Healing the Land: Ecumenical, not Evangelical

The level of spiritual illiteracy and ecumenism in Northern Ireland was displayed clearly last month during the Pope's visit to the Republic of Ireland, with it being welcomed across the broad spectrum of Protestantism, including the Presbyterian Moderator and the Evangelical Alliance. That same ecumenical spirit and lack of discernment will be evidenced once again this Saturday at Nutts Corner near Antrim, at a day of prayer organised by Healing the Land. There is no doubt that our land needs prayer, and believers ought to be burdened to pray for a moving of God's Spirit in revival power, however the event organised at Nutts Corner is patently ecumenical, and will deceive many genuine believers who desire to see God work once again, due to the use of evangelical sounding terminology. It is for this reason that we draw attention to it, for it is easy to be misled by that which sounds spiritual, yet has at its heart compromise and apostasy.

Husband and wife co-pastors

There is a growing trend within Christianity today, particularly among churches of a neo-evangelical persuasion, for husband and wife co-pastors. Indeed more than a growing trend, it now seems to have become the preferred model of ministry for many churches. Joel and Victoria Osteen, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Randy and Paula White are examples of high profile couples who have adopted this approach to ministry, yet this is not a purely American phenomenon, nor is it restricted to mega-churches. The same pattern can also now seen in many smaller churches. It is quite likely that the new, vibrant, modern, family friendly church which just recently established itself in your town will have a husband and wife co-pastor team. Vineyard Church, Exchange Church and Life Church are but three local examples of churches in Belfast where both husband and wife are described as pastors or leaders of the church. Yet whilst this may be an increasingly popular approach as to how the leadership of a church is organised it raises many questions when compared with the Word of God. It has long been the traditional and biblical view that the position of pastor is not to be taken by a women (a view which has been abandoned by many denominations), but what of a co-pastor? Is that any different? Is it acceptable for a woman to take this position alongside her husband and to join him in the pulpit in a teaching capacity?

Why I am a Free Presbyterian

Why am I a Free Presbyterian? First and foremost I am of course a Christian, but why do I attend the Free Presbyterian Church? Perhaps it is a question you would also do well to ask yourself if you too attend the Free Presbyterian Church. If attend another denomination it may also cause you to ask some questions about the church which you attend. Yet first of all there are issues which we must clearly state are NOT the reason we are Free Presbyterians.

Family influence: Perhaps you are a Free Presbyterian simply because your parents and grandparents before were before you. This is a very perilous position to be in, to be without a personal conviction about the stand of the denomination but to be part of it just because those before you were also. Personal conviction about the truth of God’s word is essential for the future of the denomination if we are to stand steadfastly in times of testing and trial. I am a Free Presbyterian because it is the church I choose, not because of others.

Hope of salvation: I am not a Free Presbyterian because I believe it save my soul. If you hope that your Free Presbyterianism will somehow help you in the day of judgement then you are greatly mistaken. If you have not accepted Christ as your own and personal saviour then you may as well have sat in the chapel all the days of your life listening to a priest blaspheme the name of Christ for it will do you as much good as having been a Free Presbyterian. Acts 4:12 says that ‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved’. Salvation is not found in any church but in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

The Archbishop's dose of the measles

An article carried in The Telegraph newspaper this week of an interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has highlighted the gross apostasy at the very heart of the Church of England. In that interview he makes the shocking statement about his conversion that 'I was desperately embarrassed that this had happened to me, it was like getting the measles'! The content of the Archbishop's interview make it abundantly clear that he has never had the experience of the new birth, and that he has no true understanding of the gospel. That this can be said of the pre-eminent church leader in England is a sad state of affairs, indeed the spiritual darkness in England should be no surprise where men like this proclaim to be teachers of God's word. When we take into account the fact that Justin Welby is described as being on the evangelical wing of the Church of England it is evident to all just how far that denomination has fallen.

Five Joyce Meyer quotes you won't post on Facebook

Joyce Meyer is one of the most popular Christian speakers and authors around today. In 2005 TIME Magazine placed her 17th in their list of the most influential evangelicals in America. She has sold millions of copies of her books and it would be hard to find many more popular names within Christianity today. Popularity however is not to be the measure by which we judge a person but we are to 'try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world'. Matthew 12:37 says 'by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned'. It is biblical to look at a person's words that we might test them by scripture to see if they are true, but sadly in Joyce Meyer's case we find that there is much to be concerned about. Although she is often quoted by Christians on social media, there is nothing in the following statements which any believer could recommend to their friends. (It is not our desire to quote anyone out of context and if it can be shown that any of the following quotes have been taken in such a manner we will gladly remove them)

Jeremiah, Judah and Northern Ireland

This week Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson launched an attack on his critics describing them as 'a tribe of Jeremiahs'. No doubt he chose the term considering them to be nothing but doom and gloom merchants, yet it was a very poor comparison to make and detrayed an ignorance of scripture. Jeremiah was God's appointed prophet, sent to warn the people of Judah against the judgement which God would very soon visit upon their land. Whilst to many at that time this seemed to be a very depressing message, it was not a message of Jeremiah's choosing, but that which God had revealed to him. In the eyes of the Lord Jeremiah was a faithful servant, one of but few in a time of spiritual apostasy. For the First Minister to describe others as a Jeremiah in a derogatory sense indicates that he looks at Jeremiah from the viewpoint of the ungodly, something which he would do well think over. The faithful Christian would not be disheartened to be described as a Jeremiah, indeed our province could do with many Jeremiahs, a tribe of them would do the land no end of good. Peter Robinson's comments were unwise and unscriptural, and although they were used in the political sphere, they give us cause to think of spiritual matters, of Jeremiah's ministry and what comparison can be made with the times we live in, particularly the spiritual state and direction of Northern Ireland.