joining our Board of Reference. Their advice and views will assist as we plan
for 2008.
·
Matt Baggott,
Chief Constable of Leicestershire & Association of Chief Police
Officers
·
Lord John
Stevens, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service
·
Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP,
Chief Secretary to HM Treasury
·
Caroline Spelman MP,
Shadow Communities & Local Government
·
Steve Webb MP, Health
Spokesman
·
Most Rev Dr Rowan
Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
·
His Eminence
Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster
·
Rev David Coffey,
President of the Baptist World Alliance
·
Commissioner
Elizabeth Matear, Moderator elect of Free Churches Group
·
Rev Joel Edwards,
General Director of Evangelical Alliance
·
Rev Nicky
Gumbel, Alpha
·
Fran Beckett OBE,
CEO of Church Urban Fund
This
endorsement also appears on the HOPE 2008 website –
"It gives me great pleasure to take
this opportunity to recognise the achievements of HOPE 2008 and the diverse
range of projects it has delivered for many communities throughout the country.
I consider HOPE 2008
to be a valued partner of Government and a true example of what can be
accomplished when we all work together towards a shared goal. The values and traditions which motivate those
of a Christian faith to serve their fellow citizens are clearly evident in the
themes of HOPE 2008. It is also a credit to the many volunteers who actively
support this initiative that HOPE 2008 positively embraces the ideal of interfaith engagement in all of its
projects. Communities and Local Government supports HOPE 2008 in its aim of
encouraging people of all faith traditions and none to work together to make
our communities stronger, inclusive and more cohesive."
This endorsement is by Parmjit Dhanda MP, Cohesion Minister, Department for Communities and Local
Government. On WIKIPEDIA these details
are listed –
Born in London to Indian
immigrants of Sikh
origin. His Mother was a cleaner at a local Hospital, whilst his father was a
Lorry Driver. He was educated at Mellow Lane School,
a state Comprehensive School in Hayes, Middlesex,
before attending the University of Nottingham, where he
received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1993, and a MA
in information technology in 1995. Parmjit Dhanda is
married and lives with his family in Matson, Gloucester.
Has been a member of the Union of Shop,
Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) since 1999. He speaks both Punjabi
and French
Ecumenical support for “HOPE 2008”
As
you will have seen from the names listed for the HOPE 2008
BOARD of REFERENCE this initiative
has ecumenical support at the highest level. Herewith are some more details of
that ecumenical support –
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor –
[Roman Catholic] Archbishop of Westminster
“I
wholeheartedly recommend this grassroots initiative as a way of empowering
local Churches to be bold in living and proclaiming the Gospel [Cecil’s
comments: This of course is Rome’s ‘Gospel’ of man’s good works on earth and
not Christ’s finished work on the cross] in
our society. I am particularly delighted that from its beginning HOPE 2008 has
been an ecumenical initiative which can thus witness to the power of the Gospel
to unite people [Cecil’s comments: See the Lord’s comments
referred to earlier that are found in Luke 12:51-53]
in a world of many divisions.”
Rowan, Archbishop of Canterbury
"Hope
2008 is a really remarkable vision that has grown out of the success of a
number of local urban projects. Christians have to learn how to give an
absolutely clear answer to the question, 'why is this good news?';[Cecil’s
comments: Christians should not be proclaiming this ‘why’ but rather should be
proclaiming ‘what’ constitutes the good news] 'Soul in
the City' and all the related enterprises that have been going on are a
wonderful example of how to give such an answer, in terms of the building of
responsible positive communities. Now, with Hope 2008, this vision is being
extended, with great boldness to the whole country - and even more widely. It
deserves the warmest welcome. I thank God for the inspiration [Cecil’s
comments – “inspiration” from where or from who?]
that has driven it and wish every
blessing to all involved."
At
‘ground level’ the ecumenical nature of the initiative can be seen from these listings
on other websites – firstly these entries on a Roman Catholic church website –
as you will see I’ve included details of a listing in addition to that relating
to HOPE 2008 just to confirm the Roman Catholic ‘flavour’ of the church website
http://thomas-more-coventry.blogspot.com/2007/09/september-2nd-news.html
Saint Thomas More RC Church
Newsletter
Saint Thomas More Roman Catholic
Church is in Coventry - England. Our weekly Parish Newsletter is posted here.
[Downloaded Monday 10 September 2007]
COVENTRY PRAISE - Saturday 8th
September 2007 at 7.30pm at Coventry Cathedral. This is a celebration of all of
the Christian communities of Coventry. So often, much is made of gatherings of
other faith communities, and the roots of Christianity in Coventry are well
known, and so the present and future witness to Christ in our city is
important. This event at the Cathedral will be an evening of prayer and praise,
open to all, and it would be good if as many parishioners as possible could
attend, as HOPE 2008 is launched – a national project for 2008, showing
Christianity in action. Guest Speaker will be Steve Chalke. www.hope08.com
Dowry of Mary
Pilgrimage to Walsingham – Sunday 9th September – Mass at 1pm. Main
celebrant: Bishop Michael Evans.
And
then these entries from a Baptist church website – again I have included some
entries [concerning ALPHA] just to emphasise the liberal/ecumenical leanings of
this particular church.
http://www.walsgravebaptists.org.uk/Whats%20on.html
WALSGRAVE BAPTIST CHURCH
[downloaded Monday 10 September 2007]
COVENTRY PRAISE on Saturday, 8th September at 7.30pm at Coventry Cathedral . An evening of
celebration, praise & worship & the launch of Hope 2008. Guest speaker: Steve Chalk.
Wed 26th Sept -
Walsgrave Baptist Alpha Launch - 7.30pm @ WBC
This is an opportunity for people to invite their friends and family to come
along and get taster of what Alpha is all about and decide whether they would
like to attend the course. If you know anybody you would like to invite, it
would be helpful for us to know numbers so please contact Emma Stansfield. You are more then welcome to accompany the
person you have invited
ALPHA COURSE
starts Wednesday, 3rd October. Please be praying about
who you should invite. More details from Emma Stansfield.
It
should of course be noted that another name on the BOARD
of REFERENCE for HOPE
2008 is the main ALPHA
course promoter Nicky
Gumbel whose ecumenical
credentials are everywhere evident for all to see and the same can be said of another
BOARD of REFERENCE member,
Joel Edwards
of the ’politically correct’ Evangelical Alliance that recently supported David Cameron’s views on ‘the
family’ including his definition that went beyond the Biblical parameters of
marriage being only sanctioned by God as being between one man and woman.
Another
BOARD of REFERENCE member
listed is David Coffey who is President of the Baptist World
Alliance – like many other
formerly sound evangelical groupings the BWA has been engaged in talks with ROME
as can be seen on
http://www.bwanet.org/default.aspx?pid=338
Judging
by the past experience of such ‘dialogue’ [such as ARCIC, ECT and LWF] there
will be only one ‘winner’ theologically speaking and that will be Rome!
Security support for “HOPE 2008”
You may
have noticed that one of those listed on the Board of Reference was the former
Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Lord John Stevens. Another who has
given his support is the current Commissioner as can be seen on the HOPE
2008 website
Sir Ian Blair, Metropolitan Police Commissioner
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Personally speaking, in the light
of many controversial public statements made by Sir Ian Blair in recent years,
not least those in respect of the gunning down of the totally innocent Jean
Charles de Menezes I would not want to have his ‘imprimatur’ on anything that I
was proposing to stage, particularly involving the Lord Jesus Christ.
Strategy
for “HOPE 2008”
Probably the greatest New Testament
evangelist was the Apostle Paul and shortly before he was martyred for the
cause of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ he wrote these words to the young
pastor, Timothy – “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine…endure
afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” [2nd
Timothy 4:2-5]. Is that evangelistic zeal reflected in the HOPE 2008 strategy
‘guidelines’? Here’s what the website says –
Hope
and other Faiths
Whatever you’re planning for Hope 2008, you
may end up working with, or amongst people of different faiths. Hope 2008 can
be a great opportunity to serve them and share your faith in a way that leads
to meaningful friendships.
There is advice and suggestions of
resources via the Youth Encounter section of the Scripture
Union website and also an excellent resource produced by Churches
Together in England.
In the meantime, here’s some simple dos and don’ts to help you.
Do…
·
Respect the faith and culture of the children and young people.
·
Use music, artwork and methods that are culturally appropriate
·
Be open and honest in the presentation of the Christian faith.
·
Be open and honest about the content with parents and other adults
involved in their lives
·
Seek to build long-term friendships that are genuine and not dependant
upon conversion.
Don’t
·
Assume they’ll understand what you mean when you say you are a Christian
·
Criticise, ridicule or belittle other religions or cultures.
·
Tell the children what their faith says or define it by what some of its
adherents do
·
Ask children or young people to say, sing or pray things that they do
not believe or that compromises their own faith.
·
Encourage them to make decisions that would put them in conflict with
their family.
(Taken From ‘Welcoming Children of Other Faiths’ by
Gill Marchant and Andrew Smith and published by Scripture Union)
How would I respond to such
guidelines and indeed to the whole thinking behind HOPE 2008? I believe
that something that Loraine Boettner wrote in his classic work ‘Roman
Catholicism’ contains much wise counsel that can be considered and applied
by Christians in assessing HOPE 2008. Mr Boettner wrote, under a
sub-heading of ‘The Church in Politics’ –
‘She must not allow herself to be
used as a pressure group for the securing of certain rights and temporal
benefits for men, nor to pressure the state for reform measures even though
such reforms may be needed and desirable from the Christian viewpoint.
Christians as individuals are indeed to work for whatever reforms may be needed
but the Church is not to do so in her corporate capacity. Such action on the
part of the Church almost invariably will detract from her primary mission of
the proclamation of The Gospel and ministering to the spiritual needs
of men and will tend to give people a wrong conception as to what her mission
really is’.
It is clear that for decades now governments and global political organisations have sought to enlist the help and co-operation of leading religious figures and religious initiatives [Billy Graham and Rick Warren immediately spring to mind] to further their ‘one-world’ agenda. HOPE 2008 is just the latest in a long and growing list of such politically–sanctioned ‘missions’. The one thing that none of these ‘missions’ do is actually point to and proclaim THE GREAT and BLESSED CHRISTIAN HOPE.
As a young Christian I well remember a very zealous and
faithful preacher of the Gospel speak of how he always sough to proclaim ‘The
Book’ [The Bible] ‘The
Blood’ [Christ’s
atoning sacrifice at Calvary] and ‘The Blessed Hope’ [the return of the Lord Jesus
Christ].
The narrow and predominantly secular focus of HOPE
2008 is an attempt to ‘paper-over’ the cracks in society in this current
fallen, sinful world that is destined for fiery destruction before Christ
returns to create a new heaven and a new earth [2 Peter 3:10 and Revelation
21:1]. The “blessed hope” as it is identified in Titus 2:13
speaks of Christ’s return to usher in an eternal ‘paradise’ for His redeemed
people. The ‘mission’ of His church meantime is to confront all people with
their sin and its only remedy – Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I don’t hold
out much ‘hope’ that HOPE 2008 will assist in the ingathering of a
people with whom God “will dwell with them and they shall be his people and
God himself will be with them and be their God” [Revelation 21:3].
Cecil Andrews –
‘Take Heed’ Ministries – 10 September 2007
APPENDIX to ‘HOPE 2008’
Providentially after
this article was first posted to the website on Friday 14th
September 2007 an advert appeared the following day on the Churches page of the
Belfast Telegraph [Saturday 15 September
2007] giving details of a preliminary launch meeting to be held in
Belfast next week. The 'headline' guest speaker will be Franklin Graham [son of Billy Graham] and the Billy
Graham Evangelistic Association are listed as being 'in co-operation' with HOPE 2008.
This link serves to
underscore the ecumenical leanings of many associated with this initiative. A
talk that I gave on Billy Graham can be viewed on the VIDEO VIEWING section of our website.
It was interesting to
note the terminology of the heading of the HOPE 2008 advert - it read - 'Inviting people to become followers of Jesus' - that
expression has a very 'seeker-sensitive' and 'user-friendly' ring to it and is
distinctly lacking in biblical/evangelical content such as "Repent and believe the gospel"
- the words of our Lord Jesus Christ as found in Mark 1:15.
Instead they have very
much an 'emerging church' flavour
where the emphasis is on trying to encourage people to simply ‘follow’ Jesus in
the sense of 'copy' Jesus [and not
necessarily forsake their erroneous or non-Christian religion - according to
'emergent guru' Brian McLaren who spoke at Summer Madness a few months ago in
Belfast] rather than being 'converted' to saving faith in Him.
May we not be
focussing our 'hope' on ‘philosophy or vain deceit’ [Colossians 2:8] or on
anything that this passing world has to offer but rather be faithfully and
eagerly "looking for that blessed
hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus
Christ" [Titus 2:13]
Cecil
Andrews – 17 September 2007