The Victorian Era Nightmare

  Around ten twenty years ago I had a dream where I was walking up to a school in a dusty mid-western land. There were several yellow school buses parked outside and an older, one-room schoolhouse made of logs. The bell rang and all the students started running inside. It was at this point I realized many had “dark patches” that were over their modern-day clothing.

  Walking inside I quickly noticed the teacher, who was dressed in Victorian ear clothing, all black and serious. This is when I realized the black patches were of the same cloth as the teacher’s clothing.

  Some of the students, mostly the youngest noticed the patches and quietly attempted to peel them off. Unfortunately, older students, encouraged by the teacher scolded them, forcing the patches to remain in place.

  Eventually, the bell rang again, and the students dispersed themselves out the door to the awaiting busses. I walked outside to watch them leave, noticing that the bus drivers and a few other adults present had even more black patches and even partial Victorian clothing on. My dream eventually ended as the busses drove away in the distance, away from the log school house.

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  I have, over the years thought some about this dream as I realized that with each passing generation, the degree of Victorian influence grows less and less. Yet, even today, much of our Christian culture has been highly affected by this self-centered thinking.

  By the time the 18th. Century rolled around, and England was a mess. With open sewage in the streets, people’s lives were little better than slaves as many sold off daughters and sons for bread. Overworked, underfed, grimy, dirty desperate lives, this was the world the future Queen Victoria was born into.

  Loaded with strong self-centered opinions about life and how people should act. She eventually brought forth a code of conduct that was quickly adopted in the Western world as “Godly conduct.” This set of rules affected everything from how to conduct business to bedroom activities between married people. As much as it did help the world it also laid a foundation for future problems. This is because if you try and change the outward behavior without the Blood of Christ cleaning the inside, it is only inevitable problems will arise. Christ is the only solution to transform a culture. No political or social movement can do this.

  Many people idolize Queen Victoria and the era she brought about as something, good, pure, and holy. But in reality, it was at this moment much of the foundation for our present-day evil was birthed. In 2015 Emily Windsor Cragg, the only surviving daughter of the late Duke of Windsor, former King Edward of the UK. Filed a claim with the UK Crown & Throne with the UK Parliament, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the International Criminal Court. Her claim? Her claim was that the present monarch, Queen Elizabeth should be charged with Treason and breaking her oath to the British people.  

  This charge of course went nowhere as it was buried under a mountain of British red tape. But, because of this Emily has started doing videos on family history, not the public one you can find online. But the royal bloodline few know of. In this, she claims (with documentation) that Queen Victoria laid the foundation for what we now call the New World Order, and that it has been the duty of her offspring to bring this to happen. Now I am including her video (click on the picture to watch ) but be fair warned, these are not “Christian friendly” as it quickly becomes obvious that her mindset has been distorted by New Age concepts and teachings. Regardless, her documentation of historical events, people, and places should not be ignored.

  In the Body

  The Victorian Ear Codes of Conduct played a huge role in Christianity, affecting congregations, and overseas missions. I remember many years ago when my wife was the missions director at a Baptist church. At one point we picked up a missionary from Africa who was in his late 20s. There was a meeting and a meal, and the things he was speaking about quickly got suppressed as an older retired set of missionaries attended the meetings and took over speaking. Turns out they were from the same area and they came to “speak the truth” about missions in the area. 

  I noticed the younger missionary went silent, and said nothing in response. So after everything was over I talked with him. He explained that the retired missionaries were a part of the group that did the most damage in the area with their philosophy of moral purity (victorian) and that their group was still working to build trust with the locals. It was eye-opening, as I started to realize the truth that old rules needed to be tossed out in order to build a biblical culture or respect.

Charismatic Christianity

  This failed mindset I do believe is what is behind so many current-day problems not only in Charismatic Christianity, but the general Body at large. We have elevated pastoral positions to the level of a supreme being (ie God) with false ideas of perfection and untouchability. In doing so we have castrated true concepts of accountability within the context of community and brotherhood. 

  Such concepts work as a seedbed for a depraved mind, allowing it to grow into a mature, parasitic belief system that seeks to feed itself while starving the very people God is calling you to serve.

  This is something we are now seeing playing out in real-time as current high-level Charismatic leaders are falling. The unfortunate reality is a depraved mind believes it is doing the right thing, no matter the evidence given. 

  This means future leaders will struggle under them like David did under Saul. Rising above the darkness to find the light, these future leaders will become powerful in a new way. Will they raise the dead and cast out demons? Maybe. But what they will do is have a heart for the broken, the lost, and the hurt… and that as I have said before is honorable in God’s sight. It is far better to have a Charismatic faith that seeks after the desires of God’s heart, than one that only seeks after the miraculous. In this, we desperately need to get our priorities right.