Ecumenism

Index to this edition

• Latest news stories
• The increasing animosity to the gospel in the United Kingdom
• Will the real Joel Beeke please stand up?
• Ireland before the 17th century plantation
• In or out? The European debate
• Pictures of Christ series of Bible studies for Kilskeery Independent Christian School
• Correspondence with Patrick McCafferty. Part 3 of the exchange.

The increasing animosity to the gospel in the United Kingdom

A recent news report gave the details of how a Christian magistrate was sacked and then suspended from his position as non-executive director by Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust.

His crime? Mr. Richard Page was struck off after he told the BBC it would be better for a man and a woman to adopt a child!

That is stating a simple truth, long held sacred in this land, in a very mild manner but for this he was removed as a magistrate.

Speaking about his views he said, “My responsibility as a magistrate, as I saw it, was to do what I considered best for the child. My feeling was therefore that it would be better if it was a man and woman who were the adoptive parents.” Read more…

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The indifference of men to the agonies of Christ

Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger, Lamentations 1:12.

(A gospel message preached in Kilskeery Free Presbyterian Church by the then minister, Rev Ivan Foster, on Lord’s Day morning, 17th January 1999)

What a mountain of triviality occupies the interest of mankind! This is never more obvious than at ‘Easter’ time! Bunnies and chocolate eggs take precedence over the glorious events of the Saviour’s sufferings, death and resurrection.

There are those in the scientific world who are renowned for their knowledge of bugs and beetles, lice and leeches. Some men ceaselessly gaze at the stars in order to catch a glimpse of some unbeknown lump of matter. Others sift the soil and the slime of the earth’s surface in order to discover something new about the creatures that once roamed the earth. The activities of bats and birds, of the antelope and the ant, of the leopard and the lizard have all been studied at length by men consumed with an interest in such things.

But no man has a desire of himself to examine the sufferings of Christ on the cross. When an invitation is given to consider Calvary, all with one consent begin to make excuse. Read more…or listen using the player below.

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Will the real Joel Beeke please stand up??

Below is a link to an article by Ralph Ovadal entitled: “The Downward Spiral of Dr. Joel Beeke’s Ministries Continues.”

Pastor Ovadal has once again sounded a faithful, fearless warning to the people of God regarding the false claims made for the ministry of Dr Joel Beeke.

Dr Beeke has surpassed Dr Billy Graham in his heyday of duplicity when the likes of Dr Bob Jones Sn sounded forth a warning against his sinful compromises and cooperation with modernists and liberals. Billy Graham did not show sympathy for, share conferences with or support openly the wicked blasphemies of so-called sodomite ‘Christians’!

Ralph Ovadal shows that Dr Beeke has and continues to do just that.

This is an article every minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ should read and pass amongst their flock.

Ivan Foster (Editor).

Click here to read the article

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THE FOOTSTEPS OF PATRICK

A brief account of the work of God in Ireland over the last 1500 years
by Rev. Ivan Foster.

The Gospel of Christ came to Ireland over 1500 years ago. Despite many attempts by Satan and his agents God has been pleased to maintain His truth in this land. Following its first planting the Gospel was carried by men whose hearts the Lord had touched into many neighbouring countries: Scotland, England, Wales, France, Germany, Switzerland and further. God has been pleased, in some measure, to do again in these latter days what He did in those distant days. May the land, now associated with terror and strife, become known again by the title it was then given, “The land of Saints and Scholars.”

The history of the Gospel in Ireland begins, to a very real degree, with the story of Patrick. There is much written about Patrick that is entirely fictitious. We can, however, be reasonably sure concerning his faith in Christ and the doctrines that he preached. There exist today two of his writings accepted by all scholars. One is his Confession. From his Confession we learn that his father was a deacon, the son of Potitus, a gospel minister. Where Patrick was actually born is something of a mystery. England, Scotland, Wales and even France all claim to be the place of his birth. In his Confession he tells us that he came from a village called Bonavem Taberniae. Where that village was is difficult now to say. It would appear that the most likely place was somewhere in Roman Britain. Very possibly he came from a place now called Kilpatrick, that is, the ‘Church of Patrick’, near Dumbarten in the Firth of Clyde, in Scotland. Read more…

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Ireland before the 17th century plantation

The text of a lecture given at Bangor Free Presbyterian Young People’s meeting by Rev. Ivan Foster

A knowledge of the history of Ireland is a very beneficial and precious thing and that for a number of reasons.

1. History displays the merciful dealings of God with our forefathers
2. Such a knowledge will do much to expose the lie of Rome that has bred the spirit of Irish nationalism based upon the myth of a pure Irish race that has ever been fervently Roman Catholic.
3. It will go far toward removing the feeling of insecurity and of guiltiness at being in Ulster that many Ulster Protestants suffer from as a result of Rome’s persistent lie.

Read more…

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In or Out? The European Debate

Both pro-EU and anti-EU spokesmen have referred to this debate as the most important for a generation! If they but understood, it will prove to be the most important decision the nation has ever taken in its long and colourful history, so filled with highs and lows, advances and retreats, shame and glory.

1. THE NATION WAS NEVER LESS PREPARED FOR MAKING SUCH A CHOICE
How well prepared is the nation for such a decision? Sadly, it has never been less prepared to decide upon a course to take which will have eternal as well as temporal consequences.
In the past, or at least in the last 500 years, the nation has had the BIBLE to act as its compass and guide and there have been godly men to proclaim fearlessly its TRUTH about the issue that faced the nation. Read more…

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Editor’s correspondence with ‘Father’ Patrick McCafferty

Back in 2002, I entered into a correspondence in the pages of “The Burning Bush” with a Roman Catholic priest from Belfast. The correspondence arose after I wrote a letter in reply to an article by the priest in “The Belfast Telegraph” of August 24th, 2002.

I was grieved at such a platform being given to the errors and deceptions of Rome and commented on the priest’s article in a letter to “The Belfast Telegraph.”

It will be noted how our two replies to the priest were edited by the ‘Letters Editor’ of “The Belfast Telegraph” before they quickly closed the exchange after two exchanges.

The Word of God was not liked by that ecumenical newspaper back then and it is still the case. Every effort was made to shield and protect the priest of Rome from the rebuke of God’s Word.

We are republishing the correspondence, which continued for eight exchanges, and appeared in “The Burning Bush” from October 2002 until May 2003, because of the publicity given to the ‘warm relationship’ that was manifested between this priest and Pastor James McConnell during the recent trial occasioned by Pastor McConnell’s pulpit statements about Islam. Pastor McConnell asked ‘Father’ Patrick McCafferty to speak on his behalf during the trial.

All this “ecumenical camaraderie” between the pastor and the priest may appear to some to give endorsement of the teachings of Rome and it is for this reason we highlight again the errors this priest, like all Roman Catholic clerics, propagates.

Needless to say, it also highlights the folly of James McConnell!

Read Part 3 of the exchange here.

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Pictures of Christ series

Rev. Foster is engaged in an ongoing series of studies in Kilskeery Independent Christian School morning assemblies in which he deals with the theme, “Pictures of Christ in the Bible”, i.e. the descriptions and types of Christ given in the Scriptures.

Each new study will be added as it becomes available and you can listen to new studies using the player below.

Previously published studies in this series can be heard here.

Bible pictures of Christ Pt 38
Bible pictures of Christ Pt 39
Bible pictures of Christ Pt 40
Bible pictures of Christ Pt 41
Bible pictures of Christ Pt 42
Bible pictures of Christ Pt 43
Bible pictures of Christ Pt 44

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Latest news stories

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