Belfast OutReach

"I was brought up knowing the Gospel from a young age. My mum's side were Presbyterian and my Dad's side Reformed Presbyterian (Covenantors)! We attended Dromara RP Church and I was sent religiously to Sunday School and also Midweek Brethren meetings in Garvaghy Orange Hall. But I wasn't saved. I even rhymed off prayers before bed at night and read Christian literature, but I wasn't saved. At High School I attended Scripture Union and hung around with some Christians, but I also got into trouble plenty and if there was mischief, I wasn't far away! My Christianity was all in my head. I knew it all, but I didn't know Him (Jesus) personally. If one asked me if I was a Christian, I would have said 'Yes', but in my heart I knew I was a fraud and a fake. At the age of 16 I attended a Christian Youth weekend in Portrush. I only went for the craic and the girls! I even brought along my heavy metal tapes, which I was dabbling in. T...

Each year when I read the Christmas story, I am impressed with the role that the angels play in it. When I return to these wonderful chapters of Matthew and Luke in order to prepare my Christmas messages, I always seem to find a detail that I had over looked before and which therefore speaks to me in a new way. It struck me, as I began to read this story once again, that apart from the angels, no one would have understood what the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ meant — not the shepherds, not Joseph, not even Mary. Oh, it would have been quite a puzzle to Mary! She would have wondered how she could have conceived without having slept with a man. But the significance of it would have passed her by. Would she have guessed what was happening because of her familiarity with the Old Testament prophecies, such as Isaiah's prophecy that "the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son" ( Isaiah 7...

Bought this book awhile ago, but just got round to reading it now. when we look at christianity world wide, we see a sweeping trend of the charismatics coming into the church. Strange Fire takes a look at some of these trends in the light of scripture, that helps us to descern that which scriptural and of God asa apposed to, that which false teaching from wolves in sheeps clothing. This is a great book and uses a lot of scripture in the light of todays views. For decades, in the interest of unity in the gospel, evangelicals have downplayed or set aside doctrinal differences with the charismatic movement. Today, charismatic teaching is so widespread that it is often the default doctrinal position and is rarely challenged. Christians are being taught that as long as we are “gospel centered,” what we teach about the Holy Spirit and His work does not matter. Of course, it does matter. And what’s at stake is nothing less than our understanding of salvation and sanctifi...

Ephesians 6:10-13. The Whole Armour of God 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11. Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. On this day 100 years ago, the UK was at war with Germany. Germany was flexing its military muscle throughout Europe, using such a noble excuse of helping the Austrians, in they’re War against Serbia after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. If successful the Kaiser and Germa...

   I became a follower of Jesus Christ April of 2014. Before I became a Christian, my life was very different from the one I’m living today. God definitely had His hand on my life and the paths I went down. He made sure that I got to this point. I was always a very rebellious kid. I partied a lot; I acted out in school and towards my family. When I was fifteen, I started dating girls.     This involved me sneaking around a lot and getting into all kinds of other trouble. I lived in the homosexual lifestyle almost exclusively until I was 22, all the while still rebelling against most types of authority. I remember my grandmother watching church on TV Sunday mornings, and I’d hear him preach. I would bash him for being outspoken on the major parts of my life at the time. I didn’t believe a word of what he said when it came to anything beyond the historical account of Jesus, but I certainly heard the message of the cross. God had many figures, aside from my f...

Very briefly – Christian parents raised me and for my first 20 years I attended church regularly. In my early teenage years I attended classes held by the church and at the conclusion of those, having given the right answers to a number of questions, I was deemed worthy to receive communion. However my interest in sport [field hockey and cricket] began to dominate my life and my leisure time. So, after the age of 20 I stopped going to church and indulged myself in my sport and the social life that went with it. That was a very active social life including tours/trips to foreign parts and always included an abundance of alcohol resulting in much ungodly and sinful behaviour. However in 1984 [@ age 38] things were to change. In the months leading up to my conversion I had been reading a number of books by a Christian author – mainly concerned with his views of what would happen just prior to the return of the Lord. I then began to read anothe...

, Sermons and Discourses, 1739-1742    Their foot shall slide in due time. Deuteronomy 32:35. In this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites, that were God's visible people, and lived under means of grace; and that, notwithstanding all God's wonderful works that he had wrought towards that people, yet remained, as is expressed, v. Deuteronomy 32:28 , "void of counsel," having no understanding in them; and that, under all the cultivations of heaven, brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit; as in the two verses next preceding the text. The expression that I have chosen for my text, "Their foot shall slide in due time," seems to imply the following things, relating to the punishment and destruction that these wicked Israelites were exposed to. 1. That they were always exposed to destruction, as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall. This is implied in the manner of...