A CHRISTIAN minister in Torquay who apparently has a direct line to the Almighty said he’s glad that someone had reported him to the authorities for building a church without planning permission.
Pastor Paul Knights, according to the BBC, built Mount Olive Ministries church next to his Christmas tree plantation outside Torquay more than a decade ago.
Pastor Knights in the church that God ordered built
Said Knights:
The Lord confirmed that he wanted the building built so we started building. I just felt that I needed to build and cross that bridge when it came.
The silly little man added:
Somebody reported us, well I just want to say ‘thank you’ to that person. It’s time to come out of the cave and if the Lord has used that person to report me then I say ‘praise the Lord’.
Teignbridge District Council planning officers are due to make a decision about the building shortly.
The council said if a building had been in place for four years or more a developer could apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness to stay there.
Hat tip: Marcus Robinson & Danny J
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
July 11th, 2011 at 8:57 am
“The Lord confirmed……..” Amazing! Suppose the Lord confirms to a devout christian of another persuasion, and there are plenty, that He wants the church demolished pronto. What then? Or maybe a devout muslim gets a message that Allah wants the church razed to the ground and replaced with a mosque.
July 11th, 2011 at 9:25 am
Hmmm… I wonder if any of his followers are on the planning committee.
July 11th, 2011 at 9:33 am
Would this be the same “Lord” who “confirms” that he wants abortionists shot?
July 11th, 2011 at 9:46 am
Isn’t hearing non-existent voices a sign of mental illness?
July 11th, 2011 at 10:00 am
Hey, what a great opportunity to get persecuted! If the Teignbridge District Council approves the building without a fuss, that would spoil everything.
July 11th, 2011 at 10:13 am
Nah, pull the bloody thing down. Not even his dog should be allowed to circumvent the law.
July 11th, 2011 at 10:35 am
Come on christian legal centre. There’s another persecuted christian here needing your support.
July 11th, 2011 at 11:13 am
AgentCormac said:
(Isn’t hearing non-existent voices a sign of mental illness?)
Yes…unless the voice is the great magical cloud god that only special people can hear, and you have to pay them money so they will talk back in good favor for you. Or else you will be sent to the center of the earth to burn forever and ever and ever by the magical god who loves you, as this great magical god who created the Universe and beyond is always short on cash.
I guess you could call these people with special hearing powers…lobbyists!
July 11th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
Pastor Knights shouldn’t have any problems with planning permission. Here in the UK you can build pretty much anything you like as long as the application is filled in correctly – in Arabic.
July 11th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
The bible does say that the world was without form and void, so I guess he’s just following god’s example.
July 11th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Marky Mark
Then again, maybe they’re all ex-NOTW investigators and they’ve actually been hacking the sky fairy’s voice mail to find out what he thinks.
July 11th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
The Planning Committe should insist that God’s confirmation is placed before it in writing and witnessed by an independent person. It should also make clear that it reserves the right to call God, in person, as a witness.
Is this the same God who gave the date of the Rapture? – currently adjusted till October 2011.
July 11th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Looking at this from a different angle, this could be a win/win situation for this twat.
If his council decide not to tear the place down then god has surely interviened on his behalf. If they do decide to tear the place down then he gets to play the persecuted christian card (which has become as tiresome and predicable as the ‘offended’ muslim).
He can’t lose.
July 11th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
“The Lord confirmed” just means that they have an idea; it becomes fixed in their mind; they obsess about it; and errr…that’s it really.
July 11th, 2011 at 5:58 pm
There once was a man from Torquay
Who built a church, as you can see.
When they said, “Where’s the plan?”
He replied, “God, not man,
Gave the plan and permission to me!”
July 11th, 2011 at 10:50 pm
You got a day job, barriejohn?
July 11th, 2011 at 11:43 pm
No, I’m retired now, Angie, if it’s important to you.
July 12th, 2011 at 1:52 am
I thought only 4 year olds had imaginary friends. Maybe 4 year olds are too bright nowadays to have their own special friends and leave it for the religiously deluded.
July 12th, 2011 at 5:08 am
AgentCormac…NOTW, now their “good Christians†and any voice that they heard that preceded their wrong doing had to be the voice of the almighty god…And it sells papers that adds up to $$$ that their god always is in need of, so it must be ok. I would think he’d (the great magical cloud god) be able to turn dust into Gold if he needed it that much. After all, he did create the Sun and the stars above that actually create these metals…why not cut out the middle man and the billion year process if he and his flock needed $$$ so much.
I guess I should apologize to all Christians who read this site as my last paragraph was based on logic…something you poorly evolved brain cannot conceive.
BTW Christians, when are you going to get started on killing off the adulterers in your flock? If there is anything that is more damaging to your family values it is the crime of adultery as it always destroys the family… So when? It appears to be a bigger problem with your flock than some gay people getting married or a poor mother that can’t afford another child.
So lets start pushing for legislation that will hold these hypocrites to their beliefs and demand a law that will put all practicing Christian to death for adultery. Especially since they say they have the right to impose strict laws on abortion and gay people because of their book… the good Christians should embrace this law
July 12th, 2011 at 5:22 am
Plus we should also be able to put an end to those bastard Christians who mow their lawns on Sundays…stone those blasphemes bastards to death! Nothing I hate more than Q’en up some Pig with the spirits flowing and my sluty female friends getting loose…all to be disturbed by a mower in the background. Kinda runes the mood!
July 12th, 2011 at 6:11 am
“It’s time to come out of the cave and if the Lord has used that person to report me then I say ‘praise the Lord’.”
He thanks the Lord when he runs out of toilet roll, too. It’s all part of the Plan.
July 12th, 2011 at 9:14 am
Paul Knights is just doing what religious people do: ignoring laws that don’t fit in with their preposterous beliefs. And we all know that as soon as the religious are told to obey the same laws as everyone else they scream persecution. As Tony e has said, this guy can’t lose.
July 12th, 2011 at 11:26 am
No, not really, barriejohn, just wondered
markymark,I hear dried frogs pills are efficacious in cases of talking complete bollocks. I commend them to you.
July 12th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Angela: Now even Trevor Phillips thinks that they don’t need to abide by the law!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....liefs.html
July 12th, 2011 at 4:17 pm
If the council give him permission to stay it invites the suggestion that something’s not right in the planning office.
Given the location and Mount Olive’s other activities it smells like a classic tourist area scam. Landowner puts up structure with vague purpose on spec, then, if no immediate objections, lets it tick over for a few years. Landowner then changes use of vague building – e.g. from ‘church’ to ‘conference centre’, and if no more objections does it again later…. and so on until the area has a large social development bringing in noisy visitors which other local residents find a pain but can’t do anything about…unless they sell up to the scammers.
We’ve had a couple of cases of Christian groups doing it round our way, one eventually turning out to be run by a very nasty cult, so I hope locals are keeping a close eye on this one.
July 12th, 2011 at 8:07 pm
Most likely the council will approve the building. If there’s not been a planning complaint about something in over 10 years then it’s generally overlooked. Many farmers get away with extending their homes like this, they just make sure you can’t see it from the road, then apply for the Certificate of Lawfulness 4 years later.
July 25th, 2011 at 12:16 pm
PEOPLE WHO PERSICUTE PAUL KNIGHT WHO I KNOW PERSONLY PAUL WILL BE BLESSED MORE SO CARRY ON LOL.