Pastor’s talk was troubling, and raised questions such as whether he thinks transgenderism is wrong

Here we had a Christian pastor talking about something Christ expressly addressed when He said ‘God made them male and female’ (Mark 10:6) yet there is no mention of how Scripture speaks to the issue. If, as the Pastor says, Christ came ‘in grace and truth’ (Christ actually went further — He claimed to be ‘the truth’ (John 14:6)) does he believe that Christ told the truth in Mark 10:6?

Does this Pastor believe that transgenderism is wrong? I see nothing in his talk to suggest he does.

Pastor Shiels may have referenced God, Christ and the Bible in his talk but in reality it was based entirely on personal experience.

God knew many challenges would emerge for Christians yet when outlining how the church should respond to them Paul committed believers not to families or their subjective experiences but to God and His Word (Acts 20:32).

What’s the agenda of the Evangelical Alliance who decided to broadcast the talk? Did those who hosted the talk know what Pastor Shiels was going to say on their premises? Do they agree with what was published in Thursday’s paper?

Finally, why is the story reported by the News Letter now?

The story was published while the Northern Ireland Office is in the middle of a consultation on same sex marriage — a consultation which is supposed to offer protections to churches but which expressly rules out protections for registrars and private businesses like photographers and hoteliers who in conscience object to taking part in a same sex marriage.

Taking a stand on theses issues may be unpopular but the charge for those who profess the name of Christ is to ‘be not conformed to this world’ (Romans 12:2).

We cannot bring the transforming power of the Gospel if we don’t make clear what humanity needs to be transformed from.

Samuel Morrison, Dromore Co Down