John D Manwell's Blog

The battle for the soul of our nation intensifies!

After many months of preparation, yesterday I spent the day in the Saints in the Stadium event in St Helens. Over 2000 people from across the nation came with a united desire to pray for the soul of the nation and for the advance of the Kingdom of God. It seemed like the most unfortunate timing in my schedule to go straight from that event to a business meeting in Belgium. I have been intensely busy with the preparations for Saints in the Stadium, and I had not looked at the address for the location of our meeting. As I arrived at the hotel in Waterloo I started to sense that the Holy Spirit of God was whispering to me.

Over dinner my host explained some of the history from 198 years ago:

The British Duke of Wellington had anticipated over a year before the now famous ‘Battle of Waterloo’ that he would at some point have to confront Napoleon and his goal of dominating Europe. With this in mind he had carefully surveyed the territory and prepared his options. In particular he had chosen the area of Waterloo because of the particular terrain. He chose a location where his troops had a strategic view of the hills and valleys, but where Napoleon’s troops from the other direction would perceive the land to be a level playing field.

Lessons for us:

•  Plan ahead strategically don’t just react to events.
• Choose the terrain for the battle – don’t let the enemy choose the battleground

Wellington led an international army called the Seventh Coalition – comprising troops from Prussia, Austria, Russia and Great Britain. In the battle with Napoleon’s troops many soldiers attacked their own people because of the mud which covered everyone, making it hard to identify the enemy.

• We must be aware of the danger of attacking those on the same side as us because the battle is messy!
• We need to be in a coalition. It is called the Body of Christ – crossing boundaries of nation, culture and tradition.

We are part of a ‘Seventh Coalition’ in that 7 is God’s number. As I walked around Waterloo this evening I came across a sign on a building “ring 777 for assistance’ !

Yesterday in St Helens we made powerful declarations of our desire to work together as One Church in the United Kingdom. The Seventh Coalition is forming, we must think ahead in good time because the confrontation with the forces of domination and control are gathering. Napoleon intended to destroy the British and take control of Europe. The Seventh Coalition under Wellington was prepared and prevailed. Waterloo now has a museum dedicated to these events and the Lion representing the victory of the Seventh Coalition.

The last thing Wellington did before going into battle was to go and pray in St Joseph’s church.

Let us not be overconfident: Wellington’s comment after victory was that the battle “was the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life.”

 Let the Lion roar again!