Obscene advice!!

The obscene suggestion has been put forward by N.I.C.E, [The National Institute for Clinical Excellence] that children as young as five should receive 'sex education'. Read the whole article here.

N.I.C.E is to write to every primary school telling it to start sex education when pupils are five. It is worth remembering that the main role of this body is to ration NHS drugs. It is no wonder that this advice is being offered when you see that representatives of the Brook Clinics and of the sodomite pressure group 'Stonewall' were on the panel that drew up these recommendations. 

Among their wicked claims is that teaching children to ‘say no’ could actually increase the chances of risky sexual behaviour and pregnancy. It further calls on teachers to offer children confidential sex advice if they need it – without their parents being told. 

Critics have accused the body of pressuring schools to push the boundaries on sex education and said the guidance undermined traditional values. 

Norman Wells, of pressure group Family and Youth Concern, said: ‘The team that drafted the guidance included lobby groups with an agenda to break down moral standards and redefine the family. Organisations with a commitment to marriage and traditional family values were not represented.’ 

Margaret Morrissey, of lobby group Parents Out Loud, said: ‘They tell me that once you give indepth information about sex and drugs, 90 per cent will go and experiment – and there’s no way back from that.’

The report concludes that sex and relationships education is ‘more effective if it is introduced before young people first have sex’

This is an outrageous claim and one not backed up by the facts. There has been a consistent determined effort over many years to lower the age when 'sex education' is taught. The outcome has been to make Britain’s teenage pregnancy rate the highest in western Europe. This approach does not work. There will be no solving of this problem without a moral foundation based upon the teaching of the Word of God. 

This is another good reason for Christian Education!

Northern Ireland Charity Commission criticised

The Christian Institute has again highlighted criticism that the CCNI are facing from Church groups.

Church leaders in Northern Ireland, in a series of open letters, have warned that the Charity Commission’s draft guidance could threaten the charitable status of churches.

The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI) is due to publish its final ‘public benefit’ guidance soon, having consulted on a draft version of the text.

The draft was widely criticised, and many Christian leaders remain concerned that the CCNI has gone beyond its remit and endangered the charitable status of churches.

Read whole article here

This ties in with the feelings of an Education Board of Presbytery commission which met a representative of the Charity Commission to discuss concerns we had about the status of our Independent Christian Schools. 

A report of the meeting was carried in the School Newsletter printed by the Education Board:

Meeting with Charity Commission for N.I. 

Six members of the Presbytery Education Board met with two representatives of the new Charity Commission on Thursday 26th November 2009. The new Charity Act 2008, which will shortly come into law, will bring a number of major changes for all our Churches and Schools. 

A consultation period was allowed up to the end of November for charities and other interested bodies to make their views known. 

Two main areas of concern were: 

1. Would the 'affordability and accessibility' requirements of the 'Public Benefit Test', which all charities must undergo, affect our schools? 

2. Would the requirements that charities do not engage in that which is 'harmful' and/or to the 'detriment' of society impact our Schools and Churches? It was felt that this law could be used against our Schools or Churches when they set forth the Biblical teaching on subjects such as: 'hell' or moral issues like 'sodomy'. 

While those present came away to a degree reassured by the comments made by the Charity Commission representative, it was felt that this rule on 'harm' and 'detriment' will one day be used against charities that stand for the principles of the Word of God. 

A written submission was subsequently sent in outlining our views and concerns. 

The Christian Institute has raised the added issue of the absence of any recognition that evangelism is an essential aspect of the work of any Christian Charity. 

Please pray that these concerns will be taken on board and included in the final guidance that is issued by the Commission. 

London University's external degree programme & Christian Education

Part of being a Trainee teacher in one of our seven Independent Christian Schools is the requirement to obtain an external degree from a recognizable university such as London University or The Open University. 

As part of the ongoing discussion about the cost of third level education in the UK the BBC has posted a very informative article about the external degree programme of London University. 

At present there are 45,500 students worldwide studying in this fashion with London University. It has been operating like this for 150 years. Charles Dickens called it 'the people's university'. 

It is in part an encouraging vindication of the decision taken many years ago to commence our own training scheme for perspective teachers in our schools by using this programme:

1. Degrees obtained through this external programme cost much less;

2. They are every bit as 'prestigious'.

The article reads:

Universities must find more flexible and cheaper ways to teach, the government has said. Expanding chances for students to study long-distance is one such proposal.

For 150 years, the University of London has allowed students unable to travel to the capital to study for one of its external degrees - a system Charles Dickens described as "the people's university".

Notable alumni include Nelson Mandela, who studied while incarcerated on Robben Island, and five other Nobel Prize winners.

It currently has 45,500 students studying by distance and flexible learning in 180 countries, with another 6,000 students in the UK.

This is in addition to the tens of thousands of students - the majority - who study at the university's 19 colleges and institutions in the capital.

Now it is being heralded as a model for other institutions to follow, a way of increasing accessibility to higher education, without breaking the bank.

Read the whole article here

Link to London's University's external degree programme

Hat-tip to my wife who pointed this article out to me. 

Presbyterian Church asked to join new ecumenical body for all of Ireland

The editor of the Church of Ireland Gazette Canon Ian Ellis has asked the Presbyterian Church in Ireland to become even more ecumenical and join with a new body which includes the Roman Catholic Church.

The Irish Times carried the following report:

Church urged to join new body 

THE PRESBYTERIAN Church has been asked to reconsider its 1999 decision not to take part in “a single, interchurch body for Ireland, including the Roman Catholic Church”. 

In a statement, editor of the Church of Ireland Gazette Canon Ian Ellis also pointed out that “there were no doctrinal issues that could have prevented the Presbyterian Church from being part of the new body”. He said “the negative decision of the 1999 General Assembly brought dismay to other churches”. 

Welcoming the Presbyterian Moderator the Rev Norman Hamilton’s “emphasis on tackling sectarianism and affirming the church’s role in building better community relations” in his first address to the General Assembly in Belfast, Canon Ellis said that “as far as church relations are concerned, we also need to be looking to a shared church future”. It was for that reason he was appealing to the Presbyterian Church to reconsider its 1999 decision not to proceed with a single, interchurch body for Ireland, including the Roman Catholic Church. 

Earlier, the outgoing Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Rev Stafford Carson, said he was “very moved” by a recent observation of the Catholic Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin. 

Speaking in his last address as Moderator to the Presbyterian General Assembly Dr Carson quoted from Archbishop Martin’s speech in Dublin last month to the Knights of Columbanus. 

Dr Carson said: ‘Our young people are among the most catechised in Europe but among the least evangelised . . . This immediately brings us to the deeper question about the level of understanding of the message of Jesus Christ which exists in our Catholic Church and in our society in Ireland today. What do we really know of the message of Jesus?’

It will be interesting to see what the outcome is with an ecumenical non-evangelical new moderator just recently installed.

First summer open-air of 2010

Last night we had our first summer open-air of 2010. These take place after our Lord's day evening service and continue DV through June, July & August as weather permits. May the Lord be pleased to bless His Word. 

Free Presbyterian Statement on the Pope's visit

At a meeting on Friday June 4th we the ministers and elders of the Free Presbyterian church affirmed our determination to oppose the proposed visit of Pope Benedict to the United Kingdom in September.

As Reformed Evangelical Protestants we totally reject the arrogant and more importantly unscriptural titles and claims of the Pope.

Those claims, historically viewed as spurious and blasphemous by Protestant churches, mean that his visit can not be construed as simply pastoral.

We publicly disassociate ourselves from and condemn those church leaders who will welcome and meet with him. By their actions they not only give credence to his spurious claims but are betraying the very creeds they once professed to believe, teach and defend.

We intend, in the coming weeks, to highlight the contrast between the teaching of scripture and the false doctrines of the papacy.

Our supreme aim and overriding concern is to exalt the Only King and Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We will therefore, at this time, call all people to a personal faith in the Saviour as the Only Mediator between God and men.

The Belfast Newsletter has carried details of the statement here

Pope's visit in trouble - Amen to that!

It is being reported that the Pope's visit to England and Scotland is in trouble financially. 

The Daily Telegraph is reporting:

Pope Benedict XVI’s historic visit to Britain is in disarray as the costs spiral and doubts increase over the schedule. The part of the bill that must be paid by the Roman Catholic church is now being put at as much as £14 million, twice the earlier estimate, which could lead to events being scaled down or even cancelled.

Read more

May the Lord be pleased to answer prayer that the visit is cancelled.

The significance of Greece in the Prophetic Scriptures

The debt problems that Greece and other Europeans nations are facing have sparked off considerable discussion about whether the Euro will survive or not.

Part of this is due to the scepticism of Germany towards bailing out lesser performing European countries. Their hard won economic strength is at stake because of the failings of these other countries. To the extent that it is being reported that secretly Germany has begun to re-print the Deutsche Mark.

Greece is of interest to Bible believers and readers of the prophetic Scriptures.

As I have listened to various news reports over these past weeks about the problems facing the Euro currency I have been made to think about some things that the book of Daniel has to say about the state of south-eastern European nations immediately prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus.

Daniel ch 8 emphasises the importance of keeping our eye upon the countries of south-eastern Europe and particularly Greece.