The People's Wedding

A local gardener from Henley was chosen to assist in the flower arranging for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. She joined a team of 80 from the nation's Royal Flower Arranging Society. Trees transformed the aisles of the Abbey that held containers of green and cream foliage: mosses, Lily of the Valley, 30,000 flowers in all were used to create a sense of meadow that resembled England's country side. All the flowers were native to Britain. The natural look of using local flowers was to become the ethos of the wedding...It was to be "The people's wedding". By early morning on the 29th of April, 2011, Westminster Abbey was ready for the 1500 distinguished guests of royals and celebrities...









Beyond the Abbey walls, a fortress of people camped around the streets hoping to catch a glimpse of Kate's dress. Families were glued to their tellies sharing in the pride of the moment. T.V. Cameras towered over the limousine path where in a short while, a commoner, a Cinderella, would marry the future heir to the British throne...and a small band of Americans joined the one million on the streets, watching from historic, Trafalgar Square, guarded by four, stone lions and owned by the Queen in Right of the Crown. The mood could only be described as electric. We were witnessing history and "the changing of the guards".


The morning was filled with wonder, like the wonder from fairytale stories whispered to children at bedtime. Each moment, as a new guest appeared on the steps of the Abbey, there were cheers all through the streets of London...
At Trafalgar Square, streams of flags flew, girls were dressed as if going to a royal ball, Pims was being served as we all waited. We knew we would catch first sight of William and Harry around 11:00.

It had been widely speculated that William would wear his Royal Air Force uniform to take his vows, but this latest honor bestowed on him by his grandmother, Colonel of the Irish Guard, was shaking things up a bit. Surprising everyone, Prince William wore the Irish guard uniform, decked with all the honors from the famous garter to other symbols of the Queen's favor on her grandson. William’s hat featured the Irish Guards’s insignia—an eight-pointed star of the Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick—and includes the regiment’s motto, “Quis separabit?” Translation: “Who shall separate us?”

This was the icing on the cake, not like the eight-tiered wedding cake with 900 roses and one chocolate biscuit, but the one that filled our senses with the words, "taste and see that the Lord is good". In this one moment, Prince William, "The Helm", wore the symbol of the coming prophetic. The Irish Guard uniform represented a new authority over England and the prophetic child the Lord had spoken of almost 13 years earlier, the one He said would be called by the Irish name "Liam", the "English Resolute Protector". I stood as witness to the coming of that which I prayed I would see in the realm of the spirit, and now, literally before my eyes in the eleventh hour! It was brilliant!

I have declared the former things from the beginning;
They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it.
Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass...You have heard; See all this.
And will you not declare it? Isaiah 48:3,6

Just the day before on the grounds of the Abbey, in an ancient, Jewel Tower we called this forth, and now it was being presented for the whole world to see. It was as if God was saying, "I will reveal my glory and display it in front of 2 billion people." He is so smart! To God be the glory forever and ever! And all God's people said...

Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done...
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it. Isaiah 46:9-11

Thought for the Day

We are driving on the left hand side of the road when I hear these amazing words on the radio..."In the beginning was the word."
It is a concept I sometimes take for granted in these days of IPhones and laptop computers, but 400 years ago a revolution took place with information technology, the release of the King James Bible. On the BBC radio program titled, "Thought for the Day", Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks stated it to be the "book that changed the world." Why? It was a time in history that brought great liberty to the common man who now had personal access to the word of God... a new beginning of God's word touching lives in English prose.
It may be hard for us to grasp the immensity of this anniversary with our freedoms today, but there was a time when those who brought reform and change( like William Tyndale) died for the cause. William was the first to translate considerable parts of the Bible into English for the general public. The politics of the day called his work heresy and he was imprisoned, tried and burned at the stake...but hope was not lost for Tyndale's life work or for those who hungered for the word of God...
The fifty-four independent scholars who created the King James Version of the Bible in 1611 drew significantly on Tyndale's translations. They used many of the phrases he coined such as:

• seek and you shall find

• knock and it shall be opened unto you

• lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

• live and move and have our being

• fight the good fight

I am driving again on the right hand side of the road, grab a cup of coffee from Dino's and slip back into my regular routine. I turn on the 9 a.m. program of the BBC and can't help but think of the "Thought for the Day" we listened to while cruising the English countryside. I will go to work, write some articles and pull Bible Gateway up on my computer for quick reference checks. I wonder what John must have meant when he said in Revelations 1:7-8,

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Information technology has accelerated since 400 years ago . The word of God is written "in the clouds" so to speak with internet access...but it is also written in the hearts of men. On this anniversary that cost so many so much, let us ponder this thought for the day...
"In the beginning was the word..."

Raising the Age Old Foundations: Part 2

The path was narrow, little stone steps leading up to an ancient, King's storehouse that echoed centuries of royal heritage and rule. The windows were bathed in light and shadows with the Abbey as a picturesque, backdrop. Looking out of this tower, you could see the hustle and bustle of the next day's royal wedding event...London police, T.V. cameras and sightseers from around the world...
but inside this original structure were the three of us, three pilgrims, slightly holding our breath in anticipation of this moment.

Everything was ready, the songs, prayers, the oil, the ring. It was silent. It was beyond imagination. In whispered tones we began our service. We had the King's jewel chamber to ourselves, uninterrupted as if reserved for this time. With strengthening boldness, we proceeded to be obedient to the word from the Lord, "You are not spectators."
I had to wonder, though I had waited twelve years to declare this moment, how long had the Lord waited? Were there those who prayed in this tower from centuries prior asking for God to send someone to usher in the King of Kings over England? Were songs sung in hope of the Lord's return? Was this a repeated cycle or season of a time past when a ring was given or the altar anointed?

A thousand years of prayer has brought me here
Centuries of people cryin' out in God's ear
Now I'm flying over the ocean with my mustard seed and fears
A thousand years of prayer has brought me here
A thousand years of prayer has brought me here
Words and music: R. Holihan

With liturgy in hand, Dan, Olivia and I proceeded to declare the coming of the king and the dawn of the new prophetic. We each read prayers, read the commemorative sections and sang hymns that just happened to be sung on the following day at Westminster Abbey in celebration of the royal wedding of Prince William and The soon-to-be Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Middleton.

Near five o'clock, On the 28th of April, the year of our Lord, Dan presented Olivia with a family ring...a ring of sapphire and diamonds.

Then, just as the Lord had said, I was to anoint the altar. I had no idea I would find an altar to anoint where Royal guards stood holding back crowds from entry points to the Abbey, but the Lord provided as He always does. It was an altar from the original beam, the foundation stone of Westminster.

How does one go about explaining such a moment? Will I ever really capture in photos and writing this experience? Probably not. I can say it has changed me forever. It must have been similar to how Luther felt pinning his thesis to the doorpost at Wittenberg. We are not spectators in this world... We are Bible characters. We can only imagine how our act of obedience has shifted something in the heavens and how our simple gesture will affect this country.
We came to England to usher in the King and announce the new prophetic over this land. It is the dawn of a new beginning...the crossover...the changing of the guards. Amen!