DUP backbench rebellion

Foster suffers unprecedented DUP backbench rebellion over bill to give ministers more power

Arlene Foster has failed to prevent the largest Stormont rebellion in DUP history, as the ultra-centralised party’s discipline has broken down over her attempt to ram through a bill to give greater powers to individual ministers.

By Sam McBride, “Belfast Newsletter”, Tuesday, 28th July 2020, 5:44 pm

One of Arlene Foster’s own party officers rebelled against the whip in today’s key Assembly vote.

In a sign of the First Minister’s weakened authority, 11 DUP MLAs actively abstained – by voting in person in both lobbies – this afternoon, despite the imposition of a whip ordering them to vote in favour of a highly significant bill. Read more…

Surely the DUP have crossed a line!

As we feared, the DUP went ahead with its sellout of the legislative safeguard that it had previously, repeatedly, claimed was the rock-solid assurance that power-sharing with Sinn Fein/IRA was a safe step some 13 years ago (13 – the number of rebellion in the Bible!).

It was sad to see the rank and file of the DUP following its leaders, sheep-like, in support of this denial of what it once affirmed most vehemently to the Protestants of Ulster. Last night’s debate spot-lighted upon the stage at Stormont a clear ‘presentation’ which underscores the course the DUP is on, in union with Sinn Fein and the lesser pro-nationalist parties in Stormont!

It seems that the DUP is determined to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Northern Ireland in 1921, by destroying the very foundations laid by the courage and sacrifice of our forefathers!

Sometime ago I was struck in my reading of Jeremiah, of his twin, apparently contradictory, attitudes toward the people to whom the Lord had sent him, his own nation of Judah.

In chapter 9:1-3, he declares his heart-broken compassion for his foolish people.

“Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.” Read more…

DUP madness!!

It is difficult to understand the thinking behind the latest action by the DUP leadership in Stormont. Jim Allister sets out the issue in an article/letter in the Newsletter which explains what is at stake. Here it is.

Jim Allister: The plan to unfetter powers of Stormont ministers must be delayed for crucial scrutiny

I well remember at the meetings held with the DUP grassroots in 2006, to sell the St Andrews’ Agreement, how a tool of persuasion by the party leadership was to make much of the ending of Sinn Fein solo runs by the victory of everything controversial having to pass through the executive. Read more…

Intimidating’ letter to NI churches threatening to cancel right to conduct weddings is withdrawn

In the second major blunder in two days, the NI government last night withdrew a wave of “intimidating” letters sent to churches which warned they could be stripped of their right to conduct weddings.

The General Register Office – part of the Department of Finance (DoF) headed by SF figure Conor Murphy – insisted that following the legalisation of gay marriage, all churches had to declare whether they will offer same-sex marriages, opposite-sex marriages, or both.

Responses had to be in by Monday August 17 or else “it will be assumed that you and other members of the church no longer wish to be registered as officiants for any type of marriage… We will cancel the registrations on the officiant database accordingly, and you will not be able to carry out any marriage ceremonies”.

The Christian Institute descrbed it as “an ultimatum” which was both “threatening” and “intimidating” – noting it had arrived right in the middle of both the holiday season and the Covid pandemic, making responding on time harder.

Then late on Friday, after being contacted by the News Letter, the DoF issued an abrupt U-turn. Read more…

A United Ireland – Is it possible??

“Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; to make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head” Jeremiah 18:15-16.

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not,” Galatians 6:7-9.

Amongst the ranks of the loyalist marching bands and the collarette-wearing Orange men, the matter of a ‘United Ireland’ is a taboo subject! Likewise, in the loyalist song-singing clubs and gatherings and the meetings of the ‘party faithful’ in unionist political groups, it is a possibility dismissed and any who might suggest the chance of it happening are likely to be looked upon with disdain and contempt!

But what saith the Scripture? There is not a subject or topic but is addressed and guidance offered to the diligent reader of God’s Word.

When we look into this matter in the light of the last fifty years with its religious and political developments here in Ulster, there are conclusions we may, indeed MUST draw which cannot be gainsaid! Read more…

Anger over northern drivers requirement to carry ‘green card’ when crossing the border

Sinn Fein’s angry response to the decision of the Dublin government to require an insurance ‘green card’ from cars travelling from Northern Ireland or other parts of the UK, into southern Ireland.

The card certifies that the driver is insured to drive outside of the UK. The card is required because of EU regulations and the UK will have left the EU by next January when the card will be required for southern journeys.

The reason for Sinn Fein’s anger? They do not state the true reason but whitter on about inconveniences to drivers. However, what really is riling them is that the decision endorses the truth that the territory of the 26 southern counties, the Irish Republic, is truly a ‘foreign’ land.

Sinn Fein has, like all Irish republicans and nationalists long claimed that Northern Ireland is really part of a ‘United Ireland’ and does not really have any part in the United Kingdom! This EU regulation which has caused the Irish Republic to issue this requirement, underscores and highlights the reality of the internationally recognised border between north and south!

For this reason it sticks in the collective ‘craw’ of Sinn Fein! Read the Irish News article.

Is light finally dawning on minds blinded by ecumenism??!!

The following letter from Rev. Norman Hamilton was printed in the Saturday, July 18th edition of the “Belfast Newsletter”.

Rev. Norman Hamilton: After the events of the last few weeks, there is now little point in Churches meeting Sinn Fein.

Over the years, along with members of other churches, I have met representatives of Sinn Fein on many occasions.

Given the events of the past few weeks, I suggest that any such meetings would be pointless for the foreseeable future.

When facts, truth and some of the Nolan principles of public life are so easily set aside in the interests of political expediency, there is no basis to hold a rational or thoughtful conversation. Read more…

Related articles:

Rev Ivan Foster: Dr Hamilton and the rest of the ecumenical camp ignored our warnings about Sinn Fein

The oily words of peace which conceal the sword of war! 

Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness…Men of Peace or Propagators of Murder – Which?

Bible Protestantism and Romanism do not hold the same views on abortion!

“Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is,” Ephesians 5:17.

I am of an age at which slipping into the shadows and withdrawing from all public life has its attractions.

But it is not always possible to do that which you may strongly desire to do. This is especially so when a need arises and a voice is required to answer falsehood and deception and there is none!

Such an occasion arose yesterday. According to the “Belfast Telegraph”, Mr Ian Paisley Jr, MP, has written an article for the “Catholic Herald” in which, according to the “Belfast Telegraph”, he states that he holds views on abortion ‘identical’ to those of ‘pro-life’ Roman Catholics.

Mr Paisley is of course free to hold such views but what concerns me is that many Christians who, upon reading reports of his views, may be inclined to believe that, because of his name, what he believes is biblical, especially when he claims in the article that he is “an evangelical Protestant”. Read more…

Three Great Men Unable to Stop Wrath”!

Here is a message for today’s Christians! It sets forth circumstances that most certainly will develop, and that very soon, as God’s judgments – His plagues or vials, Revelation 15-16 – are poured upon the wicked nations whose sins are manifesting themselves before our very eyes today.

Above all the preacher shows the ‘comfort’ God’s righteous people will enjoy during that time. We will, as it were, sail through the storms that will break upon mankind in the ‘Ark of God’ in safety and peace.

Please, Christian, do listen to this message.

The Editor.

Bobby Storey IRA funeral . . . a reminder of who is in charge!!

Despite the possibility of wearying our many readers from outside Northern Ireland and for the benefit of those within it, I am sending out this article which appeared in the “Belfast Newsletter” of July 9th, 2020.

The article sets forth salient facts which even the most fervent followers of Northern Ireland affairs can forget amidst the plethora of news reports and analysis.
There is in the article a bringing out again of the evil character of those gangster/politicians who were surreptitiously slipped into power by the treachery of the Democratic Unionist Party, blinded to the danger by its lust for power and the fruits thereof and wooed by the siren song of ecumenical deceivers!

The debacle following the ‘Storey funeral’ and the pitiful response of the Unionist parties at Stormont, the disclosures of the police and the Belfast City Council’s accommodation of the IRA’s requirements for the funeral, all serve to underscore how a conquest has taken place in Ulster and that we are in truth under IRA rule!
Sadly, Ulster Protestants are almost totally blind to this truth. Blinded by the false pulpiteers who have, in a manner foreshadowing the infiltration of Sinn Fein/IRA into the corridors of power, “crept in unawares” (Jude 3) to Protestant pulpits and poisoned the pews with their anti-Bible liberal, modernistic lies. Read more…

This is the party the DUP ushered into government!!!!

A friend emailed me the link to the following story in ‘The Irish Times’ of July 7th.
It makes interesting reading indeed, especially for those who may yet need convincing that Sinn Fein/IRA is the Irish equivalent of the Mafia!! Indeed, I think they could teach the Mafioso a few dirty tricks!

What must ever be remembered is that Sinn Fein/IRA reached power in the Stormont Executive as a result of the greed for power that moved the Democratic Unionist Party to enter a ‘power-sharing’ deal with them, even after they had carried out the 30 years and more terrorist campaign in Northern Ireland. Indeed, it is widely claimed that the organisation is still deeply involved in the ongoing terrorism that blights our land.

And yet the DUP props up the Stormont Assembly which means that Sinn Fein/IRA continue to exercise power, indeed, dominate affairs in this land, as is illustrated by the recent funeral of Bobby Storey and the unrepentant attitude of the Deputy First Minister and Sinn Fein leader, Michelle O’Neill, in the face of the condemnation of her defiance of the rules on ‘Social Distancing’ which she introduced!

Whatever crimes of terror Sinn Fein/IRA are guilty of are equalled by the shameless greed for power that continues to dominate the DUP and which maintains Sinn Fein/IRA in power at Stormont! Read more…

Londonderry – A city of sin and perversion.

I am reproducing below an article from the “Belfast Telegraph” of July 7th, 2020 which highlights the depths into which this city, once linked with the defiant stand of Ulster Protestantism against the attempts by the Romanist forces loyal to James II, ousted from the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland by the arrival, by invitation of the people, of William of Orange from Holland.

The Siege of Derry in 1689 was the first major event in the Williamite War in Ireland. The siege was preceded by a first attempt against the town by Jacobite forces on 7 December 1688 that was foiled when 13 apprentices shut the gates. This was an act of defiance against James II, which in truth saved the kingdom for William.

The second attempt began on 18 April 1689 when James himself appeared before the walls with an Irish army led by Jacobite and French officers. The town was summoned to surrender but refused. The siege began. The besiegers tried to storm the walls, but all attacks failed. They then resorted to starving Derry out. They raised the siege and left when ships bringing food broke through to the town.

The siege lasted 105 days from 18 April to 1 August 1689. It is commemorated yearly by the Protestant community. Read more…

Jim Allister calls for Michelle O’Neill to go!

In a statement reported on the website of BBC Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill, Deputy First Minister at Stormont, is reported as saying:

“I am particularly concerned that grieving families, who have lost a loved one during the pandemic had their heartache compounded by the necessary restrictions which were in place at that time. . . . Not being able to have their family and friends’ support to help them through was hugely difficult. . . . I am also concerned that those grieving families are experiencing more hurt over recent days. . . . I am sorry for that.” Ms O’Neill has reiterated that she believes she stuck to the coronavirus lockdown guidelines.

This is mere verbal trickery. The issue is not the added grief caused by the regulations limiting funeral attendance. People have coped with that because of the danger that the mingling of large crowds brings. The issue is O’Neill DELIBERATELY AND BLATANTLY breaking the restrictions which she herself initiated!

The politicians in Ulster have presided over the elevation of the gangsters and their supporters of Sinn Fein engaging in a ‘power-grab’ which has resulted in them now doing just what they like. Even the police stand back and give way to evil and unlawful Sinn Fein’s demands.

Ulster is reaping its support of the rejection of God’s truth by the main denominations and refusing to heed the warnings issued from the days of W P Nicholson in the 1920s.

The result of this wickedness is recorded in the history of nations such as Israel which acted in this manner in the past.

“Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.  . . . From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. . . . . Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah,” Isaiah 1:4, 6-7, 9.

This is the fate that faces Ulster’s heedless and disobedient people, chief amongst whom are many Christians..

“If Mrs Foster accepts this she is clearly putting expediency before principle. O’Neill’s “sorry for your hurt but I didn’t cause it” is breathtaking in its arrogance. It cannot be good enough for anyone who has read the heartbreaking stories which have come into public representatives of the sacrifices others have made during the lockdown.

“Many people missed funerals for friends because they complied with the law. But O’Neill wasn’t prepared to miss the funeral of her “great friend Bobby Storey”.

Lies and Murder!

I am sharing with you two reports which demonstrate how liars and murderers have gained positions of power in the island of Ireland.

In Northern Ireland, we have an example today of the utter deceitfulness and untrustworthiness of the Stormont’s Deputy First Minister, Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill.

She and First Minister, Arlene Foster have, in the recent past, repeatedly called upon the public to observe ‘social distancing’ – 2 metres apart. At today’s funeral for the IRA man, Bobby Storey, Michelle O’Neill and her Sinn Fein compatriots can be seen standing close together.
This is a copy of the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ report of the funeral today.

Here is the woman and the organisation that Unionists are called upon to trust when they tell us that they have changed their whole attitude and are no longer advocates of terror and murder! That is hard to believe when they throng together in defiance of the law and pay homage to one who was a leading IRA terrorist. How could any sane person believe what they say??? Read more…

Starting back!!

Below is an article I have just written on the changes the ‘Coronavirus’ has brought to our land. Just as I was finishing it, an email came in from a friend highlighting a recent report on the local BBC news site which I reproduce first as an introduction.

Coronavirus: Clarity sought on public transport masks move.

“Last Thursday, the executive announced a series of additional indicative dates for the easing of the lockdown, with hairdressers able to reopen from 6 July.
The first minister attended a service at St Macartin’s Cathedral in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, on Monday.

She said it was “very important” that people continue “to observe social distancing and make sure that we keep people safe” but that it was also important “that people are able to come together and to witness”.

“It has been incredibly difficult, particularly for those who have been mourning,” she added. Read more…

Remember Lot’s wife

A number of Christians emailed me this morning with regards this sermon preached yesterday by Rev Stephen Miller in Portglenone FPC.

The funeral of terrorist thug much beloved of Stormont’s Deputy First Minister

Hated England but run there when sick !!!!

This line appeared in an “Irish News” article on June 25th.

“Arrangements for the funeral of senior republican Bobby Storey have still not been finalised after a delay in returning his remains to his family.The former Sinn Féin chairman died in hospital in England on Sunday from complications following a double lung transplant.”

He waged terrorism against everything connected with England, yet, as with all of his ilk, was happy to seek the free aid to be found there!!!

What evil hypocrisy abides in the heart of the Irish Republican!!

Voice raised in Australia against the endorsement of sin and the persecution of the godly

I was sent this picture of a letter which was published in the “The West Australian”, June 25th of this year. (Click on the thumbnail to read). The writer is a retired Federal Member of Parliament, Mr, Peter Abetz. As it will be seen at the end of the letter, he is Western Australia’s State Director of the ‘Australian Christian Lobby’.

I do not know a great deal about that organisation but I certainly am in sympathy with the sentiments of Mr Abetz’s letter. I have no doubt that his is not the only voice in the land ‘down under’!

The battle against worldwide perversion and the wicked persecution of Christians and their Biblical lifestyle is on and deserving of the prayers of all believers.

Abortion really is MURDER!!

Below is a news report, taken from the ‘Daily Mail’ of June 23rd that really needs no introduction. It merely needs a new title.

This story illustrates the great mercy of God toward undeserving sinners, and such are we all! I trust that those who feature in the story are deeply aware of that fact.

Abortion survivor’s mother reveals she thought she was being told a ‘cruel joke’ when she discovered her daughter was still alive three DECADES later after being rescued from a medical waste bin – but now they are best friends

In 1977, Melissa Ohden, 42, from Missouri, was fighting for her life in a hospital in Iowa after being born at 2Ib 14oz and discarded as toxic waste
Her mother, who has now been revealed as Ruth, had been forced to have an abortion by her mother, a nurse at the hospital. Read more…

Verbal and visible statues that ought to be pulled down but are not!!

There are times when immediate measures are required to avoid ‘blowing up’!!!! This article is just such a measure for me.

I have just listened to the teatime news on the local BBC channel and its treatment of the news of the death of IRA man, Bobby Storey was very difficult to have to listen to! The sombre earnestness displayed by the BBC, as the news of this murderer’s demise was announced, is frankly, hard to stomach!

Here is my response.

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20.
“He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD,” Proverbs 17:15.
“And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God,” Luke 16:15. Read more…

There is only one rule by which we should judge the actions of either the past or the present!!

Here are a few thoughts on a matter which has been referred to in recent days with all the furore surrounding the statues etc., connected to those who made fortunes out of the slave trade in bygone days, but who won a measure of admiration in their days for the charitable contributions they made from the fortunes accrued from an evil trade.
Many have referred to ‘the standards of today’ and ‘the standards of yesteryear!’ I immediately felt I would like to press home the truth that, while man’s standards may change, God’s do not!

I trust that we have managed to highlight the immutability of God and His Law. This is an eternal truth much under attack today. Denominations without number have cast this truth aside and altered at will the unchangeable law of God to suit and satisfy the whims and fancies and appetites of today’s ungodly society!
How dreadful that day when multitudes men and women learn how arrogantly wrong they were and that they now face eternal damnation as a result!

What a mercy to be brought to Christ in repentance and faith! Read more…

MPs approve abortion guidelines for Northern Ireland

ITV news story. There were those who rejoiced at the decision. What an indication of the morality of this day when there are those, including women, who rejoice at the introduction of a law that makes legal and widens extensively the parameters governing the murder of unborn children. Such tratment of children brought down God’s wrath upon Israel when they embraced the cruel practices of the heathen toward children. God’s law states: “And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD,” Leviticus 18:21. Sadly, Israel defied and desecrated this law.

“But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand,” Psalm 106:35-42.

Nations and individuals that embrace abortion will pay a similar price for their evil folly.

Many voices in Northern Ireland expressed sorrow at such a decision. Sadly, regarding those within some political circles who voiced grief, their complaints are mired in hypocrisy. There is a quote in the article from Carla Lochart, the Democratic Unionist MP. In an earlier debate in the House of Lords, Lord Morrow, Lord McCrea and Lord Hay, all belonging to the DUP, are listed amongst the opponents of the bill, which ends the limits that were placed upon abortion in Northern Ireland.
Doubtless, what these parliamentarians said was correct, but to say it as a member of a party which is in political union with such pro-abortion political parties as Sinn Fein, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and the Alliance Party, rings rather hollow.

No Christian can be in ignorance of the offensiveness to God of one of those who profess faith in Christ, as does Carla Lochart, speaking against sin while in union and fellowship with those flagrantly guilty and supportive of the sin they condemn!
Jeremiah the prophet said: “Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Jeremiah 7:8-10.

Now it may be said that Christians in the DUP do not engage in the sin of those whom they are in political alliance, namely pro-abortionists. However, in God’s eyes, to keep company with the wicked makes you guilty by association and endorsement of their sins.

I will quote a very well known portion of God’s Word which makes very clear that what I say is correct. “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,” Revelation 18:1-4.

Remaining in the company of the wicked, irrespectively of how we may protest against their sins, will make us guilty with them and, furthermore, will bring judgment upon us!

Thus, I say again, protests by those who remain in company with those who are guilty of the sins they complain of, are mired in hypocrisy!

May the Lord awaken His people to the wicked carelessness which abounds amongst our ranks!

Doctors differ, Patients Die!!

The following article is copied from the “Irish Times” website of Saturday, 13th June and relates specifically to the Irish Republic though, I am sure, there are lessons for all who presently are under threat from the Coronavirus.

I send it out for your consideration.

‘The virus will be back’: Preparing for the second wave of Covid-19. Where are the dangers, and how can a new wave be turned into a ripple, not a tsunami?
Epidemics of infectious diseases can be unpredictable but they often come in waves. History has left hard lessons showing that a virus can quickly return – and with deadlier force.

Just over a century ago, the three-wave Spanish flu pandemic that claimed at least 50 million lives, killed more people in the more virulent second wave in the autumn of 1918 than in the first that spring, including in Ireland.

A Romanist Priest speaks & The Dark Side of Darwinism

I am sending out two articles for your consideration.

1. I have little or nothing in common with the thoughts and words of Roman Catholics priests. However, I have ever been an observer of what they have to say!
There appeared in the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ of the 15th of June, a letter from a priest in Coalisland, Co. Tyrone, one ‘Father’ (a title forbidden to be used by men by the Lord Jesus) John McCallion.

His comments on the pro-abortion stance of the ‘Nationalist’ parties, traditionally loyal Romanists, is an eye-opening insight into the state of Irish Roman Catholicism. The abuse of children by its clerics has reaped a harvest indeed! Sadly, that harvest has the people embracing, if anything, something more wicked than that which they had cast away!

2. The second article was written, it is very apparent, by an admirer of Charles Darwin, while it is equally apparent that he was aware of his RACISM.

I send it out without any endorsement of its contents but simply to illustrate that RACISM and EVOLUTION appear to go hand in hand. I also do so, wondering just when the BLM movement will turn against Charles Darwin? That would mean a radically overhauling of the text books in all schools as well as the theology in the majority of Bible Colleges and Seminaries, as well as the burning of countless books and articles which extol Darwinism as the ‘be all and end all’ of intelligent thought!!

I leave you to peruse the articles. Read more…

Justice Minister Naomi Long silent over Black Lives Matter call to defund police and founders’ praise for wanted terror figure

The article I have copied below appeared in today’s “Belfast Newsletter” and it is worth a read.

It highlights the bias and the political cowardice of many politicians who know the sinister character of many behind the ‘BLM’ but because it might cost them some political support and might jeopardise their ‘street cred’, they blandly ignore these facts !!

That, doubtless, is Naomi Long’s problem. This article highlights the chicanery and the hypocritical and opportunistic ‘knee-bending’ that is taking place throughout the political and ‘showbiz’ world by those who care nothing for what happened to George Floyd, but who see the furore surrounding his death as an opportunity to get their names and pictures before the public. What a rotten world we live in!!! Read more…

Man’s inhumanity to man

A Biblical Perspective of the World-Wide “Black Lives Matter” Protests

I have been burdened to write this article because of the ever increasing news media clamour, surrounding the protests purporting to be in response to the death of George Floyd in the USA.

It think it has alarmed some Christians that amongst that clamour have been heard increasingly what might be termed ‘ill-conceived anti-white mantras’, shouted out mostly by the young and immature! Though they can be heard coming from the ‘old and immature’!

That the white nations have sinned against black nations surely none will deny. Yet, just as Solomon said that “there is no man that sinneth not,” 1Kings 8:46, even so may it be said that “there is no nation or tribe that sinneth not.”

Indeed, the protests embody the sad trends of evil wrought by one nation against another throughout the ages. Those that protest against the evil wrought against George Floyd do so by inflicting many very great wrongs on many against whom they protest. Read more…

Controversial activist Candace Owens in which she says ‘the fact that George Floyd is held up as a martyr sickens me’

A report in the Daily Mail contains the following extract from a video made by a young black woman who voices her criticism of the present ‘George Floyd’ protests. Here is what is reported as having been said by this woman, black conservative activist Candace Owens.

‘I don’t care WHAT George Floyd did. The officer should have never treated him like that and killed him! But we still must ask: Is he a HERO?’

Earlier this week, Owens made similar statements in a video she shared to Facebook Live.  ‘We [black Americans] are unique in that we are the only people that fight and scream and demand support and justice for the people in our community who are up to no good,’ she stated.  She said that no Jewish person, or Hispanic person, or white person would embrace someone who had done ‘five stints in prison.’ ‘George Floyd was not an amazing person,’ she told viewers.  ‘George Floyd, at the time of his arrest, was high on fentanyl and methamphetamine,’ she stated.  She said her criticism was in no way defending what the lead officer Derek Chauvin did, by kneeing Floyd in the neck, until he was unresponsive.

Owens went on to reference the fact that Floyd had served five stints in jail – including one for aggravated assault stemming from a robbery in which he entered a pregnant woman’s home, pointed a gun at her stomach and searched the premises for drugs and money. ‘Was he really going to turn things around? It’s just not true’ Owens said of Floyd, who was a 46-year-old father-of-five. In the interview, Owens repeatedly referred to the pregnant woman who was assaulted by Floyd.  ‘This woman now has to watch him be help up as a hero. I can’t even think about the trauma!’

There is, it would appear, another side to this story!!!!

A work which only the elderly can do!

“Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come,” Psalm 71:18.

This state of affairs comes on most of humanity who live out their allotted span as stated in Psalm 90. “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away,” verse 10.

Lovers and readers of the Bible are very familiar with David’s life story. They have followed, and that repeatedly, his pilgrimage from his days as a teenage shepherd looking after his father’s sheep until his death bed as recorded in 1 Kings 2.

“Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying…So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David,” verses 1 and 10.

David’s story covered 70 years of one the most tumultuous periods of Israel’s history. He left his kingdom secure and greatly enriched and it was taken on by his son Solomon to even greater heights until Solomon, wise man and all that he was made to be by the Lord, turned from the Lord and His truth and embraced great folly due to the evil influence of his many wives. What a sad episode that makes! It is nevertheless, a solemn lesson for all of God’s people throughout the ages. Despite the warning, there have been many occasions when ‘Solomons’ have had their hearts turned away from the Lord and not always by carnal lusts. Money, earthly glory and political power have played a part in the downfall of many of God’s favoured servants down through the years! Read more…

Abortion: Assembly rejects recent changes to NI laws

By Jayne McCormack BBC News NI Political Reporter. 2nd June 2020.

The NI Assembly has voted to pass a motion to reject recent changes to abortion laws in Northern Ireland.

New abortion regulations drawn up by Westminster came into force in March after a vote in 2019.

The motion, brought by the DUP, passed by 46 votes to 40.

The vote has no effect on the laws but the DUP said it would send a message to Westminster that the regulations are not supported by Stormont.

A Sinn Féin amendment, which sought to alter the motion to only restrict access to abortions in cases of severe fetal impairments, such as Down’s syndrome, was voted down. Read more…

Legal experts sharply criticise the Supreme Court ruling on Gerry Adams

I would have you read the news report with this headline as a follow-on to my recent highlighting of events that indicate that in public life God’s Truth is turned upside down!

It is encouraging to read that there are those who are strenuously protesting against the decision that quashed convictions against infamous Irish republican, Gerry Adams.

The former Sinn Féin leader claimed his two 1975 convictions were unsafe because his detention during ‘Internment’ was not “personally considered” by the then-secretary of state for Northern Ireland Willie Whitelaw.

Email exchange with Edwin Poots, DUP agriculture minister

On the Sabbath evening, May 31st 2020, I received an email from Mr Edwin Poots who is the Agriculture Minister in the power-sharing regime in Stormont.

His late parents had a long standing friendship with Dr Paisley from the days of revival blessing in the late 1960’s. In those days I also counted them amongst my friends and fellow separatists and contenders for the truth of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in the face of the ecumenical apostasy which then was fast taking over the main churches

The family was well acquainted with the early stand of the Free Presbyterian Church and the great mercy visited upon it in those days of its faithfulness, being foundation members of Hillsborough Free Presbyterian Church. Read more…

Seven days of shocked silence

“Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days,” Ezekiel 3:15.

Our text marks the beginning of the ministry of Ezekiel. We are told at the very beginning of the book that Ezekiel, a Levitical priest, “saw visions of God,” Ezekiel 1:1.

That was the beginning of his being instructed by the Lord, in preparation for his ministry amongst the ‘captives’ of Judah in Chaldea or Babylonia.

John the Apostle was the writer of the Book of the Revelation, which may well be called the New Testament parallel to this book of Ezekiel. John was exiled and that on an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Ezekiel likewise was an exile and that by the river of Chebar when God was pleased to begin His purpose in the life of this man, revealing to him “things which must shortly come to pass.”

That which was revealed to Ezekiel was a progressively more detailed instruction about the Person, Power and Purpose of God amongst men. I am not going to attempt an exposition of the visions of chapter 1 and 2 of this book, but I would urge upon readers to listen to the series on the book of Ezekiel, the link to which I have supplied above, for in these messages you will find that the visions are not nearly so mystifying as many have made out. Read more…

God’s Truth turned upside down!

I highlight the following two news items in order to illustrate the swiftly advancing tide of abandoning of the ONLY true basis of righteousness and truth – The Word of God!

As a preacher, retired yes but still burdened with the need to set forth God’s TRUTH for these days!
Whenever I see such reports as these, I know that many Christians see them and also are grieved at them BUT do we all recognise the ’signs of the times’? (Matthew 16:2-3.)

Sadly, it is very common for us to miss the significance of events taking place around us. Distractions by the flesh and its desires, the devil and his minions all serve to divert our attention from that which we should be noticing.

I think of the parable of the wheat and the tares and what it says of distraction and the terrible consequences. “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way,” Matthew 13:25. That same thought is given us in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept,” Matthew 25:5.

It is little wonder Paul often called for a shaking off of sleepiness! “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed,” Romans 13:11. Read more…

The gospel ‘vaccine’

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool,” Isaiah 1:18.

Last night, my sleep was disturbed as I thought over the last article I sent out – UK ‘absolutely’ preparing for second Covid-19 peak and may not see back of virus for ‘several years’.

Time and again I found myself developing the subject further, with scripture after scripture flooding into my mind.

Now, as I try to put down those thoughts, I trust the Lord will bring back to my mind the scriptures that came to me in the night!

In the last article, mentioned above, I more or less dealt with the issue of the Government lifting the lockdown restrictions from a simple factual, human point of view. If ‘social distancing’ has brought the spread of the Covid-19 virus down, what will the lifting of those regulations do, only increase the spread of the virus since it has not been utterly removed from society nor has a vaccine been produced!

This the Government acknowledges to be so because it is preparing for an increase in the numbers infected after it relaxes the restrictions upon social distancing. Read more…

UK ‘absolutely’ preparing for second Covid-19 peak and may not see back of virus for ‘several years’

I have already shared this news article link with one sister in Canada who was asking about the lifting of ‘Lockdown’ in the UK. As I was getting ready to reply I saw this article on the ITV news site and shared it with her.

I added this comment: “They thus know that ending ’social distancing’ is going to cause a rise in the number infected! It is not the beating of the virus that is the main aim of the government (just like Trump) but getting the wheels of the money-making machine moving again!”

Further to this comment, it surely must be clear that the government knows that ‘social distancing’ has brought down the number of people infected with Covid-19. The fact that they are lifting the ‘social distancing’ restrictions and are also expecting and planning for a rise in the Covid-19 infections indicate that they know those two things go together! Lifting ‘social distancing’ MEANS a rise in Covid-19 infections.

That being so, why is the Government easing ‘social distancing’ restrictions, despite the Government’s repeated ‘mantra’ that controlling the virus remains the Government’s ‘top priority’?

I have just listened again to Priti Patel MP, the Home Secretary, repeating that assurance on the ‘Channel Four’, 7.00 pm news broadcast.

What is it that the Government is seeking to do and why is it willing to risk a second pandemic breaking out? It wants to get business up and running again and satisfy the complaining multitudes who are missing their parties, boozing companionship and general carousing.

There has to be a heavy price paid for such folly and it will be the young, the weak, the sickly and the old who most likely will pay that price!

I feel distressed for those who may share my concern but whose living accommodation does not enable them to easily maintain a degree of ‘social distancing’, which is after all, the Bible’s response to contagious diseases!

Like the thinking in the future empire of the Antichrist, PROFIT comes before PEOPLE!

Surely a temporary lowering of our living standard is preferable to an adding to the 35,000 + DEATHS which have already occurred!!

Londonderry was key to victory in longest-running campaign of WWII

Seventy-five years after the surrender of the U-boat fleet, GORDON LUCY explains NI’s strategic importance in the Battle of the Atlantic

The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest running campaign of the Second World War.

It began with the sinking of the Athenia, a transatlantic passenger liner, on September 3 1939 within hours of the British declaration of war, and only ended with the defeat of Germany in May 1945.

Churchill claimed: ‘The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril.’ It caused him even greater anxiety than the Battle of Britain in 1940.

The UK’s heavy dependence on imported food stuffs and raw materials made the nation extremely vulnerable. Read more…

Impoverishment – A Judgment from the Lord

“If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land,” 2 Chronicles 7:13-14.

There has been much considering of the significance of the impact of the Covid-19 virus upon the nations by thoughtful and reflective Christians. The fact that here in Northern Ireland there have been at least 501 people, young, middle-aged and elderly, who have succumbed to this disease to date, is enough to cause any to ponder the circumstances which have overtaken us. In truth, when the final figure is revealed it is likely to be nearly double that of today’s total of 501, indeed, even more!

Even as I was writing this, an email arrived from “The Belfast Newsletter” which stated: “We have some terribly sad news to bring you today. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) has identified 61 additional COVID-19 related deaths as having occurred between May 9 to May 20 – this takes the death-toll to 664.” Read more…

Sovereign Grace Advent testimony May monthly meeting.

Because of the Covid 19 ‘lockdown’ and the restriction on public gatherings, the service was broadcast on the internet. The preacher was Dr John Douglas. His subject was “The Prophecy of Nathan.” It may be watched here.

Again, the wicked are favoured by our legal system

United Kingdom supreme court quash Gerry Adams’ convictions for trying to escape from jail during internment in the 1970s

The reason given by the five law ‘Lords and Lady’ for such a decision was that since the internment paperwork had not been handled by the correct government minister in the mid-1970s, his imprisonment was invalid – and therefore he could not be guilty of trying to escape “lawful custody”.

The judgment does not decree upon the ‘rightness’ of the internment of those engaged in terrorism, just the handling of the ‘paperwork’ that brought it about!!
The judges who made yesterday’s ruling were Lord Kerr (who was Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland from 2004 to 2009) sitting alongside Lady Black, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Kitchin and Lord Burnett.

At least two of these judges have Roman Catholic backgrounds. Lord Kerr was educated at St Colman’s College in Newry. In 2004 he was appointed Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, only the second Roman Catholic to hold the position. Read more…

The zeal of the Lord of Hosts

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this,” Isaiah 9:6-7.

I read the above verses in my Bible reading yesterday morning, as might well many of you. They come at the end of one of the sections designated for reading, if one follows Robert Murray McCheyne’s Bible Reading Calendar.

These words immediately seized upon my heart and I was made to consider how that the Lord ZEALOUSLY engages in the accomplishing of His eternal purpose in mercy and grace toward His people.

God’s people, at times, have been deceived to foolishly think that God has grown careless and indifferent toward them and His cause. Christians have often been heard to say, like Martha of old, “Lord, dost thou not care . . . ” Luke 10:40. How wrong… Read more…

Another faithful soldier called home

Dr Stephen Scott-Pearson, Who went to be with the Lord, Wednesday 6th May, 2020.

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,” 2 Corinthians 5:1.

I had a phone call on Wednesday evening from Mrs Janet Scott-Pearson, informing us that her husband, Stephen, had passed away some three hours earlier. I have known Dr. Stephen Scott-Pearson since the time of the Pope’s visit to Great Britain back in 1982. I invited him over to Ulster at that time and he spoke in Kilskeery FPC and in some other churches as well.

It was the first of many visits. He and his family stayed at the manse in Kilskeery and we visited him and his family in England on a number of occasions over the years. When I spoke at the Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony meeting back in the summer of last year, we went home by his house on our way to the Cairnryan Ferry and had a sweet time of fellowship with him and his wife, Janet. That was Tuesday, August 6th. We well remember his emotional prayer before we parted.
It was the last time we were to see our dear friend.

Now he is at home with His Saviour to Whom he was faithful as a preacher and contender for the faith. His journey is ended, his weariness and pain is over. He is with the Lord which is far better.

I have counted him a friend, a fellow-labourer in the gospel, a faithful contender for the faith and a dear brother in Christ. To his wife Janet, his son Charles and daughter Margaret and their respective families we offer our sincere and prayerful sympathy.

We can say truly with David: “Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?” 2 Samuel 3:38.

VE Day – A reminder of the loss of feedoms our parents and grandparents endured

We mark the 75th anniversary of the ending of the World War II in Europe today. I have but the faintest memories of the atmosphere of that and subsequent times manifested in the lives of my father and mother back then.

I emphasise that they are were but faint, mere impressions of a child, since I was only approaching my third birthday!

Today, the nations is remembering that great day, 75 years ago and rightly paying tribute to those who lived and died to make victory possible.

However, the Christian will notice I am sure a very sad omission. There is little mention made of the Lord Who wrought the deliverance for us a people! Read more…