On 21 July 2021, Rev Ross Rennie joined David Clews, Lead Correspondent of Unity News Network, David Kurten, Leader of the Heritage Party, Piers Corbyn, campaigner, political activist and scientist, and other supporters of No More Lockdowns in a protest against vaccine passports, vaccination of children and other draconian Covid-19 policies of the UK government.
Protesters toured central London on an open-top bus, made speeches outside the Houses of Parliament and draped banners over Westminster Bridge.
On Friday 23 April, Pastor John Sherwood, the minister of a north London church, was preaching the gospel in the centre of Uxbridge (in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s constituency).
Several police officers arrived on the scene and a conversation with Pastor Sherwood ensued. When he refused to stop preaching and come down from the steps on which he was standing, a police officer took away the Bible in the pastor’s hand and pulled him from the steps. Three officers quickly gathered around the 70-year-old minister, handcuffed and arrested him and took him to a detention centre near Heathrow Airport, where he was kept overnight and not released until around noon the next day.
You can read an account of the arrest in this article written by Peter Simpson, who was preaching with the pastor at that time.
In the article, Mr Simpson asks, ‘what kind of nation have we become that the minister of a Christian church is arrested for upholding in the public square the very truths which Her Majesty the Queen promised to uphold in her Coronation Oath in 1953, with a Bible in her hand?’
Pastor Sherwood had been proclaiming the truth of Genesis 1:27, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. A few days later, Maya Forstater, a former think tank researcher fired over ‘trans-critical’ tweets, was back in court to defend her right to free speech. She had lost her job at the Centre for Global Development after tweeting her opposition to gender self-identification, and stating that ‘men cannot change into women’. It may be several months before a judgement is made.
David Kurten, candidate in the London Mayoral election and founder of the Heritage Party, encourages us to stand up for our freedoms or lose them forever.
This morning I was reading Hebrews 11 with my colleague.
And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. (Hebrews 11: 32-40)
So if this happened to the apostles and the early church, why should we as believers be surprised at the curtailing of our freedoms? I always believed there was freedom of speech in the United Kingdom, but I am now getting to the the point where I believe we are now living in an Orwellian society. If you are a Christian or white Caucasian you have no rights. It is quite acceptable for other faith groups and non-Christians to profane the name of Jesus and the Holy Bible, but if you were to burn a Koran, as one lady did quite recently, you would be imprisoned. As street preachers we have to be very careful what we say otherwise we come face to face with the rule of law. We have seen the nonsense in Northern Ireland with Ashers Baking Company if we refuse to do things through conscience.
Jesus Himself said in Matthew 24: 12,
“Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.”
and in Matthew 24: 37-39,
“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
For this reason we are seeing much of this today in our so-called civilised society: the push of the left wing for freedoms for feminists, LGBT and other groups has pushed the balance of our society away from truth. We now call evil good and good evil. We have a problem where if we speak out against certain groups we are called racist. Our nation is in chaos. Our politicians have lost the plot. We are overrun by illegal immigrants and economic migrants.
If you are a true believer in Jesus Christ I believe the time will come one day that they will even make it illegal for us to say that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. We see around the world the attacks on Israel and the Arab nations preparing for war. Many of the signs that have been prophesied have come to pass.
My brothers and sisters, we are running out of time. I believe it is the time for the British church to get down on its knees, do away with its church politics and get back to the Bible. I agree with Don Francisco’s song: I do not care how big your church’s steeple is if it’s sitting on a cemetery. I don’t care if your pastor’s super-powered and your programme’s always new.
Are there others out there that feel the way I do? I am not saying like Elijah that I am the only one, as I know in my heart there are many who sit in congregations every week who feel the same as I do. If you feel the same way and want to put out fires again, see souls saved and see a true restoration and revival in our nation I should love to hear from you. Please contact me as I believe we need another spiritual revolution as in John Wesley’s day and I should love to pray with you.
