Historically, Ireland, England and Holland are closely connected. The choice of the Dutch prince William of Orange as King of England, following Henry VIII’s falling out with Rome established the Protestant ascendancy. So in Britain today we have a Queen who is the “supreme governor”of the Church of England and this year again in Northern Ireland on 12th July the “Orangemen” loyal to this earthly monarch will march to celebrate the victory of “King Billy” over James, the catholic contender for the throne, at the battle of the Boyne in 1690.
Last Sunday in the Netherlands we met our Dutch friend who also happens to be called Wilhelm. He shared how he had recently been lead to go to Ireland and on Tara Hill, the ancient site for the coronation of the Irish Kings, to proclaim Jesus as King. He said when they had done this there was the most powerful downpour with thunder and lightening.
On Tuesday, our last day in Holland we arranged to meet with friends at the Dom in Utrecht city center. Utrecht is the Ecclesiastical capital of Holland. The Dom tower is the tallest church tower in the nation and the enormous church building, the Reformed ‘cathedral’. As we walked into the open square between the tower and the church, created when a tornado destroyed the nave in 1674, suddenly, and ‘out of the blue’ a powerful mighty wind began to blow. Everyone ran for cover. Hilary and I spontaneously at the top of our voices began singing “Lord Jesus We enthrone you we proclaim you are King……..Come Lord Jesus and take Your place”
Both Wilhelm and we recognized that our prayers were simply the last in a long line stretching back to the day of Pentecost in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. In fact the day we arrived in Holland on this Pentecost weekend our friend Ad showed us a video he had taken that morning of 60,000 diverse Dutch believers making the same proclamation and prayer as they sang with one voice that same song!
The number reminded me of Is.60, “Arise and shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen on you. For behold darkness covers the land deep darkness on the minds of the people. But the Lord will rise upon you and his glory will be upon you and all nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.”
On our assignment, there were signs not only in the heavens but also on the earth.
As we paused on our way through (London)Derry in Ireland I happened to wander into the place in the city where the latest round of age old sectarian bloodshed had started. Interestingly I noticed it was in the wake of the killing of a man in the city called……. William King!
Never had our friends there seen such a display of white hawthorn blossom as we witnessed this May captured in the photo above, taken in Donegal….Another line from Isaiah came to mind, “If your sins are blood-red they shall be snow-white.”(Is.1:18 Msg.)
As we had then driven through England we had also been struck with the abundance of wild pink roses in every hedgerow. I thought of the Wars of the Roses where much blood was shed in the fighting between the two English Houses of York and Lancaster, represented by the white and red roses. When white and red come together….you get pink, which also happens to be the color of restoration.
Our final stop in England was in the university city of Cambridge. There are only a handful of parking spaces in this densely packed historic city centre, but “Thank you Father….there’s our space!”
We got out of the car and looked up. We were on King Street! Once again Hilary and I burst into song “Lord Jesus we enthrone you. We proclaim You are King…..Come Lord Jesus and take Your place.”
An hour later with time running out to get to the airport we enlisted the help of our lady friend on Google Maps to get us out of this maze of streets. From a bygone era when God was more honored (at least in name) in these high places in the land, she made heaven’s declaration over England.
“Turn right onto Jesus Street”
No matter what will be declared tonight after the British election any more than what was declared recently after the American and the Dutch elections, God has made His declaration:
“I have set my King in Zion, my holy hill” (Ps.2:6)
The receiving of Jesus as King into our hearts and His coming again to the whole of His creation in time and space will herald the healing of all of our human brokenness and ultimately the restoration of all things.
The fact that it was declared to us on this trip by God’s voice in creation, both from heaven and earth, heightens the sense we shared as we set out that, “Now is the Time”
The Kyles in America will have a different celebration this 12th July as it just happens to be the birthday of two of our grandsons!… Ravi Paul Padraig, and Winston Paul. Ravi is Indian for Sun/Son. I don’t need to say what nationality the name Winston conjures up and Padraig is of course an Irish name. Paul means “small.”
It is when we humble ourselves that the two are made one….in The Son.
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God by the cross by which he put to death their hostility.” (Eph.2:14-16)
P.S. When we arrived home we discovered Gilbert had just attended a wedding in O’Neill, Nebraska. Interestingly the O’Neils where the leading Irish chiefs who fought with the English. Another sign that the two should become one?
P.P.S. Finally, for your enjoyment, a photo of my wild Irish rose outside an English pub : – )