Tag: Persecution

Definition of Marriage and Freedom of Speech – Part 2

Continued from Part 1. I begin with the final quote from Stephen’s lecture manuscript.

And so, late in 1660 “Foreseeing clouds to gather blackness over these nations and the Lord in the way of his Providence to threaten his churches and interest with a flood of trouble and persecution, both Mr Ashwood with the rest, endeavoured to incorporate themselves into one body before the storm did fall”.

English: Nick Clegg and other MPs
English: Nick Clegg and other MPs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The point I would wish to make – and did discuss with Stephen after the lecture – is the fact we are seeing a very similar set of circumstances evolve before our eyes.

We have been told by the Prime Minister that Churches need not fear. But, we should not forget that David Cameron is first and foremost a politician and an opponent of the Gospel of Christ. He has no interest in Evangelical Doctrine except where it will further his interests. And, let’s also remind ourselves that just like Charles II Cameron will have ‘to meet the demands of the powerful individuals and groupings who had engineered his’ Election as PM. This of course includes the Liberal Democrats led by the ungodly opposer of all that is sacred, Nick Clegg.

And so we find the following story:

A local councillor for the Green Party in Brighton is facing disciplinary action for refusing to vote in favour of same-sex ‘marriage’ in a local council meeting last week.

Christina Summers, a committed Christian, has been the target of abusive emails since making her view known, some suggesting she is mentally ill or describing her as a fascist.

She has made it clear she is “accountable to God above any political party” but Green Party members are looking for her to be expelled.

Go HERE for full story and media links. So much for Freedom of Speech there then!

And just the other day David Cameron not unexpectedly has said about Homosexuality, that ‘CAMERON ACCUSES THE CHURCH OF ‘LOCKING OUT’ GAYS, AND SAYS HE’S FOLLOWING BLAIR’S LEAD‘. I’d like to point out that the true Church does not lock out gays and never has. In fact we want them to come in and call upon God in faith and repentance just like any other sinner.

And again from Cameron – with encouragement from Nick Clegg no doubt – this story:  David Cameron “absolutely determined” to introduce ‘gay marriage’ by 2015. Go HERE for full story and media links. Here’s the fist two paragraphs:

David Cameron announced last night that he is determined to legislate for ‘same-sex marriage’ by 2015 and directly attacked the mainstream churches’ position on the issue.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, the Scottish Government this morning (25 JULY) announced that it intends to bring forward a bill introducing same-sex marriage in spite of strong opposition to the plans expressed in a recent consultation on the issue.

As Evangelical Christians we should prepare ourselves for the coming storm. It’s a time to Trust God as the dark clouds gather and ungodly policies are forced through the legal system. They have no justification for these ungodly policies other than that – they are ungodly and anti-Christ. They are the anti-Christ. If they were seekers after truth they wold not be able propagate their anti-Biblical, anti-Christ policies since without the Christian God there is no truth at all!

The conclusion of the above is – and we shouldn’t be surprised at this – the Government cannot be trusted just as it was back in 1660!

The days are upon us when Freedom of Speech is tottering over the Abyss. Why God has brought this upon I cannot say – but now is the time to ‘quit you like men’ and trust in God.

The government will do what the government will do, but will I have the freedom to disagree and call their policies ungodly. That’s the question. So far though, I do have the freedom to cast my vote with whichever party I choose – or none, At the moment it will be none, but definitely not one of the three main parties of the Greens.

Definition of Marriage and Freedom of Speech – Part 1

Back in March the relevance of one of the History Lectures is just too much to pass over. Here’s a direct lesson for us from the history of our own country. I’m very grateful to Stephen Rees for permission to quote from his lecture manuscript. I’ve edited it very slightly and the emphases in bold italics and brackets are mine, but here are a few quotations from the lecture to set the context:

…. Cromwell didn’t remove the concept of a state church.  What he did was to insist the state church must be as flexible as possible – he wanted there to be room for almost any group of truly evangelical Christians to worship within the state church according to their own convictions.  The way it worked was this.  He appointed a committee of 38 men known as the Triers.  A church – or any group of believers could put forward a man as a candidate to be recognised as the local minister.   And the Triers tried him – they assessed his suitability.  The only qualifications were that the candidate must be evangelical in doctrine and show evidence of a godly life.  It didn’t matter if he were a presbyterian or an independent, or a baptist or a fifth-monarchy man.  He could be appointed as minister of the local parish church – the local Church of England – he could be supported by public taxes, and he could lead the congregation according to his own convictions (My note: ‘his own convictions’ means according to the Bible).  Many Anglican ministers were ejected from their churches by local committees, because of their ungodly lives or non-evangelical doctrine – and evangelical men were installed by the Triers in their places.

(My Note: This system of appointed ‘Triers’ presupposed a disposition not only towards the truth of the Word of God (The Bible) but also to the belief that such a thing as The Truth existed. This is not so today. And nowhere is this seen so clearly than in our National leaders. What’s on show in the State Church and in Politicians is sheer unadulterated relativism.)

And this was the way that Bartholomew Ashwood, at the age of 38 came to Axminster.  Though he was operating within the state church, he had freedom for a little while to lead the church according to thoroughly Puritan, evangelical principles and to conduct worship according to his convictions.

But he knew that that freedom couldn’t last very long.  Why not?  Because in 1658 – since Ashwood had been admitted by the Triers, Cromwell had died.  Now the country was on the point of calling Charles II back from exile.  And Charles came from the line of the Stuarts who had persecuted consistent Puritans in England through two reigns.  Before he was brought back from exile, Charles II promised that he would allow religious freedom – “liberty to tender consciences”.  But men like Ashwood had no confidence at all in that sort of promise.  He was very well aware that freedom might be very short-lived.  Apart from anything else, whatever he promised, Charles would have very little freedom himself.  He (Charles) had to meet the demands of the powerful individuals and groupings who had engineered his return.

Ashwood and his friends were convinced independents, believing that each church should be a company of believers, governed by its members under the Word (The Bible).  Whether they were separatists, I think is unclear.  It may be that if Ashwood had been free to build such an independent church “according to gospel rule and the pure institution of the Lord Jesus” yet remain within the overall structure of the state church, he would have chosen that option.  But in any case he knew that that option was going to cease to exist.

This post is getting a bit long – So I’ll end it here. Link to Part 2.

Latimer: God’s Bulldog – Audio Available

Latimer – God’s Bulldog. The Audio for this lecture is from Jeremy Walker now available. Go HERE to download via Bulkington Congregational Church.

Or, for this lecture and many others from my website HERE.

Latimer – God’s Bulldog Lecture

Monday evening we had great lecture given by Pastor Jeremy Walker with the title ‘Latimer – God’s Bulldog. It was a pleasure to meet Jeremy in the flesh for the first time after communicating via blogs and email. We’ll have to get him back for 2014.

As soon as the Audio for the lecture is available you can be sure I’ll have a post to notify it.

We had put before us a real man, not a fantasy figure that bears no resemblance to reality but as Cromwell said the picture was painted with ‘warts and all’.

The lecture was presented in a lively manner and through the account of the execution quite moving – and why not! You could almost smell the musty cell, hear the crackle as the faggots began to burn and feel the heat of the fire as the flames licked those Holy men of God (Ridley was next to Latimer).

One of the human qualities of Latimer was how he didn’t come to the Reformed faith with a fully worked out theology as in fact few of us do. We mull things over in our mind; try to make connections and to piece it together to eventually emerge with a fuller theological conviction and knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. How we need people who will bear with us as we journey towards a greater understanding. It’s a blessing indeed to have someone come with us and not jump on our feeble and sometimes downright wrong and incomplete understanding.

Another quality that Latimer had was his earthiness and a consistency of manner and preaching. He was the same man wherever he was and his character consequently endeared him to all but those that sought to silence his plain Gospel preaching. And this is what he was primarily – a preacher. I wondered if those same earthy and endearing qualities would be ‘intellectualised’ out of men that go through ministerial training – I hope not!

All in all a great lecture and I commend it to you.

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Next Church History Lecture: ‘Latimer – God’s Bulldog’

The next Church History Lecture at Bulkington Congregational Church will be given by Pastor Jeremy Walker of Maidenbower Baptist Church, Crawley. Also visit Jeremy’s Blog The Wanderer.

Jeremy’s Subject will be: Latimer – God’s Bulldog.

The lecture will take place at 7:30pm Monday 23rd April

It’s important that we look back and see how God has dealt with His people and the Church in the past that we may learn how better to serve Him in the present. The lectures are not just an intellectual exercise – they are that and there is much to learn – but help stir us up to thankfulness and faithfulness in our day, praying that God may bless our endeavours for the Gospel of the Grace of God.

The speakers for next year (2013) have been arranged, so watch this space for more details.

Bulkington Congregational Church

All previous lectures and many more may be found on my Website.

History Lecture – Axminster after 1662 – Audio Available

By Bartholomew Ashwood - First Minister of Axminster

The Audio for this excellent lecture by Stephen Rees is now available.

Either listen here:

Or right-click HERE to download.

Related articles

Mohabat News – Iranian Christian News Agency

I came across ‘The Mohabat News Agency‘ recently and thought it was worth sharing a link to their site with the hope that it would have a wide readership. Who are they? In their own words:

‘We are a group of Bible believing Christians who believe in propagating the word of God. All of us at “Mohabat News Agency” have made the spreading of the good news of God’s love and forgiveness among Iranians and the Farsi speaking peoples of Afghanistan and Tajikistan our primary goal.

Mohabat New Agency, the news agency of Iranian Christians, is NOT affiliated with any Christian or non-Christian organizations. We are a team of professionals who have accumulated years of experience in the gathering, interpreting, and dissemination of news. Our experience arises from years of experience in the field of Christian news and other topics of interest to our Farsi-speaking peoples.

Mohabat News has turned this experience into the voice of the persecuted church of Iran to reach the ears of the world community.

Moreover, we are utilizing this gifting that the lord has placed in our hearts to bring awareness of what is happening in the world to our Farsi-speaking readers. Thus we can help our Christian and non-Christian Iranians raise their awareness of what goes in our world and in their own country.

Mohabat News will continue to act as a cultural and social bridge between the world community and the peoples of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan and to better inform the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ and Christian ministries around the world about the life and the welfare of Christian minorities in these Farsi-speaking countries’

I’ll try and post News Items from them as time and memory permits.

Church History Lectures 2012

Last evening we had the first of this years Church History Lectures with Gary Brady (Childs Hill Baptist Church, London) speaking on ‘The Great Ejection of 1662’. It was encouraging again for the folk at Bulkington Congregational to see a good number out to hear the lecture.

Gary took the subject in broad brush strokes with many stories of hardship as ministers of the Gospel sought to maintain a good conscience in the face of malicious State legislation and persecution. We too need much grace in our day to stand for truth in the face of increasing opposition to Gospel realities and truth.

The lecture should be available for download soon and I’ll post a link here.

Follow the link for Gary’s Blog on The Great Ejection of 1662 where you will find further information on the topic. Gary is also in the process of writing a book on the Ejection.

Pray for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani

There is an email going round urging Christians to pray for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani. Much of the email follows. Please find a moment to pray for this man.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani never practiced the Muslim faith and converted to Christianity at age 19, becoming a pastor later. But the courts say that since his mother and father were practicing Muslims, he must recant his Christian faith or die. So far, in three court appearances, he has refused to do so – RISKING EXECUTION AT ANY MOMENT.   The Iranian Supreme Court often acts quickly in administering the death penalty.

According to a report, when asked by judges to “repent,” Yousef replied: “Repent,  What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?”

The judges replied: “To the religion of your ancestors – Islam.” To which Yousef replied: “I cannot.”

I was going to comment but instead I’ll simply let it speak for itself – Please Pray.

Testimony of an Ex-Muslim

The latest White Horse Inn broadcast is an interview with Pastor Fikret Böchek. Fikret was raised as a Muslim (his parents are still Muslims) in Turkey but became a follower of The Lord Jesus. This is a really excellent interview and I would be very interested to know what Muslim friends think of it and the issues raised – so do leave a comment.

There are other resources and you can hear the interview by following This Link and clicking on the Audio. I’m not sure how long the audio will be available so don’t wait too long. If you miss it leave a comment and I’ll be in touch.

Here’s the blurb from the WHI site:

There are currently over a billion Muslims in the world, and according to many that number is likely to double over the next twenty years. How are we to reach this group with the gospel of Jesus Christ? What kinds of things do we need to know in order to be effective in our witness toward Muslims? On this program, Michael Horton discusses these questions with Fikret Böchek, who recounts his fascinating conversion from Islam and his current ministry among Muslims in Smyrna, Turkey.

This is a really fascinating and challenging interview. They are also providing links to a previous interview with Sam Solomon – an ex Muslim Jurist.