Marching for sodomite marriage- Presbyterian minister Rev Bill Shaw

Isaiah 5:20: “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!”

In this day of outrageous apostasy, where bitter is being put for sweet and sweet for bitter on a daily basis, it is still shocking to observe the conduct of ordained Presbyterian minister Rev Bill Shaw.

He doesn’t currently hold a charge and instead runs an arts and ‘peace’ centre in north Belfast called the Duncairn, while spending a significant amount of his time expressing his extreme opposition to the Israeli state and unequivocal support for the Palestinian lobby.

While we are not looking to or are indeed particularly well equipped to engage in a debate surrounding Middle Eastern politics, it is certainly a very strange position to hold, as a supposedly Christian minister, to God’s chosen people.

Another pet project of his is to consistently express his support for the sodomite agenda, and he paraded as part of the so-called ‘marriage equality’ procession in Belfast at the weekend, which he posted about on his Facebook page (pictured, below).

This follows on from his participation in the sodomite ‘Pride’ parade in the city last summer, at which Rev Bill Shaw also carried a poster saying that he, as a Presbyterian, supported the LGBT agenda, something which flies in the face of God’s Word.

The Bible is so clear on sodomy it truly can only be the view of someone who has cast off God’s Word to try to claim it is permissible in the eyes of God.

Genesis 2:18, 21-24: “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

Leviticus 18:22: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”

Romans 1:26-28: “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient”.

These verses are crystal clear.

Indeed, nowhere whatsoever in Scripture is the notion of a same-sex relationship, much less marriage, considered as even a legitimate possibility, never mind commendable.

Paul, in his letters, speaks of elders in the church being the “husband of one wife” (Titus 1:6) and, of marriage, says “let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband” (1 Corinthians 7:2).

Jesus reiterated the foundational principle of a man being married to a woman.

Matthew 19:4-6: “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

These very clear verses appear to either not be sufficient for Rev Bill Shaw or he has simply disregarded them.

Whatever the case, his actions run completely at odds to that which is approved by God in His Word.

Sadly, this is a topic we have had to visit on numerous occasions as so many churches and professing Christians seem to be compromising on the sin which brought God’s judgment down on Sodom and Gomorrah.

And for any who try to deny this was the reason, just have a read of Jude v 7, which says: “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

We have seen Groomsport Presbyterian Church in County Down celebrate the same-sex ‘marriage’ of one of its former trainee ‘ministers’, Jennifer Barchi.

We have seen so-called ‘Christian’ rock band Rend Collective say it is a “sad thing” in response to a transgender person bemoaning the fact they couldn’t lead worship or preach in certain churches.

We have seen Presbyterian ‘minister’ ‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll refuse to speak out in defence of the Asher’s Bakery as they were prosecuted by the (In)Equality Commission for refusing to bake a cake bearing a slogan in favour of same-sex marriage.

We have seen Carnmoney Presbyterian Church minister Rev John Dickinson endorsing the lesbian ‘Christian’ LGBT campaigner Vicky Beeching, along with another Presbyterian ‘minister’, ‘Rev’ Liz Hughes.

We have seen the DUP, which once stood foursquare for the Word of God, greatly soften their stance in relation to sodomy, allowing sodomite pardons to be brought in, seeing leader Arlene Foster attend and speak at an event celebrating sodomites at Stormont and topping it off by nominating a lesbian candidate for the recent council elections.

This is just a brief snapshot of the overthrowing of God’s Word which is being practised by so many who ought to be defending it.

And Rev Bill Shaw is no exception.

As an ordained Presbyterian minister, he ought to be taking a stand against the rising tide of sin in our land which seeks to drown out all opposition to it, but instead he is joining in with the sinful chorus of the enemies of Christ.

Dear Christian, you cannot but be aware of the prevalence and promotion of that which God has called an “abomination” in our country.

It is not enough to merely be vexed and grieved by such depravity, we must speak out.

Lot was vexed by the filthiness he was surrounded with in Sodom, yet he was not a good example for us to follow.

We are told in 2 Peter 2:7 that God “delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked”.

Would any Christian reading this consider Lot an example to follow? Yet he was vexed by the wickedness all around him.

That was a proper and just reaction, but it wasn’t enough.

What action did he take? There’s very little recorded in the Bible of it.

Even when he offered shelter to the angels and tried to protect them from the wretches outside the door, he vilely offered his virgin daughters to satisfy the unseemly lusts of the men of Sodom (Genesis 19:4-8).

We can also see the ungodly house over which he headed.

His wife, having a regard for the sin and evil company she had apparently ‘enjoyed’, looked back at Sodom, against God’s command, and perished (Genesis 19:17, 26).

His sons-in-law had clearly heard so little of God from Lot that when he told them of the impending judgment of God upon it, he “seemed as one that mocked” (Genesis 19:14).

His daughters, who survived the city’s destruction, had their minds so corrupted by the company they kept, plotted to get their father drunk two nights in a row before engaging in vile conduct so as to have children (Genesis 19:31-38).

Lot, of course, was foolish enough to allow himself to be drunk the first night, and was more foolish still to allow it to happen a second time, and so soon after.

And this is the man who was “vexed with the filthy conversation (or lifestyle) of the wicked”.

He was grieved and stopped there and the consequences were grave.

And likewise today the consequences will be grave for us personally and Ulster collectively if we don’t speak out against the sins of the day.

Sodomy is the number one sin of the day; it is being waved in the faces and rubbed in the noses of every child of God.

Are we going to sit silently and tut to ourselves or in company where we know we are safe to do so?

Or are we ready to take our stand for Christ and be determined to obey God rather than the latest evil thought of man?

Rev Bill Shaw is taking to the streets to support sodomy and call for that which grieves the Lord to be foisted upon us.

What will we do to take our stand for God and His Word?

Isaiah 58:1: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.”

Groomsport Presbyterian Church celebrates same-sex marriage of former trainee ‘minister’

Isaiah 5:20: “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!”

These days there is a great deal of turning truth and righteousness on its head and this is no more pronounced, both in secular and religious circles than on the issue of LGBT ‘rights’.

It is not an issue we particularly like treading over, but as the propagation of such defiance of God’s Word and natural order persists, so must we persist in voicing our objection to such utter godlessness.

And it has recently come to our attention that Groomsport Presbyterian Church, near Bangor in County Down, has offered its support to same-sex ‘marriage’ by cheerily celebrating the recent ‘wedding’ between a former intern ‘minister’ in the congregation and her ‘girlfriend’.

In their church magazine, known as ‘Eagle Wing’, it is proudly boasted of ‘Rev’ Jennifer Barchi’s ‘marriage’ to her ‘girlfriend’.

This was advertised in the Christmas 2017 edition of their magazine, though it has only recently come to our attention.

Jennifer Barchi (pictured, top), who appears to be an American, served as Groomsport Presbyterian Church’s ‘Princeton intern’ in the 2010/11 year. She is now ‘minister’ in Dickey Memorial Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Maryland in the USA.

In the Eagle Wing magazine, declaring her anti-Christian union, she says: “It has been a wonderfully busy Fall. On October 14th, my fiancée, Lauren, and I were married at a beautiful ceremony on Chesapeake Bay.

“We were delighted to have so many family, friends, and much of our congregation present with us. I’ll be sure to send photos along when I get them in the spring.”

We’ll all look forward to seeing the photos, no doubt.

The Bible passages on such sins are crystal clear and anyone who attempts to contort them so as to fit their anti-Christian world view is clutching at straws, to put it mildly.

Romans 1:24-27 says: “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 says: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

It says clearly there in Romans that ‘Rev’ Jennifer Barchi’s relationship is “against nature” and she and everyone else is warned that “abusers of themselves with mankind” shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

So how can it be justified that such an individual be tasked with preaching God’s Word when they live in such open defiance of it?

1 Timothy 2 also deals with this matter in a crystal clear manner. Verse 12 says: “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”

And in the following chapter there is not even the faintest consideration that a woman might hold the role of a minister.

1 Timothy 3:1-4: “This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity”.

The role of an overseer in a church belongs to a man, who must be the “husband of one wife” and must rule well “his own house”.

Nowhere does it say that it could actually be a woman and nowhere does Scripture give its endorsement to homosexual relationships.

So why does Groomsport Presbyterian Church include such open sinfulness in its publication?

We do not know, but there is clearly little or no opposition to this at the highest levels in that church.

The current minister there is a Rev Paul Dalzell and he ought to be speaking out most vociferously against it.

Instead, he contributes to this same publication so tainted with such vileness by including his ‘Letter from the manse’ at the opening of the magazine.

He is not the editor, that is a woman called Susan Ekin, but Rev Paul Dalzell could at the very least refuse to touch “even the garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude v 23).

However, one must draw the conclusion that he is in support of such vileness, or at the very least he is willing to turn a blind eye.

Ezekiel 33:2-9 warns of such abandonment of a minister’s duty to speak out against sin.

It says: “Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man , thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”

The blood of those the minister, or watchman, failed to warn, is on the hands of that minister. What a frightful thought that is!

And to be a ‘minister’ openly engaging in a sin God has called an “abomination” (Leviticus 18:22) as well as failing to warn the people, as is the case with ‘Rev’ Jennifer Barchi, is more frightening still.

In a blog post she has put up on her church, Dickey Memorial’s website, she has stressed her celebration of the sodomite ‘Pride’ festival.

Grievously, she points out that it was people in her own congregation there who encouraged her to date a woman in the church, who would later become her ‘wife’.

This means that the church was clearly aware of an openly lesbian member of the church and not only tolerated it, but encouraged it.

‘Rev’ Jennifer Barchi also states that she told the ‘Pastoral Nominating Committee’ for Dickey Memorial Presbyterian Church that she was a lesbian.

Their response, says she? “They didn’t care”.

Neither, too, did her congregation, particularly given it was members of the church who encouraged her in to her ungodly relationship. When one looks at the church’s website, it is no surprise. It says: “We welcome all persons into all aspects of our church life and leadership regardless of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, gender identity…”

As was stated above in her correspondence with Groomsport Presbyterian Church, most of her congregation attended the affront to God that was her ‘wedding’ ceremony.

This is such an apt instance of what Jesus said in Matthew 15:14 when he said: “they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”

There must surely be those in Groomsport Presbyterian Church who are opposed to this disgraceful situation and we would encourage anyone reading this who knows anyone connected with the church or in the area to share this with them.

In her article for ‘Pride’, ‘Rev’ Jennifer Barchi says that she had not ‘come out’ when she was in Groomsport and there were those who had no “qualms about talking about it as a sin in front of me”.

We would call on those people in Groomsport Presbyterian Church to take a loud, vociferous and uncompromising stand against such disgraceful apostasy.

We are called on to “earnestly contend for the faith” (Jude v 3) and Ephesians 5:11 instructs us to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them”.

There is to be a separation from wickedness and if Groomsport Presbyterian Church continues to endorse such defiance of God, then true believers must separate themselves from it.

Let our vow be as that of Joshua, when he said in Joshua 24:15: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”