Letter sent to Newtownabbey Times regarding the selection of a sodomite candidate to stand in the local elections

Dear Editor
Now that the dust has settled on the recent elections, and on what appears to be the DUP’s attempt to test the waters, it is important to restate that sexuality is always a matter of choice according to the inclination of the human heart. Sinful choices, therefore, consequently flow from a sinful heart. To argue ‘I was born this way’ is in reality an admission of sinful depravity.

Sadly, the human heart is “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,” cf. Jeremiah 17:9. The sin of sodomy is one of those sins which flows from a deceitful and desperately wicked heart.

This same sin is further described in Holy Scripture as an ‘abomination’, cf. Leviticus 18:22; 'uncleanness’, ‘dishonourable’ ‘vile affections’, ‘against nature’ and ‘unseemly’, cf. Romans 1:24,26,27. The Bible uses the strongest of language against this sin.

Dr S B Cooke - The Early Years of The Free Presbyterian Church

Former Deputy-moderator of the Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church, Dr S B Cooke, speaks about the early years of the denomination and its stand against apostasy.

This account is particularly important as it explains the need for the Free Presbyterian Church to continue to be true to its founding creed and to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.

Compromise of Billy Graham

More than 2,000 mourners, including President Donald Trump,  attended the funeral of Dr Billy Graham in North Carolina on Saturday past.

Following his death just over a week ago, at the age of 99, Billy Graham became only the fourth private American citizen, and the first religious leader, in the history of the United States, to lie in repose in the Capitol building in Washington DC.

Below is a link to a sermon preached in Newtownabbey Free Presbyterian Church on Lord's day evening 4th March on the Compromise of Billy Graham, highlighting the truths he no longer wanted to emphasis in his ministry.

Billy Graham and his Bible

This is a scan of an article published by the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster some years ago entitled Billy Graham and his Bible

Rev David DiCanio, FPC missionary in Liberia, highlights the Compromises of Billy Graham

Rev. David DiCanio, a missionary under the Free Presbyterian Church of North America, produced and aired, on Liberia’s largest Christian radio station, a special program shortly after the death of Evangelist Billy Graham on Wednesday, hoping to inform people about concerns many have had with Graham’s ministry.

“When I heard that Dr. Graham died, and saw online all the positive comments about his ministry, I felt that I had to put something together to show people in Liberia the truth about his compromise,” Mr. DiCanio said. “On numerous occasions, Billy Graham clearly stated that people could be saved without the Bible or Christ.”

See article on FPC Missionary News - Missionary in Liberia Stands Up for Truth in Context of Billy Graham Passing

The broadcast can be listened to here

Orange Order Double Standards

Recently the Orange Order made a great play of honouring Martin Luther and the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. A major exhibition marking this 500th anniversary was opened at a museum run by the Orange Order in Belfast.

A display entitled Staunch And True at the Museum of Orange Heritage examines the impact and legacy of the event. The Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, Edward Stevenson, said: Our latest major exhibition provides an informative insight into the historical context of the Reformation and how its powerful legacy impacted and inspired future generations.

This the same Orange Order that refuses to discipline members who attend the Romish Mass, which is against the laws of the Orange Order. This has happened in the past when members attended funeral masses and recently when members attended requiem mass for Martin McGuinness.

How many Members, Officers, Lodges and Districts within the Orange Order will say or do anything about this breech of their rules? Virtually none of them! They will turn a blind a blind eye to what has happened. When or where opposition to attending the mass might be raised it sill not receive the necessary support to pursue the matter, which always becomes a convenient excuse for any who are challenged about it. However no one resigns in disgust at the compromise.

This is double standards. They pretend to honour Luther on one hand for his stand for Truth, yet on the other refuse to stand themselves for what is true. 

A Country brought to its Knees so that it might turn to the Lord

Elijah was a man who prayed that his own country would be brought to its knees so that it might turn to the Lord. James informs us that before he ever stood before Ahab, and told him there would be no rain but according to his word, Elijah had earnestly sought the Lord in prayer that it would not rain, James 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

Elijah would rather have famine that would bring great hardship, but would eventually cause the people to turn to the Lord, than for the nation to go on in short term prosperity but ultimately bring down upon themselves the judgment of God.

He realised that this people would never turn to the Lord until they felt the iron in their soul, until they were brought down to the very depths of deprivation, where food and water, the bare essentials of life, could not be easily found or provided.

He further realised that the Lord had already taught the truth that in order for a person, or a nation, who had rejected the Word of God to turn again to the Lord they need to put between a rock and hard place. A place so afflicting to the soul that they begin to consider the things of God, Deuteronomy 28:23,24. Consider the days of the Judges and the Kings of Israel and Judah. This truth is often illustrated in these times.

It is only by God doing this that a person, who has wrongly set their affections on the things of this world, will ever be brought to see the folly of their ways. For folly it is!

Compromising with murderers, and their supporters, has brought Unionism to its knees. More of the same is not the answer!

Samson thought he could play with sinful temptation and not suffer any consequences. He learned to his great cost that trifling with what is wrong brings a fearful harvest. Samson ended up blind, shackled, subjugated by the Philistines and grinding corn in their prisonhouse.

Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, joined in affinity both with ungodly Ahab and his son Ahaziah. Remember that Ahab's house was a murderous one. These were political ventures, which were thought would benefit and enrich their respective kingdoms with peace and prosperity. It wasn't that Jehoshaphat was joining in joint worship or anything that was overtly religious. It was a purely political, commercial union, designed to advance the peace and prosperity both of the northern and southern kingdoms in Israel.

Mistaken ventures

On the first occasion, when Jehoshaphat and Ahab determined to go to war against the Syrians, Jehoshaphat was wise enough to seek counsel from God. Micaiah the prophet counselled them to desist and go home. Micaiah spoke on God's behalf and said: I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace.

This mistaken venture into war ended with the untimely death of ungodly Ahab and Jehoshaphat only escaping death by the skin of his teeth. Upon his return home Jehoshaphat was again warned by God about his foolish and mistaken adventure. Evidently the spirit that caused him to join with Ahab had not been totally eradicated from his heart and mind. Jehu, the son of Hanani, the seer, went out to meet king Jehoshaphat upon his return and said to him: Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD, 2 Chronicles 19:2.

The shameful evidence of standing on the other side

Last Monday in Stormont politicians, including a number of professing Christians, and Free Presbyterians, refused to support Mr Jim Allister in his motion to stop the posthumous pardon for sodomites.

Here is the physical evidence of their refusal to offer any support. These are still frames taken from the film footage of the debate. They show Mr Allister standing at the front of the Assembly waiting for someone to come forward to act as a second 'Teller' so that a vote can take place.

Mr Allister stands for two and an half minutes waiting for another MLA to come forward. Numerous MLAs can be seen sitting on the unionist side of the chamber refusing to show any support for the motion.

Photo 1 - Mr Allister waiting at the front of the Assembly on another MLA to act as a 'Teller' so that his motion can be voted on. 

Photo 2 - MLAs at Stormont as Mr Allister waited for two and an half minutes

C. H. Spurgeon on 'Compromise'

Charles Haddon Spurgeon contended much against compromise during his ministry. Here is an extract from one of his sermons entitled "No Compromise".

It was based upon the words of Genesis 24:5-8: And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou earnest? And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that aware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.

This sermon was preached on Lord's day morning 7th October 1888. It is sermon number 2047 and appears in Volume 34 of Spurgeon's sermons. 

This is the suggestion of the present hour: if the world will not come to Jesus, shall Jesus tone down his teachings to the world? In other words, if the world will not rise to the church, shall not the church go down to the world? Instead of bidding men to be converted, and come out from among sinners, and be separate from them, let us join with the ungodly world, enter into union with it, and so pervade it with our influence by allowing it to influence us. Let us have a Christian world.

To this end let us revise our doctrines. Some are old-fashioned, grim, severe, unpopular; let us drop them out. Use the old phrases so as to please the obstinately orthodox, but give them new meanings so as to win philosophical infidels, who are prowling around. Pare off the edges of unpleasant truths, and moderate the dogmatic tone of infallible revelation: say that Abraham and Moses made mistakes, and that the books which have been so long had in reverence are full of errors. Undermine the old faith, and bring in the new doubt; for the times are altered, and the spirit of the age suggests the abandonment of everything that is too severely righteous, and too surely of God.

Joel Beeke's Compromise Continues Unabated

Over recent years a lengthy charge sheet has emerged detailing Joel Beeke's compromise. That compromise continues unabated and unchecked. 

In a recent article entitled: The Downward Spiral of Dr. Joel Beeke’s Ministries Continues, Ralph Ovadal, Pastor of Pilgrims Covenant Church, Monroe, Wisconsin details Joel's Beeke's ongoing associations with new evangelicals, Romanists, Orthodox 'Christians,' Seventh Day Adventists, apostate Protestants, feminists, evolutionists, and even 'gay Christians'. 

It is a documented fact that Joel Beeke has joined in preaching and teaching fellowship with all of them! [Click on the link above to read this sorry tale of departure]

There might be an impression of scholariness cultivated but there is certainly no spirit of discernment or obedience to Scripture present. It is not intellectualism and a generation of well educated and supposedly well read academics that the Church of Jesus Christ desperately needs today, but rather a race of preachers who preach and practice separation. Something Joel Beeke simply doesn't do!

"Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats"

The article contained in this Blog post has often been attributed to C. H. Spurgeon. However, it does not appear within any of his voluminous works which are in print.

It has also been attributed to Rev Archibald Brown, who was a friend of Spurgeon’s and who briefly occupied the pulpit of the Metropolitan Tabernacle after Spurgeon’s death. There are those who say that it is actually from a sermon Rev Archibald Brown preached entitled, "The Devil's Mission of Amusement."

The usual title under which this article is found is: "Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats". It is a highly appropriate article and very applicable to the Church of Jesus Christ today. Much of what passes for feeding the sheep, in reality, amounts to nothing else but entertaining the goats.

An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most short-sighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.

The wrongs of Integrated Education for Bible Believers

Adapted from 'The Quiver', the e-newsletter of Newtownabbey Independent Christian School

A number of state schools in Northern Ireland are moving to 'Integrated' status. For some it is purely a mechanism to remain open and it is not that there is a strong conviction about the principles that underpin integrated eduction. A state primary with the Newtownabbey area is planning to move to be an integrated school in September 2015 for the sole reason of remaining open.

It is worth remembering that there are serious issues with integrated schools for Bible believing Christians:

1. These schools are profoundly ecumenical in character and ethos. They may profess to be 'Christian' in character, however, in reality, they are ecumenical schools.

Failure to oppose a papal visit is a cowardly betrayal of Protestantism

It is reported on the BBC website that unionist members of Belfast City Council have abstained on whether to invite the pope to Belfast. See here. Part of the report reads:
DUP councillor Lee Reynolds said the motion presented by the SDLP "was essentially an election stunt and it wasn't a game we were willing to play". "They were wanting an insult and we weren't going to give them that, so we chose the path of abstention."

Ulster Unionist councillor Jim Rodgers, who had previously spoken out against issuing an invitation to the Pope, said he had decided to abstain after "giving the issue a lot of thought".

"I am concerned at the likelihood of trouble on our streets ... and I don't want any religious or civic leader coming here to find themselves offended and see violence on a large scale," he said.

Belfast Newsletter - Robinson: if safe, Pope can visit

Failure to oppose such an invitation is a cowardly betrayal of Protestantism. This is politics without principle! Are they ashamed of being Protestants? Is it a fear of scorn by the religious and secular liberals that makes them abstain? Is it base political calculation that is at work? Or has the rot of ecumenism infected these politicans so much that they meekly refuse to stand up for truth and righteousness? It could be all these and more!

Doctrines of Devils - No 3. New Calvinism

The term 'Doctrines of Devils' is taken from 1 Timothy 4:1 and is a description of those insidious doctrines that creep into the professing church of Jesus Christ and bring about worldliness, coldness, compromise and eventual departure from the faith once delivered to the saints. These notes were part of a three part sermon series preached in Newtownabbey Free Presbyterian Church in December 2012. The audio can be listened to on our Sermonaudio's webpage

New Calvinism

The term 'New Calvinism' may be unfamiliar to some, maybe to most, in Northern Ireland but its significance and influence is growing all the time. Whatever starts in American 'Christian' circles usually eventually arrives in the United Kingdom. That observation is certainly true of New Calvinism. The beliefs and practices of this movement are once again gaining a foothold within the professing Church of Jesus Christ. However, it is but a new name for old compromises!!

Time magazine, the world’s largest circulation weekly news magazine, in an article published in 2009, listed ten ideas that they reckoned were changing the World Right Then and placed New Calvinism third on their list. That will give us some idea of its significance, if not in Britain, certainly in North America.

Doctrines of Devils - No. 2: Neo-evangelicalism

The term 'Doctrines of Devils' is taken from 1 Timothy 4:1 and is a description of those insidious doctrines that creep into the professing church of Jesus Christ and bring about worldliness, coldness, compromise and eventual departure from the faith once delivered to the saints. These notes were part of a three part sermon series preached in Newtownabbey Free Presbyterian Church in December 2012. The audio can be listened to on our Sermonaudio's webpage

Neo-evangelicalism

The term Neo-evangelicalism came into existence in United States of America around 1948 to identify a new movement that was taking shape at that time within the wider Christian Fundamentalism. A Congregational minister in Boston, Mass. by the name of Harold Ockenga is acknowledged to have coined the phrase, 'Neo-evangelicalism' or 'New-evangelicalism'.

For more than 35 years prior to 1948 the term 'Fundamentalist' had been in existence. The Fundamentalist movement took its name from a set of twelve booklets originally published between 1910 and 1912.

Since that time [1910-1912], this term became the popular name attributed to those in various Protestant evangelical denominations who were opposed to the Liberalism and Modernism that were sadly taking over the major denominations of America. From the inception therefore of these terms, 'Fundamentalist' & 'Fundamentalism', were used to describe those Bible believing evangelical Christians who were on a crusade against liberal/modernistic attacks upon the faith once delivered to the saints.

Another panellist apologies to 'Christian Rap' musicians

This is now becoming an epidemic! Another panellist who was involved in the discussion on 'Christian reformed rap' has apologised. This time it is Geoff Botkin. Although to be fair he qualifies his apology somewhat. 

This is what Geoff Botkin originally had to say about 'Christian reformed rap' when taking part in the panel discussion:

Another one of Joel Beeke's New Calvinist friends comes out in supports of 'Christian rap' music

That friend is Albert Mohler. He is a New Calvinist who has shared platforms and co-authored books with Joel Beeke. This is what Albert Mohler had to say about rap music and the so called 'Christian' variety of it:

Rap music is not my music. I do not come from a culture in which rap music is the medium of communication and I do not have the ear for it that I have for other forms of music. But I do admire its virtuosity and the hold that is has on so many, for whom it is a first and dominant musical language. I want that language taken for the cause of the Gospel and I pray to see a generation of young Gospel-driven rappers take dominion of that music for the glory of God. I see that happening now, and I rejoice in it. I want to see them grow even more in influence, reaching people I cannot reach with music that will reach millions who desperately need the Gospel. The same way that folks who first heard Bach desperately needed to hear the Gospel.

More apologies for offending 'Christian Rap' musicians

Joel Beeke isn't the only one to give in to a little criticism and apologise for offending 'Christian rap' musicians. Scott Brown who chaired the panel discussion and brought up the subject of 'Christian rap' has also caved in. He is the director of the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches.

On his Blog he makes a plead: Please Forgive me, and goes on to write:

Joel Beeke apologies for offending 'Christian rap' musicians!

At a panel discussion which took place at a conference sponsored by the National Center for Family Integrated Churches, the subject of 'Christian Rap' music was discussed. The whole panel discussion on the subject can be viewed here. The list of panelists included: Dan Horn, Scott Aniol, Geoff Botkin, Joel Beeke, Jason Dohm, and Joe Morecraft.

In the main the discussion took a negative line regarding rap music, and rightly so, although there was no mention of the most fundamental argument against such music being the Bible's teaching on the doctrine of separation from the world. Dr Joel Beeke spoke only briefly on the subject and not in the most negative terms as compared to some of the others. One comment remarked that his contribution to the discussion was the "least offensive".

It now transpires that Joel Beeke has repudiated these mild comments that he did make and wishes to apologies to Christian rap musicians for any offence he may have caused.

His contrite apology has been conveyed through the channel of Tim Challies, who is a pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Canada. Tim Challies who is a New Calvinist, and evident supporter of Christian rap music, was unhappy with the nature of the comments made by the panellists on rap music, describing them as "not good". Tim Challies also makes reference to the unhappiness of others about the comments made by Joel Beeke and his fellow panellists saying that: "many people have subsequently responded with calls for clarity and repentance".