BRITISH PEER, LORD
TAYLOR OF WARWICK,
TRAVELS TO BEVERLY HILLS TO BE
'RE-INSPIRED IN MY WALK WITH GOD'
He was attending the Seventh Annual Media Fellowship
(MFI)
Awards Weekend Praise Breakfast on Saturday, September 17
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
 Saturday, September 17, 2005
BEVERLY HILLS, CA (ANS) --
Lord Taylor of Warwick, the only black member of the
British House of Lords, has just made his annual pilgrimage to Beverly
Hills, California, to receive a special spiritual blessing. (Pictured: Lord Taylor
at the MFI breakfast in Beverly Hills, California).
After attending the Seventh Annual Media Fellowship Awards Weekend
Praise Breakfast held at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Saturday, September
17, which was hosted  by MFI director, Bob
Rieth and featured special guests, Kathy Ireland, Rhonda Fleming, Mary
Haskell, Michael Colyar, Ron De Shay, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis,
Jr., Lord Taylor explained why he was there. (Pictured: Screen legend Rhonda Flemming
with MFI director Bob Rieth before he gave her a special Award).
“I am here for the MFI Prayer Breakfast and really enjoyed it and met a
lot of old friends again and, most importantly, I became re-inspired in
my walk with God because today was really amazing,” he said. “The main
speaker was Kathy Ireland and I thought she was very humble but very
honest about her success. She put it in the right context and talked
about her faith in God and that God really is the pivotal reason why
she’s been so successful.”
LIFE IN LONDON AFTER THE TERRORIST ATTACKS
I then asked the Birmingham-born peer of Jamaican immigrant parents,
what it had been like for him in London following the recent terrorist
attacks in the city.
He replied, “It has been difficult. As you know, we had the bombs on
the 7th of July and the attempting bombings on the 21st of July, but
I’ve always looked at it this way; that we should be faithful not
fearful in that good will triumph over evil. And even in difficult
situations, God will bring good out of bad and so I remain faithful not
fearful!”
When asked if he felt that the world was spinning out of control at the
moment, he said, “I don’t actually. On one the hand, it looks as if it
is, but God is control. He gives us His promise in the Word and we
should stick to that and keep asking God to intervene -- and I believe
He will. When you look at the situation with Hurricane Katrina,
although it is an awful situation, God is bringing good things out of
that. People are helping each other. America is now becoming aware that
not everyone has the American Dream, so even out of terrible episode a
new good chapter will come. So I do not believe that the world is out
of control.”
I then asked Lord Taylor who was born in Kings Heath, Birmingham, a
part of the British city where I was also raised, if there were many
Christians within British politics.
He said, “No. In fact, in the House of Lords I am one of probably
half-a-dozen born-again Christians. In the House of Commons, there are
maybe eight or nine, so you are talking about very few out of 700 in
each house.”
 He then paid tribute
to follow Christian, Baroness Caroline Cox, who was created a life peer
in 1982 and has been a deputy speaker of the British House of Lords
since 1985 and is a tireless and powerful campaigner for human rights
both in the House of Lords and also in the media. (Pictured: Baron Caroline Cox during a
recent visit to Newport Beach, California).
“Caroline Cox is a tremendous inspiration to me; a great encouragement,
and I see her every now and again and we try and encourage each other
in the Lord,” he said.
Lord Taylor then spoke about what he sees as imperative for Britain at
this time.
“I think it is important that we unite as a nation, just as American
hopefully will unite following a disaster like Katrina,” he began.
“We’ve had our disasters like the 7th and 21st of July, but we don’t
stigmatize any section of the community. We must come together in faith
and rediscover God again because, although Britain is theoretically a
Christian nation, I would regard it more as a secular nation and, in
many ways, what happened on the 7th of July is a wake-up call to
Christians, and indeed non-Christians, not to forget God! It’s a
wake-up call, and if we ignore God; if we ignore these signs, we do so
at our peril.”
I then asked Lord Taylor if there were many Christians in the British
media.
“There are Christians in the media in Britain, but I’m afraid when you
look at the main stations like the BBC, Channel 4 and or Sky, I would
regard it mainly as secular, but there are individual Christians who we
need to pray for,” he said. “I’m involved in the media myself and I’m
surrounded by a number of non-Christians and I’m trying to put forward
my own Christian faith when it comes to program content. I am one of
the film censors for example and I believe very much in family films
and I try to employ clever tactics, not just by saying, ‘It’s wicked to
have awful films glorifying sex and violence,’ I simply say, ‘Wait a
minute guys. Do you realize that the family films actually earn more
money because you can bring your grandmother and your grandchild to the
film, whereas if it’s a violent film or a sex film, you can’t bring you
grandmother or your grandchild to the film! So, in a sense, doing it
God’s way, makes commercial sense.’
“So I try to employ street-wise tactics when I am trying to put forward
the Kingdom of God in a secular situation.”
BACKGROUND ON LORD TAYLOR
John David Beckett Taylor is the commoner son of a professional cricket
player and a nurse, both Jamaican immigrants. He was elevated to
nobility and ceremoniously installed as Lord (or Baron) Taylor of
Warwick (pronounced Warrick) in the County of Warwickshire.
“At age 43, he also became one of the youngest and the only Black
member of the 1,205 member House of Lords, a citadel of British
tradition and conservatism,” said Ebony magazine in a story.
“Lord Taylor, who was born in the city of Birmingham, and who refers to
himself as an ‘Afro-Saxon,’ says that Warwick is not an area he
represents and that, as a member of the House of Lords, his constituent
jurisdiction is nationwide.”
He is also a devoted family man, and is married to Lady Kathie Taylor,
and they have two daughters, Laura and Alexandra.
Note
to radio stations. Dan Wooding has an MP3 audio file of his
interview with Lord Taylor. If you would like to use it, please
e-mail him at danjuma1@aol.com.
Dan Wooding is an award
winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his
wife Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid
to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service
(ANS). Wooding is the co-host of the weekly radio show, "Window on the
World" and was, for ten years a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network
in Washington, DC. He also co-hosts three days a week a live phone-in
show called "Pastor's Perspective" with Brian Brodersen which is
carried on KWVE, Santa Ana, California, and other radio stations across
the USA. Wooding is the author of some 42 books, the latest of which is
his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by
Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to www.fromtabloidtotruth.com.
danjuma1@aol.com.
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