Church of Ireland body calls for legal ‘recognition of transgender and non-binary people’

Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

From the very beginning of time, it has been a very clear, basic fact of nature that God created men and women.

God didn’t create men in women’s bodies, He didn’t create women in men’s bodies, He didn’t create people who are neither male nor female – “male and female created He them”.

The cultural warriors who seek to shrug off and stomp into the ground all lingering traces of Biblical Christianity in our society have largely moved from the pro-sodomite campaign to the gender and gender identity campaign as the next battleground in their rage against God.

Even ungodly individuals who have sought to speak out against the utterly illogical claims of the gender activists, such as Harry Potter author JK Rowling, noted feminist Germaine Greer and Father Ted author Graham Linehan have been castigated, no-platformed, demonised and barred off social media (in the case of the latter).

Yet while there is not even unanimity on these matters within ungodly members of society, we have a leading body within the Church of Ireland seeking to offer even greater legal protection against those who seek to speak out against the ungodly transgender campaign.

The Church and Society Commission of the Church of Ireland, a body set up in 2013 by the General Synod to “develop areas of living today where the mission of the church can be active” (whatever that means), has called for legal recognition and specific hate crime legislation to cover people who class themselves as “transgender and non-binary”.

Now of course nobody should be subjected to a hate crime, though at the same time the definition of what a hate crime is can be very loosely interpreted to mean whatever those in charge want it to mean.

Speaking out against trans ideology is enough to get someone thrown off Twitter and widely castigated, so how much more dangerous is it for a church to recognise ideologies which are contrary to God’s will?

In the Church of Ireland’s Church and Society Commission’s response to a consultation regarding the extending of provisions within hate crime legislation, they state that “gender… should be sufficiently designed as to recognise the existence of and protect cisgender people but also intersex, transgender and non-binary people”.

For clarity, “cisgender people” is the term used by gender activists to describe people who are born a certain sex and identify as the same sex, ie the vast, vast majority of people.

Of course, there is no need for such a word as “cisgender” as that is what everyone in reality is. You may as well describe everyone as human, it is something which requires no greater elaboration than that.

“Transgender” can mean a large number of things but the Google dictionary defines it as “denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex”.

And “non-binary” refers to those who do not consider themselves to be male or female, generally asking to be called “they” or “them” rather than “he” or “she”.

All those things are at odds with God’s Word, yet a body set up by the Church of Ireland is campaigning for recognition of these deviations from God’s creation.

To say you are “transgender” is to say God has made a mistake when making you, and we know God makes no mistakes.

Furthermore, we are told clearly in 1 Corinthians 14:33 that “God is not the author of confusion”, which all this certainly is.

Many people are left perplexed by the terms being thrown about, the number of which seeming to be exponentially increasing, with many of these activists reassigning themselves within all these various categories almost at will. This is a very confused thing which results from man’s muddled mind.

And it can only be the result of muddled thinking from the Church of Ireland that it starts to recognise such terms.

The Church and Society Commission membership is rather difficult to ascertain for absolute certain, but in a report brought to the General Synod last year by the commission, the membership is stated as follows (and in this same order):

Right Rev Dr Kenneth Kearon (Chair and Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe)
Most Rev Dr Richard Clarke (at that time the Archbishop of Armagh)
Most Rev Dr Michael Jackson (Archbishop of Dublin)
Mr Ken Gibson
Mr Neville Armstrong
Mrs June Butler
Rev Rob Clements
Rev Dr Rory Corbett
Dr Elizabeth Leonard
Mrs Ethne McCord
Rev Martin O’Connor
Rev Andrew Orr
Ms Zephryn Patton
Rev Peter Rutherford

We cannot be certain this remains the make-up of the commission, especially given Most Ecumenical Richard Clarke has retired as Archbishop of Armagh, but it is likely most, if not all, of the others remain as members. We would be very grateful if a reader could confirm for us the current constitution of the commission.

The Chair of the commission, Bishop Kenneth Kearon (pictured, top), does remain the Chair, and he supported repealing the eighth amendment in the Republic of Ireland’s constitution which prohibited abortion, stating his belief that life does not begin at conception, showing his modern, liberal views on another most important matter.

This is, sadly, but a further sign of the malaise within the Church of Ireland, seemingly becoming more profound the higher up the clerical structure one looks.

Compromise is the name of the game for everyone involved in the Church and Society Commission in an effort to try to remain in step with the wicked world around us.

This, the Scriptures tell us, is a very foolish position to adopt.

Romans 12:2: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Let us not change, amend or water down our views to try to please the world but rather stand for the truth of God’s Word and let your light shine in this world of darkness.

Belfast Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church hosts ‘Trans Pride’ festival

Matthew 19:4-5: “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?”

Deuteronomy 22:5: “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.”

The truly shocking levels of apostasy in our land have been brought even more sharply into focus this week as it was revealed that a church in Belfast has hosted a ‘Trans Pride’ festival in our capital city.

First Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, based on Rosemary Street in the city, was the venue for much of the events which made up the two day ‘Trans Pride NI Festival’.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that the Church hosted several talks on “trans themes” and there would also be a “Trans Information Exchange, featuring stands staffed by the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland), Unite the Union, Queerspace, Trans Pride NI, the civil service and the Department for Communities.”

The First Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church also hosted a “discussion on ‘Transphobia and Religion'” which featured speakers from the Humanist Association of Northern Ireland and a David Kerr, who is apparently a lay preacher at First Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church.

The Belfast Telegraph report concludes by saying the event is supported by Belfast City Council, the Department for Communities, the Executive Office (the new name for the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland) and the Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP).

So this celebration of that which is utterly at odds with God’s Word has been given the seal of approval by an awful lot of influential bodies.

It is certainly most concerning to note the police taking part in this festival, just as it is to see the police taking part in the sodomite ‘Pride’ parade in Belfast each year.

Also, the highest government office in our land (The Executive Office) is supporting this wicked event, as well as senior public bodies such as Belfast City Council and the PCSP, both of which have not insignificant numbers of DUP members.

While we accept they could simply be outvoted by other members of those bodies, we certainly are not aware of them objecting to funding being provided to the promotion of the God-defying notion of transgenderism.

If they did, we are happy for it to be brought to our attention and for any DUP member of those bodies (or generally) to contact us to clarify that.

The saddest part of it all is the fact that the event is essentially headquartered in a church.

Of course, the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church is a church to be avoided at all costs, even leaving aside its celebration of deviancy, given it is a Unitarian church, meaning it denies the precious doctrine of the Trinity.

This in turn means they deny that Jesus is the Son of God and therefore they reject our only means of salvation, which is by faith in Christ.

The LGBT movement is an act of rebellion against God and His natural order, and this being enthusiastically supported by First Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church is absolutely outrageous.

Its minister is a Rev Simon Henning (who appears to be one and the same as a Rev Simon Henning formerly minister at Ballyblack Presbyterian Church), who was installed there just a few months ago.

And he is guilty of a most grievous offence against God.

He does this firstly, of course, by denying His only begotten Son, Whose death at Calvary happened that we might be saved through faith in Him.

Without faith in Christ and His atoning death, we cannot be saved.

Isaiah 53:5 prophetically speaks of Jesus’ substitutionary death. It says: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

We are healed of our sins through the sacrifice of Christ, yet the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church denies Him.

Rev Simon Henning then grievously offends God by nailing his colours to the mast in favour of that which God says is an abomination.

What a dreadful thing to do.

The Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church are no strangers to endorsing the vilest of sins condemned in the strongest of terms by God.

All Souls Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, based elsewhere in Belfast, each year holds a sodomite ‘Pride service’ as well as a transgender service in the latter part of the year.

Further to that, that church’s minister, Rev Chris Hudson, has previously been awarded a ‘Transgender Champion’ award for his work in supporting that which is rejected by God.

And the ‘minister’ of 1st Dunmurry Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church (near Belfast) is ‘Rev’ Linda Ballard (1 Timothy 2:12), who, when she was still a student ‘minister’ in that Christ-rejecting denomination, said she planned “to form her ministry around gender issues”.

This shows you beyond doubt the utterly corrupt nature of this denomination.

If anyone reading this is as yet unsaved or is perhaps tied up in the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, won’t you turn from your sin and from that Christ-rejecting church and instead put your faith and trust in Christ.

Hebrews 7:22, 24-25: “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

Acts 4:10, 12: “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

We must be saved, there is no other way to get to heaven and no other way to avoid an eternity in hell, and we are saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh that the people of Ulster and further afield would be reawakened to this precious truth and that sinners of all shades and hues, be they homosexuals, transgender, thieves, adulterers, murderers, blasphemers or any other sin you can think of, would come to Christ for His so great salvation.

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Will Methodist ministers stand up against transgender uniforms at Methody College?

Now the battle over sodomy is more or less won by the Christ deniers in the western world, the next battleground they have turned their attention to is transgenderism.

As was the case with sodomy, nothing but total surrender to the transgender cause will do, and all must fall before this sacred cow of secularism. If you don’t believe that’s how such servants of the devil operate, just look at the abuse received by anti-abortion and anti-sodomy sections of Northern Irish society for holding back the tide of depravity attempting to sweep through our land.

The same spirit as that highlighted in Habakkuk 2:5 is evident here. It says: “Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people”.

And to this end of ensuring total submission, and the other key tactic used by those seeking to overthrow the imprint of godliness on society – brainwashing the young – there are now moves afoot to incorporate transgender uniforms at Methody College in Belfast.

Methody is a colloquial short form for Methodist, and this college was founded by Methodists.

While the Methodist Church no longer has outright control over the school, there is still a significant influence from the church over the school.

No less than five members of the Board of Governors are Methodist ministers and we would sincerely hope they will do the right thing, the only proper thing to do in the circumstances, and speak out fearlessly and stridently against the consideration of indulging such wickedness in the school which bears their church’s name.

The five ministers concerned are Rev David Campton (pictured, top), Rev John Alderdice, ‘Rev’ Emily Hyland, Rev John Stephens and ‘Rev’ Janet Unsworth (pictured, below), who also serves as the Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors.

All five are, according to the school’s website, ‘Trustee Governors’, who, the website explains, are “appointed by the Conference of the Methodist Church” to their positions.

So these people are in their position due to the decision taken by the Methodist Church’s equivalent of the General Synod in the Church of Ireland and General Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church.

They are in their position due to the decision taken by the highest authority of their church in this land and have a responsibility to represent Christ in their role.

Will they be faithful to God’s Word and take a voluble and determined stand against the efforts to cater for ungodliness in Methodist College?

Sadly, based on what we can establish of the past form of many of these Methodist ministers, the signs aren’t particularly good.

Rev John Alderdice (not to be confused with the Bible rejecter and deceitful subscriber to the Westminster Confession of Faith, Lord Alderdice, former leader of the ungodly ecumenical Alliance Party and Presbyterian elder who resigned when the Presbyterian Church decided to gently tighten up its lax attitude to sodomy) is no stranger to ignoring the Bible.

This is because Rev John Alderdice, who is Director of Ministry for the Methodist Church in Ireland (showing that apostasy pays in the Methodist Church), is an ecumenical canon of Down Cathedral in Downpatrick.

He was installed on the same night as a character we previously featured on this page, Canon Mark Harvey of Shankill Parish Church in Lurgan, County Armagh, a man who invited a Papist into his church to take part in a Remembrance service. He also brought the former UK Ambassador to the Pope, Romanist layman Francis Hughes, into his church at a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity service in 2018.

There were three canons introduced on that night at Down Cathedral (the trio are pictured, above, with Rev John Alderdice on the right), and the third was a Romanist monk, Brother Eric Loisel of the Benedictine Monastery in Rostrevor in County Down.

So this gives us an idea of the type of spiritual company which Rev John Alderdice sees fit to keep.

As for Rev David Campton and ‘Rev’ Emily Hyland, they engaged in an ecumenical event with the Belfast Islamic Centre just last month.

Given this review of the uniform policy at Methody also includes provision for facilitating other faiths, and that surely will be conceived primarily, if not exclusively, with Muslims in mind, one would expect this to be rather relevant.

Of course, while the false religion of Islam will be and already is catered for, the Christian faith, which Methody’s origins are based in, is to be sidelined.

And ‘Rev’ Janet Unsworth, who is, remember, Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors, is part of the team at the Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland.

She is part of that team which includes such ‘luminaries’ as ‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll, the woman who served as Deputy Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission throughout the entire time that wretched organisation was prosecuting Asher’s Bakery for refusing to bake a cake bearing a slogan in favour of sodomite marriage.

Also involved is the Equality Commission’s Chief Commissioner, Michael Wardlow, the public face of the campaign to force Asher’s to ignore their sincerely held religious convictions.

And to cap it off you have Romanist Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown involved there as well.

This is despite Rome being a false religion which, in addition to various other blasphemies, most crucially denies the way to salvation.

And there you have ‘Rev’ Janet Unsworth, who is also acting principal of Edgehill College, the training school for Methodist ministers, among that crew of religious compromisers and Bible rejecters. And that’s even laying aside the fact that the Bible prohibits her from being a minister (1 Timothy 2:12).

So, these credentials being established and laid out, can we be confident they will take a stand against the madness of transgenderism, madder still to be facilitated among the impressionable and emotionally less mature (generally) young, being facilitated in a school bearing their church’s name?

Well, they are going to have to prove themselves more faithful to the Bible in this matter than they have in other areas.

We will remind Rev David Campton, Rev John Alderdice, ‘Rev’ Emily Hyland, Rev John Stephens and ‘Rev’ Janet Unsworth of what the Bible has to say on the issue.

Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

Deuteronomy 22:5: “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.”

Matthew 19:4: “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female”.

In that third quotation, it is Jesus who is speaking, and he asks, “have ye not read?”

Should any or all of these ministers stand by and let such brazen rejection of Christ to be facilitated in their school, and to facilitate is to promote it as acceptable, then the question “have ye not read?” could very aptly be put to these clerics.

May God even work in their hearts to cause them to take a resolute stand against such wickedness which those campaigners for overthrowing the Word of God in our land are trying to foist on us.

If they don’t, we will remind them of the grave warning which God Himself has given to those who fail to take their stand for Him.

Ezekiel 3:18-19: “When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”

We would encourage any readers, especially in the Belfast area, who are concerned by this pandering to the LGBT agenda, to register their grave misgivings against these plans and take their stand for Christ.

We would also encourage any readers, especially those with connections to the Methodist Church, to contact those ministers and express your desire that they remember the Word of God when it comes to this matter.

Evangelical Alliance document suggests providing “trans” accessible toilets in church

The ongoing madness engulfing the western world in relation to matters of gender has begun to infect the church, and the Evangelical Alliance has apparently made a concession to this ungodly movement.

In a document called ‘Transformed’, which was written by Peter Lynas, he writes that “providing toilets that are clearly accessible to trans people will be an important part of the welcome provided by churches and charities”.

This would certainly seem to be a recommendation that churches make moves to tolerate the so-called gender choices made by people who make up what is known as the “trans community”.

And this recommendation would fly in the face of what the Bible has to say regarding gender, which is a foundational feature of the world.

Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

Jesus reaffirmed this in Matthew 19:4 when speaking to the Pharisees. He said: “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female”.

Sadly, this suggestion from Peter Lynas and the Evangelical Alliance would appear to be a winking at sin, a toleration of that which is condemned by God and indeed to do it within the church, thus compounding the matter further.

2 John 1:11 speaks of false teachers by saying that “he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds”.

This can apply to various aspects of our lives and, while it may be claimed those pushing a transgender ideology are not being wished “God speed”, there is certainly an enabling to live an alternative lifestyle inside the church which is nowhere accepted as being proper in the Bible.

This is demonstrated in a practical manner within the church in the letter to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:2.

It says: “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars”.

God commended the Ephesians for “not bear[ing] them which are evil”.

God also says this in Deuteronomy 22:5: “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.”

This can clearly be applied to the notion of transgenderism, and the word “abomination” can also be translated as “detestable”, showing how God views such.

And this helps demonstrate why making changes to your church, conforming it to the world, is a grave error and something the Evangelical Alliance ought not to be promoting.

The document by the Evangelical Alliance appears to be a pastoral guide to churches dealing with those experiencing what they term “gender dysphoria”, where people believe their physical sex doesn’t match up with the gender with which they identify.

It strives to tread a middle line between very softly saying that the Bible is opposed to the notion of transgenderism, but without ever outright condemning such notions as sinful.

The document instead uses very general terms such as this, in the conclusions section: “The church must seek out clarity in this difficult area. Whilst we seek to support those struggling with gender dysphoria, we can resist and oppose forms of transgender ideology which offer alternative, radically secular ideas about what it means to be human.

“The Bible has much to say about what it is to be human, about sex and gender, about the body and about life in a fallen world. Redemption, through life in Christ, brings hope for our hearts, mind and bodies, all of which have been affected by the fall and by ongoing sin. But, the church must be careful to respond pastorally to individuals, whilst recognising the challenges and complexities surrounding transgender.”

The first sentence, which says the church “must seek out clarity” really doesn’t mean anything. Clarity about what?

Then it says about opposing “forms of transgender ideology, which offer different, radically secular ideas”. Does this mean some forms of transgender ideology which are perhaps not classified as “radically secular” are permissible, or can be worked alongside or with?

There is far from a clear message given out here.

Then the generality comes in, talking about how the entire world is fallen, which tends to create an air of equivocation.

Of course, the whole world is fallen, we are all wretched sinners fit only for hell (Jeremiah 17:9), but this does not mean a softer view can be had of any particular sin because of this.

James 4:17 says: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

Because we know something is a sin, but also accept we are sinners ourselves, does not mean we should try to ignore or minimise sin or compare one sin with another.

Everyone obviously commits sin and all sin must be condemned but when a particular way of identifying your being is something which contradicts God’s Word and His natural order, this demonstrates a clear decision to live in a manner contrary to God’s Word.

We would call on Peter Lynas and the Evangelical Alliance to rip up their paper and start again, instead outlining why the Bible condemns variance from God’s established order and explaining the means of salvation which will deliver from such sin.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with striving to be compassionate, in fact we ought to be – look at the compassion of Jesus when he looked out at the crowds who were in need of salvation or when he wept over the condemnation of Jerusalem – but we cannot surrender or play down God’s Word in order to prevent someone from being angered by having their sin placed in the light of the Bible.

Jude 1:22-23: “And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”

All Souls Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church holds Transgender Remembrance service

Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

2 Timothy 3:13: “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”

When you survey the pitiful state of much of professing Christendom in Ulster today, you cannot help but be reminded of Paul’s caution to Timothy, written under the inspiration of God.

Surely it cannot be disputed that the religious deception is waxing worse and worse in our land.

And no more blatant example of this could surely be found than last week’s ‘Transgender Day of Remembrance’ service in the reprobate All Souls Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church in Belfast.

This church shows such a disregard for the Word of God that it is actually breathtaking.

All Souls Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church holds this transgender service every year as it continues to proudly defy God’s Word and the natural order he ordained, which can be seen in the verse at the top of this article.

In addition to this gravely offensive service in the eyes of God, All Souls also held an LGBT ‘Pride’ service back in August to coincide with the sodomite ‘Pride’ celebrations in Belfast.

The Bible is full of condemnations of homosexuality, and just a few can be found in Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:24-27 and 1 Timothy 1:9-10, as well as many other places.

This, however, seems to mean nothing to those in power and those in attendance at All Souls Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church.

The service last Sunday, 18 November was described thus on the church’s facebook page: “A special service of prayer, remembrance and communion led by Rev Hudson and Rev Bell alongside other visiting clergy and guests marked the All Souls annual act of reflection and meditation for members of the Transgender Community.

“With thanks to the Focus group for their participation.”

The stated aim of the Focus Trust is as follows: “Supporting transgender and intersex individuals and their families.”

Rev Hudson, meanwhile, is Rev Chris Hudson, a man who in 2015 was named a “transgender champion” for his God-defying work. The picture at the top of this article shows him holding his “transgender champion” award.

And the Rev Bell referred to in that passage is a Rev Alister Bell, assistant minister in that ungodly church.

These are men who are supposed to be ministers of the gospel, but they are instead using their position to spread heresies contrary to the Word of God.

This sort of attitude which distorts and disregards God’s Word is spoken of in Titus 1:15-16, which says: “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”

These men would profess to know God, but in fact by their works they deny him, for holding such services celebrating such rebellion against God is a denial of His Word.

They are teaching doctrines which are nowhere to be found in the Bible.

And for a minister to do such is a direct contradiction of the Bible.

2 Timothy 4:1-3 says: “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears”.

Timothy was charged by Paul, under the inspiration of God, to “preach the word”. What is that word? The Bible, as it then was, not yet being quite complete.

He is told to reprove and rebuke those who are straying from the word. Those who seek to condemn this page for taking a stand against sin and rejection of God’s Word would do well to consider this exhortation of Paul.

That passage then informs us that “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine”.

We will now refer back to verses we mentioned a little earlier, in 1 Timothy 1:9-10: “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine”.

Those who “defile themselves with mankind”, or those who practice sodomy, are called “contrary to sound doctrine”.

So we have a church which is “contrary to sound doctrine” and which celebrates being so.

What a despicable situation this is.

This church and its ministers, and others like it, are as those warned of by Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:5, which says: “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

Any church which denies the Bible, be it in its stance on homosexuality, transgenderism, separation from apostasy, Romanism or anything else, ought to be turned away from.

Let us remain separate from false religion and its vain sacrifices through the corrupt services it holds.

And let our cry to those caught up in the apostasy be the words of 2 Corinthians 6:17: “…come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing”.

Rend Collective – It’s a ‘sad thing’ transgender people and sodomites can’t preach in certain churches

The ecumenical ‘Christian’ rock band who played for the Pope have appeared to tell a transgender person in a same-sex ‘marriage’ they believe it is “a sad thing” that person would not be allowed to preach or lead worship in certain churches and that church unity doesn’t necessarily seem to extend to them.

Rend Collective voiced this stunning rejection of God’s Word in a Twitter conversation with a person describing themselves as being “transgender and in a same sex marriage”.

Having been contacted by this individual, who call themselves transgender yet also appear to refer to themselves as ‘they’ or ‘them’, meaning we are unsure what gender they are, Rend Collective went into full on compromise mode.

The conversation, which took place last month, originated with the individual contacting Rend Collective on Twitter to express their dismay at Rend Collective playing at a gospel meeting held by Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham.

Franklin Graham has publicly and stridently stressed his opposition to the sodomy lobby and for this he is to be commended.

However, his opposition to sodomy and so-called ‘transgender rights’ has received condemnation from this individual, apparently called Franz.

And Rend Collective went into people-pleasing mode to try to placate this transgender individual.

Franz started by saying that Rend Collective were the “last evangelical band I still listen to”, which surely highlights the weak stand, if it can even be called that, which the band takes.

Rend Collective’s initial response says it all. They say: “… in an attempt to foster unity we try not to be selective in who we partner with under the banner of the gospel.”

Take a moment to let that sink in.

Rend Collective have openly admitted to striving not to consider the implications of who they stand beside when they are claiming to be proclaiming Christ.

It is a very clear rejection of the Biblical command to be separated from the workers of iniquity.

2 Corinthians 6:14-17 is crystal clear on this. It says: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you”.

“Be ye separate, saith the Lord” is the clear command of Scripture. What is less clear is how Rend Collective justify their approach.

No doubt they will hide behind the Great Commission of Christ, but let’s not forget that Jesus didn’t join in with the false teachers to proclaim the ‘gospel’, whereas Rend Collective gleefully and proudly joined hand in hand with the anti-Christian system of Rome at the Pope’s visit to the Republic of Ireland.

We have so often highlighted the evils of Rome that anyone who has read this page, which includes members of Rend Collective, has no fig leaf with which to cover the nakedness of their ecumenical compromise.

But here we have a different type of compromise, indeed, as musicians, they may appreciate being credited as having exhibited a ‘broad range’ of compromise with that which the Bible rejects.

The conversation on Twitter they engaged in with Franz continued.

Franz said to Rend Collective: “Most churches who play your music would not allow me to lead or preach or sing because I’m transgender and in a same-sex marriage. There is no unity for us.”

Rend Collective responded: “I know, it’s a sad thing.”

Now let’s allow that to sink in for a minute.

Rend Collective appear to be saying it is a “sad thing” that homosexuals and transgender people are not allowed in many churches to lead, preach or sing.

The Bible says that homosexuality is an “abomination” (Leviticus 18:22) for any to commit, let alone those in positions of authority in the church. Where do Rend Collective get their theology from? This certainly cannot be from the Bible.

1 Timothy 1:9-11: “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.”

A raft of sins are listed in that passage above, including “them that defile themselves with mankind”, or sodomites, and they are described as “contrary to sound doctrine”.

And where is this sound doctrine based upon? Verse 11 tells us it is “according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God”.

Our doctrine is to come from the glorious gospel of God and it says that sodomy is contrary to sound doctrine, so how can a church with those who either support it or practice it in positions of leadership be abiding in the gospel of Christ? The simple answer is they cannot.

Yet this is what Rend Collective are declaring publicly on Twitter.

Rend Collective then continue their rejection of God’s Word by saying that “just as some would distance themselves from others for being ‘too liberal’, it’s no better to separate because someone is ‘too conservative’. Doing so ends the dialogue that can lead to healing and unity.”

So ecumenical dialogue is the objective of Rend Collective, it would appear. What they are saying is they will associate with virtually anyone in the name of “unity”.

What they forget is that unity with those who reject the Word of God is repugnant to Him. The passage we quoted earlier from 2 Corinthians 6 asks “what concord hath Christ with Belial?” This is asking how can there be agreement between those who are faithful to God and those who serve sin.

This same topic is visited in Amos 3:3, where it says: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”

It is a rhetorical question, the answer is obvious.

Unity is not desirable for its own sake. Look at the unity of the people trying to build the tower of Babel. God created disunity among them through a means which still separates people today – the language barrier.

Genesis 11:6-8 says: “And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.”

God didn’t consider it a lovely little act of unity, he destroyed their plans.

Remarkably, Franz then responds with a key point, when they say: “Please just know that appearing alongside people will always look like support for them unless you’re actively challenging their views”.

This individual has hit the nail on the head – by appearing at an event ‘headlined’ by another individual, Rend Collective are at best tacitly expressing support for that individual, which is exactly what they did by consorting with Popery in Dublin back in August.

Rend Collective don’t address the point, instead choosing to attempt to flatter Franz with some honeyed words.

Our previous article highlighting Rend Collective, who originate from Bangor Elim Church in north Down, performing during the Papal visit to Ireland in August, attracted a great deal of interest, both from those supporting our comments and those opposed.

Will those who sought to ignore such brazen ecumenical compromise with Rome also choose to ignore this?

God does not ignore it, though He is of course patient and merciful.

However, God hates to see sound judgment not being carried out, and He cannot abide a failure to address sin.

Isaiah 59:13-15 says: “In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.”

Let us be sure to accept fault where it is, rather than seek to excuse it or mask it or outright deny its existence simply because someone we like or admire is responsible.

To demonstrate beyond doubt what we have attributed to Rend Collective, we have included below the conversation they had with this individual.

We implore readers to take this on board and consider if they are content, through study of the Scriptures, this was a God-exalting and Biblically sound and faithful conversation.

Harbour Faith Community – Church of Ireland extension priding itself on being ‘LGBT affirming’

2 Peter 2:1-2: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”

Today in Northern Ireland, a number of new Church of Ireland fellowships are being formed, mimicking the charismatic style of church.

This is something we have already addressed recently when looking at Hope Community Church in Craigavon, County Armagh.

However, there is another such movement born out of the Church of Ireland which deserves attention and that is the ‘Harbour Faith Community’, based in the coastal town of Carrickfergus, County Antrim.

The Harbour Faith Community is an offshoot of St Colman’s Church of Ireland in Kilroot, Carrickfergus and the only name which appears to be directly linked to it is a Steve Ames.

Our photograph shows him smiling during what appears to have been a baptism service for the Harbour Faith Community.

In its statement regarding itself, the Harbour Faith Community calls itself ‘Anglican’, ‘progressive’ and ‘LGBT affirming’.

This is one of its primary creeds and, despite what the Bible clearly has to say regarding sodomy, this clearly matters little to Harbour Faith Community.

While we have covered the topic of sodomy on numerous occasions of late, we will repeat several passages from the Scriptures which are absolutely fundamental in forming a Biblical view on homosexuality.

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

Romans 1:22-27: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 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.”

We will also include a passage from Matthew 19 in which Jesus reaffirmed the natural order He Himself, being God, established in Genesis. This is because the Harbour Faith Community seems to reject all parts of Scripture other than the four gospels, and only then the “nice” bits about loving your neighbour.

It says in Matthew 19:4-5: “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?”

That doesn’t leave much room for sodomite marriage or transgenderism, does it?

Only, somehow Harbour Faith Community seems to squeeze through anyway.

This is what they say on their website: “There continues to be condemnation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons from the community of faith, or at least a tolerance of such condemnation and exclusion through silence.

“We are convinced that such actions are inconsistent with Christ’s teachings.”

Well, as long as they’re convinced! Notice how not one verse of Scripture is offered to back up their point. Personal notions are much more important to such than faithfulness to the Word of God.

We were recently contacted by a gentleman who stated his concern that Christians at present are possibly placing too much emphasis on the sin of sodomy compared to other sins.

However, this is where the war is being waged at the moment, this is the trendiest sin of our day and as such we must speak out against it, else we are failing in our duty as Christians.

In a blog posting on their website, they discuss what they mean by calling themselves “progressive Christians”.

It appears to be a theological free-for-all, as this quote from their blog entry shows.

It says: “We (that is, “progressive Christians”) differ widely with regard to the inerrancy of Scripture, the existence and nature of hell, intercessory prayer, salvation by atonement, the practice of worship and the doctrine of original sin.”

So they have no fixed beliefs on virtually every vital doctrine from God’s Word (though according to that same blog post doctrine is “fair game” for being altered).

We cannot address all those issues in this article but we will look at a few.

The Bible is God’s Word, penned by human authors under God’s inspiration.

2 Timothy 3:16 says: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”.

The word inspiration also means “God-breathed”, meaning the Bible constitutes God’s very own breath and if it is not inerrant, then God ceases to be perfect and is therefore unable to save us from our sins.

To deny the existence of hell is also easily demonstrable nonsense.

God will punish the unregenerate in hell. Once again, we will use Jesus’ own words to demonstrate this.

Luke 12:4-5: “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.”

Jesus preached the existence of hell, but these “progressive Christians” at Harbour Faith Community disgracefully seem to claim to have a greater revelation than God Himself.

It certainly seems much more like regressive Christianity, though the word Christianity seems misplaced.

Questioning salvation by atonement and original sin are absolutely reprehensible moves to make for anyone professing to be a Christian.

Salvation by atonement is absolutely fundamental to the Christian faith; there is absolutely no room for debate on this matter.

Ephesians 1:7 says: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”

1 Peter 3:18 says: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.”

Our sins, if we are one of God’s elect, were atoned for on the Cross at Calvary and we are saved through Jesus’ blood.

Original sin is another vital doctrine clearly demonstrated through the Word of God.

Romans 5:12: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

To question these doctrines is to reject God and as such, Harbour Faith Community and other so-called “progressive Christians” must be rejected too.

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!”

Presbyterian ‘minister’ Lesley Carroll gives her backing to transgenderism while helping persecute Asher’s Bakery

Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

At ‘Protestant Revival’, we have previously highlighted the shocking ecumenical conduct of the so-called Presbyterian ‘minister’, ‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll (1 Timothy 2:12).

This includes addressing an ecumenical service in a Roman Catholic chapel in County Tyrone in January, at which she appeared to equate the Pope’s planned visit to Ireland with the birth of Jesus and stated that the Second Vatican Council offered hope to Christianity.

In addition to this heretical nonsense, we then featured her role as second-in-command of the (In)Equality Commission, the body bringing the disgraceful legal action against the Christian Asher’s Bakery, who have been persecuted by the forces of the state for refusing to betray their Christian principles by icing a cake with a message supporting gay marriage, a notion utterly repugnant to the Word of God (Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:26-27).

She has not offered one public pronouncement speaking out against the disgraceful treatment of the McArthur family, who own Asher’s Bakery, and continues to hold her position as Deputy Chief Commissioner and enthusiastically support the Inequality Commission’s work.

And now, while refusing to support Asher’s Bakery, ‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll has instead demonstrated her public support for the misguided and utterly unbiblical notion of transgenderism.

A transgender group called the ‘Belfast Butterfly Club’ recently marked 25 years of promoting its delusion and who was the special guest? The ‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll, of course.

According to the Belfast Butterfly Club’s website, ‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll “congratulated the club on its 25 years of transgender support charity work across Northern Ireland”.

She is also pictured on the right of our image at the top of this article with a leading member of this transgender grouping.

It is most instructive that a supposed ‘minister’ of the gospel, though of course it’s not a position she is entitled to hold, would rather be pictured showing her support to a group utterly at odds with God’s Word than with the Christian owners of Asher’s Bakery.

We would also say at this point, lest anyone reading this should start with the “but Jesus dined with sinners” line they love to peddle, that Jesus didn’t actively endorse sinful lifestyles.

Jesus didn’t endorse the Samaritan woman at the well’s sinful lifestyle. He didn’t say that having had five husbands was ok.

John 4:16-18: “Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.”

These same twisters of God’s Word also love to say about how Jesus ministered to prostitutes. That was an absolutely proper thing to do, everyone has a soul in need of salvation, but did Jesus give his blessing to immorality? Of course not. He sought to save people from their sinful estate.

Had there been an event in Jesus’ time such as this one in Belfast, would Jesus have attended and offered best wishes to the ‘Butterfly Club’? The very notion is utterly blasphemous.

‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll was not there to proselytise, otherwise she would not have been invited.

Indeed, this is not the first time that ‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll has offered her support to the anti-Christian notion of transgenderism.

In November 2015, ‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll offered her support to another transgender grouping, the ‘Focus Trust’. Its tagline on its website neatly sums up its purpose: ‘Supporting transgender and intersex individuals and their families’.

According to the report on its website, ‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll gave a reading. Whether or not it was from the Bible we are not told, but we can be fairly confident she didn’t read any of the verses already specified in this article.

‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll also attended that event in her role as Deputy Chief Commissioner of the Inequality Commission.

The event was termed as a ‘Transgender Day of Remembrance’ for those “transgender and intersex individuals worldwide who have lost their lives because of society’s intolerance towards them due to a condition they were born with”.

We are not sure what that refers to, but certainly were they physically harmed or subjected to mental abuse because of their decision to live in the way they have chosen, then that is wrong.

However, the condition they are actually born with, like us all, is sin.

Romans 3:23 reminds us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Jeremiah 9:11 says: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Psalm 51:5 says: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

We are all natural born sinners, from the point of our conception and the notion of ‘changing’ our gender based on our own feelings is an affront to God.

This meeting from 2015 was held in All Souls Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church in Belfast.

The denomination takes its name from the fact they refused to subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith at the time Henry Cooke led a great clear-out in the Presbyterian Church.

Among other major issues with the church, it adopts a Unitarian stance, thus rejecting the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity, meaning they reject the truth of Christ being God, making the church heretical and therefore somewhere no Presbyterian ‘minister’ or worshipper should attend, or indeed those belonging to any other denomination.

It would appear, from the report already referred to, this ‘Transgender Day of Remembrance’ happens in the Church annually, under the auspices of the minister there, Rev Chris Hudson.

At the event, he was presented with a ‘Transgender Champion’ award by the Moderator of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, the Right (more like Wrong) Reverend Chris Wilson, on behalf of the Focus Trust.

Further evidence of the shocking defiance to God in that church was then demonstrated as a gift was presented to a student ‘minister’ of that denomination, a Linda Ballard (pictured, below). The report explains that this Linda Ballard “plans to form her ministry around gender issues”.

The very basis of her supposed ministry of the gospel is something utterly corrupt and contrary to God’s natural order. That is a truly disgraceful rejection of Biblical Christianity.

Linda Ballard is now the ‘minister’ of 1st Dunmurry Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church.

These are the sort of characters that ‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll prefers to associate with.

Proverbs 13:20: “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”

Psalm 26:4-5: “I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.”

‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll certainly does not heed this advice from the Word of God.

As we stated earlier, were ‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll seeking the conversion of these characters, she would not be invited to these events.

Her compromise with the most brazen of sins is obvious, repeated and grave.

And any minister who teaches such error is guilty of the most serious offence in the eyes of God.

Ezekiel 33:8 says: “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.”

Reader, if you are as yet unsaved, please do not allow your blood to be on the hands of some apostate preacher, but rather heed the warnings of Christ and take of his free offer of grace.

Repent of your sin to God and ask forgiveness and He will save you.

1 John 1:8-9: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”