Day of Defiance

Monday the 21^st October is a notable date in the calendar of Northern Ireland for all the wrong reasons. It has been termed by many the “darkest day”. A day when the abortion law that has saved the lives of over 100,000 babies was liberalised, a day when marriage is to be redefined to include that which is contrary to God’s law.

These changes are not being implemented as a result of a decision by the citizens of Northern Ireland nor by the majority of their elected representatives but have been forced on the people following decisions at Westminster and the fact that the Northern Ireland assembly is not functioning.

We commend those MLA’s who signed a petition to trigger a recall of the Assembly on Monday and who sought to introduce the “Defence of the Unborn Child Bill 2019”. Sadly, other parties did not have the same interest or desire to preserve the life of the unborn child despite all their talk of equality and tolerance.

The moral landscape of Northern Ireland has changed overnight and not for the better.

We now have a society where there is the potential to have the most liberal abortion laws in Europe.

Instead of the mother’s womb being a place of safety it could now be the place of death. There is now the very real possibility that a child conceived through an act of sexual crime will be put to death for the crimes of the father. Likewise, a child thought to have abnormalities instead of receiving dedicated care and affection, may be unwanted and discarded by abortion. The little one who has offended no one could be aborted and put to death if viewed as an inconvenience.

God’s institution of marriage, an illustration of Christ’s relationship with His Church (Eph 5:25) is to be changed to include that which is corrupt and sinful, that which is condemned in the Word of God.

In both of these cases, no consideration has been given to those who may object or have a differing point of view. 

We hear much about Human Rights, tolerance, equality but does it exist for the medical professionals who have devoted their lives to the preservation of human life and oppose abortion?

Does it exist for those who hold to the Biblical definition of marriage?

What has happened is the mark of a secular, sinful, selfish world. 

Paul writes in-

2 Timothy 3:1-5 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 

² For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 

³ Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

⁴ Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 

⁵ Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

The well-known verse in John 3:16 tells us that “God so loved the world that he gave”. This is the essence of the Gospel. A God that loves and One that gave, what a contrast with the world we live in. The Lord Jesus Christ in giving His life for fallen man was selfless but what we have seen taken place in Northern Ireland reveals the sinful selfish heart of mankind.

Despite the darkness, there is hope for fallen man. In love and grace, God has provided salvation for the repentant sinner and that applies to those involved in abortion and homosexuality.

In such a time we are reminded that God is sovereign, that Christians have a duty to pray and to witness. Regardless of what society is doing, we are still to “preach Christ crucified”!

Presbytery Statement on impending Abortion Legislation.

TIME TO BE A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS

Our nation is counting down the days – until the 31st October.  Will our Parliament finally deliver on the expressed will of its people, or will it trigger yet another mechanism by which to invoke another delay to, if not revoke the result of, the referendum?

Of greater concern to us in Northern Ireland than any Brexit deadline is the fact that we can see the whites of the eyes of another cut-off point and can hear the clock ticking on a much more sinister countdown.  One that threatens to put out eyes before they can open; to close the ears of that child whose sensory faculties are rapidly developing inside the womb of its mother; to mechanically – and monstrously – revoke that child’s right ever to live, or learn to speak, or cheer, or vote. 

Exhilaration

While for some – the kind of people who recently celebrated with air punches and cheers in New South Wales, Australia, after they overturned an 119-year-old law against abortion and replaced it with a most radically permissive regime; and those who in May 2018 when the barriers to abortion fell in the Republic of Ireland threatened “The North is next!” – 21st October 2019 cannot come quickly enough; yet for many in Northern Ireland this is a date to be dreaded.

Extremity

It is horrendous to think that our province has been railroaded to such a degree that from being the safest place in the British Isles for an unborn baby she will accommodate one of the most extreme abortion regimes in the world, with little to no protections for anyone, including our health workers, but especially the most defenceless, the unborn child.

As one Australian MP recently depicted it, this is “the slavery debate of our time” and laws imposed upon Northern Ireland without local consultation gives the green light to our own version of the notoriously wicked Holocaust.  

Euphemisms

Naturally this is disputed by those in our society who perversely portray abortion as a   “progressive” measure.  It does not seem to register with them that the murder of the most defenceless of our society should never be couched in terms of advancement.

The euphemisms employed to deliberately mask and minimise the crude, cruel dismemberment of a living child in its mothers’ womb are not only threadbare but terrifying.  In a calculated effort to diminish the horror, terms are pulled into play such as, “a woman’s right to choose,” the deceptive, “a compassionate response to crisis pregnancy,” or the ridiculous description, “healthcare.”  Since when did we take pleasure in healthcare that is locked into only one outcome – death?  Abortion is neither health care nor a woman’s right:  it is murder; the unjustifiable, unconscionable, sinful slaughter of the innocent.  It is a completely bewildering sight to witness some political parties vigorously campaign to outlaw smacking a child, yet at the same time support the violent killing of a child in the womb.

Education

When we permit God’s Word to be our educator, we discover that the weight of Biblical evidence indicates that the Lord considers the unborn child to be a person – therefore that child’s life should be protected as other people’s lives are protected.  The Scriptures plainly teach:

• As a basic commandment (number 6), “Thou shalt not kill.”

• In many passages in the Bible the child in the womb is described as a person:  “The children struggled within her” (Rebekah, Genesis 25:22); Elizabeth “conceived a son in her old age” (Luke 1:36&57); “the babe leaped in her womb” (Luke 1:41).

• God’s judgment always falls on those who slay the unborn (2 Kings 8:11-12; 15:16; Amos 1:13).

• God requires the same punishment for killing a child in the womb as He does for killing a man (Exodus 21:22-23).

Earnestness

With these facts in mind and the deadline quickly approaching, I appeal to Julian Smith MP, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, to recognise the mobilisation of local public sentiment on this issue, to remember the previous votes of the Stormont Assembly not to relax our abortion law, to redress the ambush on our democracy launched and facilitated by the unwarranted interventions of Stella Creasy and John Bercow respectively, and recall the Stormont Assembly before 21 October so that our own elected representatives can take the necessary action both to prevent this law coming into effect and so stop this Death March before it is allowed to begin.  Only by this means will we raise a necessary voice for the voiceless and reverse one of the most wicked impositions of our times:  “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction” (Proverbs 31:8).

Rev. Ian Brown

Minister, Martyrs Memorial Free Presbyterian Church,

on behalf of the General Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster.

Westminster laws for Northern Ireland

On the 18^th of July 2019 when the (Executive Formation) Bill was being debated in the house of Commons, amendments were introduced by Stella Creasy MP for Walthamstow and Conor McGinn MP for St Helens North. They related to the imposing upon Northern Ireland legislation on the redefining of marriage and abortion. This would be the responsibility of the Secretary of State if the Northern Ireland Assembly was not functioning by the 21^st October.

Sadly, both amendments were passed by the majority of the house despite being opposed by the majority of the Northern Ireland MP’s, whom we commend for their opposition.

In light of this the following article by the Rev Ian Brown was published in the Belfast Newsletter-

On history’s side? I aim to be on eternity’s side

I realise that the dark decisions taken by the British Parliament respecting Northern Ireland are not yet binding... although we are well aware that they shall be if the cartel of wicked men and women who voted in favour of these nefarious schemes have anything fur­ther to do with it.

Some elements rose to the fore in our nation's Parliament this week.

One element was hypocrisy.

The Scottish National Party further dis­honoured itself in these votes. This party has made great noises in the past about abstaining on all votes that affect other devolved jurisdictions in order to ringfence their own issues. But here there was no such reticence.

Another feature of the debates in Parliament was perversity.

Since the measures passed by Par­liament specifically target Ulster. I will respond in true Ulster fashion by 'calling a spade a spade'.

Same-sex marriage is perverse. It is a perversion of God's order, that marriage should only and always be between one man and one woman in a loyal and lifelong union (Genesis 1:26- 27; 2:24: Mark 10:6-9).

Abortion is perverse. An allegation recently surfaced that, on the lead up to the recent Irish referendum on abortion, YouTube (owned by Google) "blacklisted" a large number of videos on its platform: 'abortion is barbaric', 'abortion is wrong', abortion is murdering".

If this is correct, my phrase (for the purpose of this piece) would also have been blocked: abortion is perverse.

It is not health care, or a woman's right: it is murder; the unjustifiable, unconscionable, sinful slaughter of the innocent (cf. Psalm 139:13-16; Psalm 127; Job 31:15; Psalm 22:10).

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 dictates that all birds, their nests and eggs are protected by law and it is thus an offence, with certain exceptions. to intentionally kill, injure or take any wild bird, or intentionally take or destroy the egg of any wild bird. Yet the legislation proposed for Northern Ireland will permit babies to be killed in their mother's womb, with not the slightest risk of penalty by any authority.

History was made in Parliament this week. I thank God for those who registered their opposition to these assaults on decency and democracy. Liberals are fond of pulling in the meaningless statement. ‘On the right side of history.' As history goes in cycles it is pretty impossible to get on the right side of it!

This, of course, is yet another crude cudgel used by the opponents of true righteousness to force silence on any-one who speaks from a conscience educated by God's Holy Word, the Bible. Personally. I don't care about "being on the right side of history." Not at all. What I do care about - intensely-is being on the right side in eternity.

It is recorded of our Lord in Matthew 25:32-33 &46: "Before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33. And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

46. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

No doubt the so-called 'emissaries of equality' would feel an objection rise within them right here: "How dare God be so partial? How dare He discriminate!" Whether they like it or not, God will do as He pleases - He is God - and what He does will always be right.

Man may celebrate today as if, in breaking God's laws, he has shaken off all obligations to his Creator and does not need to worry about Him being the eventual and eternal Judge of his actions. Of course man imagined this thousands of years ago, as is detailed in Psalm 2:2-5: "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying.

3. Let us break their bands asunder, and cast

away their cords from us.

4. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

5. Then shall He speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure."

Despite the wicked decisions of men. God is on the throne, still. For time - and eternity. Some of the men and women in Parliament today may not live to see these abominations imposed on Northern Ireland - but all will be obliged to give an account to God for desecrating His laws today and heaping further misery and judgment on our nation.

Meantime, let us continue to pray that God's promise in Isaiah 59:19 will be fulfilled before our eyes: "So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him."

No to Abortion changes!

We welcome the outcome of yesterday's debate within the Northern Ireland Assembly that no change will be made to the current abortion law in Northern Ireland.
We commend each MLA who voted against it.

Below is a report by the Christian Institute:

The Christian Institute has welcomed as ‘heartening’ Stormont’s refusal to weaken legal protections for the unborn in Northern Ireland.
Late last night MLAs voted 59 to 40 against amending legislation to allow abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality. They voted 64 to 32 against allowing abortion in cases of sexual crime.
During the debate, politicians from different parties expressed concern about the proposals.

‘Abortion on demand’

DUP MLA Emma Pengelly said medics had advised that there is no such term as “fatal foetal abnormality”, a point echoed by SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly.
Kelly also warned that changing the law in this way could pave the way for “abortion on demand”.

Abortion is not good healthcare for women Callum Webster

Before the debate, Attorney General John Larkin QC raised concerns that changing the law in this way could breach obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Vital protection

The DUP has asked the Health Minister Simon Hamilton to set up a working group to look into the issues raised by severely life-limiting disabilities.
The Christian Institute’s Northern Ireland Officer Callum Webster said that the existing law, permitting abortion only when the mother’s life is at risk, is a vital protection for women.
“It is heartening that the majority of MLAs have voted to uphold the sanctity of life today at Stormont. There has been a media campaign to undermine the legal protections afforded to our unborn children, but thankfully politicians have resisted that co-ordinated pressure.

Overwhelming opposition

“Abortion is not good healthcare for women. Instead we need to look at improving perinatal hospice care provision for babies with very limited life expectancies”.
Mr Webster added: “The Government’s own consultation last year showed that the public overwhelmingly opposes weaker abortion legislation – in fact less than one per cent favoured changing the law.
“The Assembly has stood up for the people of the Province and against those who wish to sell abortion as a positive choice whilst devaluing the lives of the most vulnerable in our society.

Lasting trauma

“I have had the privilege of meeting many women who have a different story to tell about abortion than the one popularised by the pro-abortion activists.
“Women like Lesley McAskie who was raped at 13 years old. A truly horrific experience but one made even worse by the lasting trauma of aborting her child.
“Women like the late Hilary McDowell – born with multiple disabilities and given a life expectancy of just 3 weeks – who went on to become a highly successful writer and broadcaster.

‘Precious hour’

“Women like Charlene McCabe, whose little girl Myla had Edwards Syndrome, a severe genetic disorder that would have been covered by these amendments. She told me that the time she had with Myla was the most precious hour and 55 minutes of her life – time she would never forget.”
“We know doctors are not infallible and they know that themselves. I have spoken to a couple right here in Northern Ireland who were told their son had a fatal foetal abnormality and were pressured to abort. The diagnosis was completely inaccurate.
“And what about the voice of the unborn? The children whose lives are on the line because someone decides that their life is not worth living. I was able to meet Gary, conceived through the awful trauma of rape but whose mother refused to abort him – a decision for which he is grateful beyond words.
“And these are just a few examples. Today, these people, and many more like them, can take comfort in the knowledge that their voices have been heard and that people like them are recognised for their value as human beings and for the incredible contribution they make to society.”

http://www.christian.org.uk/news/mlas-block-push-to-weaken-protections-for-unborn/