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C of E and C of I on same death bed

I could not but comment on this news report which appears in today’s ‘Belfast Telegraph’, under the headline:

“LGBT Church of Ireland group welcomes change on same-sex marriage statement”.

It ought to have been headlined: “Church of Ireland afflicted with same terminal disease as the Church of England and they now share the same deathbed”

The article begins: “A change from the Anglican Communion on its statement around same-sex marriage issues has been welcomed by a group which represents LGBT members within the Church of Ireland.”

The article then continues: “Ahead of the Anglican Communion’s Lambeth Conference – the first in Canterbury for 14 years – organisers scrapped a statement that reaffirmed the conference’s historic stance against same-sex marriage, BBC NI reports. (more…)

Fifty-two years and one million hits later!!

“‭And the LORD‭ shall guide‭‭ thee continually‭, and satisfy‭‭ thy soul‭ in drought‭, and make fat‭‭ thy bones‭: and thou shalt be like a watered‭ garden‭, and like a spring‭ of water‭, whose waters‭ fail‭‭ not.‭ ‭And ‭they that shall be‭ of thee shall build‭‭ the old‭ waste places‭: thou shalt raise up‭‭ the foundations‭ of many‭ generations‭; and thou shalt be called‭‭, The repairer‭‭ of the breach‭, The restorer‭‭ of paths‭ to dwell in‭‭,‭”‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Isaiah 58:11-12.


The above verses were impressed upon my heart in 1966, while a student in Whiteabbey Free Presbyterian Church, which later became Newtownabbey Free Presbyterian Church.

I freely confess that in unbelief I felt that I could not claim such a glorious promise as being for me from the Lord.

It was many, many years later that these words, though never forgotten, were applied with power to my heart and gave me some understanding of the task given me in the later years of my life.


The old Whiteabbey church building, a former courthouse and police station, where I began my preaching as a student minister of the Free Presbyterian Church in February 1965, some ten months after my conversion, in company with fellow student minister, Rev William Beattie, who shortly afterwards took up full time duties in Dunmurry Free Presbyterian Church.


Some time ago I mentioned to our readers that I had in mind a target of 1,000,000 visits to “The Burning Bush” website as a ‘line in the sand’ to indicate that it was time to wind down the witness for God’s truth which has been running, in one form or another, since March 1970 when the first printed edition appeared.

Now I have reached that point. All told of course, far more than 1,000,000 people have been reached with the voice of protest of “The Burning Bush”. The printed editions would have been shared by far more than one reader and the articles and sermons on the ‘internet’ edition undoubtedly would have been downloaded and shared many times over. (more…)

The beginning of sorrows, Part 3

“‭All‭‭ these‭ ‭are‭ the beginning‭ of sorrows‭,‭”‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Matthew 24:8.

Thoughts arising from my reading of this chapter as part of my daily reading and which are the third section of a brief study of Mathew 24:1-31.

I hope to continue the study on a weekly basis.


The bullet-scared Jaffa Gate, the result of the battle for Jerusalem when it was reunified by the Israeli army in the ‘Six-Day War in 1967.

In our last study we considered how that ‘the beginning of sorrows’ would lead on to the full harvest of sorrow and that it would be the Jews in Jerusalem who would chiefly suffer in that time of the ‘great tribulation’ at the end of this age, just before the Saviour returns in glory.

1. The Saviour makes clear in verses 9-14 just how the ‘sorrows’ will commence and what it will entail in its early stages.

“‭Then‭ shall they deliver‭‭ you‭ up‭‭ to‭ be afflicted‭, and‭ shall kill‭‭ you‭: and‭ ye shall be‭‭ hated‭‭ of‭ all‭ nations‭ for‭ my‭ name’s sake‭.‭ ‭And‭ then‭ shall many‭ be offended‭‭, and‭ shall betray‭‭ one another‭, and‭ shall hate‭‭ one another‭.‭ ‭And‭ many‭ false prophets‭ shall rise‭‭, and‭ shall deceive‭‭ many‭.‭ ‭And‭ because‭ iniquity‭ shall abound‭‭, the love‭ of many‭ shall wax cold‭‭.‭”‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ (more…)