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The passing to glory of a woman of God
Mrs Patricia Green (1937-2026)

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.

Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)

Are there benefits in having the Bible? Part 2

“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! (more…)

Are there benefits in having the Bible? Part 1

William Tyndale (1494 – 1536)

“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? (more…)