Stephen Green on 6th February 2023 outside Marie Stopes abortion facility in Mattock Lane, Ealing.
Two years on, and a judge has refused to allow Christian Voice National Director Stephen Green to appeal his conviction under ‘Buffer Zone’ legislation in February 2024 by Uxbridge Magistrates for standing in front of the Marie Stopes abortion facility in Mattock Lane, Ealing, in February 2023, displaying a Bible verse:
Psalm 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
(‘Reins’ is an old expression for ‘kidneys’ or ‘insides’, The quote is from the King James Bible, the one presented to King Charles at his coronation).
Mr Justice Mansfield agreed with the Crown Court judge that it was not necessary to look at the actual circumstances of the case. The mere fact that Stephen was there was enough to walk all over his right to express his religion by standing with a Bible verse in a public place.
In October 2024 Judge Hammerton of Isleworth Crown Court agreed with the Magistrates. Advocate Michael Phillips from Christian Legal Centre immediately filed a judicial review of the Crown Court decision in what is known as a ‘Case Stated’. Naturally, Isleworth Crown Court refused to consider the Case Stated. Mr Phillips then filed the papers direct with the High Court.
The High Court refused on papers and again in the hearing on Thursday 12th February 2026. We now appeal that decision direct to the Court of Appeal in London on papers. If they refuse, then the last option is to go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. An appellant must exhaust all domestic remedies before appealing to the ECHR.
Stephen Green said: ‘I look forward to my conviction being quashed on appeal. In the end, these buffer zones must be ruled unlawful and Christian freedom of expression upheld in this realm.’ But the first step is for the judge to approve my application for an appeal. That is what the hearing is about on 12th Feb.
If you cannot be there in London tomorrow, please pray for justice to be done!
Magistrate’s Verdict & Costs Order
Stephen harassed nobody, nor did he mention abortion. Nevertheless, District Judge Kathryn Verghis ruled that by holding the sign he was guilty of protesting by ‘engaging in an act of approval/disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services’.
Judge Verghis said that although the PSPO curtailed his human rights, it was necessary and proportionate to stop what she, and prosecuting barrister Ellis Sareen, accepted was an entirely peaceful protest by Mr Green. Mr Sareen acknowledged there was no evidence of any ‘service user’ suffering any detriment on the day and that the poster was only ‘an oblique reference’ to abortion.
The judge declined to fine Mr Green, the maximum for the offence being £1000, instead giving him a 12-month conditional discharge. Judge Verghis also ordered the preacher to pay Ealing Council prosecution costs of £2600. That was half what they were demanding, by the grace of God and favour from the judge, but still a considerable amount.
Micah 2:1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. 2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
Appeal to Crown Court
On 29th and the 30th October 2024 Stephen appealed against his conviction in Uxbridge Magistrates Court to the Crown Court at Isleworth in South West London.
Judge Alistair Hammerton upheld the magistrates’ court conviction and sentence.
This time, Ealing asked for costs of £7,536.50. In what must be seen as a punitive order, Judge Hammerton granted the costs in full and allowed no time to pay.
READ: Gen 4:8-10, 14:16; Deut 27:25; 1Sam 30:18; Prov 6:16-17; Eccl 11:5; Isa 59:7; Matt 18:10; Luke 12:11-12; Eph 6:13-19.
PRAY: For the High Court to agree to hear Stephen’s appeal. For courage for Stephen, eloquence for Michael, favour with the judge.
WRITE: To your MP at House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA or email him/her from the MP list below. Ask your MP to agree with you that Buffer Zones are an unwarranted assault on freedom of speech.
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Flowers lie on caskets during a funeral Mass in the the parish hall of St. Francis Xavier Church in Owo, Nigeria, June 17, 2022. The Mass was for some of the 40 victims killed in a June 5 attack by gunmen during Mass at the church. 52,250 people have been killed over the last 14 years in Nigeria only for being Christians, a new report published April 10 revealed (OSV News photo/Temilade Adelaja, Reuters)
Are attacks on Christians in Nigeria on the rise? Creator: Getty Images
Since 2009, Nigeria has been one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian.
According to the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), over 52,000 Christians have been killed, and 18,000 churches and 2,200 Christian schools destroyed by Islamist extremists.
Nigeria topped Open Doors’ World Watch List 2024 for the number of Christians killed or abducted for their faith — 3,100 killed and 2,800 kidnapped in one year alone.
Despite the scale of violence, Western media coverage has been minimal. This silence was challenged when American comedian and talk show host Bill Maher raised the issue on Real Time (HBO) in late September 2025, questioning why Gaza receives extensive media attention while Nigeria’s genocide of Christians is largely ignored.
“They are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria,” Mr. Maher said. “They’ve killed over 100,000 since 2009. They’ve burned 18,000 churches.”
Though the comedian is a self-proclaimed apatheist, his blunt comparison awakened a conversation many believers have avoided.
Isaiah 58:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression.
When God wants to expose injustice, He sometimes uses unexpected voices. The question is not whether Mr. Maher believes in Christ, but whether the Church still believes in defending its own persecuted members.
In June 2025, gunmen stormed Yelwata in Benue State, central Nigeria, killing more than 100 villagers, most of them Christians. Entire families were burned alive in their homes.
In April 2025, Zike village in Borno State suffered a similar fate: 40 Christian farmers were murdered by suspected Fulani militants.
On Christmas Day 2023, over 160 Christians were killed in Plateau State during what was described as a “Christmas massacre”. Churches were razed and pastors beheaded.
These are not isolated tragedies but part of a pattern — what many experts, including Intersociety and Open Doors, call a slow genocide of Christians in Nigeria’s “Middle Belt.
Revelation 6:9 And I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.
Each statistic hides faces, families, and faith that refused to renounce Christ. The blood of these martyrs calls the global Church to remember that Christianity still costs everything in many lands.
The official denial
The Nigerian government denies that Christians are being specifically targeted, calling the violence “terrorism that affects all communities.”
A presidential spokesperson dismissed U.S. Senator Ted Cruz’s statement that Nigeria is facing a Christian genocide as “careless rhetoric.”
Yet official statistics tell another story. In northern and Middle Belt states, Christians are up to eight times more likely to be killed in attacks than Muslims.
Moreover, blasphemy laws in states such as Kano still carry the death penalty. Christian student Deborah Yakubu was stoned to death in 2022 after she thanked Jesus in a university group chat. No one was prosecuted.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness.
When authorities deny persecution, they aid the persecutors. Christians must speak truth even when governments will not. Silence is complicity.
The world begins to awaken
International concern is finally stirring. In the U.S., Senator Ted Cruz introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act in 2025, seeking sanctions against Nigerian officials who enable or ignore religious violence.
Sen. Cruz said, “Nigerian Christians are being targeted and executed for their faith by Islamist terrorist groups, and are being forced to submit to sharia law and blasphemy laws across Nigeria. It is long past time to impose real costs on the Nigerian officials who facilitate these activities, and my Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act uses new and existing tools to do exactly that. I urge my colleagues to advance this critical legislation expeditiously.”
In the UK, Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief David Smith named Nigeria as a “priority country” for action.
Even secular commentators such as Bill Maher have now forced mainstream journalists to confront the silence.
Proverbs 31:8 Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.
The tide may be turning, but only if pressure continues. Christians must be the moral conscience of their governments, insisting that truth and justice prevail.
A Church that suffers in silence
For Christians in northern and central Nigeria, persecution is not an eventt, it is daily life.
In June 2022, gunmen attacked St Francis Xavier Church in Owo, Ondo State, during Pentecost Mass, killing over 50 worshippers, including children.
In May 2023, over 100 Christians were killed in Mangu in Plateau State, their homes burned and churches desecrated.
Every week brings fresh names of martyrs, yet few outside Africa hear their stories. While the West debates theology, believers in Nigeria live the Book of Acts under fire.
1 Corinthians 12:26 If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it.
The persecuted Church does not ask for pity, only prayer, advocacy, and remembrance. To forget them is to betray the body of Christ.
Subject: Urgent Appeal: Stop the Killings of Christians in Nigeria
Your Excellency,
I am writing to express grave concern over the ongoing killings of Christians in Nigeria, including the Christmas Day 2023 massacre in Plateau State, where over 160 Christians were killed and churches burned.
These attacks, which continue across the Middle Belt and northern states, show a clear pattern of religious persecution. I urge your government to take decisive action to protect Christian communities, bring perpetrators to justice, and uphold Nigeria’s constitutional right to freedom of religion.
The world is watching, and silence only deepens the suffering.
READ: 1Sam 13:14; Judges 10:13; Ps 9:9; Ps 82:3–4; Prov 31:8–9; Isa 28:9; Isa 61:8; Matt 5:10–12; John 15:18–20; Rom 12:19; 2Tim 3:12; Heb 13:3; 1Pet 4:16; Rev 2:10; Rev 6:9–11..
PRAY: Pray for Christians in Nigeria
Pray for Christians of Northern Nigeria and for peace.
Pray for families of those who lost their lives.
Let us know what YOU think in the comments below.
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A Christian councillor has come under fire for questioning whether teaching Muslim prayer practices in state schools could be linked to radicalisation, and for stating that the United Kingdom is a Christian country.
Reform UK Councillor Carl Abbot, made the remarks during a council training session on extremism.
The councillor for Glenfield Leicestershire has been accused of stigmatising a faith group and his comments labelled “Islamophobic.”
Cllr Abbot responded that his remarks were concerns, not prejudice, saying: “It really worries me in particular when we see children in primary schools being taught to pray the Muslim way. If the government is allowing this to be taught in schools, is this not a start of radicalisation of these children? Will we see a further increase in crimes, etc., as these children grow up? And I’m just wondering in the future, is this a start of something where you’re going to be overwhelmed?
I am not tarring anybody, I’m stating a concern. We are a Christian country, end of story.”
The councillor’s concerns fall within legitimate public discourse about educational content and cultural identity. Detractors, however, see his views as fear-driven and discriminatory, interpreting any critique of other religions as hostile or prejudicial.
The exchange has stirred wider debate about free speech, religious expression, and what constitutes legitimate concern versus offensive generalisation. At its heart is a question: can public figures discuss religion and the integration of faith practices in schools without being accused of intolerance?
The UK’s history and institutions have been shaped by Christian faith, even as society has become more ‘religiously diverse’, and that debate about religious influences in public life should not be shut down.
Britain is founded on institutions such as the Church of England and the Christian monarchy. Its legal system, calendar of public holidays, many of its charities, and much of its cultural ethos have long roots in Christian theology and practice. The national anthem invokes God, and the monarch is still styled as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, a role intertwined with national identity.
Christian observances such as Christmas and Easter remain public holidays, and the majority of charitable giving in the UK is associated with Christian organisations. Churches, cathedrals, and historic religious structures dot towns and cities, and Christian ethical frameworks have historically influenced debates over law, justice, welfare, and public morality. It is therefore hypocritical to criticise a man who have chosen not to be blinded by the societal ideologies or the fallacies of diversity.
Even as religious attendance has declined in recent decades, Christianity continues to play a role in public rituals and national ceremonies. Parliamentary prayers, coronations, and state funerals remain rooted in Christian forms. The Archbishop of Canterbury continues to be a figure of national prominence, representing Anglicanism and, by extension, a historical Christian foundation.
Across education, many state schools still retain Christian reflection as part of daily assemblies or religious education, albeit in increasingly plural contexts.
Watch why we can not serve two masters at once:
Christians targeted
Christians in the UK have increasingly reported being ‘mistakenly branded’ as hateful or disciplined for expressing beliefs grounded in their faith.
For example, a teacher in London was sacked in December 2025 for telling Muslim children that Britain is a Christian country. He also told the boys off for washing their feet in the hand wash basins in the toilets (‘restroom’ if you’re American).
He told them: ‘Britain is still a Christian state’ and observed that the King is head of the Church of England. The school suspended the teacher in March twenty-twenty-four, then sacked him.
This case illustrates the fine line Christians navigate when speaking about their own heritage and convictions.
A retired pastor from Northern Ireland faced prosecution for preaching the Gospel in an open-air Sunday service near Coleraine’s Causeway Hospital.
Despite Clive Johnston not mentioning abortion, nor directly engaging with patients or staff, the 76-year-old was charged under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act.
U-turn on plans to silence Christian preachers
On 7 March 2025, Rushmoor Borough Council sought an injunction at Aldershot and Farnham County Court that would have imposed draconian restrictions on Christian Street preachers in Aldershot and Farnborough.
Such measures, framed as public-order protections, risk chilling effect on lawful expression of faith and conscience when Christians engage openly with their communities. The Labour council was forced into a dramatic U-turn.
These cases often centre on whether traditional theological positions on sexuality, marriage, or religious identity can be expressed without crossing statutory lines, a question courts continue to wrestle with.
In its relentless pursuit of appearing “woke” and aligned with international ideological fashions, Britain has paid a grave and growing price. Under the banner of diversity and inclusion, the nation has steadily surrendered common sense, moral clarity, and the legitimate expectations of its own citizens. What was once a commitment to fairness has been distorted into an uncritical accommodation of every claim, regardless of cost or consequence.
Recently, a convicted Islamist double murderer was awarded £240,000 of public money after a High Court ruling found that his isolation in prison breached his human rights.
Fuad Awale, serving a life sentence for the execution-style killing of two teenagers in Milton Keynes, successfully claimed that being placed in solitary confinement following a hostage-taking incident caused him psychological harm.
While the protection of human dignity is a principle Christians rightly affirm, the spectacle of generous compensation being granted to a man guilty of taking innocent lives raises profound moral questions. There are several other examples out there.
Where, one must ask, is the consideration for the victims and their families? Where is the concern for the public, compelled to finance such payouts while facing rising living costs and declining public services?
Pray for forgiveness and Britain’s return to the Christ of our Christian constitution. Pray the Lord will raise up able, truthful, God-fearing men who are up to that challenge:
Exo 18:21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness
It is written: Psalm 33:12a Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD
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This autumn brings a series of 14 worship programmes from every corner of the UK - from Gravesend to Islandmagee
This autumn brings a series of 14 worship programmes from every corner of the UK – from Gravesend to Islandmagee
The BBC has announced a new series of 14 programmes under the title ‘Prayer and Reflection’.
Beginning 14 September 2025, the season will feature services and ceremonies from six of the ‘major faiths’ represented in the UK.
It includes programmes covering Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, and Sikhism.
Each Sunday morning, viewers will be invited into what producers describe as “sacred spaces” to share in prayer and devotion.
From synagogues and mosques to gurdwaras, temples, and monasteries, the programmes seek to highlight Britain’s religious diversity.
The intention, according to the BBC, is to show how prayer and reflection form a central part of spiritual life across different traditions.
This is an ambitious project. But it also raises important questions about how Christianity, the faith that has shaped the nation for centuries, will sit within such a multi-faith showcase.
Within the schedule, Christian worship is certainly represented. Services will be broadcast from Presbyterian, Catholic, Pentecostal, and Anglican churches, culminating in a Christmas service from St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh. Yet these appear as part of a broader collection of traditions, rather than the backbone of the series.
To many, this reflects the BBC’s desire to be ‘balanced and inclusive’, offering each faith a voice in the public square. When Christianity is presented as one among many, its historic role as the foundation of British life and culture risks being diminished.
It is worth remembering that Christianity is not only part of our national story, but the root of it. The Bible shaped our laws, our education, our freedoms, and even the language we speak.
It is clear that the guiding principle of Prayer and Reflection is ‘inclusivity’. The BBC wishes to reflect the diversity of faith within modern Britain, showing that each tradition has something to contribute to the national conversation.
There is much to commend in giving a platform to minority communities who rarely see their forms of worship represented on screen. It allows viewers to learn, to reflect, and perhaps to better understand their neighbours.
And yet, when ‘inclusivity’ becomes the main measure of success, there is a danger that truth is obscured. Christianity is not one option among many, but the faith which declares Christ as “the only way”
John 14:6 ‘Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
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An opportunity for reflection
Despite these concerns, the BBC’s new season does present an opportunity for Christians to connect with God. It is a reminder that prayer and worship to the one and only true God remain part of the rhythm of life for millions of people in the UK. At a time when secular voices are often the loudest, that in itself is striking.
The call of the church is not to compete for airtime, but to proclaim Christ clearly.
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
If nothing else, Prayer and Reflection invites us to think again about what it means to be a Christian nation in a ‘diverse society’.
READ: Acts 20:28; Rom 1:26-27; Eph. 5:27; Col 1:28-29; Heb 13:5; .
PRAY: Pray for the Church of England. Pray for the UK. Pray for our leaders to lead in wisdom and the fear of God.
Let us know what YOU think in the comments below.
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A Christian street preacher has received £5,500 in compensation from Police Scotland for being wrongfully arrested in connection to an unfounded homophobic ‘hate crime’ incident.
Angus Cameron, a former pastor at Cumnock Baptist Church, was detained for over an hour in Glasgow while preaching on Buchanan Street in January 2022.
Additionally, he was awarded £9,400 in legal costs, and he chose to donate the entire amount to the Christian Institute, which supported him throughout the case.
Angus Cameron’s situation is the latest in a series of wins for street preachers.
In July 2016, we reported that Michael Overd was arrested in Broadmead Shopping Center in Bristol. He and his fellow preacher, Mike Stockwell, were accused of ‘religious aggravated public order offence’ in February 2017. The pair were convicted in what we described as a biased magistrates court, and were duly acquitted on appeal to the Crown Court.
In 2019, Oluwole Ilesanmi faced a similar incident in London due to complaints about his preaching. He was arrested on accusations of ‘Islamophobia,’ driven four miles in a police car, then released on the side of the road. He received £2,500 from the Metropolitan Police.
Similarly, in 23rd April 2021, CBN News reported that Pastor John Sherwood was arrested while preaching in an open air in Uxbridge, West London. He was accused of a criminal act for preaching what the word of God teaches about marriage. However, a year later, he was acquitted and cleared of all charges.
As much as there have been a number of wins recorded in the last few years, the battle is not over. It still seems it is easier for the police to arrest a preacher when they receive a complaint rather than to explain the principle of freedom of speech to the complainer. Senior police need to take action to stop this absurdity.
Buffer Zone Challenge
Stephen Green outside Uxbridge Magistrates Court
In our own case, Christian Voice National Director, Stephen Green, faced trial in Uxbridge Magistrates Court on Friday 19th January 2024 for displaying a Bible verse outside an abortion facility inside a ‘buffer zone’ in Ealing in London.
Stephen stood with a placard displaying Psalm 139:13, which says, in the King James version presented to King Charles at his coronation in May: Psa 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins (= kidneys, insides): thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
It is forbidden, under an Ealing Council ‘Public Spaces Protection Order’, to demonstrate either for or against abortion in the vicinity of the Marie Stopes abortion centre in Mattock Lane, W5. We say our verse is about human development in the womb, and challenge Ealing to say what relevance it has to abortion. In addition, we say there should be nowhere in the United Kingdom where the Bible may not be read in its entirety. Judge Burgess is expected to give her judgment on Thursday 1st February 2024.
The Bible says, Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (KJV)
READ: Proverbs 11:30; Matthew 9:36–38; Rom 10:14–15; 1 Corin 2:1–5; 2 Corin 5:20; 1 Peter 3:15 PRAY: for Christians across the UK upholding the faith.
Pray for those prosecuted
Pray for street preachers
Let us know what YOU think in the comments below.
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Danny Kruger MP – National Conservatism Conference, UK 2023
Mr. Kruger has been an MP since 2019, and sat on Kemi Badenoch’s team as a shadow work and pensions minister.
The East Wiltshire MP – who has said he would not be triggering a by-election – said the Conservatives were no longer the main party of opposition.
He said: ‘The flame is passing from one torch to another. The old torch, once so great, is guttering, fluttering, held weakly in uncertain hands, but the new torch is already alight, already brighter than the one it is replacing, held aloft in firm and confident hands.’
The MP said that he would now help Reform prepare for government, using his experience as a former minister and political secretary to Boris Johnson in Downing Street.
‘It’s going to be difficult because we are planning change on a scale that the system has not seen since the modern Civil Service was created in the 19th century,’ he said.
‘This work is going to be hard, and it will be opposed by the system, and that’s why we need to be radical, taking on the vested interests and the incumbents who always defend the status quo.’
‘This is my tragic conclusion, the Conservative Party is over, over as a national party, over as the principal opposition to the left,’ he added.
Danny Kruger has become the first sitting Conservative MP to defect to Reform, a move the Telegraph describes as a ‘major blow’ to Kemi Badenoch.
Parliament rebuked over ‘great sin’
In July, Mr. Kruger’s speech took a grave turn as he reflected on recent legislative moves. Within the space of three days, he said, ‘Parliament authorised two “great sins”: abortion up to birth and assisted suicide for the elderly and disabled.’
‘We gave our consent to the greatest crime: the killing of the weak and most defenceless human beings,’ he said solemnly. ‘It was a great sin.’
Speaking from St Stephen’s Hall—the historic space that once housed the royal chapel and served as the model for the current House of Commons, the MP reminded colleagues of the deep Christian roots upon which British democracy was built.
“Our democracy is founded on Christian faith,” he said. “This Parliament remains the law-giving power of the Church of England.”
He noted that even today, every parliamentary session opens with prayer and that the Church of England remains a national chaplaincy.
“Every square inch of England belongs to a parish,” he said, “and every citizen is, in a sense, a member—even if they never attend church.”
In a moment rarely seen in Westminster, Kruger publicly repented on behalf of the House for what he described as the deliberate destruction of life. ‘If, standing here, I have any power to repent on behalf of this House, I hereby repent of what we did.’
Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.
The MP drew parallels between the current disarray in both the Church of England and the British state. He criticised the Church for lacking clear leadership and doctrinal unity, noting the uncertainty surrounding the appointment of the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
‘The Church is riven by deep disputes… It is literally leaderless,’ he said.
He argued that the country itself is suffering a similar crisis of identity: ‘We are unclear in our doctrines and governance. We are culturally and morally precarious.’
Mr. Kruger’s concern extends to the loss of national confidence and a growing inability to distinguish right from wrong—especially when it comes to life, truth, and responsibility.
Proverbs 15:33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; And before honour is humility.
A call to recover our Christian identity
Mr. Kruger traced unique national identity of England in particular back to its Christian foundations, calling the country the “prototype” of Christian nationhood. He described how, over a thousand years—from Alfred the Great to Queen Victoria—English institutions were shaped by the Bible.
‘The story of England is the story of Christianity operating on a people to make the institutions and culture that have been uniquely stable and successful.’
He argued that the rule of law, care for the weak, and freedom of conscience only make sense in a Christian worldview. Without God, the secular ideal collapses.
Psalm 11:3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?.
Secularism has failed—time to return to God
The MP strongly rejected the 20th-century idea that society could function without reference to God. He warned that the dream of a “neutral” public square has led not to liberty, but to social breakdown and spiritual decay.
‘In the absence of the Christian God, we do not have pluralism and tolerance. We simply create a vacuum into which other aggressive ideologies enter.’
All politics, he said, is ultimately religious. And Britain must decide: return to its Christian heritage—or be ruled by new, godless creeds.
Christian Voice calls on believers to pray for Parliament, for revival in the Church, and for moral clarity to be restored in the governance of our nation.
Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.
READ: 2Chr 34:21b; Job 1:2; Psa 26:9-10; Prov 3:6, 31:8; Eccl 3:2, 8:8; Isa 1:15; John 10:17-18; Rom 13:4.
PRAY: For MPs to seek the Lord for his wisdom.
Let us know what YOU think in the comments below.
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Read and pray
READ: Exod 20:01-17; Deut 17:14-20; 2Sam 23:03; Isaiah 1:23; Micah 6:8; Prov 21:01; Prov 29:2; Matt 23:23; Eph 5:11; Mark 12:30-31; John 14:15; Col 3:2. PRAY: Pray for the UK. Pray for our leaders to lead in wisdom and the fear of God. Let us know what YOU think in the comments below.
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A UK jury has acquitted Christian street preacher Shaun O'Sullivan of a religiously aggravated “Islamophobia” charge, ruling that his comments were protected religious and political speech—not a hate crime.
A Christian street preacher Shaun O’Sullivan has been unanimously cleared of ‘religiously-aggravated intentional harassment’ by a Crown Court jury.
Despite the acquittal, the case leaves behind troubling questions about the state of free speech, policing, the rising power of untested ‘hate claims’ and the real harassment of preachers by His Majesty’s Constabulary.
Mr O’Sullivan, 36, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, had been charged under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. His alleged offence? Saying phrases such as “We love the Jews,” taking issue with “Jew haters,” and “Palestine lovers”, while preaching in Swindon town centre on 15 September 2024.
A Muslim family told police they felt targeted because they were wearing hijabs. Before any evidence was reviewed, a 999 call-handler immediately labelled the incident a “hate crime”, a decision made without factual basis, corroboration, or investigation.
The case was pursued during heightened tensions near the one-year anniversary of the 7 October attacks and amid frequent pro-Palestine demonstrations. Yet in court, the prosecution’s foundation crumbled:
No audio evidence. No video evidence. CCTV showing only seconds of passing contact with no confrontation. Witness accounts contradicting each other on key details.
The jury saw the truth plainly. The case should never have been brought.
This incident echoes earlier controversies in which police rapidly escalated non-criminal speech into full investigations, such as the arrest of street evangelist David Little in 2019/b> and the wrongful detention of Pastor John Sherwood in 2021, both later cleared. Each case raises the same question: Is biblical speech becoming a policed category in modern Britain?
John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgement.
A UK jury has acquitted Christian street preacher Shaun O’Sullivan of a religiously aggravated “Islamophobia” charge, ruling that his comments were protected religious and political speech, not a hate crime.
Under cross-examination by solicitor advocate Michael Phillips, the complainant conceded that:
“She had not heard the full message; Her interpretation was shaped by personal views on Gaza. She was upset partly because Mr O’Sullivan “spoke directly to us.”
The defence argued that any statements formed part of a general theological message, consistent with British traditions of public evangelism—not personal abuse.
Expert witness Dr Martin Parsons, a respected scholar of Christian and Islamic theology, delivered critical insight:
Street preaching is historically protected in British constitutional development. Criminalising religious expression undermines Articles 9, 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The alleged comments are religious opinions, not hatred. Current political climate has dangerously blurred the line between criticism of ideas and hatred of people.
He further noted theological realities often ignored in public debate, including Qur’anic verses (e.g., Q5:51) historically contributing to anti-Jewish sentiment within Islamic tradition context crucial to understanding the preacher’s message.
Meanwhile, the Crown relied almost entirely on the family’s perception, a trend increasingly seen in UK policing, where a “hate incident” can be recorded solely on the basis of subjective feeling, regardless of evidence.
2 Corinthians 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord…
Mr O’Sullivan’s own testimony moved the courtroom. Once immersed in violence and crime, he encountered Christ and everything changed. He now dedicates his life to proclaiming hope in public spaces, offering the same mercy that delivered him.
“I was once lost, but Christ changed everything,” he said after the verdict. “My heart is to share the good news and love all people. I never intended harm.”
The trial lasted six days and cost the taxpayer an estimated £20,000,a heavy price for a case without evidence.
Meanwhile, in Wales, a school was criticised and investigated for promoting evangelical Christianity to its pupils.The school was accused of ‘promoting creationism’.
This verdict joins a growing list of legal victories exposing overreach:
Hatun Tash, repeatedly arrested for preaching at Speakers’ Corner, the McArthur bakery case, a landmark UK decision on compelled speech.
Together, these cases form a pattern: Christian expression is still legal, but the pressure to silence it is mounting.
This case should serve as a wake-up call to police, lawmakers, and the British public. The principle at stake was never merely about one preacher, it was about the right of believers to speak openly, Biblically, and without fear.
If Britain continues down a path where perception outweighs evidence, political sensitivities override truth,and biblical conviction becomes treated as hostility, then the fundamental freedoms carved out by our Christian heritage will slowly erode. But for now, a vital line has held. A jury has spoken, and a preacher walks free.
The verdict reaffirms what Scripture has long taught: light drives out darkness, truth withstands accusation, and no earthly authority can silence the Gospel when God has commissioned it.
May this case strengthen the resolve of every believer who feels pressure to remain silent. May it remind the Church that public proclamation is not merely a tradition—it is a calling.
And may Britain remember the liberties it inherited before they slip quietly away.
Read and Pray: Psa 118:9; 146:3; Prov 14:34; Micah 6:8; Matthew 5:10 Rom 3:13. Pray: For street preachers. Pray for our leaders to lead in righteousness and the fear of the lord.Pray for restoration in the United Kingdom.
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Punk-rap duo Bob Vylan have had their next gig cancelled, after frontman Bobby Vylan (real name Pascal Robinson- Foster) made fresh appalling remarks about the late Charlie Kirk while on stage in Amsterdam.
A clip from their performance at Club Paradiso on Saturday went viral, with the singer hitting out at Mr Kirk just days after the American commentator was fatally shot in Utah.
The band were due to perform next in Tilburg, but the venue withdrew.
At issue is not only the mockery of a man slain in front of students, but the pattern of behaviour which has brought Bob Vylan under criminal investigation.
This is not the first time the band’s words have raised alarm. At Glastonbury they led chants of “death to the IDF,” a moment which prompted apologies from both the BBC and the festival organisers, and which Avon and Somerset Police are still investigating.
BBC bosses later admitted the band had been flagged as “high risk” before the show, yet the live broadcast was allowed to continue. BBC chairman Samir Shah conceded the decision not to cut the feed was “unquestionably an error of judgement.”
So questions remain: why did the BBC fail to act when the option was open? Who in authority decided to give the green light in the first place? And why do the police appear slow in addressing clear incitement on a national stage?
Bobbie Vylan, for their part, deny being against Jews, insisting they oppose “a violent military machine.” Yet in their public rhetoric, they vilify former employers as “Zionists” and celebrate causes that edge into hatred.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.
When a man’s murder is trivialised, when calls for death are excused as performance art, and when broadcasters apologise only after the fact, the urgent question is unavoidable: when will the full force of the law finally catch up with Bob Vylan?
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A dispute has emerged over the funeral arrangements of a 15-year-old boy who reportedly committed suicide on the 4th of January in Glengarnock, Scotland.
The boy, identified as Quinton Isaac, passed away under the care of foster parents, Neil and James Smith.
According to birth mother, Maria Mutadiua, she has been denied access to the funeral proceedings on the request of Samantha her 18-year-old daughter, who has also been under the care of the Smiths since she was four years old.
A council spokeswoman for Glasgow city said: ‘It is not for Social Work to decide who can or can’t attend a funeral.’
The HSCP referred to the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 which stipulates that without an arrangement on death declaration, the nearest relative can arrange for burial or cremation. ‘In this instance HSCP claims that Neil and James Smith have parental rights and responsibility for Quinton.
‘The spokesperson for social service in the Drumchapel area, told Christian Voice, ‘What happened to Quinton is quite unfortunate, and the service is doing everything possible to support Maria at this time.’
‘ Unfortunately, it is not our place to grant or deny access to funeral. But we will continue to offer support in any way we can.
Maria Mutadiua, told Christian Voice, ‘ I was devastated, confused and almost lost my mind when the police called me about Quinton. After taking my son away from me with no intentions to give him back despite all my efforts for 12 years, the one phone call from them about my son is to tell me he is gone?
Maria Mutadiua speaking to Christian Voice in her residence.
‘ I see no reason why i can not have a say as to how my son should be buried, and most importantly being denied access to say goodbye.
‘Neil and James are only foster parents, not adopted parents’.
Ms Mutadiua alleges that Neil and James Smith, are behind the decision to exclude her from the funeral, as her daughter can not act alone. She also alleged that her son died of neglect and abandonment.
‘They abandoned my son during the holidays with strangers to God knows where. My son died without experiencing his mother’s love. I was also told my boy had been trying to commit suicide from the age of twelve. why am i just finding out’?
‘From the suicide note Quinton left behind, it shows that all ‘he wanted was true love, and he did not get it from the Smith’s’.
Maria acknowledged the efforts of the police and social services but has called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances leading up to her son’s death. She is seeking answers as to why social services took her children away from her in the first place. It is difficult to believe that a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old are capable of making decisions not to come back home, Ms Mutadiua added.
“Maria has not directly contacted us”
Meanwhile, Foster parents Neil and James, told Christian Voice that they were not in the best frame of mind to speak on the matter, expressing profound sadness over the news of Quinton’s passing.
‘He was our son and we loved him dearly. All we can say is that Maria had the chance to take flowers to the Morgue and identified his body. How is it possible that we would say no to her attending the funeral?
‘We have seen and read the lies written about us on social media. Unfortunately, Maria has not directly contacted us about this funeral’, they added.
In the meantime, a social media post made by James Smith announces that Late Quinton will be laid to rest on Tuesday, January 23rd. According to the post, everyone is welcome to attend the proceeding. However, given the recommendations by authorities involved, it is still unclear if Maria can attend.
Injustice to motherhood?
Mabel Oboh, JOM press officer
Spokesperson for Josephine Oboh-Macleod (JOM) Charity SCIO, Mabel Oboh said, ‘ It is a great injustice to motherhood for any biological mother to be denied access to the funeral of her child.
‘They have told us it is Samantha’s wish that Maria does not attend the funeral, but we want the police, social services and carers to tell us where under the law it says a sibling has the right over a parent.
‘This does not make sense, and that’s why we began a campaign to get justice for Mutadiua. No one wakes up one day and decides to commit suicide. We demand answers.
‘They also said that JOM Charity should stop the ongoing petition for justice for Maria. But Oboh Macleod requested that they write a letter to that effect. The Police has said that their investigation is ongoing as to the cause of death’, She added.
‘As a charity organisation in Scotland, and with the authority to represent Maria on humanitarian grounds, we are advocating for Maria and her other children to be granted the opportunity to pay their last respects’.
Ms. Oboh added that Quinton and Samantha were taken away by social services at the age of two, and four despite lack of reasons involving neglect or abuse or Maria’s consent.
Same sex couples fostering children?
Christian Voice has always maintained that God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Therefore the idea of allowing two men act as parents in the first place is completely against the word of God.
The Bible says, Genesis 2:23-24 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man…Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
In July 2020, a judge ruled that an evangelical Christian fostering service must allow gay parents to sign up as carers. Cornerstone expressed that it would “prayerfully” reflect on the court’s findings.
This followed a 2019 inspection, where Ofsted downgraded Cornerstone from a “good” to a “requires improvement” rating, citing concerns about the charity’s carer recruitment policies.
Mr. Justice Julian Knowles acknowledged the fostering service’s legal allowance to recruit based on its religious ethos. However, he deemed the policy requiring “applicants to refrain from homosexual conduct” as unlawful.
Christians forced to accept sodomy?
In the last couple of years, Christians have been pressured into accepting what the society presents as parenting
In 2011, a Christian couple, Eunice and Owen Johns, lost their high court claim asserting that they faced discrimination from a local authority for maintaining their right to express to young foster children that homosexuality is morally wrong.
In their sixties and with a history of fostering, the Johns contended that Derby City Council discriminated against them due to their Christian beliefs when they declined to affirm the acceptability of a “homosexual lifestyle” to a child.
In a judgement, Lord Justice Munby and Justice Beatson dismissed the claims put forth by the couple’s lawyer, deeming them “a travesty of reality.”
READ: Gen 18:20-21; Lev 20:13; Judges 19:22; Psalm 111:10; Prov 31:17, 31:25; Eccl 12:13; Isa 1:10; Micah 6:8; Mark 12:30-31; John 14:15; Rom 12:2; 2 Peter 2:6-10 PRAY: for the repeal of woke laws in the UK.
Pray for children in the care of same-sex parents
Pray for the soul of Quinton, and his family.
Pray for Christian parents who refuse to succumb to woke laws.
Let us know what YOU think in the comments below.
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Sir David Bell of Common Purpose - right behind Sir Brian Leveson (r)
Sir David Bell of Common Purpose – right behind Sir Brian Leveson (r)
The antics of a sinister left-of-centre freemasonry need consideration by those of us concerned about the elite and the quangocracy. But scripture can encourage us in our prayer.
In November 2012, Richard Pendlebury, an investigative journalist on the Daily Mail, put together a series of articles on the activities and people behind a shadowy elitist training school called ‘Common Purpose’:
Common Purpose runs expensive leadership courses mainly for public sector employees, largely because only the public sector can afford its fees of £5,000 for a week’s attendance.
Richard Pendlebury
One cannot always trust what the Daily Mail says, and in attacking those campaigning for restrictions on the press, it can be accused of fighting its own corner as the Leveson Report looms rather than exposing chicanery in high places.
Nevertheless, Mr Pendlebury is an award-winning journalist and his articles are replete with well-researched links between personnel and based on documents and statements in the public sphere. Chief among the people identified is Sir David Bell, a top fixer in the Leveson Enquiry and a trustee of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which falsely linked Lord McAlpine to the Wrexham paedophile scandal. Sir David is indeed a trustee of the Common Purpose Charitable Trust, whose purpose statement claims: ‘Our educational courses give people the inspiration, skills and connections to become better leaders.’
Common Purpose International is linked by personnel to the Common Purpose Charitable Trust and aims to establish Common Purpose operating organisations in countries outside the UK. It says ‘All Common Purpose operating organisations aim to give leaders the inspiration, the knowledge and the connections they need to produce real change.’
Even the Guardian’s Michael White was grudgingly appreciative of the ‘Mail’ article and Richard Pendlebury, writing: ‘Bell is a good Mail target because he’s highly visible in the octopus as a former Social Democrat party member and ex-chairman of Pearsons with links to other quango-crats named by the paper.’
The idea of constant or nebulous ‘change’ with no qualification or explanation or what it entails is a Marxist concept within which the Common Purpose websitefeels right at home. Common Purpose graduates acquire skills in ‘group dynamics’ equipping them to manipulate meetings. EDI features heavily. There again, an elitism present in Common Purpose is exemplified in its constant assertion that it provides ‘connections’. Certainly its Chief Executive, Julia Middleton, has become extremely well-connected to the liberal establishment through Common Purpose. She is director and company secretary of the Media Standards Trust, financial backers of the ‘Hacked Off” campaign and no end of feminist groups. In 1994, she helped set up the left-of-centre think-tank Demos. Look for a comment by ‘The Trician’ about her here. She is married to the equally well-connected financier Rupert Middleton.
Julia Middleton – ‘the best-connected woman you’ve never heard of’.
While campaigning for transparency elsewhere, the Common Purpose website has a password-protected inner core and refuses to publish a list of its ‘graduates’. But they include some 35,000 mainly public-sector employees, journalists, police officers – the Met spent tens of thousands of pounds on Common Purpose courses under Sir Ian Blair – and aspiring politicians. Nor is Common Purpose any more forthcoming – or eager to comply with company law – over disclosing the home addresses of its directors. Most of them claim to live at the Common Purpose office in Banner Street, EC1.
Common Purpose tried to blacken the name of people doing Freedom of Information searches on it, and it would not be beyond the bounds of possibility to suspect that if a group of Common Purpose graduates have the down on someone in a locality, that they could do him serious financial damage.
The most subversive aspect of the Common Purpose mindset is the one hiding in plain sight, the concept of leading ‘beyond authority’. It is even the subject of a book by Mrs Middleton. According to the Common Purpose website:
‘Many successful leaders learn to lead in roles or circumstances where they have clear authority, budget and accountability. When they move beyond this – leading peers, partners and stakeholders – the skills that brought them success may not be enough. To operate effectively they need a different approach to leadership – the ability to Lead Beyond Authority.’
What that means is that CP people are trained to interfere in matters which are not their responsibility in order to effect the changes in policy (EDI, etc) they want to see. Even the Guardian’s Michael White is alarmed: ‘In her book Beyond Authority, Middleton – as quoted by the Mail – writes cheerfully of using “charm and flattery” to place a “conventional useful idiot” into a job which would be a “perfect smokescreen” for a chum’s agenda. Such tactics need watching.’
The Guardian described Common Purpose as ‘well-meaning’. But what Common Purpose plot and plan is likely to benefit themselves and their pet causes first and the rest of us and righteousness a long way second. Pray that the Lord will bring their devices to naught:
Psalm 2:2 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.
Matt 10:26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
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US calls for China to release 30 leaders of influential underground church - BBC News.
Christian pastors in China are being rounded up and jailed in a brutal new wave of repression by Communist authorities.
Over the weekend, police launched late-night raids against “house churches”, underground congregations that refuse to register under Communist Party control.
According to Reuters, dozens of pastors were detained nationwide, including Pastor Jin Mingri, founder of Zion Church in Beijing, one of the country’s largest unregistered congregations.
Pastor Jin, 56, is accused of the “illegal use of information networks”, a charge often used to silence Christian leaders. His daughter, Grace Jin, told AP News that her father suffers from diabetes and is being denied medical treatment and legal access
Church spokesman Sean Long warned that the crackdown marks a “new wave of religious persecution”, noting that police have questioned over 150 believers and detained around 30 pastors, releasing only a few.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) confirms that China’s government continues to harass, detain, and torture Christians who worship outside state control
Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
President Xi Jinping has pledged to make religion in China “more Chinese”, an ideological campaign that replaces the cross with the Party emblem.
China’s religious regulator recently banned all unauthorised online preaching or “foreign collusion” with overseas churches, effectively criminalising digital fellowship.
Open Doors International notes that while around 44 million Christians belong to state-approved churches, tens of millions more worship underground, risking imprisonment to stay true to Scripture.
Despite censorship, intimidation, and arrest, the underground Church is growing — fuelled not by political approval, but by faith that endures the fire.
2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Nigeria’s Christmas massacre
Are attacks on Christians in Nigeria on the rise? – BBC News Creator: Getty Images
Just days ago, Christian Voice reported on the horrific Christmas Day massacre in Plateau State, Nigeria, where over 160 Christians were killed and entire churches razed.
The Vatican News confirmed that at least 140 believers were slain in attacks that began on Christmas Eve and spread across Bokkos and Barkin Ladi districts.
A Christian Advocacy group described the assaults as “a coordinated attempt to wipe out Christian communities,” with survivors recounting how pastors were beheaded and villages burned.
Local advocacy group Church in Chains reported that more than 20 villages were destroyed and thousands displaced.
The global media’s coverage was fleeting. Few outlets beyond Christian agencies treated it as more than a regional skirmish — yet the victims were targeted precisely because they bore the name of Christ.
Proverbs 31:8–9 Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.
Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.
The silence of the powerful
While U.S. Senator Marco Rubio condemned the arrests in China, urging the release of detained pastors, the world’s response has been muted.
From Nigeria to China, Sudan to Pakistan, Christian persecution continues to rise, yet international media and Western governments too often turn a blind eye.
Human rights watchdog Freedom House and GOV.UK reports show a consistent pattern — Christian minorities face surveillance, violence, and imprisonment simply for practising their faith.
Where are the front-page headlines? The moral outrage? The world has learned to scroll past the suffering Church — as though the blood of the saints were no longer newsworthy.
Isaiah 59:15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
The Church that cannot be silenced
Yet, despite the violence and repression, the Church of Christ stands unbroken.
In China’s secret basements, in Nigeria’s burnt villages, in North Korea’s labour camps, believers still whisper hymns in the dark. For every pastor imprisoned, another rises. For every church destroyed, another congregation gathers underground.
The world may ignore them, but Heaven does not. The cry of the persecuted reaches the throne of God — and He will not be silent forever.
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Revelation 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
READ:Isa 28:9; Isa 61:8; Matt 5:10–12; John 15:18–20; Rom 12:19; 2Tim 3:12; Heb 13:3; 1Pet 4:16; Mark 20.20; Rev 2:10..
PRAY: Pray for Christians in China
Pray for families of those who may have lost loved ones following Christian persecution in China.
Prat for the Church of Christ.
Let us know what YOU think in the comments below.
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The Government has handed atheists a Darwin Day present by promising to indoctrinate primary school children with evolutionism.
Education Secretary of State Rt Hon Michael Gove MP has decided to force primary schools in England to teach evolutionary theory. The announcement was made as part of last week’s English Baccalaureate climb-down statement.
However, the decision raises questions about issues of conscience for primary school teachers, who cover more subjects than their secondary colleagues and cannot simply keep out of the biology department.
Richard Dawkins – not as nice as he looks.
Shortly after being appointed two-and-a-half years ago Michael Gove bowed to pressure from evolutionary biologists including Richard Dawkins and banned from Secondary School biology classes any talk of a possibility that organisms show signs of having been designed. If last week’s statement is followed through, it will be the first time evolution has been taught as a subject in primary schools.
The decision can be seen as an act of desperation by secularists, who are worried that the holes in Darwin’s theory of evolution are becoming increasingly visible and talked-about, not least in the scientific community.
Charles Darwin, 1809 – 1882. Published ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life’ on 24th November 1859.
Sadly, a link on the BHA website to ‘answers to 21 anti-evolutionary questions and arguments’ sends the visitor to the schools campaigning page instead and a google search reveals no such document.
Interestingly, there are webpages elsewhere claiming to answer creationist’s questions, but they fail to do so. Here is one attempt; I love the admission that evolution needs time – lots and lots of time.
Yeast reproduces every 15 minutes. Over the course of a day that is almost 100 generations, 35,000 generations in a year. In human terms that amounts to 876,000 years, taking 25 years for a generation, or over a million years if you ascribe 30 years for a generation.
The Carlsberg Brewery have been using the same yeast for 130 years, during which time it has gone through over 4-and-a-half million generations.
The yeast Saccharomyces carlsbergensis is named after the Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen, where it was first isolated in 1883, 130 years ago. Carlsbergensis has gone through 4,550,000 generations and it is still the exact same strain of yeast as in 1883. It hasn’t mutated into anything else for 4-and-a-half million generations. One might say it hasn’t needed to, but where is the evidence that it could even try? In human terms those generations amount to 130 million (130,000,000) years.
New Scientist, a bastion of evolutionism, claims our ‘evolution from apes’ began ‘6 million years’ ago. But the evidence from the yeast is that 130 million years would not be enough time even to start the process. 6 million years of human ancestry is like expecting yeast after 6 years of brewing to jump out of the vat and become a mushroom. No doubt it shares just as much of its DNA with something else as we do with monkeys. But that genetic information relentlessly reproduces it as yeast.
I don’t have a lot of questions for evolutionists, I just have one. Well, actually, I do have a lot, but one will do, and it is this:
Who put the tuft on the head of the Tufted Duck?
What is the evolutionary purpose, or what advantage is conveyed to the species, as a species, by the tuft on the head of the tufted duck? And if I am allowed a supplementary or two: If there is no advantage to the species, what is the tuft on the head of the tufted duck actually for and how and why did it evolve?
You see, I know the answer, from a creationist point of view, at least.
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Christian Voice is to have a new logo. Our current logo, featuring the ‘Ripon Horn’, dates from when we started in 1994, thirty-one years ago.
The Ripon horn symbolises God’s protection. It is still blown every night at 9 pm to ‘set the watch’ over the North Yorkshire city. The tradition is believed to have originated when King Alfred the Great granted Ripon a Royal Charter and a horn in 886AD. This led to the appointment of a watchman, or wakeman, to patrol the settlement during the hours of darkness.
It also led to the Ripon motto, ‘Except the Lord Keep the Cittie the Wakeman Waketh in Vain,’ which you will recognise as a quote from Psalm 127:1:
Psalm 127:1 A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. (KJV)
Prayer for protection
We still pray that for our cities and our United Kingdom. That prayer was especially to the fore just over twenty years ago. We prayed for the Lord to protect our land in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings. Precisely two weeks later the Lord himself showed his power by bringing the devices of a further group of Islamic terrorists to naught.
Indeed, I made a video in 2016 outside the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels just after a terrorist attack on that city’s underground network. I explained how our security servivces need our prayers for God’s blessing. Take a look:
Since the inception of Christian Voice, we have prayed for national repentance for our leaders who have been legislating in stark rebellion from the righteous laws of God. But today, the United Kingdom is deep in sins which in 1994 we never imagined our elites would lead us into. With each day that passes we are seeing, not the Lord’s protection, but increasingly his judgment:
Psalm 81:12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
J D Unwin discovered that no civilisation which allowed its family structure to crumble escaped going down the rubbish chute of history.
It was anthropologist J D Unwin who declared in his 1934 book ‘Sex and Culture’ that throughout human history, a nation with a self-confident deistic culture with strong sexual morality would always overtake and defeat a society which had set aside its sexual restraints. See Kirk Durston’s analysis. Unwin wrote: ‘Any human society is free to choose either to display great energy or to enjoy sexual freedom; the evidence is that it cannot do both for more than one generation.’
Judgment has been falling on us for decades now, as a result of the ungodly measures enacted first in the 1960s and increasingly to this day: Lack of respect for God, for life and for family has resulted in a lack of respect for our fellow men and women, in a society which holds nothing sacred and in which those in power enrich themselves and care nothing for those below them. But it can become much, much worse.
How many of the young men trying to enter Britain through Calais, or trudging through Europe, are genuine rfugees, and how many IS sleepers? No-one knows, but IS claim ‘thousands’.
In that light, it is difficult not to see the hordes of young Muslims arriving here daily and illegally by boat, encouraged by successive governments, topping up their fellow religionists already here, young men of second generation, as a slow-burn Islamic invasion.
Those in power still cannot see that their sacred cow of multiculturalism, designed to eradicate the Christianity upon which this nation was built but whose divine founder they hate, does not lead to sunlit uplands, but to disaster. Even now they act as apologists for Islam, the ideology which will destroy them. We are standing against their ungodly, defeatist idea of defining ‘Islamophobobia’. Sign our petition against that:
King Charles at the Saudi-funded Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, of which he is Patron.
King Charles himself says it is ‘more imperative than ever’ to understand Islam and the Muslim world. Indeed it is, but not through his prism of multiculturalism.
In Deuteronomy 28, the Lord himself describes an invasion such as we are now experiencing as his judgment:
Deut 28:49 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; 50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:
Prayer for National Repentance
Christian Voice – new shofar logo
There is only one way to stop the judgment from falling and it is national repentance. In our case it would involve a whole-hearted return to our country’s Christian constitution, exemplified by His Majesty’s coronation on 6th May 2023 together with a fearless proclamation from our elite of our nation’s dedication to Jesus Christ, the King of kings.
That is why in the days to come we shall changing our logo from the horn of protection to the shofar, warning of judgment:
Joel 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Scripture shows such repentance followed by God’s blessing is possible but rare. It depends on the king being a man of humility. Perhaps the best example is ancient Judah’s King Josiah:
2Kings 22:13 (cf 2Chr 34:21) Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
We shall speak more about this in the days to come. In the meantime, sign our petition calling for those in office to repent:
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The East London Mosque - the Daily Mirror claimed 50% of British Muslims support Islamic State.
This ‘Consultation’ has now closed. The deadline was Sunday 20th July. But you can still pray, sign our petition, and be encouraged with how I (and maybe you) completed the ‘Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim Hatred Definition Working Group – call for evidence’.
We begin with the questions then I show you what I answered below. How each of us responds depends on our individual composition. The Lord can and will use each of us, from the brash to the introspective. You should give your own answers, not repeat mine. Mine might start thought processes going. The only ‘correct’ answers are those I give to questions 8, 10, and 12, which is in each case: ‘No’ or ‘None of the above’.
The LINK is now dead. Instead you can Sign our Petition against ‘Islamophobia’ (and watch our video):
Page 5:
Q1.Are you responding on behalf of an organisation or as an individual?
Click ‘Organisation’ and Page 6 asks:
Q2. What is your name?
Q3. What is your job title?
Q4. Which organisation do you represent?
Q5. Requests your email address.
Click ‘Individual’ and Page 6 asks:
Q2. Which age bracket do you belong to?
Q3. Please state your sex
Q4. Please state your ethnic group
Q5. Requests your email address.
Annoyingly, there is no ‘autocomplete’ so you have to manually type your name, email, etc in full.
There appears to be no Page 7.
The Substance Pages
Page 8:
Q6: When referring to discrimination, prejudice, bigotry, hatred or violence directed at Muslims, which term do you think should be used? For instance, ‘Islamophobia’, ‘anti-Muslim hatred’, ‘anti-Muslim racism’, ‘anti-Muslim prejudice’, ‘Muslimophobia’ etc.
Please enter at most 70 characters
Q7. Please tell us your reason for suggesting this term (600 characters at most)
Please enter at most 600 characters
Page 9:
Q8: Do you think the UK Government should adopt a definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia? (any definition would be non-statutory)
Yes / No / Don’t know
Q9. Please could you tell us more about why you think that?
Please enter at most 600 characters
Page 10:
Q10. Do you think Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia is also a form of racism?
Yes in all cases / Yes in most cases / Yes in some cases / No / Don’t know
Q11. Please could you say more about why you think that?
Please enter at most 1000 characters
Page 11:
Q12. Should any of the aspects below feature in a definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia? Please tick all that apply.
What Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia includes – (e.g. behaviours, words, beliefs)
What Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia does not include
Who the definition should apply to
When the definition should be used – i.e. situations and settings when the definition should be used, including online and in-person settings.
Other content or components that should be included. Please give an example of up to two things which the definition should cover that are not already included above (please detail below)
Other
Q13. If you wish to, please can you give an example(s) of anti-Muslim hatred/Islamophobia that you have witnessed, experienced or read about over the last two years?
Please refrain from disclosing personal information about other people involved in these examples – such as their name, address.
Please enter at most 1000 characters
Finally, on the same Page 11, you click ‘submit’. That’s job done. Immediately, it will ask you if you wish to ‘Save your response to edit?’. That means you sign up to a Microsoft account. If I were you, I should instead copy your answers into a ‘Word’ or ‘Notepad’ document as you go and save it.
My Responses – Introductory
Q1.Are you responding on behalf of an organisation or as an individual?
A1 On behalf of an organisation
Q2.What is your name?
A2: Stephen Green
Q3.What is your job title?
A3: National Director
Q4.Which organisation do you represent?
A4: Christian Voice
Q5.If you would be content for the working group to potentially contact you about any of your answers as part of their work on a definition of Islamophobia/anti-Muslim hatred, please leave your email address below
A5: stephen@christianvoice.org.uk
My Responses to Page 8
Islamophobia Consultation page 8
Q6. When referring to discrimination, prejudice, bigotry, hatred or violence directed at Muslims, which term do you think should be used? For instance, ‘Islamophobia’, ‘anti-Muslim hatred’, ‘anti-Muslim racism’, ‘anti-Muslim prejudice’, ‘Muslimophobia’ etc.
A6: Even asking for such a term is divisive and ridiculous.
Q7. Please tell us your reason for suggesting this term
A7: Asking for a definition to protect Muslims from legitimate criticism is going to backfire. Christians and Hindus are not asking for definitions of Christophobia or Hinduphobia.
Why? Because neither of them is engaged in violent jihad against the rest of the population, or asking for special favours such as sharia courts or halal food in schools and prisons, or forming rape gangs seeing indigenous girls as legitimate targets for rape, or calling for the expulsion of Jews from the Holy Land.
Government should not be appeasing Muslim demands in this constitutionally-Christian United Kingdom.
My Responses to Page 9
Islamophobia Consultation page 9
Q8.Do you think the UK Government should adopt a definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia? (any definition would be non-statutory)
No!
Q9. Please could you tell us more about why you think that?
A9: Asking for a definition to protect Muslims from legitimate criticism is going to backfire. Christians and Hindus are not asking for definitions of Christophobia or Hinduphobia.
Why? Because neither of them is engaged in violent jihad against the rest of the population, or asking for special favours such as sharia courts or halal food in schools and prisons, or forming rape gangs seeing indigenous girls as legitimate targets for rape, or calling for the expulsion of Jews from the Holy Land.
Government should not be appeasing Muslim demands in this constitutionally-Christian United Kingdom.
(The Question was repetitive which is why I simply repeated my answer to Question 7.)
My Responses to Page 10
Islamophobia Consultation page 10
Q10. Do you think Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia is also a form of racism?
A10: No.
Q11. Please could you say more about why you think that?
A11: Islam started amongst pagan Arabs in the 7th Century, but Muslims soon demanded conquered people of all races submit to it. Today Islam is a politico/religious system with adherents of all races.
Christians believe there is only the human race, in which all are made in the image of God. It follows that people of all races are welcome in the United Kingdom so long as they recognise British culture and our Christian heritage and do not start to impose or demand a contrary religious culture.
Appeasing Muslims by forming a biased committee to impose an ‘Islamophobia’ definition and browbeat the rest of the population into silence is bound to backfire.
Indeed, it provides an opportunity to list the errors of Islam and the barbarity of many Muslims, not least in bombings, stabbings, rape gangs, etc.
We call on those who lead us to proclaim that Jesus Christ is King over this United Kingdom, end Muslim immigration and facilitate Muslims who wish to return to lands where Islam is established.
My Responses to Page 11
Islamophobia Consultation page 11
Q12. Should any of the aspects below feature in a definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia? Please tick all that apply.
A12: Other: ‘None of the above’.
Q13. If you wish to, please can you give an example(s) of anti-Muslim hatred/Islamophobia that you have witnessed, experienced or read about over the last two years?
Please refrain from disclosing personal information about other people involved in these examples – such as their name, address.
A13: No, but I can recall numerous examples of Muslim hatred and violence against the rest of the population.
The Islamist Aldgate Bombing 7/7/05
Indeed, this very fortnight we are remembering the 52 innocent victims of the 7th July 2005 London bombings, carried out by Islamic terrorists, and giving thanks to the Lord for miraculous deliverance from a further four Muslim bombers on 21st July 2005.
We recall subsequent car and knife attacks around Westminster and London Bridge, and the Manchester Arena atrocity where Muslim suicide bomber Salman Abedi killed 22 victims in 2017.
For too long the British establishment has covered up Islamic atrocity. In the most egregious example, poor, white, working-class British girls from broken family backgrounds were sacrificed on the altar of a false community cohesion to Muslim rape gangs.
The United Kingdom’s elites must reject the anti-Christian multicultural falsehood and return to our Christian constitution. It is written:
Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD;
Submit!
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Hills of the north, rejoice;
River and mountain spring,
Hark to the advent voice;
Valley and lowland, sing;
Though absent long, your Lord is nigh;
He judgment brings and victory.
Isles of the southern seas,
Deep in your coral caves
Pent be each warring breeze,
Lulled be your restless waves:
He comes to reign with boundless sway,
And makes your wastes His great highway.
Lands of the East, awake,
Soon shall your sons be free;
The sleep of ages break,
And rise to liberty.
On your far hills, long cold and grey,
Has dawned the everlasting day.
Charles Oakley became Rector of Holy Trinity Church, Wickwar in Gloucestershire in 1856.
Shores of the utmost West,
Ye that have waited long,
Unvisited, unblest,
Break forth to swelling song;
High raise the note, that Jesus died,
Yet lives and reigns, the Crucified.
Shout, while ye journey home;
Songs be in every mouth;
Lo, from the North we come,
From East, and West, and South.
City of God, the bond are free,
We come to live and reign in thee!
Text: Charles Edward Oakley, 1832-65
Music: Martin Shaw, Tune: Little Cornard, Meter: 6 6 6 6 8 8
Feel free to copy and paste Oakley’s words for your own congregation this Advent. Advent begins on Sunday 27th November this year (2016). It is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord in the year-book of the Church of England, England’s established church. But you don’t have to be Anglican to sing it!
Charles Oakley’s life
Charles Edward Oakley M.A. was born near Chatham in Kent in 1832. He was educated at Rugby School and Pembroke College, Oxford, and then at Magdalen College as a Demy (scholar), he took a First Class in Literae Humaniores (Greek and Latin literature and philosophy) in 1854, and a First Class in Law and Modern History (1855), when he was also Johnson Theological Scholar (1855).
He entered Holy Orders in 1855 and served as a chaplain to the army in the Crimean War (1855). He became rector of Wickwar, Gloucestershire (1856-63) and then later Rector of St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, London in 1863.
He died at Abergele, near Rhyl, North Wales on 15th September 1865 after a tragically short incumbency. In short, Oakley was a very clever as well as a holy young man.
His fine Missionary hymn, “Hills of the north, rejoice,” appeared in Bp. T. V. French’s Hymns adapted to the Christian Seasons, and the Hymnal Companion in 1870. (John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)) The tune now associated with the hymn, Little Cornard, was written by composer Martin Shaw in 1915.
Beware of the modern version!
Above are C.E.Oakley’s original words. The modern version of this hymn (scroll down in the link) still carries an advent message, but uncomfortable notions like ‘judgment’ and ‘victory’ have been expunged. Jesus becomes a personal saviour who doesn’t reign any more. In the last verse, ‘they’ come, not ‘we’. And rather than ‘live and reign’, with all the responsibility and action that implies, ‘they … find their rest’. Maybe the Victorian sentiments are politically incorrect these days, but Oakley captured the majesty of Christ and created something singable and uplifting, an inspiring hymn full of hope and destiny.
Based solidly on scripture
There is some Victorian romanticism in the Southern Seas and so on, but even there the hymn is inspired. The rhymes and construction are simply faultless. Each verse has its four lines of geography and its final two lines of triumphant theology. Note the hymn has nothing to do with British imperialism. Oakley was not imagining himself in Gloucestershire but in Jerusalem, in the ‘City of God’.
The scripture message he had in mind starts in the Psalms:
Psalm 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; 3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
In Isaiah (and in Jeremiah) it becomes a promise to regather Israel:
Isaiah 43:5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; 6 I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; (cf Jer 16:14-15, 23:7-8, 31:8)
Finally, in the Gospel, our Lord himself applies the great gathering to his believers:
Luke 13:29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
That is what the hymn is about. More could be written on it.
Copy and Paste
Once again, you don’t have to be an Anglican to sing this great hymn. It will grace and bless any church. Remember there is no longer any copyright on Oakley’s words, so you can indeed feel free to copy and paste them for your own congregation. To hear the tune, click here (opens in a new tab).
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A special police constable disrupted a street worshiper and claimed that singing gospel songs “outside of church grounds” was not allowed.
Harmonie London filmed and posted an apparent altercation between herself and Maya Hadzhipetkova, Metropolitan Police special constable – a volunteer role.
Ms London regularly performs worship music on Oxford Street in central London.
Special constable Maya Hadzhipetkova disrupting street worship
In the clip posted to Harmonie’s Instagram page, special officer Maya Hadzhipetkova said: ‘No, miss, you’re not allowed to sing church songs outside of church grounds, by the way’.
Ms London responds: ‘You are, you are, you are, but the officer insists that she cannot sing “outside of church grounds” unless you have been authorised by the Church to do these kind of songs’.
Ms London replies: ‘That’s a load of rubbish, you’re allowed’.
The officer then walks away, while another adds: ‘She’s not saying anything any more, thank you for your time.’
The singer continues: ‘Are you saying that you don’t care about the Human Rights Act?’
As the altercation went on, the officer stuck her tongue out at Harmonie as she filmed.
In recent times, Christians in the UK have encountered persistent harassment while preaching or singing praises to the Lord on the streets.
The incident highlighted above sheds light on the concerning behaviour of the police officer who, instead of protecting lives and properties, chose to mock the gospel by attempting to disrupt a singer’s performance.
This raises concerns about the extent to which Christians may be restricted from practicing their faith in public spaces by police officers with inadequate training in the exercise of basic freedoms.
The Bible says John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Met Police apologises
The Metropolitan Police have apologised for special constable Maya Hadzhipetkova’s behaviour.
According to the force, Ms Hadzhipetkova should not have told Harmonie London to ‘stop performing church songs outside church grounds’. So why did she?
Met police said: ‘The officer was mistaken in saying church songs cannot be sung outside of church grounds.
‘We’re sorry for the offence caused and will take the learning forward,’ they added.
However, was this absurd altercation stemming from such a ridiculous starting position the result of inadequate training? Alternatively, did the officer receive full training in human rights and ignore it?
On the face of it, for any individual to tell another in a London street that they are not allowed to sing worship songs outside a church unless they have the permission of said church betrays a stunning ignorance of Christian freedom, or any basic kind of freedom in a normal society anywhere on earth.
READ: Deut 7:6-7 Isa 41:10; Prov 11:30; Matt 9:36–38; Rom 10:14–15; 2 Cor 5:20; 2 Tim 3:12; Gal 6:14. PRAY: for Christians across the UK upholding the faith. Pray for those prosecuted Pray for street preachers and Christian Artists
Let us know what YOU think in the comments below.
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Police forces have been told not to arrest preachers under the new guidance from their governing body. All officers in England and Wales will be trained to the new standard from the College of Policing from April 2023 according to a statement published on the College of Policing website.
The College of Policing CEO, chief constable Andy Marsh, said ‘Like so many areas of life, crime and the demands policing faces have changed radically. The training we provide officers needs to reflect this. We have listened to policing and the public to make sure the training helps officers tackle the core issues faced on the street. One of the issues includes traditional crimes such as burglary. But will deal with more emerging crime types like fraud and online crime’.
New guidelines
The guidelines now state that:
1 Non-crime hate incidents should not be recorded where they are trivial, irrational, or if there is no basis to conclude that an incident was motivated by hostility,
2 Individuals who are commenting in a legitimate debate. For example, political or social issues should not be stigmatised because someone is offended,
3 If a record is made, it must be done in the least intrusive way possible. For example, it may not be necessary to record the name of an individual or the location of an incident.
The updates seek to redress the balance between freedom of speech and ‘protecting vulnerable members of the public’, according to the statement.
Preaching the Gospel is commanded
The European Convention on Human Rights guarantees the rights to freedom of religious belief which is seen in (Article 9) freedom of expression. This includes freedom of speech (Article 10).
However, these rights only attest to Biblical command to Christians to preach the gospel. We find this all through the Gospels and Epistles. In the words of the Lord Jesus himself: Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
The example of the early church shows how seriously the Apostles took their duty to preach: Acts 4:20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. (More Bible Read Points below.)
The exercise of their God-given right by Christians and the persecution they have faced from officers of the law is a clear threat to our freedom of speech.
Arrested during Lockdown
On April 10, 2020, Metropolitan Police arrested pastor Joshua Sutcliffe for preaching the gospel during ‘Lockdown’. The police charged Pastor Sutcliffe, but London Magistrates Court cleared him of all charges. Pastor Joshua was preaching the Gospel and handing out leaflets in Camden, North London. According to CBN News, ‘Officers told him that being outdoors was a violation of the lockdown orders’.
The court judgment stated, ‘We find that the defendant was outside and that he had a reasonable excuse as he was travelling to his place of work, as a worship leader. Their gathering was limited in duration, and they were entitled to gather for street evangelising.’ The court found that the law permitted gathering and street evangelism during the lockdown, limited only in time duration.
After Pastor Sutcliffe’s release, He said ‘At one point, I was surrounded by four police officers. It was very intimidating. They treated me like a second-class citizen. I am a Christian minister of the Gospel, which not so long ago was a treasured and respected vocation in the UK’. His statement buttresses the age-long tradition of street preaching in the UK.
Preaching in the Open Air
Police violently arrest Pastor John Sherwood
On 23rd April 2021, CBN News reported that Pastor John Sherwood was arrested while preaching in an open air in Uxbridge, West London. He was accused of a criminal act for preaching what the word of God teaches about marriage.
Pastor John cited Genesis 1:27. He said: ‘God’s design in creating mankind was to set human beings in families’. He added that these families should be headed by a father and a mother, not by two fathers or by two mothers. ‘The distinction within mankind of just two genders, male and female, made in the image of God, constitutes the essence of God’s created order’, he added. It appears some bystanders called the police because they felt the preacher’s sermon was ‘offensive’. Under the new guidelines, the police should explain to those complaining that they will not arrest such a preacher but protect his freedom of speech.
Pastor Sherwood was acquitted by Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on 7th April 2022. He was cleared of all charges of making ‘homophobic statements termed as offensive and discriminatory’ according to News Week.
Pastor’s arrest and ill-treatment were carried out as if he was a violent criminal as this YouTube clip reveals.
While Pastor Sherwood was being dragged away, a lady in the crowd can be heard heard saying, ‘it’s a Christian country, let him speak.’ Pastor Peter Simpson, who was preaching alongside pastor Sherwood, noted that others in the crowd had accused him of ‘hate speech’ as well. Christian Post report.
Michael Overd
Michael Overd (l) and Michael Stockwell were acquitted at Bristol Crown Court
Similarly, in July 2016 we reported that Michael Overd was arrested in Broadmead Shopping Center in Bristol. He and his fellow preacher, Mike Stockwell, were accused of ‘religious aggravated public order offence’ in February 2017. The pair were convicted in what we described as a biased magistrates court, and were duly acquitted on appeal to the Crown Court.
Mr. Overd was also arrested for preaching the gospel in Taunton, Somerset. The BBC reported that during his preaching he stated, ‘Even these dear men caught in homosexuality, if they ask God for forgiveness of sin, they will be forgiven. God loves them that much.’ The two men concerned subsequently made an official complaint to the police. Mr. Overd was charged under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 for words which allegedly caused harassment, alarm or distress.
Defended by barrister Paul Diamond, Michael Overd was acquitted. The magistrates found that he did not intend to cause harassment, alarm or distress contrary to Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.
Arrest at Cardiff Mardi Gras
Stephen Green outside Cardiff Magistrates Court after the case against him was dropped.
Stephen Green, National Director of Christian Voice, was arrested by South Wales Police for distributing gospel leaflets at a homosexual event in Cardiff in 2006. He was giving out the leaflets out side the ‘Mardi Gras’ event when a police Inspector from the ‘Minorities Support Unit’ demanded he stop. The policeman arrested Mr Green when he immediately handed a leaflet to the next passer-by. Here is our report.
Mr. Green was held in a cell in Cardiff Police for four hours before being charged under the Public Order Act 1986. He was released after a brief pre-trial hearing. The Public Prosecutor admitted there were human rights issues but arrest, detention and charge were a violation of his right to freedom of expression.
The leaflet Stephen Green was giving out maintained that marriage could only exist between a man and woman. It cited Biblical passages condemning the act of homosexuality but also spoke of forgiveness and healing from ungodly desires. That was too much for the Mardi Gras organisers and the Police Minorities Support Unit. Mr Green afterwards sued South Wales Police for unlawful arrest, wrongful detentiuon and malicious prosecution and won. Even the homosexual Pink News website reported that he said: “I thank God for the honour of being locked up for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Let Preachers Preach!
On 17th July 2022, a Nigerian preacher was arrested and detained in London for preaching the gospel. In a video which went viral on Instagram, he can be heard telling the police that they were harassing him and that he had done nothing wrong. He declined to provide his name and address when prompted, stating that he would report the incident because they had only arrested him for speaking about Jesus.
Charges, arrests for breaching public order and allegations of hate speech leveled against Christian preachers have arisen because the Bible’s standards of holiness and its statement of God’s institution of marriage are so challenging. Complaining homosexuals consider such standards so offensive no-one should voice them.
Furthermore, the Bible states that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only way to find salvation. Muslims contend that ‘Allah’ is God and that it is blasphemous to say that Jesus is the Son of God. So Muslims have also called for preachers to be arrested, although not as frequently as have homosexuals.
The UK’s elite is of course firmly in favour of same-sex sexual rights. We see that as at odds with the foundation of our nation, which was established on the principles and values of Christianity.
Redmond-Bate case
Sir Stephen Sedley – ‘Freedom of speech to say the inoffensive is not worth having
Christian Voice has constantly defended the right of Christian preachers to preach. We were greatly encouraged by the case of Redmond-Bate vs the Director of Public Prosecutions. One PC Tennant arrested Alison Redmond-Bate when she refused to stop preaching on the steps of Wakefield Cathedral in October 1997.
Alison Redmond-Bate was convicted by magistrates of obstructing the police officer in the execution of his duty. Her conviction was upheld by the Crown Court. The landmark case eventually reached Lord Justice Sedley and Mr. Justice Collins in the Court of Appeal in June 1999. Sedley LJ wrote the judgement in which he set aside the conviction. The summary is HERE on Swarb. The whole judgment is well worth a read here on the Oxford University Press website.
In his judgment, Lord Justice Sedley said: ‘Freedom of speech means nothing unless it includes the freedom to be irritating, contentious, heretical, and provocative provided it did not tend to provoke violence. Freedom only to speak inoffensively is not worth having.’
He went on: ‘There was no reasonable inference available in this case to the police officer that the preacher, preaching about morality, was about to cause a breach of public peace. … The constable was not acting in the execution of his duty when he required the women to stop preaching, and the appellant was therefore not guilty of obstructing him in the execution of his duty when she refused to comply.’
The law of the land
That acquittal established the law of the land in England and Wales. As a result, every Christian preacher arrested and charged under the Public Order Act 1986, properly represented in Court, has been either acquitted or the charges have been dropped. But that has not stopped the police continuing to harass preachers. It has taken over twenty years for the police to catch up.
Just a day ago, the Daily Telegraph reported on Stephen Watson, Greater Manchester chief constable, telling his officers to told to stop wasting time on Twitter disputes ‘simply because someone is offended.’ They had been ‘overzealous’ in recording trivial online spats, he said.
Donna Jones, Hampshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner
And from the Evening Standard we learnt that Hampshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones criticised her own force for sending police officers on two occasions to question and then arrest a man for an alleged offensive social media post.
The new guidance from the College of Policing aiming to put an end to arresting preachers is a welcome development. However, how much time will it take to filter down through Chief Constables to the rank and file? Will the new policy make any changes to the arrest mentality of police on patrol?
We need to pray that the Police will observe legal precedents and protect, not abuse, preachers who exercise their freedom of speech according to the newly revised Policing Policy codes.
Prayer Points
Read: Isa 52:7; Mark 1:14-15, 16:15; Matt 10:7; Matt 28:18-19; Luke 9:2, 10:1; John 3:16-18; Acts 4:18-20, 5:29, 10:42; Rom 1:16, 10:14-15; 2Tim 4:2. Pray:
* Thank God for the victory to freely preach the word of God in the UK.
* Pray for lost souls in the United Kingdom.
* Pray for Christians in the UK and all over the world who are persecuted.
* Pray for the love and peace of God in our country. Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
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Clive Johnston: Pastor facing court for preaching close to abortion clinic at Causeway Hospital | BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
Clive Johnston: Pastor facing court for preaching close to abortion clinic at Causeway Hospital | BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
A retired pastor from Northern Ireland is facing prosecution for preaching the Gospel in an open-air Sunday service near Coleraine’s Causeway Hospital.
Despite Clive Johnston not mentioning abortion, nor directly engaging with patients or staff, the 76-year-old has been charged under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act.
This troubling case raises urgent concerns about the erosion of religious freedom in the UK, where preaching a core Christian message, as enshrined in John 3:16, can now be conflated with unlawful protest.
The Bible says, Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
The slippery slope of censorship laws
The law used against Mr Johnston was introduced to prevent harassment outside abortion facilities, but his arrest demonstrates how such legislation can be weaponised to silence lawful, peaceful expression.
This mirrors the case of street preacher David McConnell, convicted in 2023 for offending a listener by quoting biblical views on homosexuality.
Though the judge later acknowledged a misinterpretation of the law, his conviction highlights the growing criminalisation of traditional Christian beliefs in public spaces.
Our Lord said: John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Despite standing on the fringes of the so-called buffer zone, separated from the hospital by a dual carriageway, Mr Johnston was charged with seeking to “influence” people accessing abortion services.
Yet, how can a simple act of Christian worship, without reference to abortion, be reasonably considered a protest?
This recalls the case of American evangelist, Tony Miano, who was arrested in Dundee Scotland, for mentioning homosexuality among a list of sexual sins. The former police officer and chaplain with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was later released.
If personal conviction and lawful speech are now interpreted as “influence” or “harm,” the UK risks becoming a society where even silent dissent is punishable.
The Christian Voice has rightly questioned whether a law designed to prevent intimidation should be used to criminalise an elderly man playing hymns on a ukulele.
The issue at hand is far broader than one man’s court case; it is about whether the state has the authority to determine where and how faith can be expressed.
In a country where police have arrested individuals for silently praying near abortion clinics — as seen in the case of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce in Birmingham — the trend is clear.
Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Public space and the double standard of expression
If preaching the love of God is now deemed an act of undue influence, then what of those who promote secular ideologies in public spaces? Activists for gender ideology, environmental groups, and political campaigners regularly use public areas to promote their views without interference.
Why, then, does Christian expression warrant a different standard? In 2019, Felix Ngole was expelled from his university course for expressing a biblical view on marriage.
His subsequent legal victory proved that Christian beliefs are protected, yet cases like Mr Johnston’s suggest authorities have not learned their lesson.
Politicians must clarify their intentions
The architects of the buffer zone law never openly stated that it could be used to ban religious gatherings, yet its application in this case suggests otherwise.
The Christian Voice has urged lawmakers to clarify their stance , but will they? If politicians truly believe in free speech, they must ensure the law is not misused to suppress it.
Otherwise, the UK will continue down a path where dissenting voices, particularly those of Christians, are censored under the guise of “safety.”
Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
The wider implications for Christian freedom
Mr Johnston’s prosecution is a stark warning to all believers. If a pensioner can be hauled before the courts for preaching a message of salvation, what does that mean for other forms of Christian witness?
If the authorities can so easily manipulate laws to suppress religious speech, how long before entire denominations face legal consequences for adhering to biblical doctrine? This is a defining moment for the UK’s religious liberties.
Jeremiah 1:8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
Christians must stand firm, lest silence be mistaken for consent to the erosion of their freedoms.
READ:Deut 27:25; Psalm 106:37-38; Prov 14:23; Isa 28:9; Matt 10:7; Luke 9:2, 10:1; John 3:16-18; Acts 4:18-20, 5:29, 10:42; Rom 1:16, 1Cor 6:9-11..
PRAY:Pray for our God-fearing leaders. Pray for Christians in the UK and across the globe.
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Preacher and Christian campaigner Stephen Green was found guilty on 1st February 2024 of breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) by holding a sign with a Bible verse near an abortion facility in Ealing on 6th February 2023.
Mr Green, National Director of prayer and action group Christian Voice, was found guilty of an offence following his display of a verse from the psalms within the Mattock Lane PSBO zone in Ealing, west London. The verse read:
Psalm 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
(‘Reins’ is an old expression for ‘kidneys’ or ‘insides’).
Conditional Discharge
Stephen Green on 6th February 2023 outside Marie Stopes abortion facility in Mattock Lane, Ealing.
Stephen gave evidence that he was protesting against buffer zones that ban the free proclamation of the Bible rather than abortion itself. However, District Judge Kathryn Verghis, sitting in Uxbridge Magistrates Court, ruled that by holding the sign he was guilty of protesting by ‘engaging in an act of approval/disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services’.
Judge Verghis said that although the PSPO curtailed his human rights, it was necessary and proportionate to stop what she, and prosecuting barrister Ellis Sareen, accepted was an entirely peaceful protest by Mr Green. Mr Sareen acknowledged there was no evidence of any ‘service user’ suffering any detriment on the day and that the poster was only ‘an oblique reference’ to abortion.
The judge declined to fine Mr Green, the maximum for the offence being £1000, instead giving him a 12-month conditional discharge. Judge Verghis also ordered the preacher to pay Ealing Council prosecution costs from of £2600, half what they were demanding. Stephen is refusing to pay.
Stephen Green said outside the court: ‘This verdict is a blow against our God-given freedom of speech and our Lord’s express instruction to preach the Gospel. It upholds a local law which prohibits words found in hundreds of verses of the very Bible presented to King Charles at his Coronation on 6th May last year. It leaves the Bible in chains.
‘Buffer zones and this conviction mean that what we can say and what we can display from the Holy Bible are being licenced by the state. I have no choice but to continue to defend myself and fight for justice.
‘People are right to be concerned about the buffer zone legislation. To bar Christian witness and to control what people can say is deeply draconian and particularly discriminatory against Christians, while it appears Muslim protesters can say what they like.
His Majesty King Charles III kisses the Bible at his Coronation in May 2023 before taking the Oath
‘This finding of “guilty” cannot be allowed to stand. It is is a direct attack on the Bible and free speech, There are serious implications for everyone’s freedom to express their religion, our freedom of speech and our freedom of assembly.
At his coronation, the King promised to “Uphold the Laws of God and the True Profession of the Gospel”. No state, especially not the British state, with our Christian constitution, has any authority to prohibit what God has commanded.
‘If someone does not take a stand, those in power will seize more and more of our God-given freedoms. That is why I stood outside Marie Stopes in Ealing and it is why my solicitors have already lodged an appeal to refer the decision to the Crown Court. With the continued help of the Christian Legal Centre, the case can now be heard afresh.’
’None of us is free’
Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre commented:
‘Psalm 139 is one of the most well known and beautiful passages in the Bible which points to the hope and comfort of each person being wonderfully made and looked after by God. Hearing a judge say that verses from Psalm 139 are an ‘act of protest’ and to be punished is devastating.
‘The effect of the PSPO is to create an area where Bible verses and prayer are outlawed. If it is now a criminal offence to hold a sign with a Bible verse on it in a London street, then none of us is free.’
Stephen Green was represented in court by Michael Phillips.
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Christian Voice UK won our first ever award by the grace of God at the GX Awards on Saturday 6th September 2025 at a glittering evening ceremony in Birmingham Town Hall.
What began as a morning of prayer overlooking the site of a proposed ‘megamosque’ on 6th January 2007 became a monthly event, then an outreach of prayer for the nation held every first Saturday in the month, rain or shine.
Honoured to be nominated
Christian Voice National Director, Stephen Green, said today: ‘We were so honoured just to be nominated among such a distinguished roll-call of community events. To win the prize and be presented with the award was on another level.
Stephen and Judy Green with the Award for Best Community Outreach Event at the GX Awards 2025.
‘I must congratulate Annette B. on organising such an encouraging and uplifting awards ceremony, complete with high-class catering. It’s a lot of work, but it is so valuable to recognise the Christian community.
‘We do our best to feature a leading Gospel singer at every meeting. For example, on the morning of Saturday 6th September 2025 our praise and worship was led by Sarah Teibo, who has herself previously won Best Female Vocalist at the GX Awards.
‘Indeed, we finished the morning’s prayer at 1pm and I had to catch no fewer than four trains to reach Birmingham in time for the GX Awards.
‘My wife Judith drove up from our home in West Wales and it was lovely to share the award with her on the night. I must also thank all those who prayed for us to win. Your prayer was answered as our efforts in bringing the Bible to bear on the issues of day, seeing what scripture says about current events, was recognised. Praise the Lord for that.’
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