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Free Presbyterian protest against the obscene display in a Banbridge hotel

On Saturday, 11th May, 2024 at 8pm around 40 believers assembled outside the Bannville Hotel in Banbridge to oppose the flagrant violation of God’s law that was due to take place by the so-called “Pleasure Boys” group from England.

There was a large media presence to capture footage of our witness and we endeavoured to exalt Jesus Christ and expose the vices of darkness with the Spirit’s help.

A section of the supporters who gathered with Rev Henderson to protest at the lewd show that so many were happy to brazenly be seen entering the hotel where it took place.

This photograph appeared in the ‘Belfast Telegraph’ but I have edited it for the newspaper superimposed some of the ‘lewd fellows of the baser sort’ (Acts 17:5) upon it.

We had a tremendous evening of gospel opportunity with even the proprietor of the Hotel coming outside and having a very keen ear for the gospel and all that we had to say about the event itself. Please pray for the many souls that were genuinely interested in what was said.

We were also asked for an interview with a local podcast that has a studio in a different area of the Bannville Hotel to comment on why we were protesting. Revs. Henderson and Smith spoke on the podcast for 30 or so minutes against the event that was taking place, the sanctity of marriage and the gospel of saving grace. Please pray that these means of sharing the gospel would be blessed by the Holy Spirit of God.

On Monday morning, we were encouraged to learn that an article in the Northern Ireland World published the story that the Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon Council stepped in and said that “no nudity” was permitted. This was a tremendous victory as the sin-loving attendees had only come and paid for such obscenity and were reportedly left “disappointed”.

We count this as a victory to encourage our souls. We are told by the Saviour to be salt and light in this world. By the stand we make for Christ, we can see things done for God.

Rev. Daniel I. Henderson

I will only add that those “disappointed” by the restriction place upon the scandalous exhibition will find that an eternal disappointment awaits them when the stand before God to give an account of their open, shameless support for what amounted to an outrageous attack upon public decency.

What dreadful changes have come into Ulster with the decline of gospel knowledge and the fear of the Lord that ecumenical apostasy has brought upon us.

Here is a link to a video taken during the protest.

Video of Free Presbyterian protest

Post script:

The Lord frustrates the enemy as they seek to mock the gospel witness protest but end up simply advertising the very thing they sought to ridicule. Apparently some 127,000 have viewed this video and it has been forwarded on to others some 4000 time!

The Editor
Monday, 13th May, 2024

A glorious light at the end of a long dark tunnel!

These two sermons were preached yesterday in Coragarry Free Presbyterian Church, Co. Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland.

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matthew 24:3.

The subject of both were “A glorious light at the end of a long dark tunnel!”

Read sermon notes here

NI Unionist political party differences and the diminishing credibility of power-sharing at Stormont

Dr.Edward Cooke

Master of Philosophy, School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics

One policy area that differentiates the UUP and DUP sitting in the NI Executive at Stormont from the TUV (sitting in ‘opposition’ in the NI Assembly) is their respective positions on the funding, monitoring and regulation of NI third-level education sector. An examination of how the DUP and UUP administer the third-education sector, not only indicates differences between them as unionist parties sitting in government for two decades from the TUV, it also highlights (as a case study) a growing credibility problem that incrementally, year-after-year, impacts on the declining number of NI unionist voters, voting in Stormont Assembly elections. Essentially, if a political administration and system of government loses credibility, people cannot be enticed to vote for it. If the political representatives elected are incapable of satisfying the philosophical foundations and long-established principles of representative government, the democratic system will collapse. This historical fact is something that all NI political parties appear to have forgotten. Our inept NI unionist politicians ever dutiful to their party political leaders put at risk what remains of our liberal democracy.

Within GB over the last year, all the political partes have acknowledged that there are existential funding and sustainability problems in the GB university sectors. The dilemma for all the political parties is how best to tackle historical problems given the political importance of the sector and the rising cost of third-level education. As yet, no political party is publicly prepared to admit that the UK university sector has grown too-large and needs to be culled in order to allow for public investment in the (badly neglected) UK further education sector. The recent UK media disclosures of ‘back-door entry routes’, (or in other words, structured discrimination) into UK universities has galvanised Westminster, but not Stormont, into action. Stormont’s intransigence, or cowardice, to act in this policy matter, is similar to Stormont’s indecision during the 2020 Covid-19 crisis when NI lockdown policy was decided on only after Westminster had acted! (more…)