Meetings marking the 75th anniversary
of the founding of the Free Presbyterian Church — 17th March 1951
‘The Distinctives of the Free Presbyterian Church’
Lord’s Day, March 15th to Lord’s Day, March 22nd
“According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness. Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments. Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death,” Psalm 48:10-14.
15th at 7.00 pm ~ ‘Presbyterian in government’ ~ Rev. Daniel Henderson
16th at 8.00 pm ~ ‘Biblical in Worship’ ~ Rev. Timothy Nelson
17th at 8.00 pm ~ ‘Evangelistic in outreach’ ~ Rev. David Stewart
18th at 8.00 pm ~ ‘Sanctified in behaviour’ ~ Rev. Andrew Patterson
19th at 8.00 pm ~ ‘Separatist in practice’ ~ Rev. Brian McClung
20th at 8.00 pm ~ ‘Reformed in doctrine’ ~ Rev. Samuel Fitton
Lord’s Day 21st at 7.00 pm ~ ‘Protestant in conviction’ ~ Rev. Ivan Foster
All are welcome to the services
or to join in via Facebook
“Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? . . . Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee,” Job 22:5, 21
Our title, I suggest, is a good summary of the book of Job. The two verses I have quoted give us some idea of how the three companions of God saw his condition and that which would be the means of his deliverance if he but heeded them!
Eliphaz the Temanite, whose words these are, was one of the three companions of Job who had come to commiserate with him on hearing of the calamities that had overtaken him.
Job and His Friends. Job’s wife grieves behind Job, while his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, observe his impoverished condition. Ilya Repin (1844–1930), oil on canvas. 1869
In Job chapters 1 and 2, we read of the catastrophic events that followed the Lord permitting the devil to test Job.
His livestock were stolen and those caring for them slaughtered (1:14-15); his sheep and their shepherds were destroyed by fire that fell down upon them (1:16); raiders stole his camels and killed his servants (1:17).
This was compounded by the fact that the tragic incidents happened on the same day.
It did not end there. We read in 2:7, “So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.”
As if that was not enough, his wife turned on him: “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die,” Job 2:9.
I. JOB’S RESPONSE WAS MOST COMMENDABLE.
When the terrible events were reported to him by his servants, he reacted thus: “Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD,” Job 1:20-2:1.
When he became the direct subject of Satan’s cruelty, again he responded well to bodily afflictions and the taunts of his wife.
“But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips,” Job 2:10. Click to read more…
“ . . . for thy (Babylon) merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (the administering of drugs) were all nations deceived,” Revelation 18:23.
The Greek words underlying the English word “sorceries” and “witchcraft” in Galatians 5:20 and Revelation 9:21, 18:23 and 21:8, are the words from which we get ‘pharmacy’ or ‘pharmacist’.
It is a reference to the distribution and administering of drugs by which there is a bewitching and deceiving of those who partake of them.
Revelation 18 refers to the “merchants” who were “the great men of the earth,” verse 23. It serves to show us that ‘commerce and trade’ and those who are engaged in such, will become ‘great’ and likely become more important and influential than political leaders.
At the present time there are commercial conglomerates whose annual monetary turn over is great than the Gross Domestic Product of many nations! Their Chief Executive Officers are treated as ‘royalty’ wherever they go! ‘Red carpet treatment’ is the order of the day when they come visiting!
The recent activities of the American President, Donald Trump, with his employment of tariff ‘missiles’ as a means of dominating and subduing any nation that might disagree with his notions, are considered by many of his own nation as evidence that he is suffering from psychosis. Psychotic or not, he knows the power of commerce and trade!
Merchants
Revelation 18 indicates that the ‘administering of drugs’ will be used by the merchants of the latter-day Babylon, the seat of the Antichrist, to spread the dominance of his short-lived empire.
At the overthrowing of Babylon, the ‘merchants’, the princes of this federation of anti-God kingdoms, are amongst those who mourn most bitterly at her judgment.
“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate,” Revelation 18:1-19.
I have highlighted those who in particular mourn the judgment and destruction of Babylon and her network of inquiry.
Surely any Christian with the least measure of discernment and understanding of the Bible’s prophecies of the closing days of this age, will readily see the shift in the emphasis within the attitude of the general public world-wide to the commodities featured in the above verses! Much less of this world’s goods satisfied folk a generation ago but this no longer so! Click to read more…
Cover of latest newsletter from Rev. David DiCanio, missionary to Liberia
Here is an article which summarises the situation in Liberia. I trust that it prompts you to continue to pray for Rev. David DiCanio and Miss Joanne Greer who faithfully seek to continue the Gospel witness in that land in the face of the most foolish and sinful action by some within the Free Presbyterian Church who, embarrassed by an exposure of the embracing of modern and unscriptural ‘hymns’ used by some ministers, spitefully rejected the message from God’s Word and ejected the messenger.
Oh that the sentiments of the hymn sung in the morning assembly today in Kilskeery Independent Christian School, fill the hearts and souls of every Free Presbyterian.
Lord, in the fullness of my might,
I would for Thee be strong:
While runneth o’er each dear delight,
To Thee should soar my song.
I would not give the world my heart,
And then profess Thy love;
I would not feel my strength depart,
And then Thy service prove.
I would not with swift wingèd zeal
On the world’s errands go,
And labor up the heav’nly hill
With weary feet and slow.
O not for Thee my weak desires,
My poorer, baser part!
O not for Thee my fading fires,
The ashes of my heart!
O choose me in my golden time:
In my clear joys have part!
For Thee the glory of my prime,
The fullness of my heart!
May it please the Lord to have mercy upon our denomination and bring about a repudiation of the spirit of compromise with the world that has sprung up amongst us!
Sincerely in Christ’s name,
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Silenced but Not Stopped: DiCanio Secures Approval for New Christian Radio Frequency
David DiCanio, a missionary in Liberia, West Africa, who was deposed from the gospel ministry amid controversy surrounding his opposition to Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) in the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, has received approval from the Government of Liberia to conduct test broadcasts on the AM 990 frequency, marking a significant step toward re-establishing the Christian radio ministry he founded in 2017.
After 14 years of service in Liberia and the loss of control of Free Presbyterian Radio, DiCanio initially applied to the Liberia Telecommunications Authority for a new FM licence but was informed that no additional FM frequencies were being issued due to a moratorium caused by severe congestion on the FM band.
He subsequently urged regulators to reopen the AM spectrum — widely used in Liberia prior to the civil war — noting that many radios in homes and rural communities still include AM capability, even though newer street-market models are often FM-only.
The authorisation to test AM 990 reflects both regulatory realities and the continued importance of radio in Liberia, where limited electricity and costly internet access mean that broadcast radio remains the primary source of news and information for much of the population. DiCanio stated that the proposed station would restore conservative preaching, including a willingness to address religious compromise and apostasy — programming that previously attracted a large audience to his earlier broadcasts.
The new outreach will operate under the name Free Grace Gospel Mission in Liberia, with the station expected to broadcast as Free Grace Gospel Radio. Financial support is currently being sought to develop the project, including equipment, licensing, and transmission infrastructure.
Additional information about the work in Liberia is available at fggmil.org, where visitors can view a presentation video in the site’s video section and subscribe to receive ministry updates through an email newsletter.
Supporters in the United Kingdom who wish to contribute may contact the Free Grace Gospel Mission Trust CIO (Charity No. 1214514), registered in England and Wales, at info@fggmt.org.
North American supporters may give by contacting info@fggmil.org.
Bik McFarlane, March 11, 1986. Captured in the Netherlands in January 1986, McFarlane appeared in an Amsterdam court for an extradition hearing. He was returned to Northern Ireland after that hearing.
Under this headline comes a report that: ‘Mary Lou McDonald has praised an IRA killer for his dedication to “peace”, sparking condemnation. . . . Writing on X (Twitter), the Sinn Fein president had said on Saturday: “One year ago, we lost our comrade, Bik McFarlane.’
I have to confess that I am weary and heartily sickened of the oft-repeated and tritely inane condemnation that such sentiments engender from the Unionist camp!
Condemnations there must be but not just those that might catch an editor’s eye and end up in a ‘headline’!
Rather, I long for the day when a Unionist leader uses such a comment as that by the murder-glorifying Sinn Fein leader, Mary Lou McDonald, as a basis for the setting forth of the true and historic mindset of Irish Republicanism as represented by IRA/Sinn Fein.
Not all support the IRA
I know from personal experience that NOT all Roman Catholics are Sinn Fein or IRA supporters. Many of them suffered under IRA terrorism. We here in Northern Ireland know all about the grief and suffering of families who have had members taken away by the IRA, murdered and buried in a secret grave and then all pleas for information as to where their loved one lies, have been cruelly ignored!
If the IRA can do that to members of its own religious community, just what will it not do to members of that community, the religion of which they hate — PROTESTANTS?
Despite the possibility that I may, and doubtless will, offend some Roman Catholics for, in their eyes, classing all Roman Catholics as supporters and sympathisers with the IRA, I must state the truth of events in Ireland.
Let me state clearly that should a Roman Catholic voice honest criticism of those so-called Loyalist groups, which are involved with terrorism and racketeering, and which sadly, thus shame the name of Protestant, I would shout a loud ‘AMEN’!
I would take no offence for such honest criticism is warranted.
Criminal
The one lamented by O’Neill, her comrade ‘Bik McFarlane’ was a murderous IRA criminal. He served as an altar boy in the Ardoyne area of Belfast and then went to train as a Roman Catholic priest in 1967 and two years later he joined the Provisional IRA!
Given the long list of associations between the Roman Catholic priesthood and the activities of the IRA, that was hardly a surprising move!
During his IRA ‘career’ it was alleged that he was linked to many murders. The first such attack, in which 5 were murdered and 50 injured, was referred to in the House of Commons by the then SDLP MP for West Belfast, Gerry Fitt. He said that at the time of attack, McFarlane had machine-gunned three pedestrians who were passing the Bayardo Bar on the Shankill Road in Belfast as it was blown up. The Shankill Road is a strongly Protestant area in West Belfast.
McFarlane attempted to escape from the Maze Prison dressed as a priest in 1978. I’m sure he looked the part!
Dead
He escaped to the Irish Republic and there continued his terrorist activities. He died on 21 February 2025 in Belfast.
Over the last 12 months he has been learning of the utter sinfulness of his life and activities and it is a lesson he will continue to endure eternally with wailing and gnashing of teeth in a furnace of fire (Matthew 13:42). This was not what the Roman Catholic Church would have promised him.
McFarlane’s ‘peace’!
Bik McFarlane has been termed as one dedicated to peace by Mary Lou McDonald. The peace that McFarlane was ‘dedicated’ to was that peace the Irish rebels pursued in 1641, when thousands of Protestants were slaughtered.
The ‘peace’ sought in the 1798 rebellion, when thousands of Protestants were massacred during Roman Catholic terrorist activities, often led by Roman Catholic priests, was the ‘peace’ of McFarlane.
In the south of Ireland in 1798, the cruelty of the Roman Catholic rebels was very evident. ‘Father’ Murphy of Boolavogue of Wexford, was a notorious butcher of Protestants.
On a Sabbath morning, a Protestant minister named Burows, was brutally murdered, his son mortally wounded and seven of his parishioners also done to death. Poor Mrs Burrows was left on the lawn of her home amongst the butchered bodies, trying to aid and comfort her dying son!
Worse!
But the murderous ‘Father’ Murphy led an even greater atrocity. The country around was scoured and all the Protestants that could be found were herded to Vinegar Hill in Wexford, and there ‘piked’.
This slaughter continued for a number of days. Some twenty priests celebrated the Mass periodically, doubtless to sanctify the extermination of the Protestants.
In Scullabogue, also in Wexford, on 5th June 1798, a party of Irish rebels massacred up to 200 noncombatant men, women and children, most of whom were Protestant, though there were also about 20 Roman Catholics, possibly non-supporters of the rebellion.
They were held prisoner in a barn. An order for the massacre was signed by a priest which began with a piking and a shooting of the victims. But this was deemed too slow, so the barn doors were nailed up and the thatch of the roof set alight. It is recalled that one little child tried to crawl out beneath the barn door but one of the rebels stuck his pike in the child and pitched it back into the flames as if it was a mere sheaf of corn!
Greater details of the evils wrought in 1641 and again in 1798 may be read of in the excellent little book, ‘History of the Irish Presbyterian Church’, written by Rev Thomas Hamilton and published in 1887.
IRA murderer, McFarlane’s ‘peace’ was the peace promised by the Irish Republican ‘Home Rulers’ in the 1920s, when after the twenty six southern counties obtained a measure of independence from the United Kingdom and set up a parliament in Dublin, hundreds of Protestant families had to flee to Northern Ireland because of persecution by their Roman Catholic neighbours. Often times those families left with virtually just the clothes on their back for they were unable to sell their property because no one came forward to buy it. The thus abandoned properties were then simply taken over and distributed amongst the neighbours!
1969
During the ‘troubles’ which began in 1969, the likes of Bik McFarlane sought ‘peace’ by using the gun and the bomb, ambushing and murdering those who had never raised a hand or carried out an evil deed against their Roman Catholic neighbours!
Unionist politicians are the chief of fools if they believe that peaceful coexistence is possible with such as Bik McFarlane. There was a letter recently in the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ with the title, ‘A unionist pact is a good idea if you believe in the Union and want to enjoy the benefits it brings’.
How much more true is the view it is not a good idea to expect harmony if there is a teaming up of those who are for the maintaining of the Union with Great Britain with those who are prepared to destroy Northern Ireland by the bomb and the bullet, by murder and terror?
Stormont folly
That is what Stormont in its folly claims to be seeking at present. The benefits of such a charade is a daily marching of Northern Ireland toward a ‘United Ireland’ under the very ones who nurtured and nourished the provisional IRA and its terrorist campaign.
Unionists should withdraw from Stormont and form a MILITANT OPPOSITION TO ALL THAT IS POLITICALLY DECEITFUL AND HYPOCRITICAL.
Yoking up with Sinn Fein/IRA cannot succeed for it is contrary to the will of God. Yoking with the ungodly is something that just cannot work as it is contrary to the mind of God. The Lord is the ultimate power in this universe and nothing exists but by His permission and that includes political deals and schemes!
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever,”Daniel 2:44.
Ecumenical traitors
Of course, any opposition to the spirit of compromise presently at work within Unionist circles would require an attack upon those who have rendered Unionism ’toothless’ — the Ecumenical leaders who for some 100 years have been misleading and misguiding the three so-called Protestant denominations here in Ulster!
The dominant spirit within these denominations has been that of the ‘liberal’ and the ‘modernist’ theologian. Casting away the Bible they have replaced its truth with their perverted notions. Their inventions are of course the activity of the devil. These evil and blinded men have been the mere couriers of the devil’s lies.
Paul mentioned them by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained,” 1 Timothy 4:1-6.
“Good ministers of Jesus Christ”, as here defined by Paul, are considered fools and rabble-rousers by those who are guilty of departing from the TRUTH!
Northern Ireland’s departure from the truth — its embracing of abortion, sodomy, transgenderism and the perverted folly of those who huddle together under the umbrella of ‘LGBTQ+ — can all be traced back to these pulpits and their proclaiming of the devil’s lies.
I honestly cannot foresee a day when any Unionist will advocate God’s response to the religious and political corruptions of today. It is seen as unworkable as Moses proposing to walk through the Red Sea, of Daniel refusing of Nebuchadnezzar’s menu, of the three Hebrews rejecting the call to bow down before the golden idol and of Peter trying to walk on water!
It requires faith in God for such to work. I believe that there was an abandoning of such faith back in 2007 when a coalition was formed with Sinn Fein/IRA and sanctioned by many Free Presbyterians.
Error recognised NOW!
Many of those who did act foolishly back then may well have altered their views, forced to do so by that which has been the outcome of the exceedingly flawed political plan.
But it is too late! “Water spilt on the ground . . . cannot be gathered up,” 2 Samuel 14:14. There are wrong-doings which cannot be remedied!
“Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears,” Hebrews 12:15-17.
I believe that many in Ulster will yet be brought to tears over the direction that they were persuaded by ‘false prophets’ to embark on. As the wise man says: “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death,” Proverbs 16:25.
Sin has always exacted a high price from those who defy the warnings of God. That is what Ulster has done for many decades. The betrayal of the Gospel has been highlighted and the rejecting of the Word of God has been repeatedly documented and the warnings issued but sadly few have listened.
Infiltrators!
Indeed, even more tragic and devastating is the sad and undeniable fact that there are those who have infiltrated the ranks of the Free Presbyterian Church and are undermining its faithful witness and the betrayal of the Gospel by the ecumenical denominations and seeking to have the voice of protest toned down, indeed utterly silenced!
Mingling with Ecumenists is no longer seen as wrong and contrary to 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. Such a doctrine as set out by Paul is denied, opposed and considered just out of date by some who swore at their ordination to faithfully oppose that which these verses condemn.
Yes, there is coming a sad harvest, one of the same character as the harvest mentioned by the Lord in Judges 6.
“And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD. And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites, that the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land; and I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice,” Judges 6:1-10.
Like Israel back then, Ulster has been told but have not obeyed the voice of God.
While I was reading my Bible this morning, an email arrived with a link to the above headline in the ‘Belfast Newsletter’.
Jim Shannon, MP
When I investigated the link I was vexed to discover that it brought me to the headline of a report of the words of DUP MP, Jim Shannon. Mr Shannon is a professing Christian of whom it is commonly reported that he is a member of the Newtownards Baptist assembly.
In 2022 it was reported that he had declared: “I trust that Christ’s finished work at the cross means that, as I have believed and accepted Him as Lord and Saviour, my future is in His hands”
I have no doubt that the statement by Mr Shannon is his response to the lobbying by pub owners and their clientele.
It appears that an MP, even one who professes faith in Christ, must put first the need to maintain the support of voters, even at the expense of the honour and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ!
The ‘Belfast Newsletter’ article contains the statement:—
‘MP Jim Shannon was moved to hail the virtues of the noble boozer after seeing a number of places to go to the wall in recent years, with his Strangford constituency losing around a quarter of its bars over a 10-year period. Hymning the benefits of calling in for a pint instead of cracking open a bottle at home, he also called on the government to help the hospitality industry before it hits last orders for good.’
Does Mr Shannon find his ‘company and friendship’ in the pub? These words speak little of the value of the fellowship amongst the Christians in his Baptist church! Click to read more…
Today, I submitted the following letter to the Belfast Newsletter.
It maybe a little ‘tongue in cheek’, but I am sure that many noticed that the actions of the police in London differed greatly from the reaction of those responsible for ‘law and order’ here in Northern Ireland with regards the ‘non-arrest’ of those who made no secret of their terrorist activities and who, instead of justice, enjoyed elevation to high office and the mollifying and the aggrandisement proffered by successive London governments toward those who are worthy only of imprisonment!
Dear Sir,
Photograph of Andrew Mountbatton Windsor, then Prince Andrew, taken in 2001 with Jeffrey Epstein and others
The news today (19.2.26) of the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is really no surprise.
What is a surprise is that nobody told him that if he had become a member of Sinn Fein, he would not have been arrested, even if he was guilty of murder!
However, this event proves the veracity of the general principle of a just providence, embodied in those notable Bible words, “Be sure your sin will find you out,” Numbers 32:23.
This statement is true, whether or not the powers that be fail in their duty, for divine providence shall see to it that in the end it will be evident that, “Evil pursueth sinners,” Proverbs 13:21.
Those in Ulster, who foolishly believe that they have gotten away with murder, need to consider these words and fear!!
“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God,” Romans 3:1-2.
This is the concluding consideration of the verses 1 and 2 of Romans chapter 3.
I can but look to the Lord to make what I have written a means of Christians treasuring the Word of God more dearly and with hunger of soul, reading it every day and praying for enlightenment and understanding of its glorious truths.
Here now is our final point.
IV. THOSE WHO POSSESS THE BIBLE ARE PRIVILEGED TO SHARE IN THE REVELATION GOD HAS MADE OF HOW THIS AGE WILL END AND WHAT HE HAS PLANNED FOR HIS PEOPLE IN ETERNITY!
The last book of the Bible opens with these words.
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand,” Revelation 1:1-3.
I cannot understand how ministers who are undoubtedly saved and love the Lord, nevertheless, because of a very wrong allegiance to a false system of interpretation of the prophetic Scriptures, do not simply take God at His Word but instead place their own meaning, quite contrary to the plain import of God’s Word, on what is divinely recorded in Holy Scripture.
In the above verses the Lord issues a blessing upon those who “read” and who “hear” what is written in this book.
However, I know many Christians have been led to believe the very opposite of what the Saviour says in verse 3! They sadly often tell Christians not to bother reading this book for it will result in their confusion.
Surely this borders on blasphemy and is a lie from the devil!
I have written quite a few articles on the Bible’s details of the developments that will take place in the last days.
1. The area which is the focus of the Gospels will more and more become the theatre of world events. Surely we can see this already beginning to take place. Donald Trump is already involved in the affairs of that region, with all his customary pomposity. He also wants to involve the Russian tyrant, Vladimir Putin! Click to read more…
Mrs Pat Green and her husband, Brian some years ago.
Funeral Service in Calvary Free Grace Baptist Church, where her late husband, Dr Brian Green, pastored for many years until his death in 2017.
10th February 2026
Preacher – Pastor Mark Biddle
I was privileged to be able to gather with the congregation that assembled at the graveside and then in Calvary Free Grace Baptist Church to honour the witness and testimony of a very dear lady, Mrs Pat Green.
On 7th January, she went to be with the Lord, the Saviour Whom she had served courageously and unashamedly since her late teenage years.
Her funeral took place on the day I normally speak at the morning assembly in Kilskeery Independent Christian School.
I spoke instead on Monday 9th February and explained to the girls and boys that I planned to fly to London later that evening in order to attend the funeral service the next day.
I told them of my acquaintance with Mrs Green and what a ‘warrior’ for the Lord she had been.
In the church service, I was asked to speak a brief word and amongst the things I said, I quoted Romans 16:1-2.
“I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.”
Pat Green was a Phebe indeed and I praise the Lord for ever knowing her and I offer my condolences to all her mourning family circle and the congregation of which she was a faithful member.
“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God,” Romans 3:1-2.
I began this study having read the text of Scripture heading this article as part of my daily reading.
As noted in our introduction to part 1 of this study, ‘In a day when the Bible is cast aside by society in general, and even by those organisations which profess to believe and preach its truths but who in fact most wickedly deny its divine origin and infallibility, these words of Paul should be most precious to every Christian.
Paul is saying that the Jewish nation in times past, had an advantage over all other nations because God in mercy had committed, entrusted to them, the “the oracles of God”, or the “Holy Scriptures”!’
We move on to some more considerations of the benefits belonging to those who own and believe the Holy Bible.
III. THE BIBLE ALONE PROVIDES AN INSIGHT TO GOD’S PURPOSE AMONGST THE NATIONS.
I regularly scan the news headlines that I can access on the internet. There we will find the tangle of opinions and speculations, all uttered with the great of certainty, of ‘experts’ in all matters related to science, social trends and political developments! It will soon be discovered that the opinions and speculations of today are abandoned tomorrow and their authors usually denying that they never at any time espoused them!
With regards the future and the outworking of God’s purpose amongst the nations, man is in total darkness without the Bible! Consequently, a consideration of history reveals mankind ever relating the mistakes of yesterday!
The wise man Solomon said: “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun,” Ecclesiastes 1:9.
This repetition is the result of the refusal of man to heed what the Bible says of the purpose that God would have men understand and yield to! Click to read more…
“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God,” Romans 3:1-2.
William Tyndale published his translation of the New Testament in 1526. This year therefore marks the 500th anniversary of that momentous event.
Myles Coverdale, a fellow English reformer, used Tyndale’s translations of various Old Testament books as the basis of his, the first translation of the whole Bible into English, in the year 1535.
Tyndale’s translation was the first English Scriptures to draw directly from Hebrew and Greek texts. His was the first English translation to take advantage of the printing press. It was also the first of the new English Bibles of the Reformation.
In 1611, after seven years of work, the 47 scholars who produced the King James Version of the Bible drew extensively from Tyndale’s original work.
One estimate suggests that the New Testament in the King James Version is 83% Tyndale’s words and the first half of the Old Testament 76%.
I was reminded of these facts after I have started this study and consequently I would dedicate this humble and modest article to the honour of a great man to whom every lover of the Word of God owes a great debt of gratitude.
In a day when the Bible is cast aside by society in general, and even by those organisations which profess to believe and preach its truths but in fact most wickedly deny its divine origin and infallibility, these words of Paul should be most precious to every Christian.
Paul is saying that the Jewish nation in times past had an advantage over all other nations because God in mercy had committed, entrusted to them, the “the oracles of God”, or the Holy Scriptures”!
Just what benefits were bestowed upon the Jews when they had the Old Testament Scriptures bestowed upon them and what are those same benefits enjoyed by those who have the complete canon of Holy Scripture, the Old and New Testaments? Click to read more…
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh,” Luke 21:25-28.
This is our final study of the Saviour’s prophecy recorded in Luke 21:5-38. In the verses that make up the section we wish to look at in this study, we are moving to the Saviour’s references to events at the close of this age.
The concluding words of the last portion of this chapter we studied were those of verse 24, “and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
This reference to the fulfilment of the ‘times’ of the Gentiles brings us to the time of the Saviour’s return, for it is then that the Lord will restore Israel and deliver her from the Gentile nations which will, at the close of this age particularly, set themselves to utterly and finally destroy her.
That terrible time was prophesied by the Psalmist.
“«Maschil of Asaph.» O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt. Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs. A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom. For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers. The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter. Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name. O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever. Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name. Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually,” Psalm 74:1-23.
There never have been events like these in the history of Israel. That is because this prophecy is of future events, even though it is spoken of in terms of the past.
That is a common feature when reference is made to that which is future in the experience of God’s people.
Paul wrote: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified,” Romans 8:29-30.
The words underlined all refer to those past experiences in the life of the believer, but the final experience, underlined and in bold text, is an experience with lies yet in the future.
Our glorification has not yet taken place but its is so sure and certain that Paul speaks of it in the past tense, as if it had happened!
Likewise, the prophets, when speaking in the spirit of prophecy, refer to events yet to happen as if they had already occurred. Again, the certainty of that, which God has decreed to take place, WILL INDEED TAKE PLACE, in the exact fashion God has purposed! Click to read more…
I have just sent this letter into the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ in response to one recently published. When I first read it I was troubled by some of the statements in it but I believed that the writer’s intentions were good and so I hesitated to comment.
However, it troubled me that perhaps inadvertently, error was being stated so, as gently as I could, I sought to correct one of the improperly worded statements and thus register the need for great care when writing about the Lord and His purpose.
I can but hope that my motives are understood.
Sincerely in Christ’s name,
Ivan Foster
Dear Editor,
The study of the character and nature of God, revealed to us in the inspired Word of God, is the most exact of all ‘sciences’!
Inaccuracies in definition of terms have eternal consequences.
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him,” John 3:36.
It is for this reason I wish to make a comment on the letter titled: ‘Irish Christianity that has existed for nearly 2,000 years is dying and in desperate need of reform’ (28/1/26).
I am largely in agreement with the thesis of the letter.
I am, however, concerned about the wording of some of the statements in the letter. I have lived to set forth the teaching of the Bible in the fear of the Lord for over 60 years. Any inaccurate declaration of what the Bible teaches or bordering on such, I will correct and oppose as best I can.
In this letter there are statements which need more careful elucidation.
This is not necessarily a criticism of the writer but my reaction to the possibility of a misunderstanding of God’s Word.
I will but mention one example. The writer says: ‘The Judeo-Christian foundations that held the world together are starting to crumble and the old certainties are showing cracks.’
If he means, ‘That faith and trust in the foundation of Bible religion, the Word of God, is declining world-wide today’, then I agree with him.
BUT the FOUNDATION of true Bible religion cannot ‘crumble’ or be thought of as ‘showing cracks’!
“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” 1 Corinthians 3:11.
Christ, our foundation and His Holy Word, CANNOT crumble or crack. But there can be a rejecting of this foundation. That is what has happened under the modernistic and ecumenical ‘ministers’ of today!
I am sure that is what the writer is seeking to set forth.
“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3. Dr John Gill explains these words to mean: ‘The doctrines and principles of religion are derided and subverted.’
The Bible teaches that this shall happen in the latter days of this age. The Bible is today generally rejected as the foundation of true faith and the teaching of the Gospel is ‘destroyed’ (Hebrew – thrown down).
Paul warned: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils,” 1 Timothy 4:1.
The ‘new foundation’ set forth in the majority of pulpits as ‘the hope for eternity’ is the “doctrines of devils”.
I understand this to be what your writer was objecting to and on that basis I support him.
I trust that no offence is caused by this sincere attempt to make clear the lies and deceit that are abroad today and which are the root and origin of today’s increasing anarchy and apostasy.
This headline appeared on the local BBC news website on Wednesday 28th January. It serves to remind Christian parents, Free Presbyterians in particular, that there are teachers in the state system who do not necessary believe the Bible but who nevertheless teach pupils ‘about’ Christianity!
This teacher freely acknowledged that “he was not ‘anti-Christian,’ and did not “have a problem teaching children about Christianity.”
Problem
His problem with the state system is stated as: “He said there was currently a system where ‘one worldview is dominant’.
‘I just think it places a burden on a six-year-old or a seven year-old to understand where Christianity sits in relation to other religions or no religion,’ he said.”
There are many in the teaching profession who would share his view. Indeed, out there in the ‘religious world’ there many clerics in the ecumenical denominations who have long taught that there is more than ‘one world view’!
After all, King Charles III desires to be known as the ‘Defender of Faith’, rather than the title, ‘Defender of the Faith’, which is a reference to Protestantism, when the title was later defined!
It was originally bestowed on Henry VIII by Pope Leo X in 1521 for defending Roman Catholic doctrine, but it was later reaffirmed by the English Parliament to signify the monarch’s duty to defend of the Reformed faith. A duty most monarch’s failed in most dismally!
Luther
But the nation, indeed, nations, have moved on from the 16th century Protestant Reformation. That ‘religious movement’ was in essence, a return to Bible truth after centuries of practising the superstitions and perversions of Roman Catholicism.
It is generally agreed that one of the first steps back to the Word of God was Martin Luther’s nailing up his 95 theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517. Click to read more…
“Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him, And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great,” Luke 9:46-48.
This reasoning as to who would be greatest amongst the apostles was one born of the sinful heart of man. Even we believers today are subject to such carnal thoughts as those that then prompted the discussion amongst the apostles as they followed the Lord to Capernaum.
We should note that they not merely ‘reasoned’ which of them would be the ‘greatest’ (the highest, the most important) in the kingdom of heaven. But the subject was a matter of dispute as Mark tells us, (Mark 9:33).
They were giving most serious thought to this subject.
The word translated ‘reasoning’ or ‘disputed’ first appears in Mark 2:6 and refers to the ‘reasoning’ within the hearts of certain scribes who were bothered by the Saviour’s claim to forgive sins.
“When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?” Mark 2:5-8.
Church disputes
There likely have been more divisions and disagreements within the assemblies of God’s people about this matter than any other! Self-importance and the perceived failure of others to see our ‘importance’ has been at the heart of many a conflict among Christians.
European countries issue joint statement on Donald Trump’s Greenland tariffs as leaders mull counter-measures
Starmer joins European allies warning of ‘dangerous downward spiral’ in Nato after Trump’s ‘gangster’ threat of trade war unless he gets Greenland
So read two headlines of articles in which the defiant reaction of national leaders to Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on those not supporting his aim of taking over Greenland was set forth!
Photo of a colorful Greenland town by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
President Trump has repeatedly said Greenland is vital to US security due to its strategic location and large mineral deposits, and has not ruled out using force to take it.
A QUESTION COMES TO MIND :—
What is the difference in Donald Trump’s justification for his demands to take over Greenland, by force if necessary and Adolf Hitler’s justification for invading and subjugating his neighbours — Lebensraum (‘Living Space’) — which he claimed would safeguard the life and wellbeing of his Germany?
Hitler’s evil delusions led to World War II and the death, deprivation and misery of countless millions, including 5.3 to 5.5 million military personnel and over 2 million civilians of his own nation!
A message preached at the 30th anniversary of Malvern Free Presbyterian Church, 17th May 2009.
On Friday 16th January, I read Acts 16, marvelling afresh at the wonderful record of the advance of the Gospel into Europe. Two women, one on each side of the great spiritual divide, played a major part in the visit of the God’s servants to Philippi. Lydia, a most courageous, godly woman, verses 14-15. And then there was the “certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination”, verse 16.
For every faithful soul who desires to advance the Gospel cause there is a counterpart, who does all to hinder the Gospel by subtly and craft or by physical and cruel opposition.
Paul and Silas leaving the prison in Philippi. 1665-66, by Nicolas de Plattemontagne (French, 1631 – 1706)
What a wonderful drama unfolded way back then in Philippi!
May you find comfort and blessing in this seventeen year old message.
(The ‘John’ I refer to in my introductory remarks, was most likely the former minister of Malvern, Rev John Greer.)
Rev. Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Sabbath Day, 18th January 2026
“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,” Luke 21:20-24.
As we come to study the next section of the words of the Saviour’s prophecy, given in response to the question of His disciples, verse 7, we come face to face with that which I allude to in my title for this study. In these verses there is that to which I refer as ‘a much misunderstood and misapplied prophecy by the Saviour.’
I. THERE IS A CLOSE SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE ABOVE PASSAGE AND MATTHEW 24:15-31.
Matthew 24:15-22 reads:—
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”
The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans Under the Command of Titus, A.D. 70. Lithograph, 1850, made by Louis Haghe, after a painting by David Roberts, 1850 (oil on canvas).
Yes, there is a close similarity but they do not refer to the same events as those of Luke 21:20-24. That I will seek to show you. It is this seeing the two portions of Holy Scripture as referring to the same events which creates a misunderstanding of the Saviour’s words.
But firstly please learn that:
1. The tactics of the enemies of God and His people never change! On a number of occasions I have said that the devil is a slave of his own depraved heart and mind. He instinctively attacks the cause of God in a manner dictated by his own depravity.
I am sure that most readers have watched a video of the lions in Africa hunting their prey. Their tactics never change!
Well, so it is with the one who “as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,” 1 Peter 5:8.
As the lions of Africa CANNOT change their instinctive hunting methods, so it is with the lion from hell and all who follow him.
Similarity
Consequently, you will see a great similarity in the Bible’s record of the many attacks, from many sources, upon God’s people throughout the ages.
How often we read, ‘AGAIN’ in regard to the backsliding of Israel and also the repeatedly attacks of her enemies.
“And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD,” Judges 4:1. What they did was the result of the devil’s temptations and allurements but it always followed the same pattern. See Judges 6:1, 8:33, 10:6, 13:1 for examples of this repetition!
Depraved man cannot alter his habits, just as the devil cannot alter his. As a result we may see a foreshadowing of the final events of this age, when the great apostasy takes place, when the devil and those duped by him muster their forces in a manner manifested in the many previous attacks he launched. Click to read more…
“Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God. And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said. And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.”
In a time when the carnal and worldly notions and views of men crowded out simple faith in the promise of God and the way that God’s people should go, Joshua and Caleb stood up and defied such foolish and blasphemous thinking.
The incident is recorded in Numbers 14:2-9.
“And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORDis with us: fear them not. But all the congregation bade stone them with stones.”
That spirit of ‘returning to Egypt’ has ever pursued the people of God. It is evident in ‘Hebron Free Presbyterian Church in Ballymoney.
(Copy of a video sent to me of ‘Hebron Hub’)
In a video the leaders of that congregation glory in the ‘entertainment suite’ they have opened in the church building. Click to read more…
Gerry Kelly, an Irish republican politician and former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer who played a leading role in the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998. He is currently a member of Sinn Féin’s Ard Chomhairle (National Executive) and a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Belfast.
The following headline appeared in ‘The Belfast Telegraph’ of Saturday 10th January, 2025.
There is a saying in Ulster regarding that which is well-known: ‘Even the dogs in the street know that it is so!’
If our canine neighbours could only laugh, there would be much ‘guffawing’ from our furry friends the length and breadth of Ulster at the attempted denial of Gerry Kelly and the attempts of the fools in the Dublin government who have complied with his demands to hide away his past links with terrorism!
The ‘Belfast Telegraph’ report states:
‘A once-classified file which included a secret garda briefing note that claimed Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly was a key figure in the IRA in the mid-1990s has been recalled after being publicly released by Ireland’s National Archives, it has been reported.
It was among documents recently declassified in Dublin under the 20 and 30-year rules.
However, the file has now been withdrawn, according to The Irish Times, who reported it was at the request of Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs.
The department, Sinn Fein and Mr Kelly have all been contacted for comment.
According to The Irish Times, the file was pulled following “urgent consultations between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Justice” in the Republic.’ Click to read more…
“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken,” Jeremiah 6:16-17.
The old path, photo by Lili Popper on Unsplash
Rev Samuel Fitton, minister of Kilskeery Free Presbyterian Church, preached upon the verse 16 at both services on the Lord’s Day past. He has chosen it as the motto text for the new year. His exposition was most instructive and I commend both messages. The messages may be viewed here and here. There was a problem with the sound in the evening broadcast but it was restored before the preaching begins, so simply fast forward to about 30 minutes into the recording.
Companion
This text has been a long time companion of mine from when I first encountered it. It took on greater importance for me when in my first year in the Free Presbyterian Theological Hall, Dr Bert Cooke said with his unique way of emphasising a truth, ‘Jeremiah is the book for today!’
I was moved to study it closely during my three month stay in the Crumlin Road Jail, back sixty years ago in 1966. I have seen repeatedly and increasingly the truth of Dr Cooke’s words as the years have passed and the apostasy has deepened and impacted upon those who foolishly have seen fit to try and narrow the gap between the apostasy and the Lord’s separated witness!
Whispered
The response of the disobedient and defiant, recorded twice here — “We will not walk therein . . . We will not hearken” — may be heard whispered amongst our ranks. That is alarming and frightening for any who believe what the Lord says in the verses that follow our text!
Please consider . . .
I. THE COMMAND OF GOD PLAINLY GIVEN.
“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths . . .”
These words carry all the authority of heaven! They are not the product of Jeremiah’s mind or heart, though of course he was in complete agreement with what is said by the Lord. No, this was a divine directive to a confused and deceived people in need of direction. Click to read more…
Provisional Irish Republican Army badge. A 2011 report by the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) found that members of the Provisional IRA carried out the Kingsmill murders.
This is a report in the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ of the marking of the 50th anniversary of the ‘Kingsmill Massacre’ of 10 Protestant workmen returning home from work in a mini-bus on 5th January 1976.
The 11th man survived, despite being shot 18 times! The one Roman Catholic workman in the mini-bus was told to run away before the shooting started!
The murderers were members of the IRA.
No one has ever been convicted of involvement!
Here is the link to the BBC’s report of the anniversary.
“And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls,” Luke 21:13-19.
In our last study, the concluding point that we made was:—
FROM IMMEDIATELY AFTER CHRIST’S ASCENSION UNTIL HIS RETURN, HIS PEOPLE HAVE SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF AN ANTAGONISTIC AND HOSTILE WORLD!
As is stated in verse 12, before the events of the later times of the Saviour’s absence from us, there will come persecution. “But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you . . .”
In truth, there never has been a time when the persecuting of the people of God was not taking place.
Yes, there have been times of comparative quiet, when God’s people were unmolested. But other times the flames of cruel hatred have raged hot.
Stephen
Stephen, the first martyr of the Gospel era, asked this question of the Sanhedrin, before which he had been summoned to give an answer to the charges laid against him by the “Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia,” Acts 6:9:
“Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers,” Acts 7:52.
The Stoning of Saint Stephen, by Rembrandt van Rijn, etching from 1635
That question makes it clear that the message of God and His messengers have always been opposed, even unto death.
Here, in verse 12, the Saviour warns His disciples that such a spirit of antagonism will continue throughout the intervening years before His return in glory.
We come now to a new section – verses 13-19.
I. SUCH TIMES OF OPPRESSION BECOME OPPORTUNITIES TO WITNESS.
“And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.” Click to read more…
“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God,” Romans 3:1-2.
Luke 21:5-38.
I have just sent this letter into the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ in response to one recently published. When I first read it I was troubled by some of the statements in it but I believed that the writer’s intentions were good and so I hesitated to comment.
This headline appeared on the local BBC news website on Wednesday 28th January. It serves to remind Christian parents, Free Presbyterians in particular, that there are teachers in the state system who do not necessary believe the Bible but who nevertheless teach pupils ‘about’ Christianity!
