The Record - August 2021 by Free Church of Scotland

THE

RECORD

MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AUGUST 2021 • £2.00

Editor • John Macdonald The Editor, Free Church Offices, 15 North Bank Street, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH1 2LS editor@freechurch.org News Editor • Dayspring MacLeod dayspring.macleod@icloud.com 07974 261567 Missions News • Sarah Johnson Free Church Offices, 15 North Bank Street, Edinburgh, EH1 2LS sarah@freechurch.org WfM Editor • Fiona Macaskill 8 Campsie Drive, Glasgow, G61 3HY rfmacaskill@me.com Gaelic Editor • Janet MacPhail 24 North Bragar, Isle of Lewis, HS2 9DA 01851 710354 Seminary News • Rev. Thomas Davis St. Columba's Free Church, Johnston Terrace Edinburgh, EH1 2PW thomas@stcolumbas.freechurch.org Prayer Diary • Dayspring Macleod dayspring.macleod@icloud.com Design & Layout • Fin Macrae @DUFI Art www.dufi-art.com The Record • ISSN 2042-2970 Published • The Record is produced by The Free Church of Scotland, Free Church Offices, 15 North Bank Street, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH1 2LS 0131 226 5286 offices@freechurch.org This QR Code will direct you to the digital version of the magazine on ISSUU. Available for 30 days for current print subscribers.

For Subscriptions • The annual subscription price for The Record is £33. Cheques should be iPhone: Open your camera app and hold the lens above made payable to: Free Church of Scotland. Please the QR Code, it will automatically detect the link which contact the offices for overseas subscription costs. you can click on to open. Android: Download QR Code Reader from Google Play Details of the church's activities, latest news and Store and follow app directions. people to contact are all available on the church's website: www.freechurch.org For the visually impaired: Please contact Norman Kennedy on 01463 240192 for details of how to obtain The Record in an audio version. The Free Church of Scotland is a registered charity SC012925 • Women for Mission is a registered charity SC03898

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Cover: Photo Laura Adai on Unsplashf

Advertising • Anyone wishing to advertise in The Record should contact the editor.

CONTENTS

WELCOME TO THE AUGUST RECORD

his month’s magazine looks within and without.

04 DIAKONIA The Editor

I’m grateful to Charlie Douglas for researching and writing a brief biography of J. Calvin Mackay. Last month, we began to mark the centenary of the missionary work which Mackay and his family established on behalf of the Free Church. As a successor in this work, Charlie is ideally placed to help us appreciate the service Calvin Mackay rendered to the Lord’s Kingdom and to those he taught and pastored in Peru. Our collection of articles commemorating this centenary concludes next month. We also look outwith the work of our own denomination with an article from Lovewise, a charity providing resources on Biblical teaching about relationships, and an interview with Inonge Siluka of Overflow Chat. I’d like to express thanks to both for sharing something of their work with us. I’m also grateful to the correspondents who have written to share their views on recent features which have appeared in The Record. If you have comments to share about any of the articles published here, I’d be very glad to hear from you. • If you have any news articles please send them to dayspring.macleod@icloud.com. Yours in Christ

FREE CHURCH NEWS New Highland Ministry at Lairg and Bonar Bridge, Gaelic Sermons Online, Rev. Thomas Davis returns to Carloway, New Ministry in Bon Accord FC, Women for Mission

OBITUARIES

WORLD NEWS UK, EC, Canada, Cuba, North Sudan, Nigeria, Myanmar

GOING BACK TO CHURCH Iver Martin

PROTECTING CHILDREN IN AN INCREASINGLY SECULAR SOCIETY Julie Cumming

LETTERS

REFLECTIONS Colin Macleod

THE RECORD MEETS...INONGE SILUKA

PRAYER DIARY

J. CALVIN MACKAY: INSPIRING THE MISSIONARY IDEAL Charles Douglas

OUR REASONABLE SERVICE Dayspring MacLeod

A TOUGH ASSIGNMENT David Randall

PAGES FROM ADAM'S DIARY LOST AND FOUND

POETRY PAGE Anne Locke

BOOK REVIEWS Free Church Books

SGÌTH LE THURAS Janet MacPhail

John

40 POST TENEBRAS LUX Catriona Murray

That in all things he might have the pre-eminence Colossians 1:18 2021

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Diakonia BY THE EDITOR

Presbyterianism’s neglected office

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rug-related

deaths in Scotland have exceeded their highest recorded level for the past six years running. The COVID pandemic has left a ‘black hole’ in local authority budgets, which will necessitate cuts to essential services. The latest figures, which don’t yet include the year of the pandemic, show suicide in Scotland at its highest level in almost a decade. Residents of our poorest communities are three times more likely to die by suicide than those in wealthy areas. One quarter of children in Scotland are living in poverty. Sometimes, the church has a word to say about such matters. But what is it that we are doing about them?

Photo Zoe VandeWater on Unsplash

THROWN OUT WITH THE BATHWATER The term ‘social justice’ probably dates back to the 1840s, but it has become a phrase well-suited to our post-modern, post-truth society. It can mean whatever you want it to. Its ill-definition means it can be claimed by anyone and everyone, and in support of diametrically opposed causes. Use of the term can also provoke an allergic reaction in Reformed Christianity because it has taken on an association with the Social Gospel. The Social Gospel movement was a departure from Protestantism in late 19th-century America, though there are parallels in other industrialised countries around the same time, and since. The most prominent leader of the movement was Walter Rauschenbusch, pastor of Second German Baptist ‘Where have we any command in the Church, which was located in a deprived area of New York Bible laid down in stronger terms, and in City. Rauschenbusch was a more peremptory urgent manner, than disappointed by the seeming lack of care by evangelical the command of giving to the poor?’ churches for people like those in his neighbourhood. So, he determined to minister to the body as well as the soul. Unfortunately, he allied this passion for addressing poverty with theological error. In drawing together a theology for the Social Gospel, Rauschenbusch denied that Jesus died as a substitute for sinners, writing that he did not ‘in any real sense’ bear the sin of individuals, but his death served as an example of selflessness. Rauschenbusch concluded that Christians should seek to bring the Kingdom of God on earth by addressing social problems. As a result of this move away from biblical orthodoxy, the term ‘social justice’ and, more significantly, actual attempts by the church to address justice issues like poverty are very often deemed suspect. These are presumed to be the first step down the slippery slope towards liberal theology. For this reason, social action tends to be kept separate from the church, when Reformed believers are engaged in it at all. It need not be so. In fact, it must not be. The Calvinists of a previous day understood this. Jonathan Edwards wrote, ‘Where have we any command in the Bible laid down in stronger terms, and in a more peremptory urgent manner, than the command of giving to the poor?’ We must not be guilty of liberal theology’s deadly mistake of picking and choosing the parts of Scripture we like. Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by teaching that, on our behalf, he fulfils the law we have failed to uphold. He then continues by teaching how we should give to the poor (Matthew 6:1-4) and that we should treat others as we want to be treated (Matthew 7:12). These are not contradictory teachings — the latter flows from the former. Rauschenbusch’s heterodoxy arose because the evangelical churches preaching sound doctrine were ignoring the material suffering in their communities. We cannot continue in such negligence.

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WHAT BIBLICAL JUSTICE ISN’T It is tempting to be certain. We know that ‘faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen’ (Hebrews 11:1). We are taught that, as believers, we can have ‘an infallible assurance of faith, founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation’ (Westminster Confession, 18.2). To take possession of these certainties is a mighty thing. But, like faith itself, it is not the magnitude of our certainty, but what it is ‘founded upon’, that matters. We can be certain of our salvation because that certainty is founded upon the promise of God in Christ. We must not be so certain about conclusions we have come to by our own discernment. The Bible teaches a great deal about justice but, as Kevin DeYoung writes, ‘justice, as a biblical category, is not synonymous with anything and everything we feel would be good Pitting sound doctrine against doing for the world…the church must justice is a false dichotomy. Good works not go beyond its God-given authority and power in binding and true justice flow from sound doctrine. the consciences of her members to positions or conclusions that honest Christians can disagree on.’ The Bible teaches a clear Christian ethic — principles to live by, and to form a worldview from. But it rarely sanctions particular public policy proposals. Sometimes this is where problems can arise. Two Christians will learn from Scripture that poverty should be alleviated. One may legitimately decide that taxation and state intervention is the most effective way to achieve this, while the other thinks personal responsibility and private charity is most effective. They are each at liberty to hold these views while they sit at the Communion table side by side.

WHAT BIBLICAL JUSTICE IS Yet, having stated their views and agreed to disagree, the duty of neither Christian has been discharged while there remain impoverished people among them. This is the point we miss if we spend all of our time in the realm of ideas, debating. Biblical justice demands action. Jesus said, ‘When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.’ ‘One would almost think that Luke 14:12-14 was not considered part of God’s word, nor has any part of Jesus’ teaching been more neglected by his own people,’ wrote John Newton. ‘I do not think it is unlawful to entertain our friends; but if these words do not teach us that it is in some respects our duty to give a preference to the poor, I am at a loss to understand them.’ Newton understood that biblical justice is not a notion to be pondered in the abstract. Though ashamed to be associated with his former life as the captain of a slave ship, he determined to assail the evil institution by publishing his Thoughts Upon the Slave Trade, by sending copies to each Member of Parliament and by supporting William Wilberforce in his attempts to legislate the end of the slave trade. John M. Perkins is a minister and civil rights activist in the United States who has spent more than 60 years preaching the gospel and seeking justice. Throughout his involvement in planting churches, evangelism, writing books, setting up health centres and schools, arranging legal assistance for poor families, opening charity shops and developing affordable housing, he has shown what biblical justice is in a modern, developed economy. Staying on course where Rauschenbusch veered off, Perkins describes his approach as sharing ‘the whole gospel for the whole man’. He has tied

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together social reform, economic development and evangelical preaching into a Christian ministry which the believers in Acts would recognise, but which is seldom seen in the church today.

CRT – A CASE STUDY Critical race theory (CRT) used to be a niche area of American legal scholarship. It emerged in the 1970s in the writing of academics like Derrick Bell and, later, Kimberlé Crenshaw, who sought to show that, since the founding of the country, racist ideology has been codified into U.S. law and the legal system (cf. the ‘Three-fifths Compromise’). They go on to argue that this has engrained racism into everyday life so that laws which put black people, in particular, at a disadvantage have become the accepted norm. The concept has been taken up by other researchers and applied to the study of education and history, among other subjects. This quickly becomes political because critical race theorists tend not to be content with simply studying engrained racism. Most also advocate reform. Their views have found a larger audience in the year since George Floyd’s killing sparked international protest and reflection. In some quarters, CRT arguments have been accepted; in others they have attracted criticism. Some of this has been measured and, inevitably, some has been rather hysterical. Within the American church, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, has been seeking to address CRT over the summer. This is the point we miss if we spend all of Media attention has alighted on the Southern Baptists because our time in the realm of ideas, debating. of the Convention’s size and Biblical justice demands action. influence, but also because of its history. The denomination split from the nationwide Baptist convention in 1845 when representatives from northern states refused to appoint missionaries who owned slaves. And, during the Civil Rights Movement, most Southern Baptist pastors and members rejected racial integration. Steps have been taken within the denomination to confront this history. In 1995, the Convention adopted a resolution apologising for its previous defences of slavery and segregation and repenting of racism. The SBC’s annual meeting of 2019 even passed a resolution, which remains in effect, that allows members to make use of critical race theory. The resolution states that ideas from secular academia such as CRT ‘should only be employed as analytical tools subordinate to Scripture.’ This garnered precious little controversy at the time, given that the resolution came 11 months before George Floyd’s death and also denounced the misuse of critical race theory. In the last year, however, CRT has become something of a cultural shibboleth in the U.S., the ‘theological and ecclesiastical equivalent of the “Red Scare”’, according to Jemar Tisby, author of the bestselling book on race in the American church, The Colour of Compromise. ‘Slap anyone with the label “Critical Race Theory,” according to Tisby, ‘and they automatically become enemies of the church.’ This may be born of a concern that employing secular approaches to learning will allow liberal theology in by the back door. Or, it may be an arbitrary line in the sand that serves to signal whether a person is on the red team or the blue team in America’s two-party culture. Either way, the SBC’s leaders have felt compelled to respond. The Presidents of the six Southern Baptist seminaries issued a statement at the end of 2020 which declared CRT to be ‘incompatible’ with the Baptist confession of faith. The statement led to the departure of two prominent black megachurch leaders, Charlie Dates and Ralph

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D. West. West wrote of the seminary presidents, ‘their stand against racism rings hollow when in their next breath they reject theories that have been helpful in framing the problem of racism’. The election of a moderate convention president at this year’s SBC annual meeting seems to have prevented a more stringent denunciation of CRT and the further departures which would have followed. But the fight is not over. The real relevance of all this could be hidden by the rhetorical heat. The debate can be fascinating. The unstable alloy of politicking, influenceseeking and genuine conviction draws attention. Yet, alongside the fierce arguments about the benefits and ills of CRT, there are no resolutions focussed on the hungry children, substandard housing and mass incarceration which leave the 1995 commitment to ‘eradicate racism’ and pursue ‘racial reconciliation’ unfinished. Febrile annual gatherings, passionate deliberations and razor-sharp arguments do not, by themselves, prevent the hurt among the flock looking for new pastures in which they might be safe enough to lie down. This is a difficult lesson, as we turn to the plank in our own eye.

DEACONS The church is not called to preach the gospel or seek justice. It is commanded to preach the gospel and seek justice. To preach the gospel by seeking justice. And to seek justice by preaching the gospel. Addressing social problems does not save sinners. We are saved by grace alone through faith in Christ. Preaching and evangelism must never slacken, nor lose their urgency. But, ‘although true believers be not under the law…as a rule of life informing them of the will of God, and their duty, it directs, and binds them to walk accordingly’ (Westminster Confession 19.6). This is an enormous task, and no-one can accomplish it alone, so God has brought us together as a body, each member having gifts to contribute and a role to fulfil. In our church polity, congregational responses to social problems have, historically, been overseen by deacons. John Calvin identified two functions for the diaconate: those who ‘administered alms’ and those We constrain a vital office, established who ‘devoted themselves to in Scripture, if we treat deacons as if the care of the poor and the sick’ (Institutes IV:III.9). And yet, they are apprentice elders. as Timothy Keller observes, contemporary Presbyterian churches have turned deacons ‘into janitors and treasurers’. If we continue in this way, we do our dedicated and gifted deacons a disservice by preventing them from being a true blessing to their community, and from leading us in mercy ministry. We also constrain a vital office, established in Scripture, if we treat deacons as if they are apprentice elders. As a denomination, we must not overlook the hard work of diaconal ministry. The Free Church should not neglect the training and equipping of deacons, especially bearing in mind that the love and charity of the early church was a powerful witness (Acts 2:42ff). Pitting sound doctrine against doing justice is a false dichotomy. Good works and true justice flow from sound doctrine. But if we desire to glorify God and enjoy him, we must do as he commands, not only say what he commands. If we lower our view of what God expects of us, if we let ourselves off the hook, if we fail to use the gifts and resources God has blessed us with to seek justice, then we have let slip both the Bible and our confession. John M. Perkins’ comment on race in America applies well to all injustice. He writes, ‘this is a God-sized problem. It is one that only the church, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can heal. It requires the quality of love that only our Saviour can provide.’ Our churches need no less conversation, but more action. •

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FREE CHURCH NEWS NEW HIGHLAND MINISTRY BEGINS

Local elder Rev. John Mann made a presentation to the new minister. John spoke about how the beauty of the Highland landscape and environment was attracting people from all over the country. Some came for the beaches; some came for the hills. But he hoped that just as people came to seen Ben Hope and Ben Loyal, that Ben Fiddian would also become an attraction. Following some other presentations, Ben replied, giving thanks for the widespread support they had received since joining the Free Church and speaking of how blessed they were in their new location and their new home in the Lairg manse. He expressed his longing that the Lord would be with them as a congregation and as a family as they serve him in that place. •

new ministry is beginning in the highlands after rev. benjamin fiddian was inducted to the charge of bonar bridge and lairg free

church.

The congregation has been vacant for two and a half years since Rev. John Forbes accepted a call to Australia. Ben preached there a couple of times late last year, just after he was admitted to the Free Church in October. The congregation planned to call him then, but the second lockdown delayed matters for several months. The induction took place on Tuesday night with a good-sized gathering in the church and another 100 or so people tuning in to a livestream of the service. Rev. Duncan Macleod, Dornoch, presided, and he preached on the Sower and the Seed. He highlighted the fact that while there may be discouragements when the seed falls in unfruitful places, there was also the great reassurance that it would bear fruit. Our duty was to scatter the seed both in preaching and in our conversations, but it was the Lord that would give the increase. The new minister and the congregation were then by addressed by the outgoing Interim-Moderator, Rev. Alasdair MacAulay, who shared his delight at seeing the congregation settled with a new minister and his beautiful family. He counselled Ben to seek to share the priorities that John the Baptist had, when he said of Jesus, ‘He must become greater; I must become less.’ The congregation were then urged not to have great expectations of their new minister but rather to have great expectations of God. Their minister could never match their expectations, but God could easily surpass them.

GAELIC SERMONS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

he legacy.freechurch.org site has recently added a new section of gaelic sermons. These contain a wide selection of Gaelic sermons from across the Free Church. You can access them all by clicking on the ‘Playlists’ option on the homepage, and from there you can browse through many preachers both from the past and who are continuing to serve in the church today. Since its launch, there have been over 25,000 downloads from the Legacy site, and this new Gaelic section gives a further opportunity for listeners to enjoy our rich preaching heritage. •

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REV. THOMAS DAVIS RETURNS TO CARLOWAY

n friday 25th june, the western isles presbytery

There then followed a series of presentations. Donald Macleod welcomed Thomas on behalf of the Carloway congregation and Cathy Mary Macmillan presented Thomas’ wife Una with flowers. Aaron Ingram, Aoife Ingram & Noah Macarthur presented gifts to the Davis children, Tom, John and Annie. Donnie Macaulay thanked Rev. Murdo Campbell for his service as Interim-Moderator, and Sharon Macarthur presented Alison Campbell with flowers. Mark Macarthur, Danny Macarthur and Christopher Macarthur presented David, Finlay and Daniel Campbell with gifts. Rev. Murdo Campbell and Thomas then addressed the congregation. The service concluded with the singing of the final verses of Psalm 24 and the benediction. Owing to the favourable weather, those attending in person were able to chat to one another on the church grounds after the service. •

of the free church of scotland met with the congregation of carloway for the induction

of rev. thomas davis.

With appropriate restrictions in place, 75 people met in person in the Carloway Church with a further 300 joining the service online. Thomas rejoins Carloway having previously served as minister between 2014 and 2018, and more recently serving as assistant minister at St Columba’s Free Church in Edinburgh. Rev. David Macleod of North Harris preached a sermon based on Proverbs 3:5-6, while Presbytery Clerk Rev. Hugh Ferrier read the narrative of events that led to this occasion. Rev. Iain Thomson of Garrabost addressed the new minister and Rev. Murdo Campbell, Barvas, spoke to the congregation of Carloway.

NEW MINISTRY AT BON ACCORD FREE CHURCH

he rev. joe hall is to be the new minister at bon accord free church in aberdeen.

A call was recently signed by the congregation and accepted by Joe, who was present. This paves the way for an induction at the end of August. Joe was born and raised in Romford, Essex, and came to a personal Christian faith as a teenager. He moved to Edinburgh in 2012 at the age of 18 to study Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh. There, he became a member of Grace Church Leith and, he says, ‘benefited hugely from sitting under faithful expository preaching, as well as through the friendship of mature Christians at church, and grew steadily in my knowledge and love of God’. His growing desire to serve God and his people led to a ministry apprenticeship at Grace Church Leith after he graduated. Over these two years he studied at the Cornhill Training Course in Glasgow, which deepened his knowledge and love of the Bible, and laid a foundation for future study and ministry. After three years of subsequent study at Edinburgh Theological Seminary, Joe was licensed last week by the Presbytery of Edinburgh and Perth. Joe’s wife, Susy, grew up in Derbyshire, where her father was the pastor in a local church. She went on to study medicine at the University of Bristol before moving to Edinburgh, where she eventually worked in paediatric emergency medicine. It was at Grace Church Leith that Susy and Joe met. They are

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expecting their first child in December this year. Reflecting on the past year, Joe said, ‘The pandemic has been tough in lots of respects, but wonderfully it was during this time that I was first put in touch with Bon Accord through my online placement. Susy and I have been praying over the past year that the Lord would make it clear to us where he would have us. We had a sense that Bon Accord would be a great home for us, and a church family which we could serve, and are delighted that this sense has been confirmed in the call which came on Sunday.’ The induction is scheduled for Saturday 28th August at 14:00. •

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riting a few days before the end of term, there is the sense of anticipation of the long, lazy summer days without the daily routine.

We are all anticipating keenly the hope of some return to more normality in the coming weeks. Women for Mission are looking forward to our conference on the 18th September. We would love you to join us online at 11am. We are welcoming Ann Allen as our main speaker, talking on the topic of Salt and Light, living exclusively in an Inclusive world. We also hope to have live speakers from some of this year’s project, Hope for the Hurting. There will be a worship group leading us in praise. The meeting will be live, differing from our AGM in May, which was prerecorded. Why not try meeting in your church and watching the conference together? The meeting will be open from 10.30am if you want to meet a bit earlier and share some cakes, pancakes or scones.

Keep an eye on our website and social media for details of how to join and further information. There will also be more details in the September Record. Anticipating even further ahead, we have booked our ‘in-person’ conference for 17 September 2022 in Inverness. Save that date! •

RONALD JACKSON (1935-2020) BY REV. DAVID MILLAR

It is unlikely to surprise those who knew him that he was a great success and very popular with the youngsters. Ronnie will be deeply missed by all the community, whatever their age. Although he was survived by his wife, Mabel (née Macdonald), she also recently passed away. Mabel was a native of Skinidin, a fluent Gaelic speaker, and well known both in the congregation and the wider community. They leave their two sons Alastair and Ruairidh, with their families. •

rriving just a few years ago to serve the duirinish free church congregation in the northwest corner of skye, among the elders i

found ronnie jackson, a lovely gentleman. However,

his health was already failing, although I delighted in having him pray to set me on my way to the pulpit each week in Waternish. It was not long before he sadly had to take up residence in one of the care homes in Portree: we were thus limited in getting to know each other better, although there’s a lot to treasure from those short years. Others who knew him longer also recognised Ronnie as a quiet, unassuming Christian who loved his Saviour: a man of great ability and acumen, quite ready to take a back seat to others, and precious in his welcome and prayers at home or church. While not a native of Skye, he had married into a Free Church island family in the 1960s, and settled whole-heartedly into the community. As an elder in the Free Church, Ronnie supported several ministers, frequently leading services in Lonmore and Waternish. He also served the congregation as Treasurer for many years. The folk in the congregation greatly appreciated his visits to bereaved homes, where his prayers were found uplifting and comforting. Ronnie also worked more widely in the community, helping the Rev. Gary Wilson (Church of Scotland) in his efforts to organise a Boys’ Brigade in Dunvegan. He was widely travelled, but a highlight and lasting memory was his visit to India with his wife Mabel, especially to help out for some months at the Chhapara Mission Higher Secondary School: delivering English Bibles to the pupils and teaching the language for them to read of Jesus first-hand.

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WORLD NEWS

AMERICAS AFRICA EUROPE ASIA AUSTRALASIA RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS’ LEGACY Many in Canada are reflecting on the relationship between Christian denominations and indigenous communities in light of recent events. More than 1,000 unmarked graves containing the remains of indigenous children have been found in the grounds of former residential schools. The boarding schools, funded by the government, were compulsory for indigenous children to attend. More than half were run by the Roman Catholic church. It is understood that neglect, abuse, disease and malnutrition were endemic at the schools, and that the funding provided was not adequate. A commission documenting the consequences of this system concluded that many children never returned home to their own communities, and the residential school system ‘amounted to cultural genocide’.

Community Memorial for 215 children's graves at Kamloops Residential School, B.C.

Grief and anger at the discoveries has been followed by more than 20 churches being vandalised or burned down. But many in indigenous communities are members of these churches. One of the buildings destroyed by fire in recent days was St Anne’s Catholic church. It was built by members of the Upper Similkameen Indian Band more than a century ago. ‘The church meant so much to all of us, especially our ancestors,’ Carrie Allison told The Guardian. ‘When your hurt turns to rage it is not healthy for you or your community.’ •

CUBAN DEMONSTRATIONS

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MAKES ABORTION STATEMENT

Amidst very rare anti-government demonstrations in Cuba, a long-standing Christian pressure group has called for free elections. Movimiento Cristiano Liberación (Christian Liberation Movement) was founded in 1988 with the aim of achieving peaceful, democratic reform in Cuba. In a statement on the current demonstrations, the organisation gave its support to all peaceful demonstrators and called for ‘the release of political prisoners, the annulment of the repressive laws against freedom, recognition of economic rights of free enterprise for Cubans, and recognition of each Cuban’s — inside and outside the island — right to vote and to be elected.’ The MCL reiterated its opposition to violence and criticised President Miguel Diaz-Canel’s call for Cubans to fight against the protestors. •

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The European Parliament has passed a resolution declaring safe access to abortion to be a human right, reports Politico. The resolution asks member countries to ‘condemn any attempt to limit access’ to contraception, fertility treatment, maternity care and abortion. The text goes on to state that not providing abortions ‘on grounds of religion or conscience…endangers women’s lives and rights.’ The resolution was adopted with 378 MEPs voting in favour and 255 voting against. It is understood that the measure is targeted at members such as Poland and Malta, where access to abortion is currently restricted. •

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STREET PREACHER AWARDED DAMAGES David McConnell was taken into custody after preaching in Huddersfield town centre in December 2019. Some passers-by had asked him questions about gay rights and abortion, although he had not been preaching on these subjects. He was subsequently arrested for ‘a hate-related public order offence’. McConnell was released without charge after several hours in custody. Supported by the Christian Institute, he took legal action and was awarded £3,250 plus his legal costs as a result of being wrongfully arrested. He said, ‘I don’t blame the police for responding to the call. But they should have asked me for my side of the story instead of just arresting me. ‘They also got it wrong by not telling me what they were arresting me for. ‘I’m thankful that the police have admitted what they did was unlawful. It was a very distressing experience for me…I’m glad I’m able to continue to share the good news of Jesus Christ.’ •

NIGERIA KIDNAPPING CRISIS The Kaduna State education authority has ordered the temporary closure of 13 schools in the region, most run by Christian denominations or organisations, because they are vulnerable to kidnappers, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide. This follows the abduction of 140 students and staff from Bethel Baptist High School by armed attackers on 5th July. While 26 students and one teacher have been freed by military and police personnel, the rest are still missing. President Muhammadu Buhari issued a statement via a spokesperson calling for the rescue of those abducted. However, the Christian Association of Nigeria’s view is that the president has ‘lost grip on the leadership of this nation, especially in his ability to provide security for citizens’ and should therefore ‘seek foreign assistance before it is too late’. About 950 students have been kidnapped in northern Nigeria since December, and this is the fourth incident in Kaduna State this year. The Nigerian government claims bandits are responsible, but many Christians believe Muslim Fulani extremists are responsible. •

HUGE MEDIEVAL CATHEDRAL FOUND Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a massive cathedral in northern Sudan which has been described as ‘a seat of Christian power’ in the medieval Nubian kingdom of Makuria, according to Smithsonian Magazine. It seems the cathedral, located in Makuria’s capital, Old Dongola, is the largest church ever found in Nubia. Ten-foothigh paintings in the cathedral, thought to depict the apostles, have been dated to the 10th or 11th century. Makuria was a powerful kingdom in the region between the 6th and 14th centuries AD. At its peak, it was as large as Spain and France combined, and Old Dongola was a similar size to Paris. Makuria repelled an invading Islamic army from Egypt in 651 AD, preventing Islam’s expansion into Africa for several hundred years. • Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw/Mateusz Rekłajtis

WORSENING PERSECUTION IN MYANMAR A new report by International Christian Concern notes that Christians in Myanmar, along with other minority groups, are facing increasing hardship and persecution following the Tatmadaw coup. During 2021, churches have been damaged and destroyed by the military as people displaced by the violence in Myanmar have sought shelter in them. ‘The increased attacks on churches show the hostilities the Tatmadaw has towards Christianity and its disregard for human lives,’ ICC write in their report. The organisation wants the international community to impose sanctions on the Tatmadaw regime. •

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GOING BACK TO CHURCH: A THEOLOGICAL AND PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVE BY REV. IVER MARTIN, PRINCIPAL OF EDINBURGH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

ver the last 18 months , churches have become used to a routine which has been vastly different from what it was

before . Lockdown meant a fast transformation and steep learning curve as technology became essential to continue ministry. As ministers, accustomed only to preaching from pulpits, have had to adapt overnight to addressing a camera in their front room, worshippers have regularly accessed church via YouTube or Facebook, within the comfort of their own homes. Online services have been immensely convenient; in fact, the temptation to ‘have church’ when we want, as well as our own choice of preachers, has been, for many, irresistible. The COVID habit has become the new norm and, in reality, as churches have recently opened up, more difficult to break out of than we first imagined. While some people have rushed back, others have delayed, not just because of nervousness or vulnerability, but as a result of new questions that online services have provoked. In a ‘new normal’ world, do I need to actually go back to church? More specifically, is gathered worship important? Weren’t we told at the beginning that, although church buildings were closed, worship would continue? If that is so, then why should it not continue that way, at least for those who want it? Is church only a tradition or is there something more fundamental about actually gathering to worship? Like every important Christian question, the answer is first of all a theological one, found, as always, in the Bible, where the nature and pattern of true worship is shown. Worship is, first of all, an attitude, a frame of mind, something we do in our hearts, from our hearts, with faith in Christ as the central component and God as the only object. The first evident act of worship in the Bible was Abel’s sacrifice, where personal faith meant the difference between true worship and his brother’s false religion. Personal worship is brought out in the Psalms more than anywhere else. Expressions like, ‘To you I lift my soul’, ‘Bless the Lord, O, my soul’ and ‘I waited for the Lord, my God’ are all personal declarations of the ‘worthship’ of God to us. But worship in the Bible is not just about ‘me and God’. It is about ‘us and God’. In the Old Testament it is clear that God commands and accepts the worship of a gathered company, not just as the sum total of individuals, but as a people with whom he has established a unique covenantal relationship. Once again, the Psalms bring this idea out powerfully. Psalm 95 extends beyond the feelings of the individual in

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We should take advantage of the present moment as an important opportunity to reassess what worship is and what we’re doing when we participate in it. calling a whole company to engage in praise: ‘Let us sing to the Lord’. In similar vein, Psalm 122 envisages a crowd of fellow worshippers: ‘I rejoiced when they said to me, “let us go to the house of the Lord.”’ Indeed, the ultimate wish in the well-known hundredth Psalm is that the entire world will call upon God’s name. Similarly, the New Testament continues that same corporate pattern. On the day of Jesus’ resurrection, the first day of the week, the risen Jesus chose to meet with the disciples, gathered together, which meant, in effect, that the outcome of Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection was a worshipping company. Shortly afterwards, it was when the disciples were all together in one place that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the newly formed New Testament Church (Acts 2:1ff). Later, as Paul reflects on how believers should worship, he speaks in collective terms, the assumption being that there is a ‘gathering’ or ‘assembly’ (1 Corinthians 14:26ff). In all of these passages, a collection of people, physically gathered, is presupposed. Indeed, the Greek word ‘ekklesia’, which is translated ‘church’, means an ‘assembly’, the idea being a collective gathering. This gathering is so important that we are warned not to neglect our participation in it (Hebrews 10:26). Moreover, we are ultimately shown the picture of consummate worship in Revelation where, gathered around the throne, is a multitude that no one can number (Revelation 7:9). There is no question that the pattern in the New Testament is the gathering of real people in a real place to worship on the Lord’s Day. The past 18 months have been an aberration; an exception to the rule. During the COVID pandemic, as we followed government guidelines for the nation’s health, churches had to be closed, which meant that alternative emergency arrangements had to be made. And, insofar as the word was preached and there was a measure of access to one another, we could say that worship was maintained. But it was far from ideal and, indeed, far from what the New Testament expects in normal circumstances. Rather than simply return to church out of a mere sense of duty, perhaps we should take advantage of the present moment as an important opportunity to reassess what worship is and what we’re doing when we participate in it. A return to real singing ought to fill our hearts with a renewed thankfulness, a new enthusiasm and a discernibly heightened quality in our praise. Reunion with others from whom we have been separated for months ought to fill us with both a new sense of joy and determination to love within the family of believers whose care we are responsible for. Thankful as we are for the technology that has allowed us to hear God’s word and maintain a measure of ‘church’ during lockdown, there is something special about actually coming together; something on which we can’t always put our finger; something that God does uniquely among his gathered people, but something that we can easily miss if, for us, church is only a habitual routine. If a return to in-person worship is only a resumption of the ‘same old’, we’ve missed an important opportunity. On the other hand, if lockdown has reminded the church of what church is, our worship will never be the same again. •

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PROTECTING CHILDREN IN AN INCREASINGLY SECULAR SOCIETY BY JULIE CUMMING

that education authorities must ‘have regard to the general principle that...pupils are to be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents’.02 01 Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000, s.35(1) 02 Education (Scotland) Act 1980 s.28(links)

he sight of queen elizabeth sitting alone at the funeral of her husband earlier this year

was poignant for many reasons, but their strong marriage of 73 years should be an inspiration to all who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman, for life. It is plain to all that this Biblical pattern has been under severe attack for some time.

WHAT SHOULD THE CHURCH DO? A non-biblical worldview rejects the understanding of marriage as the proper, God-given place for sexual intimacy and the appreciation that people are created male and female with distinct, immutable differences between the two. The church must spend time in urgent prayer over this situation, asking that the Lord would protect children from harmful messages and that Christian teachers and parents might be emboldened to stand up for what they know to be right. Local churches will wish to enquire about what is being taught in schools in their area and take steps to prepare families and young people by educating them, not only on the Bible’s message on relationships and intimacy but also on how to engage with the opposing messages they encounter.

CHANGES TO THE CURRICULUM Many Christian parents are being forced to confront a new problem in their children’s education provision which results from the changes in the curricula for Relationships and Sex Education in UK schools. In Scotland, RSHP (Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood) Education in the Health and Wellbeing curriculum has been developing since its introduction in 2014. There is now a strong emphasis on LGBT inclusivity which extends across the whole curriculum as well as exploration of gender identity and teaching for children from a young age about sexual intimacy. In all parts of the UK, new and increasingly detailed requirements are being introduced across the school spectrum. Schools generally find the requirements of this new curriculum demanding and time-consuming to deliver, and so a number of organisations have begun offering resources (and sometimes visiting presenters) to enable schools to fulfil the requirements. Many of these resources include content that is concerning, not only to Christian parents, but to many others too. One of these is a government-endorsed resource from www.rshp.scot.

WHAT MIGHT CHRISTIAN PARENTS DO? Christian parents are faced with a choice. An increasing number are deciding to remove their children from these lessons, or are turning to homeschooling, but some do not have the freedom to choose these options. Parents may be able to appeal to the school to avoid inappropriate content, but even if a school is willing to comply with that request, they may find it difficult to locate suitable resources. There are very few organisations providing materials that support Christian truths and values, and a school might use this as a reason not to change the content of their curriculum.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS The Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland provides ‘experiences and outcomes’ (Es+Os) and benchmarks for schools to construct their own curricula around. Schools are free to develop their syllabus and select any materials they wish to use. Parents should also be aware that councils must have regard to the need to ensure that the ‘content of instruction’ provided for children is ‘appropriate, having regard to the child’s age, understanding and stage of development’ 01 and

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WHAT RESOURCES MIGHT BE HELPFUL? Parents in these situations might appreciate being made aware of Lovewise: a Christian charity, based in the north of England but serving the whole of the UK, with some resources also being used overseas. Lovewise seeks to help young people understand

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what the Bible teaches about marriage, relationships and sex; they have produced a range of resources suitable for use by parents, churches and schools. Some school resources are available, free of charge, online (lovewise. org.uk); others can be purchased. Christian parents may find it useful to recommend these resources during their conversations with schools. Whatever their final decision regarding schooling, Christian parents will doubtless wish to prepare their children for encountering a worldview at odds with their own by giving them a good grounding in this particular area. Lovewise has produced a number of resources suitable for use in the home. These include Growing Up God’s Way, a book about puberty for parents to read with their pre-teen children (available in a boys’ and girls’ version). growing up…growing wise @home also covers similar ground in a more interactive online presentation format. Both of these resources are recommended for children aged between 9 and 13 years, depending on the maturity and circumstances of the child. For older children, the book True Love sets out a biblical understanding of relationships and marriage, illustrated with real-life examples and practical applications. The True Love Interactive Bible Study is a way of looking at similar topics in a group or paired setting and could be used by a church group or as a family study. Lovewise has established a small but growing number of supporters in Scotland and has received positive responses to their materials from locations as varied as Glasgow and North Uist. A Christian mother from Glasgow commented after using growing up…growing wise @home: I was a bit scared, but I was amazed at how easy it was to go through with my daughter. After we had gone through the presentation, I felt we were closer together and that she would be more likely to talk to me about anything that was worrying her. Whilst most of the resources are designed for adults to use with the young people in their care, the Lovewise website for Christian teenagers, lovewiseonline.org, is suitable for age 13 and above to access independently. It contains over 60 articles on current topics associated with relationships, sex and living wisely. Lovewise staff are always happy to support those who contact their office and can offer advice and resources relevant to your circumstances. They also welcome interest from individuals who would like to volunteer to visit schools and youth groups (by invitation) in their local area to deliver presentations, or to promote the work of Lovewise at churches, conferences and other events. For more information contact them via email info@lovewise.org.uk or by phone 0191 2813636. •

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Re: One Bible. Many versions. How do I choose, May 2021 Dear Editor I am sure the author of the article, One Bible. Many versions. How do I choose? (The Record, May) was seeking to be as helpful as possible in his article on this important question. However, I feel that it failed to cover some of the fundamental issues relating to this subject. First, it is stated that ‘although there are many options, there are really only two main types of translation, literal and dynamic’. That is not the case. It fails to recognise that the most controversial issue in this field is not how the text is translated but what text is translated. The crucial division here is between those who use the ‘traditional text’ and those who use the ‘critical text’. That is a topic of a sufficiently complex nature that it cannot be more than mentioned here, but it is a very major area of discussion and controversy, particularly amongst evangelical Christians. It affects most extensively the Greek text of the New Testament and to a smaller extent the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. The traditional text is represented by the King James Bible (still by far the most widely used Bible in the English speaking world) and its modern derivatives such as the New King James Version. The critical text is represented by most modern translations, such as the New International Version and the English Standard Version. The matter has been an important one within the Free Church itself, and in a good number of our congregations it has been the central factor for those who have chosen, for example, the New King James Version. Lack of recognition of the nature of this textual controversy has led to a clear misunderstanding in the article. The example is given of someone who said that the ESV had ‘missed out hundreds of words that appeared in the original Greek’, and the conclusion by the author is that this was because in Greek the definite article is commonly placed before a person’s name, but not in English. However, that was clearly not the argument being put forward, since in this respect the ESV is no different from any English translation ever produced. Rather, the argument here is that the main type of alteration found in the critical text of the New Testament compared with the received text is that of omission, and therefore it is perhaps the most common single issue raised by those who oppose the critical text. Second, the main issue the author has raised — the question of ‘literal’ or ‘dynamic’ types of translation — is surely deserving of much more weighty treatment that it has been given. Again, this whole matter of ‘formal equivalence’ (more literal translations) versus ‘dynamic equivalence’ touches on a very fundamental issue for evangelical Christians, namely, the nature of Scripture as verbally inspired and what boundaries that sets on the liberties that may be taken in its translation. That is a very much more serious issue than personal preference for one style rather than another. The author gives an example by comparing John 17:17 in a more formal translation type, the ESV, with a more dynamic translation type, the New Living Translation. The former concludes the verse with the literal rendering ‘your

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word is truth’. The latter renders this as, ‘Teach them your word, which is truth’. The author says this is exactly what Jesus meant and that it is a very good translation. That, however, would represent a very major problem for many Christians in relation to a commitment to verbal inspiration, because it is not a translation of the words which God has given us and for which the literal translation already makes perfect and complete sense. It is a paraphrase, and that involves a quite unnecessary human judgement call, by adding new words which are not themselves part of the Bible at all — a feature of the New Living Translation which is often very much more innovative than in the example cited. Again, that has been a fundamental issue guiding the choices of Bible made in our congregations. Yours sincerely Professor Tommy MacKay Dumbarton

Re: Free Church News, June/July 2021 Dear Editor The politicisation of the small evangelical churches has long been a matter of concern to some of us. It appears that those who are supposed to lead us do not actually read their Bibles carefully enough. Now we have the misapplication on page 17 of June/July’s Record of Matthew 25 v 35-36. Whatever this verse means it has nothing whatsoever to do with asylum seekers and refugees. If you honestly think that it does then instead of asking a government to do something why does the Free Church not allow/insist that ministers make their manses available to house those unfortunate people. If other charities wish to write to Prime Ministers and Home Secretaries then let the Free Church not be among them. We have enough challenges of our own. Donald MacKay Blackwood

QUOTATIONS: I didn’t suffer for Jesus in prison. No! I was with Jesus and I experienced his very real presence, joy, and peace every day. It’s not those in prison for the sake of the gospel who suffer. The person who suffers is he who never experiences God’s intimate presence. Brother Yun Giftedness will never translate to godliness. Neither is orthodox teaching the proof of righteous living. Jackie Hill Perry

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Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life. Proverbs 19:20 NLT

A TEAPOT, A TEACUP AND A TEA STRAINER: THE WAY TO WISDOM! I think the measure of a person’s wisdom can be found in how much they’re listening rather than how much they’re talking. God’s wisdom manual, the Book of Proverbs, tells us to get ‘all the advice and instruction you can’. In order to understand life, love, liberty, and the Lord God who made us and has a wonderful plan and purpose for us in each of these respects through Christ, we need to gain, to gather, to garner as much advice and instruction as possible. But we need to be careful as well, of course. How are we to discern what is helpful and what is harmful, what is Christ-honouring and what is Christ-dishonouring, what is wise and what is foolish? Well, I think a teapot, a teacup and a tea strainer are just the picture we need! I remember the first time we had coffee in the house; it really was quite something because, as was the case with every household in our street, we were tea drinkers, not coffee drinkers. Being a coffee drinker was almost akin to beginning to climb the social ladder, and as a boy living in a council house on Nicolson Road, Stornoway, in a working-class family amongst other workingclass families, coffee-drinking was only for the those living in ‘other parts’ of town. No, we were tea drinkers and when anyone popped in for a visit, immediately the kettle was put on, and the combination of hot water and as many heaped spoons of loose tea leaves as you could cope with made what was deemed ‘a lovely cuppa’ – part and parcel of good company. Now an essential element of any tea-making process was the tea strainer. You see, using loose tea leaves without a strainer would mean your ‘lovely cuppa’ would not be lovely after all; you’d end up with a mouthful of tea leaves which was not pleasant. Have you ever had that experience? It’s absolutely awful and really difficult to get rid of as well. So here’s where the tea pot, tea cup and tea strainer apply. Getting as much advice and instruction as possible is like getting as much tea and water as possible into that pot ready to pour into that cup, but you have to have the strainer to hand to make sure you only benefit from the refreshing taste and don’t end up with that horrible revolting experience of having a mouthful of tea leaves. So, we must ‘tea-strain’ every bit of advice, and to do that we have to have the strainer always to hand. Can I suggest that we strain all advice we get through 5 CS’s, which I’m sure many of you will have heard of or read of. Commanding Scripture: We must ask, ‘Has God already given guidance on this matter in the Bible?’, and if he has we reject advice that is contrary to it. So, no matter how attractive or persuasive the desire to steal or covet or take God’s name in vain even for a joke might seem, Scripture says not to. Simple as. Compelling Spirit: That might be the voice from the Lord we hear in our hearts as we pray, or a verse from the Bible that jumps out to us as we prayerfully read. As we read the Bible we should always pray, ‘May my cry come before you, O Lord; give me insight according to your Word’ (Ps 119:169). Common Sense: God doesn’t just guide us through ‘spiritual’ means. He’s given us brains and minds and he wants us to use them! ‘Be transformed by the renewing of your minds’, Paul urges in Romans 12:2, and he says to young Timothy after giving him much advice and counsel, ‘think about these things and the Lord will give you understanding’ (2 Tim 2:7). Counsel of the Saints: God guides us through the advice of those he has put around us, especially fellow Christians, or ‘saints’ with a small ‘s’. To the ‘saints’ in Rome he says, ‘I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another’ (Rom 15:14). Every believer is ‘competent to counsel’. Whatever good friends you have and counsel they give, don’t forget your Christian friends and their counsel. Circumstantial Signs: God can also speak to us through our circumstances. He may open doors or close doors. He can get our attention and steer us in a direction through coincidences that aren’t actually ‘coincidences’ but ‘God-incidences’. But be careful. The fact that a boat just so happened to be at the ready for Jonah to get on board didn’t mean that what he was doing was right in God’s sight. Equally, just because a storm brewed on the Sea of Galilee when the disciples were with Jesus in the boat didn’t mean that they had done something wrong; quite the opposite, in fact (Matthew 8:23-27). So, get as much advice and instruction as you can, but always and at all times have the tea strainer at the ready so you can benefit from the refreshing and reviving taste of God’s good wisdom as Jesus gives us life in all its fulness (John 10:10). Taste and see that the Lord is good! (Psalm 34:8). •

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BY REV. COLIN MACLEOD

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The Record meets... Inonge Siluka of Overflow Chat (overflowchat.com) Please tell us a little bit about yourself. I grew up in Zambia in a Christian home and attended a Reformed Baptist Church. I came to faith aged 12 at a youth camp. I moved to Scotland (Paisley) 16 years ago with my family, aged 14. I studied law at university, then went on to do evangelistic student ministry training with UCCF, working alongside students in Glasgow. I really enjoyed it and wanted to be further equipped to teach the Bible, but also felt full-time ministry was not for me, so I found a middle way and worked part-time in a Citizens’ Advice Bureau while doing Bible training with Cornhill Scotland for two years. I went into full-time secular work after that in my current job as a welfare rights adviser in a cancer charity. I am a member of Greenview Church in Glasgow, where I am part of a community group and serve in youth ministry. I am passionate about evangelism and equipping others in this area, so you will also find me getting involved outside my church with anything that involves sharing the good news about Jesus. I unwind by doing anything sports-related and regularly play hockey with a local club.

encouragement in parachurch contexts through UCCF and Christians in Sport. It wasn’t until I moved to my current church that I have been encouraged to nurture and use my gifts. I think the local church is richer when we encourage each other to exercise our gifts with a posture of service and building each other up.

You also have a YouTube channel and a blog – how did these come about and what is your mission for them? The YouTube channel came about as an avenue for me to engage with cultural issues with a Christian worldview. I called the channel ‘Overflow Chat’ because the topics I cover are essentially an overflow of my everyday chats. I was motivated to start the blog because of a love of theology, teaching the Bible and evangelism. I think these overlap because when we understand the Bible rightly, we are encouraged and built up and our theology is shaped in such a way as to make sense of the world and confidently evangelise. I also wanted something with a focus on women that was UK-based in the sea of American blogs and have a platform where gifted women (I know many) can write and share rich truths to encourage other women who wouldn’t otherwise have a platform for doing so. So, the blog’s purpose is to encourage Christian

You have been very involved in your local church. What do you currently do and why do you feel this is important? My main area of serving regularly in my local church has been youth ministry. I think that serving in general is important because that’s what all Christians are called to do. But outside this, Scripture is also clear that we have all been given specific gifts which are to be used to serve the Church, so we should all be not only using our gifts but nurturing them. Working out what this looks like in the church has at times been tricky for me as a woman because my gifts are mainly teaching and evangelism. I used to be in a church that did little to nurture these gifts, so I actually received most of my training and

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women and girls in the UK to live for Jesus even in a secular culture. The content of articles is a mixture of devotional-style content, theology articles which look at doctrinal or cultural topics in-depth, and evangelism articles which focus on equipping in personal evangelism.

church, there is also a lack of confidence in sharing the gospel. So, there is a big need for encouragement in personal evangelism and also training in how to make the most of our opportunities. Secondly, I think that, despite our secular culture, the opportunities for public evangelism in secular places are plenty. But the church can be slow to recognise this because we tend to focus so much on the negatives that we go into ‘woe is me’ mode. We need to get creative, and I think this is where we under-utilise women in our churches. I am a complementarian, so I believe that elders and pastors should be qualified men only. But, beyond that, I don’t see anything in Scripture that says women cannot be evangelists. We have a culture that is distrusting of authority. That means many people are unlikely to take seriously anything a Christian white male says. We could culture-analyse and bemoan where we find ourselves in this regard till the cows come home, but why not use this as an opportunity? If I contacted our local school and asked to give a talk on body image, sport or another area of interest, they are more likely to actually agree to that than if my pastor did. The woman who loves to knit is better placed to give an Easter or Christmas talk to a knitting group than her male pastor who doesn’t understand that particular context.

You were part of the recent Passion for Evangelism (PFE) online conference – how did you get involved with them and why do you think what they do is important? I found out about PFE on Facebook two years ago and got added to the Facebook group. At the time I just felt I needed encouragement in my personal evangelism, so the idea of an evangelism conference where you could also practice an evangelistic talk sounded great. But I got so much more when I joined the group. I found a group of diverse women who wanted to share the gospel and were sharing ideas of how they were creatively doing this, and it was so encouraging. PFE is a network of female evangelists that exists to encourage and equip women for public evangelism. I think the work of PFE is so important for a number of reasons. Firstly, I think Christian women tend to shy away from anything that feels public. And from experience of helping with some evangelism training in my own

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The opportunities for men and women are there if we can think creatively. But women are less likely to put themselves forward or even recognise their gifting in this area in the first place. So if we are not equipping female evangelists, we are not only missing out on the blessing of a whole group of people whom Christ has gifted, we are missing out on opportunities and spaces that women may be uniquely equipped for or where only women would be given access to share the gospel. How has your life experience as a Zambian/ Scottish woman impacted on your worldview and ideas about the church and its role? I find it quite amusing that God chose to shape my life using two cultures and countries which couldn’t be more different. And though being brought up in a ‘Christian’ country has its advantages, the secular Scottish context has some too. I know that sounds like a strange thing to say but, in one sense, it’s easy to be a Christian in Zambia. In fact it is beneficial to pretend to be one, so you have to deal with the challenges of toxic cultural Christianity there. The opposite is true in Scotland: it most definitely is not beneficial to pretend for the most part. So, as hard as it is to be a Christian in a secular country, it is an opportunity to start afresh with a generation coming up who know nothing. There is a blank canvas there where we can remove all the garbage and start again with uncompromised truth. The church has an opportunity to shine the brightest in the darkest of places, as our society finds that its idols have failed to deliver. It’s not all doom and gloom; Christ is still building his Church even if it feels weak. I am also more conscious of cultural assumptions that pose as being ‘biblical’, so have learnt to distinguish the timeless biblical truths from cultural applications. I think the church needs to work out what things we hold tightly (the main things) and distinguish these from things that are simply cultural. We need to welcome change and diversity. Not as a corporate tick-box, but because of a genuine love for Jesus and his church in all its diversity, as we see so beautifully in Revelation 7.

with us. I could trust a God who had suffered with my suffering. The message of ‘Jesus is great, Jesus is better, so look to him and keep going’ came through strongly. This was so crucial for me then and is still what I keep coming back to, especially when things are hard. You have just started a charity, which must have been a daunting project. What is the heart behind it and what are you aiming to achieve? How can people support the project?

Yes, it does feel daunting at times because of the heaviness of the topic, but in providence God has graciously provided what I have needed over the last year or so to get this started. The charity is called Restored Hope Zambia and it exists to support church abuse survivors in Zambia, as well as equipping churches there to prevent, recognise and respond well to abuse in church. I started it off the back of supporting some childhood friends who had experienced clergy abuse and the awful responses that I saw, some of which used Scripture to diminish the abuse. I value tackling issues in a holistic manner, so this is what I hope the charity will do. People who are interested can support the work for now by giving to the GoFundMe ‘support Church abuse survivors in Zambia’, but hopefully in a couple of months it will be possible to give regularly to the work through our Scottish Registered Charity. You can receive more information by signing up at www.rhzuk.org. How have you been supported in your work – can you tell us about some of the significant people in your life and how they have encouraged you practically and spiritually? Yes, I have an incredible support network. My family is always encouraging me; I live at home with my mum and she’s so chill and just a consistent encouragement. I have also been really encouraged by the elders in my church. It is not always easy to flourish as a woman in a complementarian church, in particular when you have teaching/speaking type gifts, but the encouragement from them has facilitated that for me. They helped by encouraging me to use my gifts and receive further training, offering support (in particular financial support), and then on an ongoing basis by facilitating opportunities for me to exercise my gifts both inside and outside the church. My church has been a blessing to me in this area. •

What is your favourite Scripture or book of the Bible? Why is it meaningful to your life? I love the book of Hebrews! It is such a rich book. I had quite a few difficult years as a teenager where I was wrestling with the loss of my father and then moving to a secular country, so my faith took a big hit. But when God was at work in my heart as I wrestled with hard questions, I remember studying Hebrews and being convicted and encouraged. I was convicted by the warnings and the implications of what it would mean to walk away from Jesus, while at the same time encouraged by seeing that in Jesus we have a God who sympathizes

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AUG/SEP 2021 PRAYER DIARY Please send requests to Dayspring MacLeod (dayspring.macleod@ icloud.com). In addition to some prayer topics covered in this month’s Record, we will be focusing on serving our communities with prayer. Thurs 12th–Sun 15th The fields are white for the harvest in your city, or village, or neighbourhood. Will you pray, with Isaiah, ‘Here I am, send me’? Ask the Lord to cleanse you of any sin, and comfort you in your own soul, that you may concentrate on serving him where you are. Pray also for each person in your house or family to draw nearer to him.

Thurs 2nd-Sun 5th Pray for those you know who are in pain and distress: the sick, the lonely, the bereaved, the struggling marriages, the wandering children, the bitter, the depressed. Our Lord can help and heal every one of them, and no one is beyond his loving hand. Bring these helpless and struggling ones before him. Mon 6th-Weds 8th Give thanks for Ben Fiddian, recently inducted to Bonar Bridge & Lairg. Ask the Lord to encourage him and his family in ministry, and that their community will be transformed by the love and power of the living God. May the church present God’s truth without compromise but with great beauty.

Mon 16th-Weds 18th Schools start this week in Scotland. Pray for the students, that the Lord would protect them from harmful ideology, and would bless the ministries such as Scripture Union which seek to introduce Jesus Christ. Pray especially for teachers, and for Christian teachers, that they may nurture this unique generation of pandemic pupils.

Thurs 9th-11th Aug This week brings the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Pray comfort for those who, through bereavement or PTSD, still relive this day every day. Ask the Lord to make himself known to those who would seek to cause mass harm and death among their fellow men. In remembering the sacrificial effort made by emergency workers on that day, pray for the police officers and firefighters in your own area, that they would be protected both in body and in mind.

Thurs 19th-Sun 22nd Pray for those you know, or even have seen on the street, who have made bad choices: the girl who got an abortion, the man who has been abusive, the person who is confused about their gender, the kids smoking weed. They may be folk we find it hard to relate to. Ask the Lord to give us eyes of compassion, not judgment, so that we may win these precious ones to his peace and new life. Mon 23rd-Weds 25th On Monday pray for your pastor, that he will walk close to the Lord, keeping his eyes fixed on Jesus and a humble and repentant heart, that he may excel in speaking forth God’s truth and living it too. On Tuesday the same thing for your elders. And on Wednesday, for your deacons!

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Thurs 26th-Sun 29th Joe Hall is to be inducted to Aberdeen Bon Accord on Saturday. Pray a blessing on this service, and on Joe’s ministry, that it may be one characterised by unity, passion, and an unyielding desire to win souls, serve those in need, and see Jesus glorified.

Mon 30th-Weds 1st Pray for your local councillors, MP and MSP. If you don’t know who they are, look them up and pray for them by name. They control much about our way of life. Petition the Lord to lead them, guide them, and bless them.

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J. CALVIN MACKAY: INSPIRING THE MISSIONARY IDEAL BY CHARLES DOUGLAS

General Assembly that they expressed ‘their sympathy with Calvin & Rachel Mackay… in the trials which they have been called upon to endure and the perils to which they were exposed at Cajamarca and they pray that even in the face of persecution they may yet see much fruit for their labour.’ That prayer was answered, as we read that, after addressing a meeting in Cajamarca, instead of the former cries of ‘Down with the Protestants’ the night air rang with the shouts of ‘Long live the Protestant gentlemen!’ On one of his visits to Celendín he was met by several people who enthusiastically welcomed him. During a twelve-day visit a campaign was carried out amid great enthusiasm. Night after night the meeting hall was crowded. So great was the desire for Gospel teaching that the available stock of Christian literature was soon exhausted. Returning to Cajamarca, Calvin received a document signed by 153 people expressing their gratitude for his clear preaching. On one occasion Calvin took a three-day journey from Celendin to Balsas near the Marañón river and distributed Gospels there. By early 1923, property had been purchased and from there regular services were organised with new people attending, many due to the witness of Nurse Sarah Macdougall, who was now working there. While attending to her patients she found many opportunities for directing them to higher things. Thus in a variety of ways we see the Gospel taking possession of hearts and lives. It was noted that Miss Catherine Mackay (Calvin’s sister) was now helping in the Sabbath school. The report from the General Assembly of 1923 showed gratifying progress in the work in Northern Peru. The people were beginning to realise the type of man Calvin was, and to understand more of his preaching and what the mission stood for.

alvin mackay was ordained to nairn on the 13th october 1915, and it was while there that he gave much thought to

the possibility that his future work would be in peru .

However, any desire to follow this up was delayed due to the outbreak of the Great War. So it was not until 1919 that he was presented to the General Assembly as an outgoing missionary to Peru. This was a big undertaking and commitment. It meant leaving Scotland to sail with his wife, Rachel, and infant daughter, Anita, which took over two months. He arrived in Lima in August, and John A Mackay made it clear that Calvin’s time there was one of preparation: ‘Our mission in Peru will not be an educational mission, but an evangelical mission with an educational aspect.’ So at the weekly prayer meeting in Lima on 9th June 1921, Calvin, along with his wife and his two children, Anita and William, were presented with gifts on the occasion of their departure. His trip to Cajamarca on June 15th, 100 years ago this year, would have been a difficult undertaking. He was to spend four days by steamer to Pacasmayo and from there another day by train and then a further two days on horseback. On arriving in Cajamarca he made his home there a centre of evangelical witness. He soon was contacted by a Señor Llanos and by November he had lost no time in holding services in his own home and also in an adjacent village, Jesús. They distributed tracts and sold Bibles and also paid visits to Celendín and San Marcos. In Cajamarca itself students started attending services and Bible studies. As early as 1922 we read of the celebration of a communion service with twenty attending. ‘It was a quiet solemn time in the upper room, the first Protestant communion ever celebrated in the history of the city.’ He did however encounter some opposition. It was noted in the 1922

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At the 1924 General Assembly it was noted that the mission in Cajamarca was making good progress. But it was time for Calvin to take a furlough. So on the 24th October 1924, Mr & Mrs Mackay, along with their family, arrived back in Scotland. The five years during which they had laboured had seen important developments in the mission. The work in the Sierra had been initiated and carried on with a measure of success despite encountering some difficulties. However, these trials had turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel and the mission was now established in the confidence of the community. Returning from furlough, a Bible Institute as well as a mission school were started. By 1928 there were 108 on the roll. There were also improvements made to the road, and instead of a long journey by horseback, Calvin reports that Cajamarca was now just five hours’ motor drive from the railhead. Fairly early in Calvin’s ministry a young enthusiastic lad, Señor Aladino Escalante, a former pupil of the school in Lima, was being trained in Gospel ministry. By 1928 Calvin requested that financial support be raised for him to enable him to come to Scotland to study. He went on to study at the Free Church College before returning with a view to building up the church in northern Peru. By 1929 Calvin was joined by Mr Turnbull, who quickly, much to Calvin’s relief, took over the burden of the school. This enabled Calvin to travel to Moyobamba and there have the opportunity to enter fully into the work of the congregation, including participating in communion services and baptising three children. They were encouraged to have 100 at their meeting. Calvin was accompanied by the Bible Society colporteur from Cajamarca and many portions of Scripture were sold. The General Assembly of 1929 noted a remarkable advance in the work in Cajamarca. The church now had its own Kirk Session; the work was expanding, and journeys were made to many villages in the area, including Chetilla and Matara. While in Cajamarca, on the 11 th August 1929, the birth of Mr & Mrs Mackay’s third child, a daughter, was announced. But thankfully Calvin now had extra help: in addition to missionary personnel, he had a core of local workers, the latest addition being Señor Alejandro Huaman. So as Calvin travelled to areas within the Department of Cajamarca, he was often

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accompanied by these men. It was noted later that resources were needed for training of these local helpers. By 1930 Calvin was due another furlough, and he was able to attend the General Assembly that year. Again it was noted that the work was steadily progressing and that the congregation was growing. The esteem in which Calvin was held was also noted. On returning to Peru in 1931, the expansion of the work continued. Services were being held regularly in several outlying areas such as Laymina and Hualqui. There they found a deepening interest in the Gospel, and the brethren continuing well in the faith; they were also keen to proclaim the Gospel to others. It was also noted that the journey from Lima to Cajamarca could now be made by car. While in Moyobamba in 1935 Calvin’s earnest preaching of the Gospel and his witness of character bore much fruit for God’s glory and to the good of Peru. However, he had to leave due to an accident. He managed to get to Cajamarca and then down to Lima, where he took a ship home, where on arrival he was received with warm applause. He spoke about his thankfulness to God that he was now stronger and emphasised the importance of the prayerful support he had received. While in Scotland he received a call to Kincardine and Croick in Sutherland, and was inducted there on 29th June 1938, a ministry which extended to1945. It was while he was minister there that Calvin was elected Moderator of the 1942 General Assembly. The theme of his address was ‘Threefold Secret of the Living Church’. When it was known that help was needed in Lima, Calvin offered to return and served there until 1948 as ‘minister at Lima’, as associate-director of the Colegio San Andres, and then as temporary director until Rev. James Macintosh’s arrival. Back in Scotland he continued to serve the Lord as the first chaplain of Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. Throughout his years of retirement he was recognised as an inspirer of the missionary ideal. Calvin died at Inverness on 21 September 1986 and was buried with his wife in the churchyard of Kingussie Parish Church. • Next month: in the final instalment in our collection of articles commemorating the centenary of J. Calvin Mackay’s work in Peru, Dr Tomás Gutiérrez Sánchez considers Mackay’s lasting legacy.

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Our Reasonable Service

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DAYSPRING MACLEOD learns peace of mind from a Lewis lady

mindedness’, not least because both my US church and Scottish church have been studying the book of James, which brings this topic to the fore. Even before that, though, my sense of focus was a fallow ground that the Lord had been ploughing in me — gently asking not only for my commitment, but for my attention in what I had considered my personal time. Which, with three small children, is one of the most precious commodities I have.

know i embarked only last issue on a series of articles on apologetics, but please forgive

— this is one of the rare occasions when I sit down not only with an actual idea for an article, but one which I don’t want to put off! I’ve just come back yesterday from another trip to Lewis, you see, and while I won’t regale you with a travelogue this time, I did find it spiritually enlightening. One of the areas in which the Lord has been challenging me in 2021 is that of ‘singleme

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In Lewis, between driving, sightseeing and childcare, personal time was in particularly short supply. I was down to my ‘verse of the day’ app for devotions, and one of the verses which came up was this old challenge from Romans 12:1. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. I was actually reading it in the King James Version, which words ‘spiritual worship’ even more strongly, as ‘reasonable service’. I like that translation — it makes sense to me. Christ gave his body for us, and so it is indeed only reasonable that we give ours for him. And we have no doubt all heard this verse in connection with pouring ourselves out in service to him: our energy, our gifts, and of course maintaining sexual purity before him too. I would go further and say that it should also apply to what we put into our bodies — how many of us steward our bodies well in terms of diet? (Not putting up my own hand for that one!) Anyway, we are somewhat used to this urging by Paul, to sacrifice our bodies. But what if we substitute for body the word ‘mind’? Which is after all part of our body! I appeal to you…to present your mind as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. I don’t know about you, but my mind feels like the last bastion of selfishness that I can cling on to in my busy life. That is where I store my private hopes, my secret rebellions and insults when I’m outwardly nodding and smiling, my anxieties and preoccupations, daydreams that send me into a private world in the midst of the humdrum — harmless things, generally, but which take me away from the reality God has sent me into. All of these things become a support which replaces the reliance I should rightfully, reasonably, have on him. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? the Lord asks through Isaiah (55:2). Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. I spend so much of my time and attention on mulling over my own solutions to my problems, instead of seeking his purposes through them; in focusing on what I hope to achieve or enjoy in the future, instead of seeking him in the exhausting now; in distracting myself instead of enjoying the beauty of his providences and company. There are certain times and places where I ask the Lord for a sense of his presence. I was appalled to realise, some months ago, that there are other times and places where I’m not really interested in that presence. I just want the comfort of my own company, my own thoughts. I reject my Saviour in favour of a TV sit-com or a novel.

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All this is not a case for proclaiming abstinence of all entertainment. I don’t think we should feel guilty for enjoying ourselves, or for the odd daydream or distraction. The commandment of the Lord is not ‘Have no other interests but me’, but ‘Have no gods before me.’ And some of those hopes, daydreams, even anxieties, can become gods. What would be useful, though, is a heightened awareness of when they become ‘what does not satisfy’. You know when you eat too much sugar and it leaves a sour aftertaste in your mouth? We can feel such a thing when we are overindulging in hobbies and self-absorption too: a sort of queasiness of the mind, a heaviness, a sense of ignoring someone calling our name from afar — a sense of quenching both our own spirit and the Spirit. May we train ourselves not to a legalistic, grudging turning from the TV to the Bible, but a desire which says, ‘Tonight, Lord, I’d rather have you.’ May he send upon us the desire itself! So many times I have picked up my Bible not particularly ‘in the mood’, but have felt such a wave of relief when I see the words of truth and peace inside. In times of anxiety and fearfulness, I have often heard the phrase ‘fix your eyes on Jesus’ as a solution for finding peace. But how does one do that when so many thoughts crowd in and grab attention? Well, that brings me to the second lesson of Lewis. I was in the home of a very dear lady from another denomination, and found that nearly everywhere I looked I found scripture. Verses beautifully rendered in paintings or Harris tweed frames; others plain and worn. The Bible was on her wall, on her side-table, over her dining room, in the kitchen. Words of thankfulness, of reliance, of trust: everywhere a reminder of the gentle hand of the Shepherd. What if, instead of distracting ourselves with our own concerns and interests, we distracted ourselves with the Lord? If we made his presence inescapable, ever before our eyes? Again, I am not suggesting a legalistic show of piety, or even a decorating tip, but a strategy for living in Christ’s company. This lady shows so clearly the character of the Lord: loving, generous, gentle, joyful, peaceful in the midst of trouble. Everything I want to be when I grow up. So I hope that now, in these busy, formative years, I can start learning, like her, to surround myself with the love of Christ in very tangible ways. Her home was a place of total refreshment: it overflowed with his presence, with shalom. May my home be like hers, and my mind too. And may yours as well! You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you.Isaiah 26:3 •

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A tough assignment In the This is my story devotional series, REV. DAVID J RANDALL imagines how some of the Bible’s characters might tell us their story. Some are not headline characters, but they all had a part to play in the great drama of God’s plan, given to us in Scripture. Hebrews 11:4 says of one character, ‘though he died, he still speaks’. May the stories of these Bible characters from yesterday help us today to trust, follow, love and serve the Character of the Bible.

remember reading about the great moses and how he felt when God called him to take on the seriously difficult task of confronting the king of Egypt and demanding the release of the Hebrew slaves. He more or less said, ‘Who? Me?’ Many centuries later I was given a different kind of assignment and I felt like saying the same to God — ‘Who? Me?’ I had become a disciple of Jesus, and one day I heard a voice addressing me by name: ‘Ananias, go to Straight Street and find Saul — he needs your help.’ Saul? Wasn’t he the one who was violently opposed to Christianity? News had reached us in Damascus about his energetic campaign against Christ and his church. Many of us were Jews whose eyes had been opened to see that Jesus truly was the promised Messiah. At first it seemed hard to believe that someone who was killed by crucifixion could be God’s Messiah. But the more we looked at our Bibles, the more we saw about the coming of a suffering servant who would redeem his people by dying on their behalf. It all made sense and I was converted. It was then that we heard this report that Saul of Tarsus was on his way. It was not good news. He was known to be violently opposed to Christianity and he came with authorisation to seek out Christians and destroy the church. So we were terrified. We did believe that God would be with us whatever happened, but nobody likes the thought of being arrested or martyred. And then came this unforgettable vision. I heard a voice and at first I couldn‘t believe what I was hearing. It was the voice of Jesus himself and he was telling me to go to Judas’ house (No, not that Judas!) in Straight Street to visit Saul and restore his sight. I was horrified — talk about a daunting prospect. And I actually argued with the Lord. I ‘reminded’

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him that Saul had been sent to liquidate us. But the Lord just said I was to go, and told me that he had great plans for Saul. Later I heard about what had happened on the road to Damascus. Saul had seen a dazzling light — that’s presumably what blinded him temporarily — and he heard a voice that challenged him about why he was persecuting Christ. He also had a vision of a certain Ananias coming to restore his sight and befriend him. Well, I eventually realised that if the Lord told me to do something, I jolly well should do it — not that I found anything jolly about the prospect. But God has his plans and he revealed to me that he had great plans for Saul to be an apostle and evangelist. Leaving behind my initial misgivings, I made for the house in Straight Street and greeted Saul as a Christian brother. I laid hands on him, his sight was restored and the Holy Spirit just seemed to bring him alive. He joined us in the church of Damascus for a while and even spoke in the synagogues. It was sensational. The Jews in their synagogues would have expected him to speak against Christianity, but instead they heard him proclaiming that Jesus is the Son of God. It really was amazing. But it didn’t take long for an outcry to develop against him. The Jews of Damascus were plotting to kill him. They had round-the-clock surveillance at the city gates, but we managed to hide him and then lower him from a window in the city wall so that he could get back to Jerusalem. Back in Jerusalem, the Christians there had an understandable degree of suspicion (Saul could have been an under-cover enemy, after all), until the welcome of big-hearted Barnabas led them to accept Saul as a new disciple and Christian brother. You should ask Barnabas about the vital part he played in the whole story.

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For my part, I’m thrilled to have had a role in it all, though I was only one of many. Probably it started with Stephen, the first person to be martyred for Christ. Saul was one of those who rejoiced to see Stephen die. Yet, many people think that something happened in Saul’s heart that day. Stephen was being brutally done to death with stones and rocks and yet he was praying for the people who were killing him. It was so like the dying manner of Jesus, and maybe it’s what raised the first question-marks in Saul’s mind. Stephen, of course, would have no idea of the impact that his death had on Saul. But his death, and his manner when being so viciously killed, must have affected the persecutor. We all have different parts to play in God’s plans. That’s how Saul (by this time known as Paul) later explained it. He developed the image of the community of faith as a body with its many and varied parts working together. There’s no use in the foot complaining that it isn’t a hand and therefore it’s not so important. The eye can’t say to the hand ‘I don’t need you’, and so on. Every part of the body has its importance in the working of the whole. And I’m humbled to know that Paul didn’t forget the part I played. Later there was the drama of a disturbance at the temple in Jerusalem when he was taken into custody for his own safety — the start of the chain of events that led him to Rome. He had an ambition to bring the gospel message to the very centre of the empire, but his eventual arrival there was different from what anyone might have expected. It must have been quite a scene. After he had been taken into custody, he asked and received permission to speak to the angry mob from the steps of the barracks. He was always on the look-out for any opportunity to preach the gospel. He started with his own testimony. He spoke of how zealous he had been as a young Jew who persecuted what they called The Way. He told of his experience on the road to Damascus and what happened afterwards — including how I came to him to restore his sight and to assure him of the Lord’s plans for his life and service. He graciously referred to me as a devout man who was well regarded by the Jews of Damascus. Paul particularly remembered the way I had addressed him when I arrived at the house in Straight Street. I greeted him as ‘Brother Saul’ and right away, he said, he knew he was in a new family. And I was thrilled to have been an instrument of the Lord’s. We all have a part to play in the mission and service of this wonderful Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. He died. He rose again. He empowers his people and calls us now to follow him. • Rev. David J. Randall spent forty years in pastoral ministry in Macduff before retiring in 2010. He has served in a number of locumships, written several books and is a member of the Free Church congregation in Broughty Ferry.

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PAGES FROM ADAM’S DIARY Lost and Found A brother, known to some of us as Dr Adam, has served the Lord among his suffering church for many years. Dr Adam has also ministered in various parts of the world among refugees. We have asked his permission to print some of the stories of his life and service for the encouragement of readers of The Record. For well understood reasons, some of the names of people and places have usually been changed or omitted. THE RECORD

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We encounter unpleasant situations and wonder, ‘Where is God?’ when he is right beside us to bless us.

everal years ago , i was serving our lord in belgium amongst the fairly

In one of our gatherings, a young Afghan woman came to faith in Christ. Later her brother and subsequently their father, who was still in Afghanistan, came to faith. Here is a beautiful story of the unfolding of God’s magnificent work of redemption leading to her conversion. As with every believer in Christ, the Lord called this young woman to himself by name, not in Belgium, but before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5). Her name, as with the name of every believer in Christ, is written in the book of life (Luke 10:20; Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 21:27; Philippians 4:3). God is assembling an innumerable multitude of redeemed from every nation, tribe, language and people (Revelation 7:9). This young Afghan had a brother in Barcelona, Spain. With much difficulty, her father had saved every penny and sold their possessions to send her to join her brother in a new world and to have a better life. She was in the airport in Athens, Greece, waiting to board a connecting flight to Barcelona. At the age of 18, she was almost illiterate. Under the brutal and sadistic rule of the Taliban, women were not permitted to go to school. I should explain that Taliban is a plural form of Talib, which is a title of a Muslim cleric, usually in clerical training. Talib is a seeker or student of Islam. In much of the Muslim world, to be a woman is oppressive enough. They do not have the same rights as men. Their humanity is violated. In some parts, such as Afghanistan, to be a woman is an experience of being next to hell. During the rule of the Taliban, women, young or old, were not permitted to be in public, to go to school, or even to show their faces. A woman could be flogged in public or stoned to death for simply exposing her face. For her to reveal how beautifully God had made her was tantamount to lewdness, whereby the foundations of that religion would come apart as the holy men would suffer temptation. Under the rule of these obtuse, misguided fanatics belonging to the Stone Age, as a woman, your life was condemned to misery, suffering, abuse and darkness. There was no one to come to their aid until the Lord dispatched the might of the American army to chase these terrorists, of not only human bodies but human souls, across the plains of Afghanistan and beat back their terror and, for a few years, give a breather to these abused people. Sadly, with the withdrawal of the American and NATO forces, their ominous shadow of death is looming once again over this otherwise hardy and gifted people. All of that to say, for this beautiful young woman in the Athens airport, making her way to Spain to join her brother was like being on Mars. She could not read the signs. Everything looked strange to her. Confused and bewildered by her surroundings, she stood in line at the wrong departure gate. As a result, she was denied boarding and missed her flight. Upon realising this, she began to cry. A couple of airport staff, finding this helpless young woman sitting at the departure gate crying, were moved with compassion. Once they found out that she had missed her flight, they decided to help her. They would buy her a ticket and put her on the next flight. But where was she going? She tried to say, ‘I want to go to Barcelona,’ but they thought she had said, ‘I want to go to Brussels,’ because many Afghans had gone to Belgium. Consequently, she was put on a flight to Brussels. On arrival in Belgium, discovering that she was in the wrong country, she panicked and began to cry again.

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large refugee community .

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This time, a young Iranian man, who had come to the airport to drop off his mother, was passing by and saw this beautiful Afghan girl crying. He stopped to help her. Afghans and Iranians both speak the same language. What the girl did not know was that the hand of God was orchestrating the unfolding of a chain of events intending to pour out his blessings upon her! It is often like that. We encounter unpleasant situations and wonder, ‘Where is God?’ when he is right beside us to bless us. The young Iranian man was a convert to the Christian faith. Their encounter turned out to be love at first sight. He offered to put her up with an Afghan family and told her that they would all help her to join her brother in Barcelona, even if one of them had to accompany her so she would not be lost again. Once she was reassured and comforted, he took her to that family. They were also Christian converts from Afghanistan. The heart of the young girl was now smitten with this knight in shining armour. Soon she forgot all about Barcelona and did not want to go anywhere but only to be with him. He explained to her that he was a Christian and, for him, his relationship with Christ governed everything in his life, including whom he would marry. ‘I want to marry someone who also knows Christ, loves and follows him,’ he told her. This love affair coincided with the time I was in Belgium for a few days serving our Lord among the refugees. To make a long and amazing story short, she was brought to our meetings. The God who had delivered her from the terror of the Taliban was already at work in her heart, preparing the ground for the planting of the seed of life. In our very first meeting, she openly embraced the Christian faith and gave a most moving testimony of God’s grace. Some of my friends were sceptical. They felt she would say or do anything because she was so deeply in love with this young man. But time proved the sincerity of her faith. The young man was not the cause of her confession of faith in Christ. It was simply the means in her salvation and the icing on the cake, an added gift upon the greatest of all gifts – the Lord Jesus. It was the hand of God which was orchestrating and bringing all of these details together, not only to bless her but also to bless others through her. This is also true of the narrative of the life of every believer in Christ. After those few days in Belgium, I had to go and visit believers further east. But I promised them that, on the way back, I would stop in Belgium to see them again. When I returned, this time her brother had come from Spain, and they both came to all our meetings, where he also came to faith. Later I learned that they had introduced their father in Afghanistan to Christ. A few months after that encounter in the airport, at Christmas, the young couple were married. Rarely had I seen such happiness in the face of a person. It was the Lord’s doing! We all blessed the Lord for this turn of events. The young man whom God had sent to the airport that day was one of his choicest servants, a devoted believer in Christ. I marveled at our Lord’s amazing providence. This young woman not only was given the gift of life in Christ, but she was also given a deeply caring, gentle, kind and exceptionally industrious young man to be her husband. Subsequently, the couple decided to move to Germany where there is a substantial Afghan community. Now and again, I still receive news of her work among the Afghan women. At times, certain events in our lives seem to be terrible misfortunes when, in fact, God is at work, turning the adversities into blessings. • Several readers have asked how they can support Adam’s ministry. For information about the Adam Support Group, please contact either: Evan Macdonald (Chairman) evan.m@ntlworld.com 07981 756786 or John MacPherson (Secretary) johnmmacpherson@btinternet.com 07484 397670

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POETRY PAGE A MEDITATION OF A PENITENT SINNER (SONNET 14) BY ANNE LOCKE But render me my wonted joys again, Which sin hath reft, and planted in their place Doubt of thy mercy ground of all my pain. The taste, that thy love whilom did embrace My cheerful soul, the signs that did assure My feeling ghost of favour in thy sight, Are fled from me, and wretched I endure Senseless of grace the absence of thy sp’rit. Restore my joys, and make me feel again The sweet return of grace that I have lost, That I may hope I pray not all in vain. With thy free sprite confirm my feeble ghost, To hold my faith from ruin and decay With fast affiance and assured stay.

Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash

A Meditation of a Penitent Sinner is a poetic study of Psalm 51. It is the first sonnet cycle to be published in English, comprising 26 sonnets based on the psalm. Anne Locke (c.1533-c.1590) was an English poet and supporter of the Protestant Reformation. She and her husband gave lodging to John Knox for a period. They continued to correspond, and Anne spent about 18 months in Geneva to ensure her safety following the accession of Mary Tudor. A Meditation of a Penitent Sinner was published in 1560 as an accompaniment to Anne Locke’s English translations of four of John Calvin’s sermons on Isaiah 38. •

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BOOK REVIEWS Our books this month reflect something of the breadth of the church’s theological interests, from a professional footballer’s moving testimony to the more weighty works of John Calvin, via a book on questions for the young. We delight in the diverse faithfulness of our church, and hope you can too! BOOK OF THE MONTH FAITHFUL LEADERS RICO TICE (2021) This book is for leaders and about leadership, and it is a breath of fresh air and a blast of cold air at the same time! It’s a breath of fresh air because Rico Tice, well known throughout the evangelical world, speaks in a candid and yet compassionate manner about the realities that being a leader in the church faces us with. He manages to get his point across in a humbling yet humorous way again and again. And this book is also a blast of cold air because it is a wake-up call to leaders to seriously, prayerfully, humbly and honestly consider our motives and manner in leadership and to model ourselves on Jesus, the Leader exemplar. So Rico zeroes in on four things that matter most in leadership and deals with each in turn in its own chapter: Define Success: Be a good and faithful servant; Fight Your Sin: learn from Achan and repent quickly, honestly, daily; Lead Yourself: have friends with whom we commit to the CIA – confidentiality, intimacy and accountability; and Serve Your Church: James and John wanted to be in the Cabinet, but Jesus told them they must go into kindergarten. Be willing to serve in the lowest position. There’s a chapter at the end with questions for reflection and discussion that help to reinforce the main lessons from each chapter. This really is a great wee book — a breath and a blast but above all a blessing. • This book is available to purchase from Free Church Books. Colin Macleod, Gairloch, Kinlochewe & Torridon Free Church

NOT IF, BUT WHEN JOHN PERRITT (2020) Knowing when and how to introduce the topic of pornography and its dangers to children is difficult. I found this book to be a helpful jumping-off point for discussion with my kids. I appreciate that the author has stories about both a boy and a girl. If you are looking for a resource to help you start this challenging conversation with your child, I would recommend using this as a tool! • This book is available to purchase from Free Church Books. Rebeka Watson, St Columba’s Free Church, Edinburgh

These books are only a small proportion of the ones we review. You can find all our reviews online at https://books.freechurch.org or sign up to our monthly email to get them directly to your inbox: https://thefree.church/books-sign-up

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a warning, standing and knocking, and the gospel as an entreaty. The gospel call is much more than a sharing of information; it is a pleading, an entreaty, a call. As Samuel Rutherford says, ‘It is ordinary for man to beg from God, for we are but His beggars; but it is a miracle to see God beg at man. Yet here is the Potter begging from the clay; the Saviour seeking from sinners.’ But to whom is the gospel offered? Is it only to the spiritually burdened, to the thirsty, the repentant, or is the gospel offer open to all? How do we reconcile limited atonement and passages such as Isaiah 45:22, Acts 17:30 and Luke 2:10? Well, the answer is, we do not. As Maclean says: ‘Our limitations mean the one will of God may appear manifold from our perspective.’ We preach Christ to all without distinction while believing that God is ultimately calling a people to Himself. As Calvin says: ‘He invites the whole world to the hope of salvation.’ Many have wrestled with the will of God and the doctrine of election, but Maclean helpfully takes us on a biblical study of God’s revealed will in the Old and New Testament, and particularly in the Gospels and the Epistles. He leaves no stone unturned in seeking to prove from Scripture that we have a God and Saviour who wants us to accept ‘so great a salvation’. As Thomas Boston says, ‘Christ is willing to come into every heart. Why else does he demand open doors, but because he is willing to enter?’ The book ends with a helpful chapter on objections to the free offer such as, ‘If I am dead in sin, why invite me to believe?’ ‘If God has chosen me to believe, why invite me to believe?’ These are helpfully and pastorally answered with biblical answers and the best of James Durham and Prof. John Murray. All Things are Ready is a beautiful reminder to us of the glorious overtures of a loving God towards hell-deserving sinners. Maclean reminds us that the Puritans and the Reformers were not cold, stoic academics, but warm-hearted preachers and pastors who pleaded with men and women to be reconciled to a loving God and a tender Saviour. The free offer of the gospel is not some departure from biblical theology and reformed history, but rather the outflowing of a true understanding of the gospel and how to communicate that to sinners. If you want to have your heart warmed and once again see the glory of the gospel of Christ, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you read this book. • This book is the subject of a Ragged Theology podcast, and is available to purchase from Christian Focus. Andy Murray, Livingston Free Church

ALL THINGS ARE READY DONALD JOHN MACLEAN (2021) What is the gospel? Who is the gospel for? How should the gospel be preached? What kind of people should implore men and women to come to Christ? These and many other questions are covered in Donald John Maclean’s first book, All Things are Ready. Uniquely qualified, having completed a PhD in James Durham (1622-1658), Donald John takes us an a ‘tour de force’ of biblical teaching and reformed theology. Warmly and succinctly, Maclean makes a compelling case that the free offer of the gospel flows from the mainstream of biblical theology and reformed history. Church history is cyclical, and in almost every generation there is a move towards legalism and Hyper-Calvinism. In the 18th century Thomas Boston and the Erskines fought against it during the Marrow Controversy. Spurgeon fought against the Hyper-Calvinists in England in the 19th century and there have been skirmishes in the 20th century as churches have sought to reconcile the apparent biblical paradox of divine command and human responsibility in the call of the gospel. In this book Donald John Maclean beautifully takes us to the heart of the gospel. He reminds us of all the different ways the gospel is offered in the Bible: an entreaty, a sale, a command, a promise,

2021

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THOMAS CLARKSON: THE GIANT WITH ONE IDEA EMILY MAURITS (2021) As Emily Maurits guides us through the life of this littleknown man, one thing becomes very clear. Thomas Clarkson was a self-effacing, humble servant of the living God, who took on a seemingly insurmountable task which was to consume his whole life. Even after the abolition of slavery, he found that his vast experience in standing up for injustice and the poor led him into many other areas. Although this book is for teenagers, it should be read by everyone who has a heart for the marginalised, those without a voice, and the weak who are preyed upon by the strong. Clarkson stood up for these people for 86 years and has left this world almost without a trace. Maurits has brought his message of hope and salvation alive after its being buried for almost 200 years. While Clarkson never wanted to be a trailblazer, he and his horse travelled thousands of miles to bring the plight of African slavery to the notice of the British Parliament. Today slavery still exists in other forms and the pertinent questions at the end of this little book ensure that Clarkson's legacy is keeping that trail blazing. • This book is available to purchase from Christian Focus. Ruth Aird, Bruntsfield Evangelical Church, Edinburgh

A CERTAIN BRIGHTNESS PHILIPPA RUTH WILSON (2021) We don’t have to look very far to see pain, grief, brokenness, heartache, loneliness and despair. Whether in our own lives or the lives of those within our churches, families, workplaces or our friends, the darkness can often feel overwhelming. In the midst of those times we may know that we should be coming to God and yet in our brokenness we struggle to engage with him and his word. A Certain Brightness is a book of bitesize devotionals for those moments when trouble seems to reign, and the darkness seems closer than ever. With honesty about her own struggles with darkness and depression, her doubts about God, her fears and worries, Philippa points to Jesus as the certain brightness in the midst of our pain. Each devotional is based on a short truth about God from scripture: ‘His steadfast love endures forever’, ‘Joy comes with the morning’, ‘I will be with you’. While the devotionals are short (and therefore manageable for the weary and broken) they are deeply rooted in scripture and are full of the riches of God’s promises for his people, both now and for eternity, pointing to the glorious hope of the gospel. Each devotional ends with a prayer and a few lines from a hymn leaving you humming the truths you have just been reading about. Reading this was a balm to my soul and I know it’s a book I will keep coming back to in those moments of brokenness. It’s also a book I’ve been sharing with those I know are struggling, confident that these short devotionals will point them to Jesus ‘who is more than capable of plumbing [our] deepest depths and bringing hope there’.

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I heartily recommend this book for you, and for those around you who are struggling. It will help you fix your eyes on Jesus in the darkest moments, and know the wonderful, sure, and certain brightness that is found in him. • This book is available from Free Church Books. Carrie Marlow, Free North Church, Inverness

AUGUST

Sgìth le thuras (Wearied with His journey) LE JANET NICPHÀIL

ach iomadh duine a dh' aontaicheadh gum b'

Chan e a-mhàin gu robh sluagh an t-saoghail aniochdmhor Ris na chuairt, ach bha an Sàtan fhèin ga bhuaireadh rè dà fhichead là. Gach uair, thug Iosa A fhreagairt à Facal Dhè. Seo Fear a shlànaicheadh na muinntir aig an robh cridhe briste, agus a bha a' toirt saorsa don mhuinntir a bha leòinte. Nach math gu robh dachaigh ann anns an robh E a' faighinn aoigheachd? B'e seo dachaigh Bhetani. Leughaidh sinn gu robh E aig suipear, agus Marta a' frithealadh, ach Muire ag ungadh A chasan le ola ro-luachmhor. Nach E a bhiodh taingeil a bhith còmhla ri muinntir a bha a' sealltainn Dha gu robh àite mòr aca Dha?

ann mar seo a fhuair iad fhèin a' bhliadhn' a chaidh seachad.

Bha iad ann an saoghal tur eadar-dhealaichte bhon àbhaist, agus bha seo a' dèanamh beagan sàrachaidh dhaibh. A' beachdachadh air an seo, saoilidh sinn nach robh Fear idir cho sgìth le thuras, sa bha Mac Dhè. Dh' fhàg E sìth na Glòire agus thàinig E gu talamh, a thàinig gu bith troimhe, ach a chaidh a mhilleadh cho mòr le saor thoil an duine. Seo Fear a bhiodh sgìth a' faicinn Taigh Athar air a chur gu droch fheum, 's gun daoine a' toirt an àite dhan Chruthaidhear a bha E Fhèin a' dleasadh. Theagaisg E dhaibh gur e broinn a' chupain, chan e a-mhàin an taobh a-muigh, a dh' fheumadh a bhith glan. Cha ghlan duine an cridhe ach an Cruthaidhear Fhèin, mar a tha an Salmaidh a' cur nar cuimhne. Chan eil e na iongnadh gum biodh Criosd a' falbh leis Fhèin, a' lorg àite sàmhach airson fois. Bha E a' coiseachd a-measg dhaoine a sgrios iad fhèin, ach bha Athair tròcaireach Fhèin a' gealltainn, 'Annamsa tha do chobhair.' Cluinnidh sinn na facail-sa Aige os cionn Ierusaleim. 'A Ierusaleim, a Ierusaleim, a mharbhas na fàidhean, agus a chlachas an dream a chuirear ad ionnsaigh, cia minig a b' àill leam do chlann a chruinneachadh ri chèile, mar a chruinnicheas cearc a h-eòin fo a sgiathan, ach cha b'àill leibhse.' Bha Esan a' tuigsinn cho dall sa bha daoine, agus iad air dì-chuimhneachadh gu robh Cruthaidhear mòr an domhain a' faicinn gach nì a bha iad a' dèanamh. Nach e seo a bhiodh na chlaoidh-spioraid do dh' Iosa fhads a bha E a-bhos air thalamh? Sgìth le thuras, shuidh Criosd làimh ri tobar Iàcoib. Dh' iarr E deoch air ban-Shamaritanach a bh' aig an tobar, agus gach eachdraidh a bha na beatha cho aithnichte Dha. B' e A rùn a dhol an-dèidh muinntir a chaill an slighe. Nach b'e seo adhbhar A theachd gu talamh? Thàinig E a shireadh agus a theàrnadh an nì sin a bha caillte, mar a tha E Fhèin ag ràdh. Tha seo a' sealltainn dhuinn cho soilleir nach b'e a càineadh a rinn E idir, ach, ann an dòigh a thuig i an ceann ùine, dh' fhosgail E a h-inntinn gus an tuigeadh i dè a bha 'uisge beò' a' ciallachadh. Tha A chòmhradh a' sealltainn dhuinn, ged a bha E cho sgìth, gu robh an dòigh a chleachd E gu a h-aire fhaighinn, fada os cionn dòigh a thaghadh iomadh duine le tuigse glè mhòr.

2021

Bha E air a thighinn à sìth na Glòire gu saoghal fuar. Mar a tha am bàrd, Iain Chaluim Ruaidh ag ràdh, 'Nuair a ghluais Thu tighinn a-nuas gu saoghal fuar nan cunnartan ghabh Thu cruth airson do ghlòir mar àite-còmhnaidh d' fhulangais.' Abair gur e adhbhar taingealachd do-labhairt a tha seo. •

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BY CATRIONA MURRAY

POST TENEBRAS LUX

Photo by Tom Robertson on Unsplash

— which fortunately coincided with a spell of warm and dry weather in Lewis — I took myself to a place I had been craving since the very beginning of the first lockdown. You will remember that we were limited in the distance we could travel for recreation, and so I thought longingly over many months of my father’s croft at Doune Carloway. One Sunday, however, I realised that I DID have somewhere I could go to clear my head and be at peace, and made the 24-mile journey in happy anticipation. As I drove, with an excited collie behind me in the car, my mind scrolled back through the years, to the many times I had made this journey with my father. We went on days off to plant potatoes and to clean them, to shear and dip sheep, and to make hay while the sun shone. There was a peculiar magic about those times, the work interspersed with cups of smoky tea and cans of orangeade drunk outside, and games with my brother in the ferns that had overtaken one corner of the sprawling acres. In the hollow at the heart of the croft is the tobhta. It was always referred to as that, and I never thought to question its meaning until one day, in school, our headmistress was doing Gaelic with a minority (three) of us who were deemed fluent. The book we were reading was about a census recorder in a rural part of the Gàidhealtachd, and the word ‘tobhta’ came up. Neither the headmistress nor our class teacher could figure out what it was and I, a painfully shy eleven-year-old, screwed up all the grains of courage I possessed and ventured an opinion. It had only just come to me that there must be more than one ‘tobhta’ and that it was, presumably, a generic word for ruins — our tobhta consisted of the stone walls of the blackhouse that had been home to several generations of my father’s family. I was right. My teachers were fairly surprised at my boldness in speaking up (as was I), and now there was a new concept in my head: that some of the experiences I had previously thought to be private and unique to our family might well be universal. When I visited recently in an effort to

escape the clamour and noise of the world, the sight of that tobhta lifted my heart. I had not seen it in two years and I suppose it is a little more tumbledown, a little less stable. One day, it will be gone entirely, and nothing will remain but its footprint. My father always made most sense to me in the context of that croft at Doune. We strolled and we talked. Our conversations were wide-ranging. He spoke often of wartime, and of the strange cargoes that sometimes washed up on the shore, with the exotic whiff of distant lands about them. And he described the dark, moonless nights when he would be sent from the warmth of the fire out to fetch more peats, ghost stories ringing vividly in his ears. Often, though, our conversation would spool further back in time. He would talk about when Doune itself was settled from Mangersta in Uig — an event that took place almost sixty years before his own birth. Because of him, it became as real to me as my own first day at school. All this was spoken in Gaelic, and cradled by a sense of eternity. I think that his ability to perceive all history as recent stemmed from the fact that he walked near to his Creator. Whenever I think of these times, I am reminded of a very lovely song that was written for the father of Kathleen Macinnes, who has recorded a poignant rendition of it. In Doune, I recalled the line, ‘ach chan fhaic sinn gu Siorraidh coiseachd feur ann thu fhèin’ — ‘but we won’t see till Eternity yourself walking this plain’ — and I was glad. It reminded me of that precious legacy we get from those who are old in the faith, and who understand that God is not a new invention, minted the day they discovered him. He is the Creator, the author and finisher of our faith. If we walk in his presence, though our earthly walls tumble to the ground, we will see an eternal home that stands implacable and unassailable and against which no force of darkness can prevail.. •

uring a recent season of stress

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The Record - August 2021

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GOING BACK TO CHURCH: A THEOLOGICAL AND PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVE

POETRY PAGE - Anne Locke

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