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“The Gathering Storm”
Remembrance Sunday 2015
The Great War, 1914 – 1918 was supposed to be the “war to
end all wars”, but as we all know, it wasn’t. When Sir Winston
Churchill sat down to write a history of the Second World War,
for which he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953,
he entitled the very first volume “The Gathering Storm”.
Beginning with the end of the First World War on November
11, 1918 Churchill covered the two decades of supposed
peace that followed by describing the powerful forces that
were at work during those years. They were things that we
would now identify as the Great Depression, the Communist
Revolution, the rise of Fascism – particularly a political
movement called Nazism – and the seeking of an Empire by
Japan led by the Sun God Emperor Hirohito.
Very few people of that day had eyes to be able to see
exactly what was going on and what the probable outcome
would be. Such people have always been rare. In the days
before he became King of Israel, David was fortunate to count
among those who joined him a group of men who were described as follows: 32 from
Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do—200 chiefs,
with all their relatives under their command. (1 Chronicles 12) Such people are more
precious than gold, but they are extremely rare. During the gathering storm that was to result in
World War 2, there were only a handful of people who “understood the times” and through
whom God tried in vain to warn the world of the impending disaster.
One of those people was Churchill himself. On
September 30th, 1938, British Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain was fresh back from meetings with
Hitler in Munich. Waving the Anglo-German
Declaration, he announced to the jubilant crowd that
he had achieved “peace with honour. I believe it is
peace for our time.” Those who “understood the
times” saw otherwise. Churchill proclaimed the
Munich Agreement “a total, unmitigated defeat”. He
told Neville Chamberlain, “You were given the
choice between war and dishonor. You chose
dishonor and you will have war.” Chamberlain is
best known for his appeasement foreign policy,
conceding the German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany.
However, when Adolf Hitler later invaded Poland, Britain declared war on Germany on
September 3rd, 1939, and Chamberlain led the country through the first eight months.
Chamberlain will always be known for his policies that led to serious diplomatic and military
misjudgments that nearly caused Britain's defeat. He died a few weeks after he resigned as
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Prime Minister with his reputation in tatters. Churchill became Prime Minister at a very dark
hour. He said to his body guard, “Who knows but we may both be dead in three months.”
There was no alternative to war, but victory came at great cost. The estimates of the total
number of fatalities range from 50 to 80 million, with the most probable estimate being 60
million.
Winston Churchill was not the only one who “understood the
times”. Another person through whom God was revealing the
danger and calling into action was an intercessor and spiritual
warrior by the name of Rees Howells. While Churchill was born
in Blenheim Palace in 1874, Howells was born in Wales five
years later and at the age of 12 went to work in a tin mill and
then the coal mines. Affected by Christians in America where he
went to work and touched by the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905, in
1924 he founded The Bible College of Wales. It was there in
1938 that Howells was joined by the student body during the
crisis of Munich and was led by the Holy Spirit to pray non-stop
for three weeks for God to “bend Hitler”. Later, after war was
declared, Howells celebrated that God had bent Hitler away
from the last chance that he had to invade English soil before
she armed. However, Howells also
had a prophetic vision of France on
fire in a day and European war
breaking out. Howells wrote a book called “God Challenges The
Dictators: Doom of Nazis Predicted” which was published in
1940 and in which this material is found. The book is extremely
rare.
These predictions by those who could discern the times all came
to pass with the horror of World War 2, the deaths of 60 million
people as we have already mentioned, the Holocaust and nations
laid waste. These were followed by the mass deaths from
Stalinism in Russia and Mao Tse Tung in China. All this
devastation was brought about because of the demonic
strongholds of Nazism, atheistic communism and Japanese
imperialism that grew unchecked to maturity and unleashed a time of death, suffering and
tyranny such as the world had never seen before.
Brad Long, the Director of Presbyterian and Reformed Ministries International and Dunamis
Fellowship International, wrote this:
If only the world had listened to those who were discerning the times, heeded their
warnings and taken action. But the world did not! They could not see! And by the time
the true character of these strongholds was obvious to all, Satan had obtained the
means to carry out his intentions. Preventing their total fulfillment would exact a terrible
toll. (Personal document)
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It could well be argued that we are entering another time in history when there is a “gathering
storm”. This time, the storm will not be one of European origin, but one which has its origin in
the Middle East. However, while its origin may be in the Middle East, this one will also
command a worldwide stage. What are the roots of this gathering storm? If you want, we can
trace the roots back 4,000 years, all the way to Abraham and his two sons, Ishmael who was a
son of the flesh and Isaac who was the son of promise. Ishmael was fathered by Abraham and
was the son of a slave woman. Isaac was the son of Abraham and his wife Sarah. God’s word
to Hagar, the mother of Ishmael was this: 11 ...“You are now pregnant and you will give
birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. 12 He
will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand
against him, and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.” (Genesis 16)
The more immediate roots to the present
emerging crisis are from the end of World War
1. With the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Britain
and France carved up the Western
Mediterranean to suit themselves and rejected
the request of their Arab allies for an
independent homeland. In this picture can be
seen both Lawrence of Arabia and Emir Feisal,
Sharif of Mecca, at the Paris Peace Conference
of 1919. We must also be aware that it was the
Balfour Declaration, penned in 1917, which
stated:
His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national
home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the
achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which
may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in
Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.
This is not to be confused with the Balfour Declaration of 1926 which declared the United
Kingdom and the Dominions (Canada included) to be autonomous Communities within
the British Empire.
The first Balfour Declaration paved the way for the
establishment of the state of Israel in 1949. However, it
was something that predated the creation of the State of
Israel that is the first centre of our interest this morning.
In 1928, an Islamic scholar and teacher founded the
Society of the Muslim Brothers. We know it as The
Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood's stated goal was
and is to instill the Qur'an and Sunnah as the "sole
reference point for ... ordering the life of the Muslim
family, individual, community ... and state." Its motto:
“Allah is our objective! The Prophet is our leader!
The Koran is our law! Jihad is our way! Dying in
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the way of Allah is our highest Hope!”
(The Blood of Lambs, page 82)
This is not just hearsay. It is found in their
official literature and was taught to a 7
year old boy in Beirut, Lebanon in 1965.
That was not all he was taught. “No army
should be more powerful than the army of
Allah!” “No nation should be richer than a
Muslim nation! And in whatever country
you live, you must call for Shariah law!”
Further, he was taught that it was
permitted by Muslims to lie to their
enemies for the sake of Allah. He was taught that an enemy’s property – his women, his
children, his money, his house – all belonged to the Islamic people. Young Kamal Saleem,
along with all the other young members of the Muslim Brotherhood cell in Beirut, were taught
that they were to sleep with the enemy’s women and populate the world with good Muslim
children. And who is the enemy? The enemy is all Christians and Jews, which is just another
way of saying that we are the enemy.
The Muslim Brotherhood was originally founded in Egypt, but it has spread widely to all the
Gulf States, seven other countries in Africa and to Indonesia, Russia, Great Britain and the
United States. The first chapter of the Brotherhood was established in the US in 1963. The
goal of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America is identified as the following:
"Establishing an effective and a stable Islamic movement led by the Muslim
Brotherhood which adopts Muslims' causes domestically and globally, and which works
to expand the observant Muslim base, aims at unifying and directing Muslims' efforts,
presents Islam as a civilization alternative, and supports the global Islamic state
wherever it is."
One document that surfaced in 2008 but was dated 1991, outlined a strategy for the Muslim
Brotherhood in the United States that involved “eliminating and destroying the Western
civilization from within.” Kamal Saleem was only one of many who came to North America in
the late 1970’s with the aim of destroying our civilization. He successfully followed that path
until a devastating car accident placed him in hospital and in the care of Christians.
So far, I have spoken only of the
Muslim Brotherhood, but we
know that there are many other
faces of radical Islam. I estimate
that there are close to 200
known radical Islamic groups.
These include but are not limited
to The Palestine Liberation
Organization, Hamas,
Hezbollah, Boko Haram, alQaeda and ISIL or ISIS. Some of
the 200 that I mentioned are only
local organizations, but others
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have a global reach. At the moment, the most feared and disturbing is ISIL. Most are aghast at
what they have seen and heard of this organization. But what ISIL has done for us is to show
us the true heart of Radical Islam. The Nazis committed their atrocities in secret and we did not
know the full extent of their butchery until after the war. What the Nazis did in secret, ISIL is
doing in the open and is freely available for all of us to see. You may say to me, “Stephen, you
seem to have a hatred for Islam?” I don’t hate the Islamic people, any more than Winston
Church hated the people of Germany. I believe that Islam as a religion is a deception. But I am
also aware that God loves every Muslim, even the most ardent supporter of ISIL, as much as
he does me. Jesus died for every radical Muslim terrorist as much as he died for me. This is
God’s heart and this needs to be my heart as well. In 1 Peter 3 we read: 9 The Lord is not
slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with
you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. It is God’s desire
that every one of them would turn to him for salvation and that needs to be my heart as well.
However, I want to suggest to you that the rise of Radical Islam and the threat of worldwide
Islamic Jihad is only one aspect of this new Gathering Storm. Another thread is the movement
in the West known as liberal progressivism. It is very close to home and has taken deep root in
the western church. Its roots go back about 100 years to the controversies that shook the
Presbyterian Church both in Canada and the
United States in the 1920’s. It has a deep
religious and spiritual component as well as a
political component. At the very heart of this
“ism” is a deception concerning the nature of
God and humanity. The deception that has
been accepted by our churches is that liberal
progressivism is Christianity. It is in fact a
different religion with a whole different view of
reality. It uses Christian language but the
meanings are very different. The best way to
describe liberal progressivism is a wolf in
sheep’s clothing. Liberalism worships a
different God, a different Jesus, has a
different view of humanity, a different
Scripture, a different Church, a different way
of salvation, and is a religion which is
opposed to Biblical Christianity. It provides an optimistic and non-traditional view of the faith –
a faith that is willing to set aside traditional elements of Christianity. For instance, it sets aside
traditional understandings of authority, of how we understand right and wrong, good and bad.
Where it gets confusing is that progressives and conservative evangelical Christians use the
same words but the underlying presuppositions or assumptions are very different. For
instance, let’s take the concept of authority. For a progressive, authority is something very
subjective for each one of us. As individuals it is something we need to decide for ourselves –
what is right and what is wrong. There is no such thing as an objective authority. For
conservative evangelical Christians, we hold that Jesus Christ is the authority. He is the one
who decides what is right or wrong, true or false. When we want to determine what Jesus is
saying, we go to the Scriptures. We have a very high view of Scripture. Scripture is
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authoritative for us. For progressives the Scriptures are more counsel. They are merely one
voice among many.
So there are these two main threads that are
part of the Gathering Storm that we face. Are
we able to see this storm for what it really is?
There are many Neville Chamberlain’s in our
midst. Where are the Winston Churchill’s and
the Rees Howells? May God peel back the
demonic deception of Radical Islam and
Liberal Progressivism. May God raise up in
the public sphere men and women who are
willing to stand up against the lies and threats
of the religious and political bullies that shake
their fists at everything we hold dear. And
may God raise up within his Church, men and
women who are willing to storm the very
gates of hell in intercessory prayer.
Rev. Stephen G. Dunkin
Graceview Presbyterian Church
Etobicoke, Ontario
October 8, 2015
www.graceview.ca
Benediction
The Lord bless you and keep you,
the Lord make his face to shine upon you
and be gracious unto you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.