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"Take
Heed" Ministries
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Cecil Andrews, 29 Edengrove Park, Ballynahinch, BT24 8AZ, Northern Ireland Telephone/Fax 028 9756 5511. E-MAIL - takeheed@aol.com WEBSITE - http://www.takeheed.net Quick Links - Home - Assorted Articles - Audio/Video - Ministry Newsletters - Words of Wisdom |
WHOSE ‘EVOLUTIONARY
FEATHERS’
HAVE BEEN RUFFLED? |
It was recently
drawn to my attention by a Christian friend that I was ‘listed’ on the ‘WHO IS
WHO’ page of a website dedicated to promoting Darwinian Evolution and to
refuting Biblical creation. I went to the website in question and downloaded
the following about the organisation.
About the British Centre for Science Education
What is the BCSE?
The
British Centre for Science Education is a single issue pressure group dedicated
solely to keeping creationism and intelligent design out of the science
classroom in publicly-funded schools in the
Who is behind the BCSE?
BCSE
is a co-operative, with a formal constitution, of like-minded people. It is run
by a committee elected by its members
The seven committee members at present are:
Michael Brass,
Interim Chairman,
Roger Stanyard,
Interim Spokesman
Ian Lowe,
Interim IT Manager
Alan Bellis,
General Advisor
Brian Jordan,
Scientific Advisor
Timothy Chase,
General Advisor
John Germain,
Interim Membership Secretary
Michael
Brass is a published archaeologist, holding archaeology
and history degrees from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and an
archaeology Masters degree from University College London. He has a web site at
http://www.antiquityofman.com and
lives in
Roger
Stanyard is a management consultant
working in the satellite communications and broadcasting sector. He lives in
Ian
Lowe is an IT consultant and a former company director
working in IT within the Education sector. Ian holds a BSc
in General Science from
Alan
Bellis is an entrepreneur who lives in Middlesborough. He
is active in criticising academy schools and has a web site at www.creationism.co.uk.
Dr
Brian Jordan BSc
(Hons), MSc (Distinction) PhD
who lives in
Tim
Chase is a software engineer resident in
John
Germain is a business man and member of MENSA who lives and
works in
I then
went to the ‘WHO IS WHO’ page of their website
http://www.bcseweb.org.uk/index.php/Main/CecilAndrews
and
downloaded what they had to say about me -
Cecil Andrews
Andrews is
a hard-line young earth creationist and fundamentalist as can be seen in his
June 2002 newsletter at http://www.takeheed.net/News_From_The_Front/news22.htm.
From our understanding Andrews comes over as moderate in his public speaking
but even by the standards of
We have
been unable to find out whether Andrews has any formal theological
qualifications. He is understood to have either worked for a building society
or an estate agency before becoming involved in religion. His web site at http://www.takeheed.net makes no mention of
these
.
He is an
itinerant minister whose organisation is called Take Heed Ministries.
This appears, loosely to be an independent Baptist ministry stuck somewhere
in the 17th century. The main thrust of this organisation, which appears to
be largely a one-man-band operation, is criticising various sects and cults
including Catholicism. Andrews has pointed out that he is not anti-Catholic
but anti-Catholicism but it is hard to see what the difference is.
This is
undoubtedly a hugely touchy issue in
Here are
some details from Andrew’s web site that indicate the intensity of his
anti-Catholicism:
"For
2 weeks in September 1996 I played host to Richard Bennett a former Dominican
Roman Catholic priest for over 20 years until the Lord graciously saved him in
1985 and as well as testifying Richard also gave two talks on the gospel of and
for Roman Catholics. In February 1997 I was pleased to welcome Frank Eberhardt,
a former trainee Roman Catholic priest until the Lord saved him in 1972."
It appears
that even the protestant Belfast Telegraph finds Andrews to be extreme. On his
own admission he appears to be blacklisted by the paper. In one letter he wrote
to it Andrews claims that Christians should not allow Catholics to be in a
position of leadership. This is from an unpublished letter he sent on
“Christians
who organise worship have a Biblical duty not to afford leadership in services
to any whose declared understanding of Scripture does not reflect being
"in spirit and in truth". For that reason, Presbyterian Moderator,
Harry Uprichard, quite rightly declined to participate in a Police-related
service where Roman Catholic clergy would have been given a leadership role in
the service.”
Andrews is
also a creationist activist. In 2002 he was involved in the tour of
After
The money
for distributing the video was raised by Andrews from an appeal.
Only four MPs replied to Andrews. John Healy (Labour, Wentworth)
sent a standard acknowledgement card. Boris Johnson
(Conservative, Henley on
Dear Cecil,
Thank you
very much for your recent letter and the enclosed video in relation to the
scientific case for ‘creation’. I appreciate you taking the time to write to
me.
Best Wishes
NIGEL DODDS MP
He apparently also added a
personalised ‘PS’ of encouragement.
The one ‘dissenter’ who put
pen to paper was Elliot Morley (Labour –
Dear Mr
Andrews
There is
no scientific case for creation and it is quite wrong that children should be
taught something in school, which is not true.
Yours
sincerely
ELLIOT MORLEY MP
Andrews
replied back on
Dear Mr
Morley
As MP’s
will shortly be recessing for their summer holidays I am sending on herewith,
with my compliments, a copy of the book ‘The Evidence For Creation’ in the hope
that perhaps you like me take the opportunity of using a summer holiday to
catch up on some reading. I did by the way very much appreciate you taking time
to write to me in the wake of receipt of the video we sent to you [even though
your comments were what might be described as ‘negative’]. Have a good break.
Yours
sincerely
CECIL
ANDREWS
Andrews
then received a letter from the Department for Education and Skills in
"With
regard to creationism and evolution, I can assure you that pupils do learn
about evolution and creationism within Science and Religious education lessons.
They explore the nature and meanings of the Genesis creation stories,
creationists and others learn about some of the main ideas in the big bang and
evolution theories, such as how life progressed and how mankind came to be on
earth. Through a balanced study of each theory, pupils can make informed
judgements and independent decisions about these issues. Creationism is but one
of many differing and often conflicting beliefs which pupils might discuss and
consider. This is an essential part of enabling young people to develop their
own mature and informed views on moral and ethical issues to become responsible
and active citizens".
Andrew’s
mass mailing of material to people he wants to convert is nothing new. He did a
similar thing at the end of 1997. Here is an article about him published late
in 1997 by the Examiner newspaper:
AN
evangelical Protestant group in the North has launched a zany conversion bid –
on
Co
Down-based 'Take Heed Ministries' claim members of the Roman Catholic clergy
must be shown the errors of their ways in a book and tape set entitled: 'Far
From
He
says his conversion drive is serious and that every member of the Catholic
clergy will receive his tapes and books in the post within the next week. “This is a matter between myself and the Lord
and the men (priests) themselves," insisted Mr Andrews, who admitted that
he used the Irish Catholic Directory to get the names and addresses of all
5,600 members of the Church's clergy.
"We
hope to have reached all of them within the next ten days," he said.
The
book and tapes feature "testimonies" of 50 former Catholic priests.
It is introduced by former Dominican, Richard Bennett. The introduction reads:
"Just as many Levetical priests became obedient to Biblical faith in
apostolic times, there are still many whose eyes are opened to how valueless is
the Roman cloth. "The testimony of these men will cause readers to ask
whether what the Church of Rome professes to give people is actually
true."
While
some priests who spoke to The Examiner in
By way of response to this article I have written a detailed, corrective email letter to each member of the committee of the BCSE and you will be able to read that email letter shortly.
In the letter I encourage the committee members to listen to 5 Irish Radio interviews that I gave back in December 1997 in relation to the audiotape outreach to the Roman Catholic priest because in those interviews I correct errors that were in the newspaper report that is reproduced on the BCSE website.
If you listen to these interviews via the link in the letter
to the committee members you will find that after the first [Radio
Cecil Andrews
‘Take Heed’ Ministries
The following is the email letter sent to
each BCSE committee member.
Dear Mr
As a member of the committee of BCSE I am sure you would not wish to be a party to anything posted to the group’s website that is inaccurate or that could be construed as being there purely for the purposes of demeaning and insulting someone. I’m sure like myself you want only to deal in facts as far as they can be positively known.
It has been drawn to my attention that on the BCSE website there is an item under ‘Who is Who’ relating to myself and it is certainly inaccurate in several places and in others it does give the impression of being demeaning and insulting purely for those purposes.
In the opening line of the article I am described as being both ‘hardline’ and ‘fundamentalist’. If these adjectives are there merely to demean and insult me then they should be removed. However if ‘hardline’ is there to indicate that my ‘line’ of thinking on ‘origins’ is fixed [hard] and not for reshaping, in a similar fashion that Richard Dawkin’s thinking on ‘origins’ is fixed [hard] and not for reshaping, then that is fine. If ‘fundamentalist’ is there to indicate that I view the teachings of my source of ‘truth’ on ‘origins’, namely the written Word of God, as being accurate and trustworthy, in the same way that Richard Dawkins views the teachings of his source of truth on ‘origins’, namely the writings of Charles Darwin, as being accurate and trustworthy, then that is fine.
In paragraph 2, mention is made of me possibly having worked for an estate agency – I have never worked for such a business. As to my ‘theological qualifications’ - they fall into the same category as for example those possessed by the Apostles Peter and John following the Lord’s ascension to heaven – regenerated and indwelt by our teacher, God the Holy Spirit who, according to the Lord Jesus Christ in John 16:13 guides into all truth.
In paragraph 3, the article states about my ministry that “This appears, loosely to be an independent Baptist ministry stuck somewhere in the 17th century”. Being factually inaccurate on 2 counts one is left with the impression that the purpose of this statement falls mostly into the ‘demeaning and insulting’ category. We are not a ‘Baptist’ ministry nor are we “stuck somewhere in the 17th century” as we are dealing very much with live, 21st century issues, some of which have of course been around since the dawn of creation.
This same paragraph also states “Andrews has pointed out that he is not anti-Catholic but anti-Catholicism but it is hard to see what the difference is”. Just at this point I do have to ask myself why such a statement is included on the website of a group that is seeking to refute belief in Biblical Creation and to promote Darwinian Evolution – is it there purely as a personal, demeaning and insulting attack upon the individual in question, namely myself? That aside, whilst I am most certainly opposed to the false teachings of Roman Catholicism, if I were also ‘anti-Catholic’ then I would not be seeking to rescue Roman Catholics from going to hell by exposing them to the true, saving Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A little further into the article we read, “It appears that even the protestant Belfast Telegraph finds Andrews to be extreme”. I have to confess that I really did smile when I read the expression “the protestant Belfast Telegraph”.
On this link http://www.independentnewsmedia.com/sea/17Jul00.htm
you read the following - ‘Independent News & Media PLC
("IN&M") has received formal clearance for the purchase of the
Belfast Telegraph titles ("BTNL") from Trinity Mirror plc. The
consent of Britain's Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Stephen Byers
MP, was received today; the clearance of the Irish Minister for Enterprise,
Trade and Employment, Tanaiste Mary Harney TD, had already been received’
The leading figure in ‘Independent News & Media’ is former
Irish Rugby player [Sir] Anthony O’Reilly and on this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_O'Reilly
we read - “Sir Anthony "Tony" O'Reilly (born 7 May 1936)
is a Dublin born billionaire who holds both British
and Irish
nationality. He is best known through his chairmanship of the Dublin-based Independent News & Media Group
(INM)… Anthony Joseph Francis O'Reilly was born in Dublin. He was educated at the Jesuit-run Belvedere College,” So much for “the protestant Belfast Telegraph”.
In the same paragraph your article states “In one letter he wrote to it Andrews claims that Christians should not allow Catholics to be in a position of leadership”. Whilst your article does then give a quote from the letter in question that helps to clarify what I meant by “leadership” – namely a “leadership” role in worship services organised by Evangelical Christians – anyone reading the first statement and not bothering to read the letter would be left with the impression that I oppose any and every form of “leadership” by Catholics and that would be grossly untrue.
As for me being “blacklisted” by the paper, what appears to have happened is that they seem to have taken a decision to radically change the nature of the letters published in their Saturday night edition [where letters on religious matters normally appeared] and so not only I but also others from a Roman Catholic perspective are no longer given column-inch space.
The paper itself has a clear ‘liberal/ecumenical’ ethos and agenda that is reflected in the writings of its Religion Correspondent, Alf McCreary and also in the writings of the ecumenical-friendly writers of the weekly ‘Thought For The Weekend’.
In relation to the creation videos that were sent to all MPs your article states, “By Andrew’s own account, nearly all of them appear to have ignored it”. This is totally inaccurate and this is actually what I wrote - ‘Feedback’ from MP’s in relation to the video has been minimal… perhaps humanly speaking it might have been nice to receive greater ‘feedback’ from more MP’s but I am content to leave this matter in the hands of the Lord’. NOWHERE did I state that ‘nearly all of them appear to have ignored it’ – I was merely commenting upon actual responses to me – the fact that these were few is no indicator that recipients “ignored” the videos sent to them.
Towards the close of the article, reference is made to an audiotape outreach to Roman Catholic priests in Ireland made by the ministry back in 1997. Again I do have to question the motive for including this section on the website of your group that is seeking to refute belief in Biblical Creation and to promote Darwinian Evolution – is it there purely as a personal, demeaning and insulting attack upon myself?
That aside, the newspaper article quoted
was grossly inaccurate in some of the assertions made in its article and in
consequence, perhaps for the sake of factual accuracy, you should remove it
from the BCSE website. To find out just how wrong their article was I would
encourage you to go to this link [http://www.takeheed.co.uk/inter.ram
Cecil interviewed about 'Take Heed's' 1997 audiotape outreach to Ireland's Roman Catholic priests] and you can listen to 5 Irish radio interviews that I gave in December 1997 as the outreach was drawing to a close.
In closing, let me say I count it a
special honour to be listed on your ‘Who is Who’ website, for the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself said to me in Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are ye when men
shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you
falsely, for my sake”.
I’m so glad that my eternal salvation did
not depend upon my IQ but rather as we read in 1st
Corinthians 1:21-27 “In the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God [but
rather] it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe…because the foolishness of God is wiser than men…God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise”.
In closing I commend to you the only
Saviour of sinful men, the One who created all things as we read in John
1:3, the One who was “made flesh and dwelt amongst us” [John 1:14] –
I refer of course to the Lord Jesus Christ before whom, in a coming day, “every
knee shall bow…and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord, to the glory of
God, the Father” [Philippians 2:10-11].
I am your servant for His sake
Cecil Andrews
‘Take Heed’ Ministries
Appendix
added 23 December 2006
Following my sending of the email to the committee
members I received the following gracious response from one of them Alan
Bellis.
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Subject: |
Re: Who is Who |
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Date: |
21/12/2006
01:33:26 GMT Standard Time |
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From: |
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Hi Cecil,
Thanks for taking the
time to e-mail me with your concerns, it is a little late for me to investigate
this issue fully, I think the best bet is to pass your e-mail across to Roger,
as I believe he is the author of the report you are taking issue with. As far
as I am concerned, any inaccuracies should be put right immediately.
Best Wishes,
Alan. [Bellis]
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Subject: |
Re: Who is Who |
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Date: |
21/12/2006
08:05:12 GMT Standard Time |
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From: |
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Dear Alan,
Many thanks for your swift and courteous reply - it is
appreciated.
Your servant for Christ
Cecil Andrews
'Take Heed' Ministries
Upon
visiting the BCSE ‘Who is Who’ website page on 23rd December I noted
that in the wake of my email they slightly altered the entry about myself and
they also posted my email in its entirety. The changes to the entry make for
interesting reading as this little table shows.
Original Wording |
New
Wording
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Cecil’s
comments
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‘He is
understood to have either worked for a building society or an estate agency
before becoming involved in religion’. |
This sentence has been
completely omitted from the revised BSCE ‘Who is Who’ article. |
I was working as a
Building Society Branch Manager in Portadown when I was converted to Christ
in 1984. Shortly thereafter I moved to manage a Building Society Branch
Office in Belfast City Centre until I left in 1989 and subsequently
established ‘Take Heed’ Ministries in 1990. |
|
‘This
appears, loosely to be an independent Baptist ministry stuck somewhere in the
17th century’. |
‘This
appears, loosely, to be an independent Baptist ministry (1) stuck somewhere (like
much of the rest of Northern Ireland) in the 17th century’. (1) Cecil Andrews has close connections with the Crich Baptist
Church in Derbyshire. |
Despite my advising
BSCE in my email that our ministry is not ‘an independent Baptist
ministry’ they have persisted with this ‘label’ and in an effort to justify
it have cited my ‘close connections’ with Crich Baptist Church. It is
true that have I spoken on a number of occasions in Crich Baptist Church but
this year alone I have also for example spoken in Mersey Street Presbyterian
Church, Belfast, Lisburn Congregational Church, The Olivet Hall,
Belfast, New Buildings Independent Methodist Church, Londonderry and
Hillsborough Free Presbyterian Church so how do these square up with
the ‘independent Baptist’ label? Having also decided to retain the
insulting ‘stuck somewhere in the 17th century’ jibe about
‘Take Heed’, BSCE have now seen fit to extend the insult to ‘much of the
rest of Northern Ireland’ – this particular insult appears to be evolving rather
rapidly, |
Original Wording
|
New Wording |
Cecil’s comments
|
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No previous reference |
‘(Here is an article
where Andrews takes exception to John Paul II being described as a "fine
Christian man")’ |
This sentence has been
inserted following my statement that I am ‘anti-Catholicism but not
anti-Catholic’ – a statement that BSCE obviously take issue with and it
would appear the link to this article has been inserted to suggest that I am
in fact ‘anti-Catholic’. I hope people will go to the link and read
the article for in it I challenge the description of the late Pope John Paul
II made in my presence by J I Packer when he described him as ‘a fine
Christian man’ - and I do so on purely doctrinal [‘anti-Catholicism’] grounds. PS Could this BCSE statement ‘Belief in creationism is rampant amongst Northern Ireland Protestants’ possibly be construed as ‘anti-Protestant’? |
|
‘It
appears that even the protestant Belfast Telegraph finds
Andrews to be extreme’ |
‘It
appears that the mildly unionist Belfast Telegraph
finds Andrews to be extreme’ |
When
BSCE first labelled the Belfast Telegraph as ‘protestant’ their intent was clear – it was to
convey the impression that this ‘protestant’, Cecil Andrews, was even too
extreme for a ‘protestant’ newspaper to handle. Having identified the
foolishness of their ‘protestant Belfast Telegraph’ label in my email,
BSCE have now resorted to applying a ‘political’ label to the Belfast
Telegraph – I simply ask why they feel it necessary to apply any ‘label’ to
the Belfast Telegraph in view of the fact that its change in strategy about
publishing letters on religious matters appears to apply equally to
Protestants like myself and also to Roman Catholics. I sincerely hope BSCE are
not now trying to attach some ‘political’ label to Cecil Andrews and ‘Take
Heed’ Ministries for our ministry and motivation have absolutely no political
attachment or agenda. |
In
the light of my comments I’m sure you will understand that I am not overly
impressed with the standard of the changes that have been made by BSCE to their
web page and of course other inaccurate statements such as ‘Andrews
sent a creationist video of Oakland to all 659 MPs
in Westminster. By Andrew’s own account, nearly all of them appear to have ignored it’ have been
left in situ.
Overall
this BSCE article has a ‘Richard Dawkins ring’ to it. What do I mean by that?
Well on Sunday 10 December 2006 Mr Dawkins took part in a ‘Creation v
Evolution’ debate with Professor Andy McIntosh of the creationist group ‘Truth
in Science’ that was broadcast on the Radio Ulster programme ‘Sunday Sequence’.
My reaction to Mr Dawkins performance was summed up as follows in an email that
I sent to the CALEB Evangelical Group –
"I thought
the debate went very well from a Biblical Creation point of view - Dawkins was
pitiful - reduced to personal attacks on
Andy McIntosh and openly admitting that he hasn't discovered yet how 'life'
came into being - once it did come into being then according to him evolution 'kicked in' but whatever 'sparked'
life, as far as he is concerned, it wasn't God and that atheistic view colours
ALL his thinking."
The
reference to ‘personal attacks’
by Richard Dawkins against Andy McIntosh is where
this BSCE article about myself seems to have a ‘Richard Dawkins ring’ to it.
In both
cases, Richard Dawkins [where Andy McIntosh is concerned] and BSCE [where Cecil
Andrews is concerned] appear to have adopted the approach of ‘I don’t
like the message so I’ll shoot the messenger’.
In closing
I’d like to amplify Richard Dawkins’ admission that he doesn’t know how ‘life’ came into being by quoting from a report
compiled by Jonathan Amos, Science reporter, BBC News, San Francisco – part of that report reads as follows –
The idea that comets delivered
the chemical "seeds" for life to the early Earth has been given a big
boost. Scientists studying the tiny grains of
material recovered from Comet Wild-2 by Nasa's Stardust mission have found
large, complex carbon-rich molecules.
They are of the type that could have been important precursor components
of the initial reactions that gave rise to the planet's biochemistry. The first full analysis of the Wild-2 grains
is reported in Science magazine. "Whatever it took to get
life started,
the more variety of molecules you had in the mix and the more they looked like
the kinds of molecules that life uses now then the easier it should have
been," Dr Scott Sandford from Nasa's Ames Research Center told BBC News…No-one knows how life originated
on the cooling early Earth, but it has become a popular theory that a bombardment of comets
may have deposited important chemical units for the initiating reactions. [Full
report can be seen on
If ‘no one [including Richard Dawkins
by his own admission] knows how life
originated’ then on what scientific grounds is a Creator God
totally ruled out of the equation?
Perhaps this quotation [p 25] from
Pastor John MacArthur’s book ‘The Battle For The Beginning’ may shed
some heavenly light on the issue – ‘To put it simply, evolution was invented
in order to eliminate the God of Genesis and thereby to oust the Lawgiver and
obliterate the inviolability of His law. Evolution is simply the latest means
our fallen race has devised in order to suppress our innate knowledge and the
biblical testimony that there is a God and that we are accountable to Him [see
Romans 1:28]. By embracing evolution, modern society aims to do away with
morality, responsibility and guilt. Society has embraced evolution with
such enthusiasm because people imagine that it eliminates the Judge and
leaves them free to do whatever they want without guilt and without consequences’.
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is an ‘antidote’ to the problem caused by sin when it entered this world
through Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden – countless millions of Christians
down through the centuries have been and are living proof of that visible
reality that they have become “new creations” in Christ [see 2 Corinthians
5:17]. The Gospel of Christ offers real life-changing answers to the sinful
and soul-damning woes of this world that are everywhere evident and that have
increased in line with the truths underlined above. In contrast what does
atheistic evolution offer – answers on a postcard please!
Cecil Andrews – ‘Take Heed’
Ministries –