The Record - December 19 by Free Church of Scotland

THE

RECORD

MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND DECEMBER 2019 • £2.00

Editor • John Macdonald The Editor, The Record, Beltone, Moray Street Blackford PH4 1QF 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 • Sarah Cumming 31 Doune Park, Dalgety Bay, KY11 9LX sarah.cumming@hotmail.co.uk 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 • Mairi Macdonald ian.macdonald57@btinternet.com Design & Layout • Fin Macrae @DUFI Art www.dufi-art.com The Record • ISSN 2042-2970

Advertising • Anyone wishing to advertise in The Record should contact the editor. For Subscriptions • The annual subscription price for The Record is £33. Cheques should be made payable to: Free Church of Scotland. Please contact the offices for overseas subscription costs.

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THE RECORD

DECEMBER

Cover: Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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

CONTENTS

WELCOME TO THE DECEMBER RECORD

t’s icy here in the ochil hills.

Winter has come and 2019 is drawing inexorably to a close. What kind of year has it been? Living and working in Scotland, it is tempting to think that not much has changed. We have a new Prime Minister, but still no conclusion on Brexit, the public policy question of the moment. We are about to elect a new Parliament, but even that may not break the deadlock. Polling expert Sir John Curtice has described the election as an ‘unpopularity contest’, with a hung Parliament or a small Conservative majority the two most likely results. We are also told that church attendance around the country continues its downward trend. The latest British Social Attitudes survey showed that more than half of people say they do not belong to any religion while 38% identify themselves as Christians. The data also suggest that young people are less religious than their parents. So there remains work for us to do here. Yet, looking beyond these shores, the sown seed of the Gospel continues to produce a mighty crop. As we reported in October, the church is growing on every continent, with Africa leading the way. There are now 619 million Christians in Africa — an increase of more than 100 million in less than a decade. This is not without challenges. Moses Owojaiye, CEO of the Centre for Biblical Christianity in Africa, has written about the threat of the prosperity gospel to the church across Africa — later in this edition, Dr Jack Whytock of Dumisani addresses the challenge. There is also much to be encouraged about here. Stirling Free Church have outgrown their premises, Women for Mission continue to advance the Gospel’s reach and Jesus remains the Saviour at whose name every knee will bow. As we rejoice that he made his dwelling among us, we will keep praying that his will be done, and continue to enjoy the sight of his work being accomplished.• Please send your comments on the magazine, letters, news from your congregation or suggestions for articles to: editor@freechurch.org or by post to the Free Church Offices.

REFORMING CHRISTMAS The Editor

WORLD NEWS UK, Cuba, Iran, Bangladesh, South Africa, Mozambique, New Zealand

BALM OF GILEAD VACCINATION SCEPTICS PART 03 Anonymous

PRAYER DIARY

FREE CHURCH NEWS South Uist and Benbecula Induction, The Gathering, Love Matters, New Stirling Free Church Premises, Loving and Serving in Govan.

WOMEN FOR MISSION WESTERN ISLES Anne-Etta Macleod

CAN WE BE GOOD WITHOUT GOD? Stephen Allison

GLOBAL CHALLENGES FACING CHRISTIANITY: THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL Jack C Whytock

CHRISTMAS IS A TIME OF WONDER Roddie Rankin

ETS NEWS Thomas Davis

OBITUARIES

WHY DID GOD RAISE JESUS FROM DEATH? Iain Gill

BOOK REVIEWS

DEEP-DOWN CONTENTMENT Dayspring MacLeod

MISSION MATTERS David Meredith

FIALAIDHEACHD AN ATHAR Janet MacPhail

POETRY PAGE Joseph Hart

POST TENEBRAS LUX Catriona Murray

Yours in Christ John

That in all things he might have the pre-eminence Colossians 1:18 2019

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REFORMING CHRISTMAS Share the good news of great joy through celebration

Â©Jim - stock.adobe.com

BY THE EDITOR

THE RECORD

DECEMBER

We won’t reclaim the meaning of Christmas with criticism, and we certainly can’t reclaim it through conformity.

‘T

is the season of tradition.

Towns string up their lights. Villages decorate their trees. Social media feeds clog up with elves on shelves. Turkeys are ordered, gifts are wrapped and brass bands take up residence on the high street. These familiar sights and sounds bring excitement and anticipation. But what is it that we are anticipating? In recent years, Christians have developed a new tradition: criticising the commercialisation of Christmas. Quickest off the mark this year was Tim Stanley, historian and columnist at the Daily Telegraph. He argued that ‘to halt the cultural appropriation of our religion, we must boycott ever-earlier festivities’. He wants Christians to withdraw from the Christmas promoted by the shops in order to reclaim its true meaning. There is no doubt that those making this argument have a point. The economic urgency of achieving a December profit boost turns peace and goodwill into greed and indulgence. Six weeks of anticipation is followed by the anti-climax of Boxing Day indigestion. We understand that a Christ-less Christmas is ultimately hollow. The problem is, people enjoy their commercialised Christmas. Presents, feasting and nostalgia all feel good. No-one but ourselves is listening to the critique – and why would they? We can’t bring the joy of salvation to our neighbours by attempting to prove that their fun is illegitimate. Scrooge would tell you that ‘Bah! Humbug!’ doesn’t get you very far. In order to serve our neighbours at Christmas, perhaps we should attend to the planks in our own eyes first. Historically, there has been no settled Presbyterian position on Christmas. The Reformers also had different views. Luther supported Christmas festivals in the church, Zwingli was opposed. Calvin thought that it was a matter of conscience. Although his preference seems to have been not to observe festival days, Calvin wrote in 1551 ‘I have pursued the moderate course of keeping Christ’s birth-day’. His motivation was to prevent division among the people of Geneva. The Second Helvetic Confession, written in 1564 to express the beliefs of the Reformed church in Switzerland, and subsequently adopted in several European countries, approved of the church marking Christmas. However, the Scottish Kirk concluded that Christmas was not mandated in Scripture and so should not form part of the church’s worship. Founded on the principle that only the forms of worship explicitly described in Scripture should be practiced, the decision not to mark Christmas, either corporately or personally, is a position which is to be respected. Equally, as Calvin concluded, our freedom in Christ means we are at liberty to use December to praise and glorify the Word who ‘became flesh and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14). Unfortunately, God’s good gift of freedom has frequently been distorted at Christmas. Rather than using the season for worship in spirit and in truth, we have often conformed to the pattern of the world by acting in same way as everyone else. Our history means preaching plays little part, and our conformity has given Santa a more significant role than Jesus. For those of us who want to use our freedom to remember our Saviour’s birth, how do we follow Paul’s exhortation to ‘not use your freedom as an >>

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The truths we celebrate at Christmas make our hearts overflow with the excitement of the promise that awaits us

THE RECORD

opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another’ (Galatians 5:13)? We celebrate. As those who have been redeemed through the saving work of Jesus, we have more to be joyful about and more to be thankful for at Christmas than the world can imagine. Advent reminds us that God — the almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth — came to be with us. Jesus, ‘though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross’ (Philippians 2:6-8). On that cross ‘he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed’ (Isaiah 53:5). He willingly accepted this judgement so that those of us God has called could be adopted as ‘children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ’ (Romans 8:1617). We are heirs to the gift of eternal life. This truth is more wonderful than all the riches of the earth, and more worthy of celebration. Although we were born his enemies, God came to bring us back. Now we are his children, he invites us to a great celebration, the wedding feast of the Lamb. Advent is intended to recall the moment Jesus first came to earth, but our celebrations are also to anticipate his return, and to marvel in the glory that is still to come. The truths we celebrate at Christmas make our hearts overflow with the excitement of the promise that awaits us, and fill us with gratitude to the one who gave us this gift which we could never earn or deserve. It is worth remembering, too, the way in which God celebrated the birth of his Son. He set a new star in the firmament. He sent a great company of angels to announce Jesus’ birth. They sang of God’s glory and of 'peace to those on whom his favour rests' (Luke 2:14). The angels’ song speaks of the long-awaited day when God’s promise to crush the serpent’s head would be fulfilled. In the magnitude of this celebration we see that crackers and stockings are not enough to honour Immanuel. The saviour we celebrate is the one who is called ‘Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore’ (Isaiah 9:6-7). If we, like Mary, ponder these things in our hearts (Luke 2:19); If we, like Simeon, praise God for his salvation (Luke 2:30); If we, like the shepherds, make the good news known (Luke 2:17); then our celebrations will not conform to our fading culture’s pattern. Instead, they will shine the light of God’s grace into the darkness of greed and indulgence, bringing freedom and bringing peace. In his grace, God gives us liberty to decorate, give gifts and feast. If these take their proper place, they serve the glory of Christ rather than getting in the way. We won’t reclaim the meaning of Christmas with criticism, and we certainly can’t reclaim it through conformity. But we can share it through celebration. •

DECEMBER

NEW

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE? In the face of false doctrines and distortions of the truth, Christians must be prepared to boldly confess what they believe. The Westminster Confession of Faith equips you to do just that. In his book Truths We Confess, now thoroughly revised and available in a single, accessible volume, Dr. R.C. Sproul surveys this remarkable confession—explaining its insights, applying them to modern life, and helping you answer the question, “What do you believe?”

Now available at: Evangelical Bookshop (Northern Ireland), FM Bookshops (Scotland), and CLC Christian Bookshops (UK)

WORLD NEWS AMERICASAFRICAEUROPEASIAAUSTRALASIA ACTOR FIRED OVER SOCIAL MEDIA POST (EUROPE) Christian actor Seyi Omooba has said she will pursue legal action against the Curve Theatre in Leicester after she was sacked from her role in the play The Colour Purple. The decision was taken to dismiss Omooba after a Facebook post surfaced in which she wrote: ‘It is clearly evident in I Corinthians vi, 9-11 what the Bible says on this matter. I do not believe you can be born gay, and I do not believe homosexual practice is right.’ Omooba says she has been dropped by her agent as a result of this incident, and has not been able to find work since. The Christian Legal Centre have confirmed to the BBC that they will support her case.•

CHICK-FIL-A (EUROPE) American fast-food chain Chick-fil-A will be forced to close its first UK branch following protests from LGBT campaigners. The BBC reports that, in 2017, the Chick-fil-A foundation donated several million dollars to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Paul Anderson Youth Home and the US Salvation Army. LGBT campaign group Reading Pride have said these organisations are ‘hostile to LGBT rights’. The Oracle shopping centre in Reading have decided that they will not extend Chick-fil-A’s lease beyond the initial six-month trial period, because it is ‘the right thing to do’.•

CUBA LIBRE (AMERICAS) The World Evangelical Alliance has asked the Cuban government to respect religious freedom. Members of Alianza de Iglesias Evangélicas de Cuba (Alliance of Evangelical Churches in Cuba - AIEC) were prevented from travelling to WEA’s General Assembly in Indonesia. One pastor from the AIEC was able to attend the gathering because he was already out of the country when the ban was imposed. He commented: ‘There are 1.2 million evangelicals in Cuba – 10 per cent of the population – and so the government is afraid of that…they don’t want the Church to be a powerful organisation that can have a voice.’•

HUNGER IN SOUTHERN AFRICA (AFRICA) Tearfund has said that as many as 12 million people in Southern Africa will lack adequate food by March 2020. The organisation reports that climate change has resulted in the region’s lowest rainfall since 1981, while cyclones, pests and diseases are also devastating crops. In Mozambique, two cyclones, drought and violence in the north are expected to leave nearly two million people without enough food to survive. Elizabeth Myendo leads Tearfund’s Disaster Management Team for Southern and East Africa. She says, ‘The situation on the ground is dire and could become catastrophic. Our local church partners on the ground in Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique are saying the immediate needs are food and water for the people. In some rural areas, more than 60% of the population are living on a single meal a day.’•

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CYCLONE BULBUL (ASIA) Christian Aid and their local partners are giving assistance to people affected by Cyclone Bulbul, which killed at least 20 people and displaced as many as two million more in India and Bangladesh in early November. Further loss of life was prevented by evacuations in advance of the cyclone. Shahana Hayat, Christian Aid humanitarian programme manager, said: ‘The cyclone has brought significant devastation to areas where people are already struggling to survive: they will now need financial and practical support to rebuild their lives and their livelihoods…With climate change, we are seeing storms like these becoming more frequent and more intense – and it’s the poorest people who are hit the hardest.’•

SPRINGBOKS’ KOLISI ON THE SAVING POWER OF CHRIST (AFRICA) As South Africa won their third Rugby World Cup, the story of their inspirational captain, Siya Kolisi, caught the world’s attention. As the first black captain of his country, Kolisi’s role in the team has added significance. Following the Springboks’ victory over England in the final, Kolisi told broadcaster Eir Sport: ‘We have so many problems in our country. But to have a team like this, we come from different backgrounds, different races and we came together with one goal.’ Kolisi lost his mother when he was 15, and the family struggled to pay for his education until he earned a sports scholarship. Kolisi told SportGo Mag that, following difficulties in his personal life, ‘I decided to lose my life and find it in Christ. Walking alongside a spiritual mentor, I’ve been able to discover the truth and saving power of Christ in a whole new way. This new life has given me a peace in my heart I’d never experienced before. Now that I have given everything to God, nothing else affects me. I now live and play with the freedom of knowing his plan will always happen, and at the end of the day, that’s all I care about.’ •

IRAN CHALLENGED TO PROTECT CHRISTIANS (ASIA) The UK Government used the Universal Periodic Review – a process to look at the human rights records of all UN Member States – to call on Iran to uphold the rights of Christians and other minority groups. Miriam Shearman, the UK’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, said the Government ‘remain concerned by discrimination against persons belonging to minority religious groups, particularly the Baha’i and Christians’. She called on Iran to demonstrate that prisoners are not tortured or ill-treated and to give them access to fair trials. She also challenged Iran to investigate the sexual exploitation and forced marriage of children.•

ASSISTED SUICIDE (AUSTRALASIA) New Zealand’s Parliament has passed a Bill to allow people with terminal illnesses to request assisted suicide when they are considered to have less than six months to live. The proposal will be put to a national referendum during 2020. If a majority support the change, it will become law. The Christian Institute reports that a record 39,000 people responded to the public consultation on the Bill, with over 90% expressing their opposition.•

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BALM OF GILEAD

Medical ethics from a Christian perspective. An ANONYMOUS contribution VACCINATION SCEPTICS - PART 03

e rely on evidence in medicine for a reason.

body that makes it unclean, but what comes out from it. A slightly more complex consideration is the claim that vaccines contain ‘parts of aborted foetuses’ and ‘human DNA that can cause changes in a child’s brain’. The latter is pure unscientific gobbledegook; however, there is a grain of truth in the former which may cause some Christians to pause. Typical human cells can divide up to around 50 times and then they die. This is called the Hayflick Limit and it prevents human cell cultures from growing eternally in the laboratory. Foetal cells, however, are not limited by this, and given the right environment can be encouraged to keep dividing many more times, providing an almost endless supply of identical cells. Human cells are required for human virus propagation because the viruses do not live in animal tissue. Rubella viruses for vaccine production are cultured in a human embryo cell-line originally harvested from aborted foetal tissue obtained in the 1960s. The cells used in production now are countless generations

Without it, we cannot be sure that the interventions we perform on our patients lead to more benefit or more harm. When my patients see me, they can expect me to follow up-to-date guidelines on treatment, as for me to do any less would be negligent on my part. Medicine is forever evolving, always built upon the lessons and mistakes of the past. Consider that someone murders your close relative. You rely on trained police officers, detectives, forensic scientists, lawyers and judges to compile the evidence to find, catch, prosecute and punish the murderer. Would you trust someone off the street to investigate instead? Even if he’d read every single one of Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus mysteries? Of course not! Yet this is what people do when they follow biased anti-vaxxer advice to not vaccinate their child – they put their trust in charlatans rather than impartial science. In medicine we use what works. The evidence is incontrovertible. It stands up in court.

The Bible is full of circumstances that, while evil in origin, God turned around to use eventually for good. Countless millions of children’s lives have been saved by these vaccines.. Not every anti-vaxxer objection comes down to disputes about evidence. Some of their concerns are valid and require careful consideration, especially from a Christian viewpoint. The risk of vaccination to an individual is small, but not negligible. We must be honest about this. Some people, children included, WILL be harmed by vaccination. Such harm may be as innocuous as short-lived skin redness around the injection site, perhaps a brief flu-like illness with malaise and fever. The rarest but most severe complication is Guillaine-Barre syndrome, a severe neurological disorder which can be life-threatening. The risk for that is less than one in a million, though, and the benefits for preventing disease far outweigh it by many orders of magnitude. Another common objection to vaccines is in regards to their ingredients. Vaccines did formerly contain a (proven harmless) mercury-containing compound called Thimerosal, but at least in the UK, no vaccines containing this have been used since 2005. Some vaccines do contain antibiotics used in the production process to prevent contamination; others may contain pork gelatin or albumin from blood donors. None of these ingredients should pose an existential concern to Christians — after all, it is not what one puts into the

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removed from the original source. Also, once the vaccine is refined, very little trace from these cells is left. Obviously, the original source of these cells was far from ideal, but those cells can never be made into an embryo; they can never become a human being. The good that has come of that initial evil I think justifies our continued use of the technology. After all, the Bible is full of circumstances that, while evil in origin, God turned around to use eventually for good. Countless millions of children’s lives have been saved by these vaccines (including those in the womb — rubella causes miscarriage). God has given us the gift of modern medicine to relieve suffering and prevent disease. He has provided doctors and scientists, and given them minds and the means to research and develop new ways to heal. He has instituted governments to govern and care for people as individuals and as a society. Vaccinations are an integral part of this gift, and although they are not perfect — nothing in this world is — we should make the best use of them as we can to protect the most vulnerable amongst us — the children, as Jesus would want us to do? • Vaccination Sceptics concludes next month.

DECEMBER

PRAYER DIARY DEC/JAN 2019 Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 Sun 15th Remember the vacant congregation of Arran in your prayers today. Pray for all those who gather to worship and Rev. Rory Stott as he leads them through their vacancy. Mon 16th Churches across Turkey hold special events in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Pray for blessing on these: that they will be a source of encouragement to believers there, and also that many outside the churches will hear the gospel, understand it, and come to know the Saviour. Tues 17th Pray for all the families affected by the deaths of the 39 people in the lorry in October. Most of them sacrificed a lot in the hope that their family member would have a better life.

Wed 25th Lord Jesus Christ, we worship and give you thanks that you came from heaven, born of Mary to light up the world; living, dying and rising again to overcome the darkness of sin and death. Today we celebrate your birth and rejoice in the hope of your promise of eternal life. Amen. Thurs 26th While many of us are enjoying happy family gatherings at this time of the year, let us remember and pray for those who are alone and where possible include them in our celebrations. Fri 27th Pray that all those who work with the homeless in our cities and towns will be able to bring comfort and help to those in need.

Wed 18th Pray for fifth-year pupils in Colegio San Andrés who as yet do not know what they will do after they leave school this month. Pray they would seek God for guidance and peace.

Sat 28th Continue to remember Rev. Duncan Peters as he has regular contact with people of different faiths. Pray that their eyes may be truly opened to understand who Jesus Christ is and why he came.

Thurs 19th Pray for guidance and wisdom for the St Andrews congregation as they seek to elect new elders.

Sun 29th Pray for the vacant congregation of Partick and Rev. Allan Shearer as they go to worship today. Pray that they will be encouraged in their witness in the city.

Fri 20th Give thanks for Scripture Union. Pray that all the copies of ‘God Became Like Me’ that are given to children over the Christmas period will help them to understand the meaning of Christmas. Sat 21st Pray for Mission International’s partners as they prepare wonderful events for children including singing, drama, the Christmas Story and a slap-up meal on Christmas Day. Sun 22nd This morning remember those who gather to worship in Dumbarton. Pray for the congregation and their interim moderator, Rev. Kenny Boyd, as they witness in their community. Mon 23rd Pray for the Portree and Bracadale congregation as they seek to progress their church building project. Pray that the congregation would keep their focus on Christ and the work of the gospel throughout their community. Tues 24th Pray for the church in Albania as they work with the Bible Society on the first complete Bible in Albanian, which has been translated from Hebrew into Albanian.

Mon 30th Praise God that the students at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) have agreed to design a turbine which will bring electricity to the Nyembuye Clinic. Burundi’s government is very excited about the possibilities of this project. Tues 31st At the end of the year let us again remember those who find this a difficult time, especially those who have lost loved ones in the past twelve months. Wed 1st As we begin a new year, let us commit our whole lives to our heavenly Father who knows all that lies ahead and holds us in his hands. Thurs 2nd Pray for all those in authority and our new government, especially in light of all the events leading up to our leaving Europe at the end of the month. . Fri 3rd Lord of the Church, we intercede for revival: for tens of thousands of people to turn to you for salvation. Even though some say that Christian faith is waning in our society, we believe that you are making a way in the wilderness and releasing streams of faith in many lives. Amen.

Sat 4th Pray for the approximately one in four people in the UK who experience mental health problems each year. Pray that they will find wholeness and peace through the ministrations of health professionals, counsellors, family members and friends. Sun 5th Pray for the small group who gather to worship in Greenock, that they and Rev. Alasdair MacDonald would be guided by the Lord in knowing his plans for their future. Mon 6th Give thanks for Cornerstone’s ministry apprentice, Jo Hulks, and pray that the congregation will serve her well so that she can be increasingly fruitful in her Christian service. Tues 7th Pray for Rev. Benjamin van Rensburg as he is teaching in the Mauritian Bible Training Institute (MBTI). The Mission Board are supporting him in his work there. Wed 8th As the brochure for this summer’s camps becomes available, pray for all our young folk who will be excitedly planning with their friends where they would like to go. Thurs 9th Pray for Rev. David Macpherson as he begins his work as director of Operaciòn San Andres (OSA). The WfM are supporting this work in Peru. Fri 10th Andy Bathgate (SU Scotland) is retiring in March, and the post of Chief Exec is currently being advertised. Pray that God would guide the recruitment process. Sat 11th Pray for refugees and others who have had to flee from their homes to find safety, liberty and peace. Give thanks for the freedom we have in our country. Sun 12th Pray for all those who gather to worship in Lennoxtown today and Rev. Kenny Macleod as he leads them through their vacancy. Mon 13th As teachers and pupils settle back into school routine, pray for all those involved in education; particularly remember your local schools. Tues 14th Pray for the work of 20schemes, that gospel churches may be planted in Scotland’s poorest communities. Pray for the next generation of indigenous church leaders and for partners, churches and ministries to resource this work.

Prayer requests to: ian.macdonald57@btinternet.com. Please take time to send requests for your congregation or ministry to be included in forthcoming Records. These prayer notes are prepared 5 weeks in advance of publication.

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FREE CHURCH NEWS SOUTH UIST AND BENBECULA INDUCTION

n tuesday 8th october 2019, the presbytery of the western isles met in balivanich hall for the ordination and induction of the rev. thomas penman to the pastoral charge of south uist and

benbecula free church.

The moderator of presbytery, the Rev. James MacIver, minister of Stornoway Free Church, led the service of worship, taking as his focus the words of Psalm 117. Mr. MacIver explained at the outset that this short psalm packs a big punch. He proceeded to explain that the love of God is evident in the Old Testament, and that all people everywhere are called to praise God — a God whose love is steadfast and whose faithfulness endures for ever. After the singing of some verses from Psalm 36 led by the Rev. Lachie Macdonald, and the completion of the necessary formalities, Mr. Penman was ordained and inducted to the ministry. Given the inclement weather in the lead up to the induction, the Rev. Calum Smith, minister of our sister congregation in North Uist, aptly applied that analogy and, referring to Psalm 46, advised Mr. Penman to expect stormy patches, periods of beautiful calm, but also some very ordinary days. Rev. David Macleod, who served as interim-moderator in the vacancy, based his address to the congregation on three scripture verses that had significance in the vacancy. He paid tribute to the congregation’s vision, instructed them to prayerfully expect growth and advised them to allow their minister time to sit at the feet of Jesus. Following the service and the customary presentations, the congregation enjoyed a time of warm fellowship with old and new friends, tasty treats served by Stepping Stone Restaurant, and fitting and well-crafted speeches from Mr. Penman and from three of his friends in the ministry: the Rev. Robin Gray, the Rev. John Johnstone and the Rev. Benjamin Wilks. We commit Tom, Mhairi and their delightful little daughter, Deborah, to God in prayer, asking that He will supply all their needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. •

THE GATHERING BY IVOR MACDONALD

ach spring for the last two years, kilmuir, in the

Highland croft. For some working with livestock and the land is old, familiar territory. For many, however, being present when a lamb enters the light of day, shaking and sneezing, is a moment of breath-taking beauty that makes the heart soar in awe and wonder of the Creator. Each morning we celebrate the joy of working together and learning about the gift of land. The second is to enable each individual to grow in their Christian discipleship. Each evening we have a time of worship and training. Training subjects for the future include one to one evangelism and handling the

beautiful isle of skye, has been the base for an experience we call “the gathering” The Gathering

aims to gather around 15 young Christians, mainly but not exclusively from the Free Church and see how God blesses us as we live in community for 5 days or so. The Gathering doesn’t fall neatly into any category. It’s not Boot Camp, holiday or mission trip although it does have elements of each. In fact the Gathering has three aims. The first is to give an exposure to spring work on a

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doctrine of sonship. These times are the focal point of our discipleship, but discipleship carries on throughout the day. We believe that shared work and shared fun should be offered up as worship and that some of the best discussion of Christian teaching takes place informally, in the car, walking along the road, working in the field. The third aim is to be a blessing to the local church and community. The local Free Church congregation have been very kind to us — providing the manse as accommodation in time of vacancy. We want to encourage them by being present at the prayer meeting, Sunday services and bringing the kind of practical help that a group of young people can offer. This year we joined in a community litter pick on one of the beaches. All of this is laced together with a lot of enjoyment. Afternoons are given over to seeing some of the sights of Skye. With the Quirang around the corner and the sea eagle soaring overhead you don’t need to travel far in order to stand in awe of God’s handiwork. What might a typical day look like? Early morning lambing checks for the very keen! Breakfast plus morning devotions Work on the croft Lunch Explore the island/activity or chill time Dinner Worship/training/prayer time Supper/chill

Some quotes Gatherings:

from

past

“it was great to really be in community together throughout the whole week sharing meals together, working on the croft, touring the island worshipping, discussing the Bible, having impromptu times of prayer and testimony late into the night and just enjoying God’s creation together.” “the most memorable incident when touring was when Emily was scrambling the rocky Quirang in a pair of pink brogues. This girl always looks good!” “Hearing the psalms sung in Gaelic for the first time was beautiful and having a time of fellowship with our brothers and sisters in church was a treasured memory.”

The Gathering is open to all young people 16 to 30 and there is no cost apart from a share of transport costs and food costs. Next year’s dates are April 14th to 20th 2020. To enquire or book your place get in touch with Ivor MacDonald on ivormacdonald@btinternet.com or 07794441995 •

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LOVE MATTERS

addictiveness of pornography and its links to sex trafficking and aims to offer better a future. Rev. Norman Mackay, minister of Govan Free Church, said, ‘Having worked with Kate in Govan, my wife Alison and I wholly commend this ministry to our denomination. Apart from invitations to youth meetings, this is a work which requires multiple levels of support and we would ask you to carefully consider joining with us in this. ‘A whole generation of young people are being exposed to and are accessing internet pornography. The statistics are quite staggering. Love Matters is another firewall against it, and it is a ministry we cannot do without.’ The ministry also runs parental workshops aimed at parents with children aged 8-18 years old. You can find out more about the workshops and read Kate’s blog on lovematters.org.uk •

new and timely ministry aimed at tackling the sexualisation of children in scotland has been

launched by kate mitchell, the former editor of the Govan Voice magazine, a publication produced by the Govan Free Church Plant. Love Matters aims to support young people, schools, parents and youth workers in addressing these issues particularly with regard to the increased influence of pornography in our society. The work offers support, information and advice in this area with a specific focus on young people. They offer educational opportunities to raise awareness of these issues. The new project looks to support a generation of young people seeking to navigate the current culture, by providing them with the information that will empower them to make positive relationship choices. This raises awareness of the damaging effects and

NEW PREMISES FOR STIRLING FREE CHURCH

church plant in stirling will move to pastures new this sunday

having

outgrown

their current premises.

Stirling Free Church held its first public service on the 30th of June 2013 in a Scout hall and moved to the Smith Art Gallery and Museum in February 2014. Two years later, Rev Iain MacAskill was called from his charge at Rosskeen Free Church to the work of church planting on a five-year appointment. At the General Assembly this year Stirling became a recognised © The Robertson Trust: The Barracks - Stirling congregation in its own right. Having out-grown the Smith, the congregation are looking forward to relocating both Sunday Services to the newly refurbished Barracks in the heart of Stirling. The Rev Iain said, “We have enjoyed our time at the Smith and have experienced many blessings there. On our last Sunday, we held a Baptism Service and hit the maximum capacity of one hundred people. The new facility will offer double that with break-out rooms available for creche and Sunday School. We are thankful to the Robertson Trust for accommodating us and keeping us informed of developments all the way through.” For the past three years, the church has also rented a former city centre betting shop, now known as The Well. This has been home to the congregation’s weekly outreach activities including the Wee Wellies Toddler Group, Bible Studies, Student Ministry and evening services. However, this facility is under threat due to an application being lodged with Stirling Council for a change of use. The Rev Iain stated, “We are not concerned as we believe the Lord will provide as he has done in the past. Instead, we are looking to the future. Our aim is to fulfil our mission statement to make Jesus known in Stirling and beyond. We would love to see as many people as possible joining with us in our new home in The Barracks.” •

THE RECORD

DECEMBER

LOVING AND SERVING IN GOVAN BY ANNE JAMIESON WITH REV. NORMAN MACKAY

ovan, glasgow is rarely out of the news.

My eyes have been opened. All around there is terrible suffering, the extent of which I never fully appreciated before now. Very few people in this community have been spared deep personal pain and there is hardly a family that has not known trauma of some kind. For many people in Govan, just getting through the day is a huge victory. My life has been enriched. All the folks who come into our café are becoming more like friends and family. Perhaps some of the younger ones look on me as a kind of grandmother figure, which is so endearing. We are all on first-name terms and it is wonderful to experience people entrusting their life stories to us as well as wanting to hear ours as well. Whatever someone’s background, we love and care for each and every one. My horizons have been widened. I love this church. It’s tempting to think that as we get older the opportunities to love and serve are fewer. My experience has been the opposite. Sitting listening to young men and women whose lives have been blighted by addiction and crime has opened up a whole new season of listening and caring. God has kept the best till the latter stages of my life. •

The deployment of riot police locking the area down, murders, drug-dealing and multiple deprivations all make for sensational reading, selling tabloid newspapers and creating the impression of a housing scheme that is simply a no-go war zone. Given this impression we would not normally expect to find a lady in her 84th year joining with and committing herself to the Govan Church planting venture right in the heart of our community. But that is exactly what has been happening recently with Ann Jamieson. Here is Ann’s story: Recently God has brought me into a new season in my Christian life and one that has blessed me greatly and surprised me incredibly. In short, he led me to be part of this exciting church-planting venture. As well as church life in general, I just love our street café on the Govan road. Every Tuesday local friends come in and we all know each other like a family. When I first talked to Norman in the Govan office I am sure he thought I was mad. What’s an elderly lady like me doing coming to this sort of work? So how has God blessed me through this experience?

ISLANDS STUDY CONFERENCE HARRIS HOTEL, TARBERT, ISLE OF HARRIS 7th-9th February 2020 SPEAKERS

Rev. Alasdair I Macleod Edinburgh “The Praying of Christ”

SUNDAY AFTERNOON FOCUS Rev. Kennny I Macleod Stornoway Free Church My Years in Ministry

Rev. Dr Robert Murdock Faith Mission College Principal “The Body, The Love Story, The Athlete” Residential cost-£175 Student Discount Available (Application in writing with £10.00 non-refundable Booking Fee per person) Booking Secretary (Hotel Residents & Day Visitors) Chrissie Macleod Mobile: 07584 497567 Tel: 01851 820 632 Email: chrissie.macleod@googlemail.com Chairman Murdo Graham Mobile: 07833 552100 Tel: 01851 820 696 Email: bookharrisconference@mail.com Conference website: www.isc.scot

2019

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WOMEN FOR MISSION WESTERN ISLES BY ANNE-ETTA MACLEOD

n a beautiful , warm , sunny evening , wfm

drown out the still, small voice of the Lord? Megan is often asked how she and Jim came to work in Benin. French-speaking West Africa might seem a strange destination for a man who failed French at school. But Megan is a French teacher and they became friends when Jim wanted to learn French. Jim is a water engineer and the people in Benin were short of drinking water. The local church wanted to help provide water and introduce them to Jesus, the living water, at the same time. So, the couple were invited and off they went! Megan told us that ‘John 10:27 says, “My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” If we are his then we can say “The Lord is my shepherd.” What a kind and tender Master! He knows me. He knows which gifts he has given me; he knows my weaknesses better than I do, he doesn’t taunt me or play games with me. He leads me beside quiet waters.’ Megan reminded us that we yet tie ourselves in knots, trying to make decisions. A helpful hint is to use the G. TEST. We should ask ourselves these three questions: ‘Is this to God’s glory?’ ‘Is this for others’ good?’ ‘Will this lead to my spiritual growth?’ It is Scripture which helps us to become attuned to God’s voice: ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths’ (Proverbs 3:5-6). God also speaks to us in the world he has created (Psalm 19:2-4). We are living in the theatre of God’s glory. Look how great and powerful and beautiful he is. Our shepherd, the One whose voice we want to listen to, was there when God established the skies above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep (Proverbs 8:28). But, what is the relationship between becoming captivated by the beauty and glory of Jesus and listening to his voice? When we are gripped with the glory of Jesus, when we know that he is King and that this world is not our home and that we are made for another world, then decision-making isn’t complicated. But obedience sometimes is. Love leads to obedience. We sheep follow the Master we love, he who first loved us. We read in Hebrews 5 that, during the days of Jesus’s life on Earth, he offered up petitions and prayers with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death. He was heard because of his reverent submissions. Although he was a son, he

western isles held their 13 th annual event in the cabarfeidh hotel , on the outskirts

of stornoway .

Friends and acquaintances were greeted warmly. The baking stall, laden with delicious fare, was doing a brisk trade, as was the craft stall with its display of fine items. In the dining room, which was so beautifully arranged by the staff of the Cabarfeidh, our Chairperson, Donna Maciver, welcomed everyone in her own inimitable style and invited Fiona Maclean to say the grace. A feast was then laid before us by a very slick team, and we ate our fill. Praise was then led by Sheila Nicolson, whose rich voice encouraged us all to sing praises to our Lord from Psalm 80. Donna outlined news of last year’s fundraising and the projects for which we will be fundraising this coming year. Our solo singer for the evening was Katy Graham, who sang two beautiful items of praise – one in English and one in Gaidhlig. What a wonderful gift she has. Our guest speaker for the evening was Megan Patterson. She has several years’ experience working in Benin Republic, Niger and Burkina Faso, along with her husband, Jim. Currently she works as an education consultant with Serving in Mission, engaging with teachers worldwide. Her passion is to help Christian teachers think about the impact of worldview on classroom life. She regularly runs seminars in biblical worldview for teachers around the world. The title of Megan’s presentation was ‘Listening to the Shepherd’s Voice’. She began by relating a conversation she’d had with a young man in the ETS library. She asked him what he was going to do when he finished his studies, to which he replied that he didn’t know, but that he was willing to do anything. ‘That’s great,’ she replied, ‘the Lord will open a door for you.’ Then she asked her audience if it was right to say that to the young man. Is it hard to discern what God wants us to do in the big decisions of life – where to work, where to live, who to marry? What about everyday decisions like whether we should invite friends round for dinner, and if so, what should we give them to eat? How do we discern what is the prompting of the Spirit and what is our own inclination? Is it possible for the two to be the same? What about the evil one? Does he mess with our heads and

THE RECORD

DECEMBER

learned obedience from what he suffered. If Jesus learned obedience through what he suffered, so must we. So often the issue isn’t knowing what to do, it is wanting to do it. Jesus tells us to ‘pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest’ (Luke 10:2). He tells us to ‘make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28:18). His revealed will is crystal clear. It is not a matter of not knowing in our part, it is a matter of obeying. Then there is God’s secret will, made known in his providence. Sometimes we make plans and God turns them upside down. Proverbs 16:9 says, ‘In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.’

But God only permits what we are able to endure, by his grace. Megan told us that her most painful experiences have been in connection with her daughter’s emotional and physical health, which meant they had to return home from Benin. Megan brought her presentation to a close by reading Psalm 27. Following a Question and Answer session, Shona Davidson brought the evening to a close by giving a vote of thanks to all involved in making the evening such a success. •

QUOTATIONS CHRISTMAS

“

Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that he gave his only son. The only requirement is to believe in him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life. Corrie Ten Boom

“

ENSPIRE 2020

”

Greyfriars Free Church, Inverness

Saturday 7 March 2020 9.30am - 4pm

'Sisterhood' Teachings from

Christmas means that, through the grace of God and the incarnation, peace with God is available; and if you make peace with God, then you can go out and make peace with everybody else. And the more people who embrace the gospel and do that, the better off the world is. Christmas, therefore, means the increase of peace—both with God and between people—across the face of the world. Timothy Keller, Hidden Christmas

“

Titus Speakers: Ann Allen and Katherine Davidson

”

An event for ministers' wives. Friendship. Food. Worship

He lies in a manger, but he holds the whole world in his hands; he is swaddled in rags, but clothes us in immortality; he could find no room in the inn, but makes a temple for himself in the hearts of believers. St Augustine, Sermon 190

2019

”

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND PLEASE CONTACT ENSPIRE.WOMEN@GMAIL.COM

Creche available

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Can we be good without God? BY REV. STEPHEN ALLISON

CHRISTIAN MORALITY Because God exists, we have a basis for an absolute morality grounded in his character. ‘For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us’ (Isaiah 33:22). God is the source of morality beyond ourselves, upholding the perfect standard of right and wrong. This source is unchallengeable. It must be if it is to show us how to be good. God is the ultimate arbitrator of all things. The issue of competing views of right and wrong is resolved in God. We can abide in him and trust his absolute goodness. We have a touchstone against which to compare our moral choices which does not change with our mood, feelings or the prevailing culture. It rests upon our unchanging Lord. We are blessed to have a God who is there and who is not silent03. He has graciously given us objective truth in his word, to train us ‘in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work’ (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Christians have a consistent basis for morality on the basis of the character and nature of God. A basis that does not depend on us and is ultimately able to decide between competing moral values. But is there any other basis for morality?

he question of whether a person can be good without god might seem a strange one.

After all, surely none of us would be so arrogant as to claim that only those who believe in God can live a good life. In fact, Christians recognise that others who do not share our faith can live exemplary lives. So, is that the end of the matter? By no means. This is not a question of practice. At its deepest level, it is a philosophical question: how do we know what is good? Do we have a way to distinguish between right and wrong, between good and evil? Is there such a thing as objective morality, a set of standards everyone can be measured against? Or is the alternative true; that values we hold dear are in fact mere social convention? If morality is just social convention, can we really say that any action is truly good and truly right? The question of whether a person can be good without God is not a question of whether ‘belief in God’ is necessary for morality but whether the ‘existence of God’ is necessary for morality — if God does not exist is there any alternative basis for morality?01 MORAL RELATIVISM Moral relativism, prevalent in our society today, states that morality is essentially a personal thing. We each determine what is right and what is wrong for ourselves. But if we reach different conclusions, how are we to settle the conflict? Moral relativism says we are both speaking our own truth and neither has the right to tell the other that they are wrong. The problems with this are clear. If I believe it is right to harm you, who has the right to tell me I cannot? Timothy Keller, in The Reason for God, argues moral relativism begs the question: ‘Aren’t there people in the world who are doing things you believe are wrong — things that they should stop doing no matter what they personally believe about the correctness of their behaviour? If you do (and everyone does!), doesn’t that mean you do believe that there is some kind of moral standard that people should abide by regardless of their individual convictions?’02 Consider an example — What if you came across someone being attacked in the street? Would you walk by as though it were none of your business? In the end we want justice for ourselves and for others. We know that within us there is a desire to help our fellow humans. It is not satisfactory to say we have no right to interfere. Consequently, as a way to live our lives, moral relativism is not an option. So, what are the alternatives?

THE RECORD

GODLESS MORALITY Alom Shaha writes: ‘Despite not believing in God, and not believing in an afterlife where I might be rewarded or punished for my behaviour, I try to be a good person. That’s the most any of us can do.04 ’The problem with Shaha’s position is that he tries to be a good person. This exposes the fact that he has no way to objectively prove that his behaviour is actually good. If his morality is not derived from God, how can Shaha avoid moral relativism? One option is to say that the majority has the right to decide right and wrong — is this not the point of democracy? But it is problematic if the majority decide to exterminate the minority. If this seems wrong, the same question arises – on what basis can you say it is wrong?05 Another option is to try to formulate a scientific, naturalistic basis of morality. One of the strongest attempts to do this is the Atheist Sam Harris’ book The Moral Landscape, subtitled ‘How Science Can Determine Human Values’. Unfortunately, the book does not live up to its subtitle. Harris does not even attempt to demonstrate how science determines moral values. Instead he can only offer that ‘kindness’ and ‘happiness’ have a role to

DECEMBER

play in determining what behaviours are morally good and that ‘one day’ science might be able to make ‘precise claims’ about what is ‘morally good’. We must conclude that Harris has failed in his attempt to provide a basis for morality in science. Harris is not alone in his belief that morality exists as a product of some form of naturalist evolution. The general view is that altruistic people, acting unselfishly and cooperating with one another, survived in greater numbers than those who were selfish and evil. Yet this gives us no reason to be good if it does not serve us well. We should take advantage of every opportunity we have, provided we can get away with it. But we know this runs contrary to our conscience. Humans even put themselves in danger to save another.

unsatisfied. He could have ended with the nihilism of ‘everything is up for grabs’ but instead feels compelled to conclude his article a different way. He cannot deny his conscience that tells him certain actions are absolutely right and wrong. In his article Nihilism and the End of Law, Phillip Johnson has suggested that Leff’s article is really a critique of Nietzsche’s argument. Johnson continues by stating that while what Leff says is fascinating ‘what he failed to say is more fascinating still’. If there is no ultimate judge of morality ‘then there is no real distinction between good and evil’ and yet we know that evil is real. Accordingly, we must re-evaluate the premise and conclude that the reality of evil points to the reality of the judge — the reality of God.07 Unlike Leff, Christians have hope. Leff is left crying out for a God who can say that all the horrendous behaviour he describes is wrong. Christians know that God does exist. He has spoken and he is abundantly clear. There is such a thing as evil. Ultimately, he will have the final word and evil will be punished.

We do not measure up even to our own standards. So how are we to deal with this failure? Only Christianity offers us hope when we fail to be good.

GOD IS GOOD No consistent basis for morality apart from God has been found. Other explanations fail to satisfy our desire to do what we can to end suffering and to help others. God is the ultimate lawgiver and the basis on which we can challenge injustice. The very fact that we have a conscience, which provides our moral sense, is one of the strongest reasons for believing God exists. Of course, it is not enough to recognise that we need God to justify morality. We must ask who God is and if he is knowable. The Bible makes clear that God has revealed himself to us most perfectly in Jesus Christ. Jesus embodied goodness as he lived the perfect life. But he also helps us to deal with our failure to be good. Like Alom Shaha, we all try to live good lives. Yet we also know that we do not measure up even to our own standards. So how are we to deal with this failure? Only Christianity offers us hope when we fail to be good. Jesus provides the solution through his self-sacrificial death on the cross. In love he died for us, paying the penalty for our failures so that we could be forgiven and renewed in Christ. He gave us the Holy Spirit to be at work in our lives transforming us into his likeness. And he promises to one day do away with the evil in our lives completely when we are glorified to live with God forever. •

If we can’t find a naturalistic basis for morality we must look for our definitions of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ elsewhere. It seems that the only consistent response apart from God is to be found in nihilism or existentialism — that there is no morality at all. Nietzsche suggested that, in the absence of a lawgiver separate from ourselves, we must become ‘gods’ and decide what is right. In such a system we return to moral relativism but in practice power rules — the strongest will determine the laws that govern us all. The tragic example of 20th Century dictatorships show that this only leads to oppression. In 1979, Yale professor Arthur Leff published an extraordinary article entitled Unspeakable Ethics, Unnatural Law. Leff sought a basis for absolute morality, but he utterly failed. He wanted a foundation for law not based on the will of government and not based on a God he feels unable to prove. He concluded: ‘All I can say is this: it looks as if we are all we have. Given what we know about ourselves, and each other, this is an extraordinarily unappetizing prospect; looking around the world, it appears that if all men are brothers, the ruling model is Cain and Abel. Neither reason, nor love, nor even terror, seems to have worked to make us “good”, and worse than that, there is no reason why any thing should. Only if ethics were something unspeakable by us could law be unnatural, and therefore unchallengeable. As things stand now, everything is up for grabs. Nevertheless: Napalming babies is bad. Starving the poor is wicked. Buying and selling each other is depraved. Those who stood up and died resisting Hitler, Stalin, Amin, and Pol Pot – and General Custer too — have earned salvation. Those who acquiesced deserve to be damned. There is in the world such a thing as evil. [All together now:] Sez who? God help us.’06 For Leff, who was an agnostic, there is no real hope at the end of his article. He never tackled the problem of morality again. He was left with nothing and was ultimately

2019

Rev Stephen Allison is the minister of Kiltarlity Free Church. The article printed above is a shortened version of the original. The full article is available at: solas-cpc.org/can-we-be-good-without-god 01 02 03

04 05 06

William Lane Craig, On Guard, p134 Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, p146 See Francis Schaeffer, The God Who is There & Francis Schaeffer, He is There and He is Not Silent Alom Shaha, The Young Atheist’s Handbook, p45 Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, Arthur Leff, “Unspeakable Ethics, Unnatural Law”, Duke Law Journal, 1979, p1249. Phillip E. Johnson, Nihilism and the End of Law

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Â©Marius Civilis /Shutterstock.com

OH LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM,

THE RECORD

DECEMBER

HOW STILL WE SEE THEE LIE.

2019

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Global Challenges Facing Christianity: The ‘Prosperity Gospel’

evangelical theology mixes with mind-power thinking, with Kenyon teaching that believers have a right to divine healing, and that healing can be brought about by speaking positively and by making demands of God in prayer. The third stream is rooted in utilitarian and pragmatic thought. We see it manifested in our cultural captivity to consumerism. The fourth stream is post-World War Two Pentecostalism. This once-marginalized group of Christians began to focus on prosperity, blessing and contractual theology. The movement centred on many healing evangelists who, from the 1960s onwards, began to replace tent meetings with televangelism. The fifth stream is the Word of Faith movement of the 1970s. This stream taught that a Christian with faith could speak into existence anything which was consistent with the will of God. The sixth stream is from the majority world and is an amalgamation of Christianity, African Traditional Religion and/or Asian Shamanism. Variants on all of the above also can be found with a ‘soft prosperity gospel’ approach – evangelicals who don’t even know they are dabbling with prosperity gospel teachings.

n october the record reported that one of the figureheads of prosperity theology is reconsidering

his views. Nevertheless, the movement’s teaching continues to persuade Christians around the world. The fifth General Assembly of the World Reformed Fellowship took place in Jakarta, Indonesia in August. 1,200 delegates considered the many challenges currently facing Reformed churches worldwide. As part of a seminar moderated by the Rev. Dr Fergus Macdonald, Jack C. Whytock addressed the ongoing influence of the ‘prosperity gospel’.

Seminar in Jakarta - Prosperity Gospel

WHAT IS THE ‘PROSPERITY GOSPEL’? Sometimes known as the ‘health and wealth gospel’, this teaching considers financial riches and physical wellbeing as evidence of God’s pleasure with the faith of believers. The Christian life is understood to be a contract between God and his people. In other words, if people have enough faith, then God will bless them by giving them money and health. General characteristics have emerged from the prosperity gospel movement which can help us to identify it. For example, those who teach it tend to use the language of empowerment, stressing Christ’s work as healer and a liberator from financial bondage. They focus on the abundant life: giving and being blessed materially in return. There is also emphasis on the power of positive thinking and of people releasing their potential to succeed in material terms. A hierarchical, pyramidal form of church governance is also common

HOW HAS IT GAINED INFLUENCE OVER CHRISTIANS? The scriptures are at the heart of this movement, but the Bible is used very selectively. The constant scriptural emphasis is upon the Abrahamic covenant as a means to physical blessing. The prayer of 3 John 2 is a constant reference point (‘Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul’). Other scriptures often leaned on range from the prayer of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:10 (‘“Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.’) to Mark 10:30 (‘who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life’). The issue here is a mis-use of scripture or, to state it more accurately, a failure to follow the rules of proper interpretation. Scriptures such as Mark 10:17-24 (Jesus’ discussion with the rich young ruler), Luke 9:57-60 (the cost of being a disciple), and the prayer of Proverbs 30:8 (‘give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me’), to mention just a few examples, show how to apply a fuller interpretation to the concept of the blessings of God. Despite the continuing influence of the prosperity gospel, we should also note with thanksgiving that there are some within this movement who are emerging out of

WHERE DID IT COME FROM? Though there are several strains of this kind of theology, a broad evaluation of the movement reveals six separate streams. The first emerged out of the old holiness stream and can be traced back to the late 19th century and a focus upon physical healing. Not all in this stream have fully embraced the modern phenomena of the prosperity gospel, but there is a historic root here. The second stream comes from Mind-Power Teaching and is rooted in the theology of E.W. Kenyon. Here

THE RECORD

DECEMBER

Understanding the Christian life as a contract with God through which greater faith results in greater blessing is a return to the error of the mediaeval church’s selling of indulgences. such teaching and embracing a more historic, evangelical theology and ministerial model.

particular false teaching can be found in past ages. Just as our forefathers identified errors or unbalanced teachings before us, so in our contemporary global context, this is one such challenge that many will be required to face today. A couple of helpful books on this subject are Kate Bowler’s Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel (2014) and Costi Hinn's God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel (2019).

WHY SHOULD IT MATTER TO US? The prosperity gospel has many challenges for the evangelical and reformed community. It has clearly been able to lead many people astray. When the prosperity gospel gains an influence over a Christian, it leads to a de-emphasis upon the classical understanding of Christ’s atoning work. It inevitably brings a materialistic idolatry. It replaces the reformed doctrine of sola scriptura (scripture is the supreme authority) with a model of human authority, failing to acknowledge the sovereignty of God and his will. The teaching behind the prosperity gospel fails to correctly interpret scripture, and often seeks to add both cultural and pagan influences to the Bible’s revelation. Understanding the Christian life as a contract with God through which greater faith results in greater blessing is a return to the error of the mediaeval church’s selling of indulgences.

Rev. Dr Jack C. Whytock is a Free Church minister, visiting lecturer and governor of Dumisani Theological Institute and a board member of the World Reformed Fellowship.,

HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND? The key to responding to the false teaching of the prosperity gospel is for the church to return to rigorous discipleship models of spiritual life which nurture Christians through preaching, Bible study, family devotions and personal spiritual formation. We must also seek to shape the curriculum of theological colleges and seminaries so that future Christian leaders are trained to identify and respond to this modern false teaching in the various forms it takes, whether in Africa, Asia, the Americas or Europe. Like most egregious and unbalanced Christian teachings, this

L to R. Jack Whytock, Fergus Macdonald, John McClean - WRF Seminar, Jakarta, Indonesia

WRF group photo Jakarta, Indonesia

2019

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CHRISTMAS IS A TIME OF WONDER Â©soupstock - stock.adobe.com

RODDIE RANKIN reflects on the marvellous truth of the incarnation.

THE RECORD

DECEMBER

It is easier for a reindeer to pass through Santa’s buttonhole than for a cynic to behold with childlike eyes the holy wonder of Christ’s birth.

O wonder most inscrutable, That human tongue can name, The God of all eternity A suckling child became! Dugald Buchanan, 1753

Later, to the infant Christ those emissaries come, finding the place. It was, you may say, satisfactory. They present their gifts. And leave. The holy family leave too. God’s Son, like his people, must be called out of Egypt. Was ever a story told like that? Let sceptics stumble, but this is the record of carefully-researched history. As John says, he came by water and blood.02 The amniotic sac broke, the umbilical cord was cut and the Son of Mary, of David and of God took his place in history, resetting the date and redeeming the world. John lifts the nativity to a higher sphere in the fourth gospel: The Word became flesh and pitched up in our midst.03 It’s Christmas, but not as we usually tell it. The Word precedes the world. The Word is with God and the Word is God. He belongs not with creation but with the Creator.04 As the Creator. For small human brains, these are mysteries to accept, not explain. Nothing in the creation is like the Word. He is not made as we are. He is not made at all. John says he is the one and only Son who is in the Father’s bosom.05 Yet, in Bethlehem he is revealed as embodied: flesh, meat, solid and substantial, bawling for his first feed. With which wonder shall we begin? Is it that God, who is Spirit, made a physical universe? What leap of imagination did that require? What novelty of thought? Or is it then that God the Son joined with that material world, taking into his person a real, human body and mind? That deed, that verity is so shocking to many that it has often been denied. Acceptance of it is a hallmark of godly faith: every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.06 The Docetists, who arose when the eyewitnesses had all passed on, claimed that, for propriety’s sake, holy divinity would not touch corrupted flesh; Christ only seemed a man. The disciples would beg to differ, to whom he said touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.07 We understand their concern for propriety. We too resist the washing of our dirty feet by our holy Lord. So, marvel at how close he comes to the dirt without becoming dirty; to being a sinner without any sin of his own. He was born in the likeness of sinful flesh.08 In that flesh he is tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin.09 We, whose wills often lie broken under temptation’s feet, ask how Christ’s spotlessness is possible? It is the greatest wonder in all of God’s works. Our tongues, which are guilty, must worship the Lord; our hearts, hung in shame, must rise to adore. He is holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.10 Yet he is not super-human. It is a mistake to imagine the embodied mind of Jesus somehow melded with the >>

or me as a child, the wonder of christmas was felt when kneeling at the foot of our tree in a darkened

room. Magical shafts of fairy light played among the strands of shimmering tinsel, scattering coruscating constellations of colour. It was the wonder of dancing baubles and mysterious parcels gaily wrapped. It was whispered secrets, and bright revelations of coveted gifts to joyous hearts. It was the knowledge that behind the festive scenes lay the hidden workings of a jolly being and his helpers. It is no surprise that as adults we seek to recapture that wonder in the annual rituals, enduring the stress, expense and inevitable anticlimax in the hope that we might but touch the hem of Saint Nicholas’ garment. We are addicts, pursuing the illusion that this will be the Christmas to finally relieve our cravings, while we strive to forget the cold turkey that inevitably awaits! Disappointment fosters cynicism. And it is easier for a reindeer to pass through Santa’s buttonhole than for a cynic to behold with childlike eyes the holy wonder of Christ’s birth. But praise God! What is impossible with man is possible with God.01 Our true encounter with the transcendent wonder of Christmas begins in the first three gospels. We watch wide-eyed as the long-planned, much-foretold story develops. None other than Immanuel comes! The Father’s time is now. Breathless angels receive his announcement and tell first a peasant virgin. God’s Son is uniting with his creation in her womb! Sweet is her submission, great is her faith. Her cousin’s miraculous conception confirms the gift. The humble shall be exalted; the hungry filled. Just in time the angels tell Joseph. They add a detail long overlooked: it will be from sin that the Child will save, not from the Romans. Their empire is God’s servant, now moved to count men so that the God-Man may be born in the place God said. And he is. Mary wraps her firstborn and lays him in the hay. In the East a sign is kindled in the night. Star-gazing ambassadors begin a journey. Irrepressible angels spill glad tidings before astonished shepherds. In turn they too cannot be silent: the foolish, weak, lowly and despised become unlikely heralds for the greatest of news. Soon the temple throng chimes out the glory-words of Simeon.

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“Behold the marvel of all marvels, given already: the most wonderful of wonders, the Everlasting God committed to us in this little child, that we may welcome him and love him.” Rev. Hugh Martin, 1858 << Son’s eternal mind, raising the consciousness of Jesus to omniscience. God’s way was to make him like us. From the manger to the cross he must learn as we do, his mind dependent on his senses and on whatever the Holy Spirit gives him. Like us he begins with ignorance. Like us he learns the things which please the flesh. His brain, too, has dopamine. Unlike us, he refuses to be ruled at any time by his feelings. He keeps his feet from being entangled in the briars of desire, although he daily walks among them. How close he comes to sin but never sins, in order that he who had no sin might be made sin for us.11 Yes, the greedy shadow of the cross even casts its ravening gloom across the crib. It is no accident that the Jerusalem authorities set Rachel weeping for her children12 in their first efforts to exterminate God’s Son. That purpose would remain their driving motivation until it succeeded, because they served a demon who stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.13 If all this looks like God’s plan gone awry, stand back and see its place in God’s eternal scheme. Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you.14 There were no accidents in the drama of Christ’s life. No players missed their cue, nor were their lines misspoken. God made evil serve the good. What remarkable, life-transforming power there is in believing these things, that we may take our place in the sequel to the Christmas story. He was “born to raise the sons of earth born to give them second birth”. A birth requires a conception. There is another wonder. We are intricately woven, the works of God, fearfully and wonderfully made.15 Your body is a marvellous triumph, built according to the master plan of God written into your genes. Both parents contribute to those genes: in the case of boys, the X-chromosomes come from the mother, the Y-chromosomes from the father. Jesus had a real, human, male body. He was made like his brothers in every way.16 We know where his X-chromosome came from. What of the other? It does appear that the Spirit of God chose an egg in Mary’s womb, and supplied to it that necessary male contribution. Showing the same minute molecular mastery we saw in Jesus’ healing of the shrivelled hand, he secured the biological basis for the earthly body of the Word. There was a virgin birth by the power of a heavenly Father. The Word took the nature of homo sapiens. Were there other possibilities? Setting aside pointless speculation about unknown lifeforms, there was another race of sinners for whom he might have chosen to

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suffer: the fallen angels. Might we have been the ones compelled in our chains to watch a rescue drama unfold, from which we would never benefit? Tremble for the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling – these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.17 For truly it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.18 Is not the privilege we have as heirs of salvation doubled by that fact? If there were other needy worlds to which he might have gone, the glorious fact is that Immanuel set his feet on planet Earth. Much is made these days of our insignificance in cosmic terms. This azure world, that is home sweet home, is a long walk into the back of beyond, from the end of a dusty track to galactic nowhere. Yet apparently to God it is creation-central, the capital to which all roads lead. Who would have dreamed it? We live in the one world among the stars on which God has walked twice: once by our side in a garden, and then in our nature in the wilderness. Sustaining the vastness of worlds untold, he contracted to a span, to be clothed in our fragile smallness, that he might clothe us in his eternal glory. God is speaking to us. The Word was in the world, and the gospel histories tell us what he said: Come to me ... for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.19 The Nativity bears out these words. We expect no royalty majestic enough, no palace sufficiently splendid for his coming. He is the King of Kings. Yet in character he is meek and lowly. He is prepared to stoop as low as it takes to get his invitation to where it is needed. Come to me! It is we who are aloof; we who have pretensions of a dignity that will not bow. Come to me! Let the heart of the cynic melt before the wonder of God’s eternal, yet newborn Son. Come to me! To whom will you offer gifts this Christmas? Travel with wise men to worship your Lord, and open your treasures20 to him.• Rev. Roddie M. Rankin is minister of Kyle and Plockton Free Church 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Luke 18:27 John 5:6 John 1:14 John 1:1-3 John 1:18 1 John 4:2 Luke 24:39 Romans 8:3 Hebrews 4:15 Hebrews 7:26

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

2 Corinthians 5:21 Matthew 2:18 Revelation 12:4 1 Peter 1:20 Psalm 139:14,15 Hebrews 2:17 Jude v6 Hebrews 2:16 Matthew 11:28 Matthew 2:11

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ETS NEWS BY REV. THOMAS DAVIS

HOW IS THE ETS FUNDED?

which are an amazing blessing. Sometimes these are one-off gifts which are a massive boost when they come. But, because you can never be quite sure when these one-off donations will come, they don’t always provide a consistent channel of income for planning for the years ahead. Other people give regularly to ETS directly and, like the one-off donations, this support is a huge blessing and help to the seminary. The additional income that ETS gets on top of student fees comes to around £50,000 per year. So all in all ETS generates an income of around £260,000 per year. Now, if we take the overall cost (£480,000) and subtract the income (£260,000) we are left with the total cost of ETS to the church: it is £220,000 per year. How is this paid for? The answer is that it is covered by what we call a ‘subvention’ from the Board of Trustees of the Free Church of Scotland. That basically means that the Board of Trustees provides £220,000 per year from the church’s central funds to cover the cost of ETS. And the Board of Trustees get their central funds from the donations that people who go to church make. So that means that part of what you give to your local Free Church congregation each week or month is used to pay for the cost of having our own seminary at ETS. Let’s break that figure down a wee bit. £220,000 sounds quite a lot, but thankfully that cost is shared out over a lot of people. The Free Church has around 100 congregations and over 5,000 members. If we divide the cost of ETS between 5,000 members, then the annual cost to each member is £44. That’s less than £1 a week. In fact, it is 12p per day! Now, I know I am biased, but I think that’s a bargain! Because the cost is shared out, the burden on each giver is much smaller. So those are the two main ways in which the expenditure at ETS is covered; just over half comes from income from fees and direct donations to ETS, and the rest comes from provision made from the Free Church central funds by the Board of Trustees. What that means is that everyone who gives to the Free Church each week is making a crucial contribution to support ETS. And because of that, we are so grateful to you. ETS could not exist without the kindness and generosity that you show each time you contribute to the work of the Free Church. So that’s the basics of how the ETS finances work. ETS is not a money-making enterprise. It may never cover its costs fully. But it does do a crucial work in training men and women to go out into the communities of Scotland and beyond with the good news of Jesus. If all that saves even one person from a lost eternity, then it’s worth every penny. •

aving your own theological seminary is a brilliant resource for a church.

But surely it’s quite expensive? How is ETS funded? Can we afford it? This month, we are giving readers a brief introduction into to how the finances of ETS work. (Please note that I have rounded off the figures to make it simpler!) So, the big question is, ‘How much does ETS cost?’ Well, to work that out we need to calculate two things. The first is the expenditure required to run the seminary. The second is how much money the seminary brings in as income. The difference between these two is the net cost for the church. If the income of ETS were the same as the expenditure required to run it, then ETS wouldn’t cost anything overall. If the income were higher than expenditure, ETS would generate a profit. Sadly, we’re not quite there yet! So, what is the total expenditure needed to run ETS? The answer is just under five hundred thousand pounds. To be more precise, the expected figure for 2019 is about £485,000. The bulk of that cost (about 70%) is salaries. The full-time staff at ETS is currently made up of the Principal, four full-time lecturers and the Seminary Secretary. In addition there is a part-time Admin Assistant, but the administrative workload is increasing so much that the 2019 General Assembly recommended that this should become a full-time post as soon as possible. Full-time lecturers are paid more than ‘normal’ ministers; it is 1.8 times higher than the ministers’ stipend. One of the main reasons for this is because ETS doesn’t have manses, so a lecturer at ETS usually has to pay rent or a mortgage and other household expenses that a minister in a congregation wouldn’t have to. Overall it probably works out pretty even. Other costs for ETS are things like insurance, utilities, rates, building maintenance and keeping the facilities (computers, library etc.) running well and up to date. There is also a small amount spent on advertising courses and general day-to-day expenses. Altogether, it adds up to just under £500,000. So how is all that paid for? There are two main ways in which this cost is covered. The first is through the income generated by student fees. At the moment, this comes to just over £200,000 per year. The course fees at ETS are set to be in line with the equivalent costs at other seminaries (in fact, quite often ETS is a bit cheaper) and we feel it is very important that we keep fees as low as we can so that as many people as possible can take advantage of the opportunity to study theology. The fact that we have had many more students has not only been a huge encouragement, it has also helped raise the level of income that ETS brings in, which goes a long way to help covering the costs. ETS also gets given some donations,

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THE LATE DONALD MACRAE (1941-2019)

onnie macrae , an elder in Dingwall and Strathpeffer, died on 25th September 2019, aged 78. He was born in Glasgow in 1941 to parents from Plockton in Wester Ross and North Tolsta in the Isle of Lewis. From the age of eight Donnie grew up in Stornoway. He was educated at the Lews Castle College and worked as a shipping clerk before joining the Glasgow Fire Brigade service. Later he trained as a joiner at John Brown’s Shipyards in Clydebank. There he came into contact with asbestos dust, which had serious consequences for his health in later life. Donnie was the devoted husband of Sina Murray, from Laxdale, Stornoway. They were married in Glasgow in 1965 where they attended Milton Free Church. Their son, Angus, was born in 1967. The family relocated to Lewis, where a second son, Donald, was born in 1971. Donnie worked in the construction industry, firstly in partnership with his brother-in-law, and then as foreman for building companies maintaining Ministry of Defence properties. His final employment was as a Buildings Inspector and Grants Officer on projects improving the quality of housing for people throughout the Hebrides. Donnie heard the gospel all his life, both in the Free Presbyterian Church of his childhood and then in the Free Church. He came to faith gradually, becoming a member of Stornoway Free Church in 1986. There he gave valuable service and counsel as a deacon. Donnie and Sina moved to the mainland in 2001 to be close to their sons and grandchildren. They joined Dingwall and Strathpeffer Free Church, where Angus was the minister, forging deep bonds of love and friendship with the church family. Donnie loved God’s people and wherever he went he quickly made friends who remained friends for life. Donnie became a deacon and was elected as an elder in 2009. He loved to visit others and his home was always hospitable. A man of prayer, he had a kind and encouraging word for young and old. He took delight in using his practical skills to tend and improve the churches he loved in Stornoway, Kilwinning and Dingwall. Donnie served in the local Presbytery and was a member of the Free Church General Assembly in 2014 and 2015.

THE RECORD

Donnie gave unstinting love to Sina and his sons, their wives and his five grandchildren. In the past five years he faced health problems related to Myelodysplastic syndrome (or MDS). His exposure to asbestos caused breathing problems. After a minor operation to remove a skin cancer, he contracted MRSA and spent the last two weeks of his life in Raigmore hospital fighting the infection. It was a privilege to spend time with Donnie as he accepted bodily weakness with calm and assured confidence. He was alert, free from pain, and much comforted by the presence of God. Alone at night in his hospital room he felt that an angel had been sent to strengthen his faith. Despite excellent care, Donnie was too weak to recover. As we thank God for every memory of Donnie, we are certain he has entered the Kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world for all those blessed by God the Father, looking with joy on the face of the King. Donnie’s very comforting funeral service was conducted by Rev. Andrew Macleod, assistant minister at Tain and Fearn. Donnie greatly enjoyed attending the marriage of his granddaughter Eilidh to Andrew in June 2019. The funeral praise concluded with these words: With every breath I long to follow Jesus, For He has said that He will bring me home; And day by day I know He will renew me, Until I stand with joy before the throne. To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus; All the glory evermore to Him. When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat: Yet not I, but through Christ in me! We commend Donnie’s wife Sina, his sons Angus and Donald and their families, and his brother Murdo and sister Margaret to the God of all comfort.•

DECEMBER

THE LATE MALCOLM FRASER (1957-2019) BY REV. ANGUS MACRAE

alcolm fraser,

a gracious elder and gifted precentor in Dingwall and Strathpeffer Free Church, went to be with Christ on Thursday, 18th April 2019, aged 62. Our greatest sympathy is for his wife Laura, and his children, whom he loved so dearly. Malcolm was born on 31st March 1957, the youngest child of Dinah MacAngus, of Hilton, Balintore, and Malcolm (Mackie) Fraser, a motor mechanic who ran a busy garage in Dingwall. Malcolm worked in the Assessor’s Department in Dingwall for 41 years. He loved to get out surveying properties for valuation, especially in the beauty of the West Coast. He often took his children, Abigail or Josh, with him to hold the measuring tape and eat his sandwiches. Dingwall Free Church and Christian faith were at the core of Malcolm’s life. He was converted at a young people’s conference in Brora, under the preaching of Rev. David Paterson. He professed faith in Jesus, becoming a member of the Dingwall congregation, where he would later serve as a deacon, elder and senior precentor with his unique voice and good sense of pitch and timing. In December 1981 Malcolm and his friend Murdo Murchison re-established an annual Christian Weekend at Kilravock Castle for young adults. Their intended speaker, Kenny MacDonald, had to call off as his daughter Alison had gone missing in India. Yet, the Lord used that event and similar conferences to bless countless young lives. Many went on into full-time service for the Lord as missionaries, church planters, elders and ministers. It was at Kilravock that Malcolm met Laura. They were married at the Free North, Inverness, in July 1986 and enjoyed a strong and loving marriage for 32 years. Their home was always open, welcoming and hospitable. It was not easy for them to have a family, but God was gracious and blessed the couple with three beautiful children: Abigail, born in the heavy December snows of 1995; Emily, who was sadly stillborn in 1996; and Josh, who completed the family in 1998. The loss of Emily was a time of spiritual pain but also of spiritual growth. Malcolm gladly welcomed Llŷr Johnson from Cardiff into the family circle as if he

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were a son, and was delighted that Abi and Llŷr were building their lives on Christ and planning their marriage for August 2019. That joyful day, just four months after Malcolm’s passing, was filled with love and thankfulness for the fathers of both bride and groom, who had each recently passed into the nearer presence of the Lord. Malcolm looked after the congregation’s fundraising to support missionaries sent to Asia with OMF. He was a great encourager with a heart full of love, and a vision for the growth of God’s Kingdom. In late 2018 Malcolm was diagnosed with cancer. These months of illness were not easy, but his faith shone brightly and he was an increasingly bold witness, urging family and friends to place their faith in Jesus. His prayers were wonderful and holding his hand to pray with him was unforgettable. It was a joy on two occasions for a group of the church family to share in communion with Malcolm and family in their home. Malcolm never ceased participating in the worship and fellowship of the church, using the Live Stream Services from Dingwall Free Church during his illness at home and in Highland Hospice. Malcolm was sad to be leaving Laura and his precious family, but he longed to be with Christ and he hoped finally to get to know his daughter Emily, whom he was sure he would meet in the glorious presence of God. To the end he loved the Lord, his Word and his people. Malcolm was a forgiving man, able to let go of anger, willing to overlook the faults in colleagues and fellow Christians. He loved the story of the prophet Elijah. Elijah experienced illness, exhaustion, and depression, but he was spared the pain and death that Malcolm was called to endure. For Malcolm, death, the last enemy, had to be faced. He faced it by faith and with courage. His family were with him when he left behind all physical trials and joined in the victory of the Risen Jesus. A very large company gathered for his funeral in Dingwall and burial beside Emily at Ferintosh. We sang rich praise from the Psalter and the reassuring words of In Christ Alone: ‘No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me; from life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from his hand; till he returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!’ We miss Malcolm’s friendship, advice, prayers, and encouragement. But we look forward to renewing these loving bonds in a renewed creation. The church family offer our love and our sympathy to Laura, Abi, Josh, Llŷr and all the family in their loss.•

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BY IAIN GILL A series of short articles about Jesusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; resurrection.

THE RECORD

DECEMBER

f you look for a book on the resurrection of jesus you will find lots of them ,

but almost all will be about whether or not the resurrection actually happened. This article is the first of a series about the significance of the resurrection. We’ll not spend much time on whether it happened, but concentrate on why it happened. If the ‘whether’ question interests you, there are recent books that almost certainly will convince you of the reality of an actual, physical resurrection as a historical event. N.T. Wright’s The Resurrection of the Son of God (SPCK) is an excellent book, an absorbing read and beautifully written. IVP subsequently published The Resurrection of Jesus by Michael Licona. The writer is an American academic and the style is more difficult, but it is thorough. Both books are very convincing. I love Paul’s approach to the ‘whether’ question. He was writing, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, about 25 years after the event and effectively says, ‘Speak to anyone who saw Jesus after he rose from the dead. More than 500 saw him and most of them are still alive.’ No fancy vision theories for Paul. And his subsequent argument about the meaning, which we will look at over the next few months, makes his belief clear: ‘If Christ has not been raised...you are still in your sins’ (1 Corinthians 15:17). But Christ is risen! Our objective will be to explain why we should shout Hallelujah. We will look at many aspects of a sadly neglected subject that lies at the heart of our Faith.

Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov: Appearance of Jesus Christ to Maria Magdalena (1835)

A QUICK ANSWER TO A BIG QUESTION Imagine you are in a café with a friend, just the two of you having a coffee and a chat, catching up on news about family and friends. Then your friend says: ‘There’s something I want to ask you because I reckon you will know the answer. I’ve been going to church recently and I think I get the reason for Jesus’ death on the cross. But I have not heard any explanation of the resurrection. Why did it happen? What is its point?’ Could you give an answer? Why did Jesus rise from the grave? Jesus was raised from the dead for the same reason that he died. You cannot separate the death and the resurrection. Each depends on the other and both are utterly essential to the Gospel. Paul is very clear about this. ‘If Christ has not been raised,’ he says, ‘you are still in your sins’, and ‘your faith is in vain’ (1 Corinthians 15:14-17). The resurrection was the first of four stages in the exaltation of Jesus. In Philippians chapter 2 Paul says that Jesus was exalted so that he would be worshipped, and that this was all to God’s glory. We’ll see later in this series how that works. Our salvation depended on God raising Jesus and enabling him with the power that will lead to the church being presented to God, forgiven and spotless in Christ. In Romans Paul says, ‘He was raised for our justification’ (Romans 4:25). If you try to break down the three-day event and attribute specific aspects of our salvation to either the death or the resurrection, you will inevitably run into trouble. Paul may appear to do this sometimes, but the split is more illustrative than theological. You cannot have the eternal life that is promised, with a glorious resurrection body, and skip the bit about dealing with your personal sin. You cannot have forgiveness if you believe that Jesus’ resurrection did not really happen. So why the resurrection? For the same reason that Jesus died. He died and rose again because of my sin and yours. He died and rose from death to release us from sin and give us eternal life. • Iain Gill served as General Treasurer of the Free Church until 2004.

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BOOK REVIEWS Christmas really is just around the corner. So for our book reviews this month, we’re doing things slightly differently. As well as a handful of books you might like to buy as gifts, or even request, we’ll also be highlighting some of the best seasonal devotionals and giveaway books. All are available at https://thefree.church/books-christmas.

BOOKS FOR YOU! COME AND BEHOLD HIM DAVID J. RANDALL (2019) Fourteen short, readable chapters, through the eyes of fourteen different people. Whilst this is not a devotional or meditation, it could be used for your own personal study on the lead-up to Christmas. It is Christmas through different eyes, and some of these eyes are surprising! There’s Job, for example, along with some of the prophets, Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds, the Wise Men and Herod, Anna and Simeon, Paul and the apostle John, and those who received the letter to the Hebrews. Each of the chapters focuses on a verse which refers to the Messiah. Randall explains to us what it would have meant for that person, leading on to apply that to our own lives. Recommended for those who wish to see ‘Christmas through Different Eyes’. • Fiona M. Talbot, Plockton & Kyle Free Church

THE ONE TRUE LIGHT TIM CHESTER (2015) I highly recommend Tim Chester’s advent devotional, One True Light: Daily Readings for Advent from the Gospel of John. In twenty-four short chapters, Chester leads the reader through John 1:1-18, unpacking the detail of every verse and relating it to a different aspect of Jesus’ mission and identity. This book is remarkably comprehensive in its presentation of the Gospel story, from the calming of the storm to Moses’ revelations of God in the wilderness and back to Jesus’ death and resurrection. It isn’t particularly concerned with overflowing inns or magi bringing gifts (although Santa Claus does get an honourable mention); rather it is focused on the greatest gift of all — Jesus, the light, life and revealer of God’s glory. The One True Light is written in Chester’s usual conversational style, full of relevant anecdotes as well as significant spiritual truths. And for those like me, who also love a bit of Christmas, the reflections at the end of each chapter are based on traditional carols. This book is the perfect antidote to the crazy consumerism of Christmas, bringing us right back to the glorious Gospel message of the Nativity. • Miriam Montgomery, Free Church Books

THE RECORD

DECEMBER

BOOKS TO GIVE AWAY NEW FOR 2019 CHRISTMAS JACKPOT ADRIAN REYNOLDS The Gospel is the only guaranteed "get really rich quick" scheme available.

GOOD NEWS, GREAT JOY WILLIAM TAYLOR Amusing, yet unavoidably evangelistic, this leaflet is perfectly pitched to the non-Christian.

BOOKS TO GIVE AWAY TRIED & TESTED THE WEIRDEST NATIVITY ANDREW SACH & JONATHAN GEMMELL Not your usual nativity. This one has a (biblically accurate) red dragon!

THE LONGEST WAIT ALISON BREWIS & JENNY BLAKE The latest in this series of delightful rhyming children’s stories. Are your children already sick of waiting for Christmas? They’re not alone.

HOW CHRISTMAS CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE JOSH MOODY Ten common questions with ten persuasive answers.

MURDER ON CHRISTMAS EVE MAUREEN GREAVES & ROGER CARSWELL A real-life tragedy. A truly lasting peace.

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CHRISTMAS: THE GREATEST GIFT PAUL WILLIAMS The Christmas message may at times be as difficult to get through as sellotape on a present, but behind it is the gift of a lifetime.

BOOKS TO GIVE AS GIFTS DESTINY DAVID GIBSON (2016) In this book the minister of Trinity Church, Aberdeen, takes us through the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, omitting only Chapter 8. It is not a verseby-verse commentary, but an attempt to catch the elusive flavour of each chapter, under the general rubric of ‘Take the one thing in the future that is certain — our death — and work backwards from that point into all the details and decisions and heartaches of our lives, and think about them from the perspective of the end.’ This, in the reviewer's opinion, sheds a flood of light on the meaning of what to most readers, and most commentators, is a very puzzling book. In the course of his book, Gibson takes up a remarkable number and variety of human concerns, all of which are shown to have been equally in the thought-world of the author of Ecclesiastes. They include the injustices and frustrations of life, its unfinished quality, the place of enjoyment and pleasure in life, the realism of bodily decay — all held within the outlook of the wise man who has >>

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<< come to terms with his Creator and is willing to leave his destiny within his loving hands. The style of writing is fluent and engaging — until the author confronts the reader with another startling punchline, just as the Preacher himself does. And the questions at the end of each chapter are no mere summation of its contents but raise challenging issues which can be relied upon to stimulate any study group that uses them. • Donald Mackay, Knox Church, Perth

CHOOSING LOVE (IN A BROKEN WORLD) HEIDI JOHNSTON (2019) Choosing Love is a true gift appropriate for girls between the ages of 12-18, but could be equally instructive for an adult seeking gentle discipleship in this area and prepared to listen again as a child. Like its clever title, the book may be read in at least two ways. First, it is a biblically-based reminder of the priority which God has placed on loving intentionally in all of our relationships: ‘The way we treat the people in our lives matters more than we can possibly imagine.’ The author debunks the misconception that love is only a feeling and teaches with examples that real love asks, ‘What can I do to love this person like Jesus?’ The other reading of the title deals, of course, with core issues surrounding choosing one’s mate. There is wise counsel here and much that will encourage young hearts to shape their desires in the right way from early, including a standout chapter on biblical expressions of covenant which bring to life the wondrous security of true commitment. Choosing Love is composed of 11 short chapters, each followed by questions for discussion and reflection. In conversational style and with an honest, engaging tone, Heidi Johnston effectively handles weighty matters without heaviness and there is a sense of being invited further into the fullness of God’s Story. • Gayle Maynard, ETS

IS GOD GREEN? LIONEL WINDSOR (2018) This is a really fantastic book that gives a solid, biblical and hopeful framework through which to look at the current environmental issues of the world. It is a very accessible book that takes us from the start of Genesis right through to the new creation at the end of Revelation to see how God’s plan for his creation fits into the biblical narrative as a whole. This book constantly points the reader to Jesus, helping us to work out how our status as a new humanity under Jesus affects the way that we view our world. It gives reasons for why we as Christians should not despair at the state of our world, neither be complacent about the clear brokenness around us. This book is short and easy to read and comes highly recommended to anyone wanting to understand more of how we as Christians should respond to the climate worries of the world today. • Rowan Corrigan, St Columba’s Free Church

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DECEMBER

that the small car is better than no car, I say that with many illnesses, at least I have the NHS and a really great surgery! I miss home more than I can say, but I have a loving family who cares for me no matter the distance. I also have a lot of worries. Most of the previous ones mentioned, and more: guilt, anxiety, fear, anger. These places are where contentment does not reign, because these are the areas where my trust fails. I would describe contentment not as an uncomplicated, placid happiness, but an assent that God is good in your present hardship, and God will make good what is hard. Some kinds of contentment are only found through the experience that ‘tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character; and character, hope’ (Romans 5). Even though I’ve learned that lesson many times, I always find it hard to believe that the God who has always helped me will still help me tomorrow. Contentment is the Amen of our character. It’s

few weeks ago i was sitting in a meeting for the women of st columba’s to plan our next in-house conference.

We needed some folk to give a testimony about struggling with discontentment in their stage of life. ‘I can give one,’ I said. ‘I’ll call it “I got everything I ever wanted and I hate it”!’ After a burst of laughter, they made it clear to me that a scriptural message should come out of the talk, rather than just a stream of complaints about the life of a housewife. Now the conference is looming, and so I’ve sat down with my computer to wonder what I can actually say about finding contentment in the Lord. I remember about six years ago asking a friend to pray that the Lord would give me either a baby or a book — the two deep longings I’d been seeking him for. Fast-forward to 2019, with three babies and three books, and I often feel terribly sorry for myself. Parenting feels relentless. I am on call, if not actively with the children, twenty-four hours out of

DEEP-DOWN CONTENTMENT DAYSPRING MACLEOD finds peace in the everyday storm.

each and every day. I haven’t had an uninterrupted night’s sleep in eight months. I’ve struggled to maintain close friendships because I’m too tired to leave the house at night. The house seems to be constantly breaking down, the car is too small, the cloud of homesickness is always hanging over me, and I usually seem to have some kind of minor illness. I do love my writing and editing, but I have to fight to find time to fit it in. It’s not unusual for me to work with the baby balanced with one hand, the computer with the other, to the soothing background symphony of Scooby-Doo. Would I say I’m content? Yes, I would. Here’s the reason. I believe — because I have to believe — that you can be struggling and content. Exhausted and content. Bereaved and content. Ill and content. Depressed and content. Stressed and content. Not only that, you have to be. Contentment can’t just wait for the calm waters and green pastures; it has to shine its light in the dark valleys too. I look at the beautiful children around me, and the work God has given me to do, and I say that it is good. I say that he is faithful. I say that the fallingapart house was still a miraculous provision, I say

2019

saying ‘The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed by the name of the Lord.’ It’s asking God why life is so hard, with pain but without bitterness. There’s contentment in the utter, blind, agonising trust of ‘Into your hands I commend my spirit.’ So the contentment is there, deep down, when I stop to look at it. But how to maintain a more cheerful attitude when the going gets tough? I find that one thing which helps is to be in the habit of telling myself a story of gratitude. Very often in my glum moments the Lord reminds me of the provisions he’s made in the middle of the trial. There’s also a sense of perspective: my daughter is in school now, and the baby is well past the newborn stage. Experience has taught me that this doesn’t last forever, and at the same time taught me to savour the good moments, the ones I’ll miss (this does not include getting all the kids into their car seats or having them climb on me when I really need a nap). And as always, singing helps. If you can’t remember the whole song, only one line will do. Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side. •

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MISSION MATTERS A monthly take on some of the mission work the Free Church is involved in by our Mission Director, DAVID MEREDITH.

et’s

honest,

mission

has

always

persons unknown. Rope holders are found in simple prayer meetings all over the nation calling on God to bring light into dark places. I think of two of our missionaries working in an area where there is literally no light. The task is impossible from a human perspective, but they are sustained by the knowledge that people are mentioning them by name before the face of God and in the presence of the family of the Church. In the context of rope-holding, prayer is not routine but is an integral part of the ministry. My mind goes to another one of our missionaries who found himself in a meeting with nine other believers 25 years ago. These were people who witnessed for Jesus in their native land. A country where Satan is

been

contentious.

Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh and the disciples of Jesus were not into children. Famously, in 1792, William Carey wanted to take the gospel to India, but there was opposition. Fallen human nature leads us to concentrate on the negative rather than the positive. Satan is the steward of the half-empty glass. At times, encouragement seems to be in short supply. There is another side to the story. Arguably, the father of the modern missionary movement was William Carey. Carey’s associates formed the wonderfully named ‘The Particular Baptist Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen’. None of this ‘Generation’ nonsense for these boys. Carey was

Each local congregation is called to be a band of rope holders. The enterprise of mission requires a mix of personalities, gifts and risk appetite. It’s perfectly honourable to be a rope holder. both bold and shameless. He is the only person to remain of the ten; all the others have met with bloody martyrdom. Our friend needs you to be a rope holder. Think also of the young church planter in a deprived part of Scotland who has just lost his lovely wife after a period of depression. A battle with the black dog where the dog seemed to win the fight. Being at the end of the rope does not mean simply holding a limp rope; there are times that we give it a tug. The rope is tugged for two reasons. The first is to find out of the person is still responding, but the other is to let the man or woman in the darkness know that there is still one in the light who knows that they are there. We don’t always know who the person is at the end of the rope. Often, we are not aware of who they are, but that doesn’t matter. A tug at the rope may mean a heart-felt email or some money in an envelope or even a standing order to give long-term stability to the ministry. Prayer and cash. Rope-holding means much more than that, but both would be a good start. •

encouraged by this support from home as he likened his mission to going into deep, dark and unexplored mines. Out of this context came the expression, ‘If you go down to the mines, we will hold the rope.’ Each local congregation is called to be a band of rope holders. The enterprise of mission requires a mix of personalities, gifts and risk appetite. It’s perfectly honourable to be a rope holder. We are thinking of the ways in which those of us who are not fully signed-up missionaries can support those who are. What do rope holders look like? I write this on the day of Bill Anderson’s funeral. Bill was the caretaker and curator at the Free Church Offices and Edinburgh Theological Seminary for over twenty years. Whenever I met Bill he would say, ‘David, I pray for you every day.’ He did not simply pray for me, but for all the students who went through ETS during his time and many more besides. A rope holder looks like an old blind man praying in an Edinburgh flat for a young, clueless church planter in Inverness. When we witness a degree of progress in ministry we simply do not know to what extent that was prayed into existence by a person and

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DECEMBER

Fialaidheachd an Athar (The Father's Generosity) LE JANET NICPHÀIL

ha là taingealachd an fhoghair a-nis seachad,

agus sinn a’ cuimhneachadh aon uair eile gur ann bhon Chruthaidhear a tha aimsir fhàbharach airson fàs a thoirt air gach nì càilear a chuireas sinn air bòrd. Nach sinn a tha math dheth? Tha a h-uile nì air am bheil sinn a’ cur feum, ann am bùthan, agus goireasan againn aig an taigh, airson seo ullachadh. Tha mòran air bòrd gach duine, a dh’ fhàs ann an rìoghachdan glè fhada bhuainn, ach a tha air a thoirt gu sàbhailte gu na bùthan againne. Dh’ fhaodadh gu robh barrachd teas anns na rìoghachdan san do dh’ fhàs iomadh meas annasach a dh’itheas sinn le càil. Nach còir dhuinn uile taing a thoirt dhan Chruthaidhear airson A mhòr-mhaitheas dhuinn? Feumaidh sinn cuimhneachadh gu bheil mòran air feadh an t-saoghail, nach eil cho math dheth rinne. Tha iad ann am bochdainn, iomadh là acrach, a’ cur feum air cuideachadh. Leughaidh sinn ann an Soisgeul Lùcais, iomradh air bean a thàinig le bocsa alabastair làn de ola chùbhraidh? Sheas i a’ gul, a’ fliuchadh casan an t-Slànaigheir le a deòir. An-dèidh dhi A chasan a thiormachadh, ‘ dh’ung i leis an ola iad’. Bha i a’ cur meas mòr air maitheanas ,agus bha a gràdh mòr d’a rèir. Nach e sin gu dearbh iomradh air taingealachd ag èirigh à cridhe làn? B’e facail choibhneil a labhair Iosa rithe, agus sinn a’ faicinn an seo cho tròcaireach ’sa tha Criosd.

Fàgaidh na rinn a’ bhean-sa sinne le ceist mhòr, ’s sinn a’ faighneachd, ‘Dè a tha sinne a’ dèanamh airon ar taingealachd a shealltainn Dha? Nuair a tha A mhaitheasan gar cuartachadh ann am pailteas, tha e cho furast’ dì-chuimhn’ a dhèanamh air an Tì a th’air cùlaibh a’ choibhneis-sa. ’S dòcha gu robh ginealaichean romhainn na bu mhothachail air a choibhneas, ’s iad air a bhith eòlach air bochdainn. Tha fios gun cuireadh iad meas mòr air fialaidheachd a’ Chruthaidheir dhaibh, nuair a dh’atharraich E am freastal. •

Tha gach sgìre eòlach air naidheachdan duilich, nuair a tha an Cruthaidhear a’ toirt A mhuinntir Fhèin dhachaigh, ach tha fios againn gu bheil an Cruthaidhear a’ toirt A mhuinntir Fhèin dhachaigh gu bhith còmhla Ris. Bidh sinne gan ionntrainn a-bhos, agus bidh a h-uile sgìre ag ionntrainn nan ùrnaigh aca. Is e E Fhèin a phàigh gu daor airson saorsa gach aon a cheannach. Is ann Leis-san a tha iad, agus an-dèidh an làithean a-bhos, bidh E gan toirt dhachaigh gu àite a chaidh ullachadh dhaibh. Nach biodh e feumail dhuinn gu faigheadh sinn air a bhith a’ faicinn bàs a’ Chrìosdaidh mar sin? Tha e mar aiseag, a tha gan toirt gu sàbhailte gu cala beannaichte, air falbh bho gach sàrachadh a bh’aca air an talamh. Mar a thuirt an Dotair Dòmhnallach na bhàrdachd, ‘ Siud thairis air gach buaireadh mi Gach cunnart cuain is gaoith Gach laigs’, is ciont, is truaillidheachd, Gach pian, is gruaim, is caoidh; Is siud a-steach don lùchairt mi ’Sam faic mi gnùis an Rìgh; ’s na chomann iomlain, ùrail-san Gu seinn mi A chliù a-chaoidh’. •

Nach fhaod sinn na facail-sa a chleachdadh mu na rinn i ?

Abair gnìomh-gràidh à cridhe bha làn de thaingealachd spioraid airson Mòrachd A Ghràidh. Tè a thuig dè cho mòr ’s a chrom Tighearna na Glòir gus an teàrnadh E sinne is gum bitheamaid beò. Ann an dachaigh na Glòir chithear ise gun deòir is bidh an t-ungadh ud sìorraidh ga mholadh le ceòl.

2019

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POETRY PAGE LET US ALL, WITH GRATEFUL PRAISES BY JOSEPH HART Let us all, with grateful praises, Celebrate the happy day When the lovely, loving Jesus First partook of human clay. When the heavenly host assembled, Gazed with wonder from the sky; Angels joy’d and devils trembled, Neither fully knowing why. Long had Satan reign’d imperious, Till the woman’s promised seed, Born a babe, by birth mysterious, Came to bruise the serpent’s head. Crush, dear babe, his power within us, Break our chains, and set us free; Pull down all the bars between us, Till we fly and cleave to thee.

Photo by Greyson Joralemon on Unsplash

Joseph Hart (1712-1768) was an English minister and hymn writer. He ministered at the independent Jewin Street Chapel in London. Only one of his sermons remains. It is on Matthew 2:2, and was preached on Christmas morning 1767. However, his hymns — especially Come ye sinners, poor and wretched — have been sung since they were first published in 1759. The verses above are published in Fenner & Boswell (eds) Spurgeon’s Own Hymn Book, Christian Focus (2019), available from christianfocus.com •

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DECEMBER

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BY CATRIONA MURRAY

POST TENEBRAS LUX

Photo: Still from movie "The Wizard of Oz"

was

probably

greatest

christmas disappointment,

when the man with all the power and the magic turned out to be nothing more than a charlatan. From being the much talked-about hero, the mysterious unseen, he was ultimately revealed as merely ordinary, and even a little pathetic. I am speaking, of course, about ‘the great and powerful Oz’. When catastrophe befell Dorothy Gale with a tornado that blew her all the way from Kansas to Oz, she couldn’t figure out the way to get home. All the new friends she met along the way had the same answer, though — from Glinda, the Good Witch of the East, and the Munchkins through to the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion, everyone advised, ‘the Wizard will know’. And so, she set off on a journey along that legendary yellow brick road, set upon gleaning the wisdom of Oz. The unconverted life is really very much like Dorothy’s was in this film. You are at the mercy of every storm and tempest, with nothing to anchor you. When you find yourself in dire straits, therefore, you are dependent upon others for advice. It comes in abundance – they pop up at every stage of your journey, saying, ‘the Wizard will know’, and ‘the Wizard will tell you’ — but it may very well prove to lead somewhere that is more hopeless even than where you started. Dorothy meets three needy characters along the way. One lacks brains, one wants a heart, and the other courage. They, too, believe that the Wizard might

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help them. The assistance he offers, however, is exactly the kind that you may expect to receive when all your trust is in mere men. He cannot bestow a brain on the Scarecrow, and so he gives a university diploma. Neither can he fit the tin man with a flesh and blood heart, and instead gives him a watch which is shaped like one. The Cowardly Lion cannot be made courageous, but he can be given a medal for bravery. Outward appearance is very important to the world. If you have a certificate of cleverness, then you are deemed to be clever. No one need look beyond what is apparent, because a very little satisfies. They showed that film every single festive season of my childhood. It was a glorious, colourful extravaganza of music and storytelling for those of us who grew up in the pre-video age. But it was ruined for me when that curtain was pulled back to show Oz was only a snake-oil salesman, operating levers and using a machine to emit impressive puffs of smoke, feigning the booming voice of authority. It may have been just a story, but it touched some innate need that I think we all share, to believe that, when trouble comes, there is someone who will have just the right answer, someone who can free you from difficulty, and bring you home. Oz could not do that. Ultimately, the deeply unsatisfying message of The Wizard of Oz seems to be that we are the authors of our own destiny, that we must always

act to get ourselves out of trouble, because there is no ‘great and powerful’ to effect that rescue. Thank goodness, then, for the other perennial Christmas story — the original, the best. There, we do not begin with ‘the great and powerful Lord’; we begin simply, with news that a child has been born. Do not look for him in the majesty of an Emerald City, but in the lowliest of stables in Bethlehem. Look at the difference between the two narratives. In Oz, everything is built up to be more than it is and finally discovered to be nothing. Bethlehem, however, in that little manger, actually contains the hope of all mankind. Who but God could make such a plan and have it end in glory? No human mind could devise a ‘great and powerful’ whom we first find among the livestock, excluded from ordinary comfort, to say nothing of the luxury we normally associate with kings. None of his majesty depended on outward appearances, however. Christ the King is quite different to the disappointing Wizard of Oz. For, where Oz was all reputation and no substance, our Saviour is all substance – and was made of no reputation for our sake. The yellow brick road in Oz is a tapering one, but the path which leads to salvation is consistently narrow. My advice to anyone caught in the tempest would always be to follow that one, past the stable in Bethlehem, and upwards to Calvary. There really will be no place like home•

DECEMBER