A FIREBRAND Free Presbyterian preacher has warned the church is being "shaken" by the forces of terror group Isis from the east and "homosexuality closing in from the west".
Rev Ian Brown was preaching at the denomination's most famous church, Martyrs Memorial in south Belfast, after Ashers Bakery was found to have discriminated against a gay man by withdrawing from an agreement to bake him a cake carrying a slogan in support of sane-sex marriage.
"How under the sun that verdict was given on Tuesday I'll never know. I mean, how can a judge rule in favour of something that's illegal? I mean what was on the cake or what they wanted on the cake was illegal, 'Support Gay Marriage.' Gay marriage is illegal in this country. I suppose there's a sinister agenda at work," he said.
Denouncing gay people as "sodomites", the minister claimed Europe had been punished for its greed, covetousness and wickedness before World War II and it was happening again.
"That's why the dark spectre of ISIS is closing in on us today from the east and homosexuality closing in from the west, including ourselves as part of the west. God is saying something through this. He is shaking the nations," he said.
"This is his method through history. And he is shaking his Church. He shakes us up to send us back to himself."
He told worshippers at the late Ian Paisley's former church: "In the west, do you know what army is on the march? It's the sodomites.
"I'm not saying that they all view themselves as blitzkrieg foot soldiers but I'll tell you what, the liberal elite are only too happy to use them, fund their causes, push their rights, promote their aims.
"And today in our Western world they are sweeping through the states of America compelling the states to capitulate and legislate in favour of same-sex marriage."
He denounced president Barack Obama as being "complicit" in the changing law in the US and warned against allowing the fight for marriage equality to get "one foot in through the door".
"We need to pray about that because the darkness is down south too," he said.
LBGT activists have rejected the claims as "nonsense", especially the link between gay marriage and Isis which has been stoning gay men and throwing them off roofs among other methods of widespread murder.
