The Record - February 2020 by Free Church of Scotland

THE

RECORD

MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND FEBRUARY 2020 • £2.00

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THE RECORD

FEBRUARY

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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 FEBRUARY RECORD

his month, we are talking about mental health.

04 WHY ARE YOU CAST DOWN? The Editor

We all have mental health. All of us experience times when we feel down, stressed or worried. We all need to take steps to cope with these feelings — it might be rest, exercise or catching up with a friend which works best. Often the feelings pass, but sometimes they can turn into a more serious problem. Despite the fact that mental health is a part of everyone’s life, there is still stigma and discrimination attached to mental health problems. According to See Me Scotland, half of people think that someone in their workplace with a mental health problem would be unlikely to talk about it for fear of losing their job. In the church, we should be able to talk about the battles we are facing as we bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). In this month’s Record, some of our contributors share their own experiences of mental health. We hope this can be the beginning of a broader conversation in our churches. • 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.

SOME STATISTICS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH

WORLD NEWS UK, USA, Nigeria, Sudan, Israel, China

PRAYER DIARY

FREE CHURCH NEWS Induction in Lennoxtown, Free Church Youth Conference, Walk With Me Devotional, Pop Up Salon in St. Columba's, Giving Thanks

MY DEPRESSION JOURNAL Chris Stone

SPURGEON AND DEPRESSION: IN HIS OWN WORDS The Editor

MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDYING Thomas Davis

RENEWING YOUR MIND Roddy Rankin

ILLUMINED BY THE GIFT OF REVELATION William M Mackay

OBITUARIES: JOHN S. GRAHAM, KENNETH MURRAY

WHY DID GOD RAISE JESUS FROM DEATH? PART 3 Iain Gill

BOOK REVIEWS

KICKING FEAR INTO FREEFALL Dayspring MacLeod

MISSION MATTERS David Meredith

FEAR-TOGAIL MO CHINN Janet MacPhail

POETRY PAGE Dugald Buchanan

Yours in Christ John

If you think you might benefit from extra support with your mental health, get in touch with your GP. The mental health charity Mind (mind.org.uk) is a reliable source of information. If you want to know more about supporting other people with their mental health, start with Biblical Counselling UK (biblicalcounselling.org.uk)

40 POST TENEBRAS LUX Catriona Murray

That in all things he might have the pre-eminence Colossians 1:18 2020

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Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash

Why Are You Cast Down?

THE RECORD

FEBRUARY

Getting our heads around mental health BY THE EDITOR

2019

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Christian faith certainly does not immunise us from experiencing mental health problems. Faithful people, walking closely with God, get depressed.

n the 21st century, humanity has sequenced the human genome, turned adult skin cells into programmable stem cells, produced a single pill to treat hiv, begun to develop targeted therapies which attack cancer but preserve healthy cells, and made keyhole

surgery the norm for many operations.

Our knowledge about mental health has also improved dramatically in recent decades. Medication is available to provide respite; counselling can bring recovery from illness. Yet some of the most basic questions about mental health are still unanswered.

THE HISTORY OF MENTAL HEALTH Mental health problems have long been recognised, and have long been misunderstood. Galen, a celebrated physician in ancient Greece, made important contributions to our understanding of the circulatory, nervous and respiratory systems. However, he also followed Hippocrates’ theory that differences in human mood were a result of imbalances in four fluids contained in the body. This led him to prescribe bloodletting as a cure for disease, and to identify excess ‘black bile’ as the cause of ‘melancholia’. Galen’s writing, the good and the bad, influenced medical thought for centuries. By the late Middle Ages, as economic and political upheaval threatened the power of the Roman Catholic church, superstitious theories were promoted. Beginning in the 13th century, people with symptoms of mental ill-health, particularly women, were persecuted as witches; others were accused of being possessed by demons. In the mid-16th century, understanding began to improve. Johann Weyer and Reginald Scot argued that mental illness is a disease and not related to demon possession. While their books were banned by the Inquisition, hospitals and asylums began to appear for people considered unwell. Although the superstitious understanding of mental health fell out of favour, people continued to be treated in an inhumane manner. They were contained against their will and lived in terrible conditions. Fear was considered the best way to ‘restore’ a mind to reason. In the late 1700s, Quaker asylum director William Tuke decided that a compassionate approach gave people a better chance of recovery. He ended bloodletting and stopped chaining people up, instead running his asylum like a strict household. Patients were encouraged to find health through self-discipline. This ‘moral treatment’ was championed across Europe, and construction of asylums increased rapidly during the 19th century. Although well-intentioned, moral treatment was still based on inadequate knowledge. Critics pointed out that very few people were cured, and the paternalistic approach of asylum directors made people dependent on the institution. At the same time, medics used the boom in asylums to experiment on patients. Understanding of mental health had not moved on much since the 16th century, but the increasing prestige of science allowed asylum doctors to establish themselves as experts in the field. There is little evidence of successful treatment. By the early 20th century, many asylums were overcrowded and isolated from the outside world. Controversial, and dangerous, treatments like electroconvulsive therapy and lobotomy were tested on patients, cementing the reputation of the asylum as a hopeless place which was to be avoided at all costs. The 1959 Mental Health Act signalled the end of the asylums, and the assimilation of psychiatric care into the hospital system. Psychiatric research followed suit, turning attention to the use of medication. Evidence-based knowledge increased significantly as a result, but the focus on pharmaceutical remedies was, as it still is, controversial. The validity of the dominant biomedical approach to mental health was first challenged by the ‘anti-psychiatry’ movement of the 1970s, but there was little immediate change.

THE RECORD

Mental health problems have long been recognised, and have long been misunderstood… though we have moved beyond Galen’s black bile, there is still no definitive answer on the causes of mental ill-health. Both Labour and Conservative governments of the era recognised, but did not address, the need for more community mental health services. This was despite public enquiries finding evidence of deficiencies in psychiatric hospitals. The 1990 National Health and Community Care Act aimed to improve life for people with severe mental illness. However, policy makers were preoccupied with the spectre of ‘dangerous’ people as much as with the provision of better services. The 1997–2010 Labour governments increased spending on mental health, though not by as much as the general increase in NHS funding. While the importance of mental health support is well recognised now, this imbalance remains.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS After centuries of completely inadequate understanding and more harm being done than good, things are certainly better now. Until 1959, mental health services forcibly detained people for long periods in large asylums. Today, most people live at home. Support is available for a wider range of issues, and expectations of recovery are much higher. In addition to medical care, help is available from counsellors, charities and people with their own experience of mental health issues. Nevertheless, people with severe mental illness are still liable to spend time in and out of hospitals. In fact, since the 1990s, the number of people who are compulsorily detained has begun to grow. And, though we have moved beyond Galen’s black bile, there is still no definitive answer on the causes of mental ill-health. Almost everyone working in the field agrees that social, psychological and biological factors are all important to our mental health. But there remain profound disagreements about how they interact, and therefore about what support to offer people. Professor Eric Kandel, a psychiatrist, neuroscientist and Nobel laureate, thinks that biological and neurological factors underpin all human thought, emotion and behaviour. As a result, he believes the causes of mental ill-health are chemical. On the other hand, Professor John Read, a psychologist and researcher, argues that there is no evidence which shows a genetic predisposition to mental ill-health. The evidence we have shows that the most reliable predictors of mental health issues are life events like stress, trauma and loneliness. Prof Read advocates talking therapy like counselling ahead of medication. Even so, life events alone are not sufficient to explain mental health problems because different people respond to similar experiences in very different ways. Why are we not in a position to be more definitive?

UNDERINVESTMENT Mental health is a complex field of study. The brain’s mechanics are difficult to fathom, and the variables involved in assessing how unique individuals respond to life events are impossible to control. But mental health research also suffers from a serious lack of investment. According to the Mental Health Foundation, the UK (a world leader in this area) invests about £124 million per year in mental health research. Each year, 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem for which they need support. In addition, we all experience stress, worry, anger and events which can be detrimental to our mental wellbeing. Yet, mental health researchers receive only 5% of the UK’s health research budget. As a comparison, the amount spent on cancer research each year is £612 million, or about £228 per cancer patient. The £124 million spent on mental health research equates to about £9 for each person with a mental health problem.

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Our testimony is not that we are stronger or better than other people. Our testimony is that we are equally mired in this fallen world, but by God’s grace alone have been given a rock of salvation on which to stand. MENTAL HEALTH AND THE CHURCH What role does faith have when it comes to mental health? This has also been misunderstood. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones exemplifies the misconception the church is still dealing with in his book, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure, published in 1965. He writes, ‘In a sense a depressed Christian is a contradiction in terms, and he is a very poor recommendation for the gospel.’ He is absolutely wrong, on both counts. Lloyd-Jones shows remarkable insight in identifying some of the causes of depression far more accurately than the biomedical model of his day would have done, but the ‘cure’ he recommends is extremely unhelpful. He says, ‘You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: “Hope thou in God” – instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way.’ This ‘pull yourself together’ approach may be a useful way to deal with discouragement or self-pity. It is not going to touch depression. We must reject the view that Christians should not be depressed or distressed. It is a kind of prosperity gospel, suggesting that bad things shouldn’t happen to Christian people. In order to avoid carrying an unnecessary burden of guilt and doubt, we need to reach a better understanding. Assurance of our identity in Christ and of our salvation can help us to cope with mental health issues. Prayer and meditation on scripture strengthen us and help us to recover from mental health problems like anxiety or depression. If God wills it he can, and does, completely remove mental ill-health from people. But Christian faith certainly does not immunise us from experiencing mental health problems. Faithful people, walking closely with God, get depressed. In addition, experiencing a mental health problem does not reduce the effectiveness of our Christian witness. Everyone has known some degree of mental distress. 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem they need some support with. If we pretend that Christians are not among them, we will appear deluded or disingenuous. Our testimony is not that we are stronger or better than other people. Our testimony is that we are equally mired in this fallen world, but by God’s grace alone have been given a rock of salvation on which to stand.

WHAT DIFFERENCE CAN WE MAKE? Amid an improving, but far from complete, knowledge about mental health, the truth of the gospel makes a difference. At its heart it is as simple as this: we are fully known, yet loved and accepted by God. No matter the pain or suffering we experience, we are never forsaken. God considers us worth saving. We have this assurance through Christ’s death and resurrection. In the Free Church, we have the advantage of being familiar with inspired words which speak for us. The psalms of lament provide language for times of distress, when we don’t know what to pray. We also know that there may not be complete healing now, but there will be a day when God wipes away every tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:4). Until that day comes, it is not good for us to be alone (Genesis 2:18). We need the practical support of Christian community. There are people in your congregation who are dealing with mental health issues – be open to talk about it. We each need friends who know us and can talk with us about the deep matters of human experience, and who notice when something is wrong. Finally, ‘we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses’ (Hebrews 4:15). As we get our heads around mental health, and continue to share the good news, others will know that ‘The LORD is near to the broken-hearted and saves the crushed in spirit’ (Psalm 34:18). •

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FEBRUARY

Some Mental Health Statistics

1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year

1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (such as anxiety and depression) in any given week

AT ANY GIVEN TIME:

ve PTSD 4% of people ha

ave ple h o e der of p 6% ty disor e anxi

8% an of p xie ty eopl &d eh ep ave res sio n

on ssi

pre

e ed v ha

le op e p of 1% % of peop 3 panic dis le have order a i b o e a ph le hav

f peo 2% o

25 Male

Rate per 100,000

20 Overall

15 10

Female

5 0 2016

GOOD NEWS

OVER THEIR LIFETIME: e av ts h h ple oug o pe l th of cida % i 21 d su ha

7% o self f peo p -ha rme le hav e d

1% of people have OCD

In 2018, there were

2014

The overall number of people with mental health problems has not changed significantly in recent years, but it appears that the way people cope with mental health problems is getting worse as the number of people who self-harm or have suicidal thoughts is increasing.

2018

784

7% o atte f peo p mp ted le hav suic e ide

suicides in Scotland an increase of 14.1%

Men are three times more likely to die by suicide than women. However the rate of suicides among women increased by 27.5% in 2018 In Scotland, the highest suicide rate is among men aged 35-44. In Scotland, the suicide rate among young people aged 15-24 increased by 53%, reaching 96 deaths in 2018

2/3 of people diagnosed with mental ill-health go on to make a full recovery

For more information and help: Mind.org.uk Samaritans.org biblicalcounselling.org.uk

WORLD NEWS

AMERICAS AFRICA EUROPE ASIA AUSTRALASIA A HOUSE DIVIDED (USA) Since his nomination and election in 2016, American evangelicals have wrestled with the idea of President Donald Trump. On a policy level, many have been supportive of his actions, particularly his appointment of pro-life federal judges. Others have opposed his draconian treatment of migrant families attempting to enter the US. His personal conduct has long been a cause for concern, but opinion polls have consistently shown strong support for Trump among evangelicals. Public figures such as Franklin Graham have lent their support to the President because he ‘defends the faith’. But, as the House of Representatives passed articles of impeachment in December, Christianity Today – the magazine founded by Franklin’s father, the late Billy Graham – called for Trump to be removed from office. CT’s editor-in-chief, Mark Galli, wrote: ‘None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character… That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.’ Galli’s concern is that continued support of Trump will damage the reputation of evangelicals, and consequently damage people’s understanding of the gospel. •

GENDER DEBATE AT WORK (EUROPE) Maya Forstater was sacked from her job at the Centre for Global Development. She says this was because she stated her view that, no matter how they identify themselves, a person born male cannot become female because sex is a biological fact not influenced by subjective belief. At the end of 2019, she lost an employment tribunal in relation to her dismissal. The judge commented that Forstater is ‘absolutist in her view of sex and it is a core component of her belief that she will refer to a person by the sex she considered appropriate even if it violates their dignity and/or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. The approach is not worthy of respect in a democratic society.’ Women’s rights advocates are becoming increasingly concerned that ‘gender’ is becoming more influential than ‘sex’ in legal terms. Their worry is that this will erode the right to provide services exclusively for women, such as domestic violence refuges. •

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FEBRUARY

GENDER DEBATE IN HOSPITAL (EUROPE) The Christian Institute says that new guidelines issued by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are advising hospital staff to treat women complaining about sharing a ward with a biological man in a similar way to people making racist comments. The guidelines envisage a scenario where a female patient raises concerns about sharing a ward with a transgender patient. The document notes that it would not be appropriate for staff to respond by saying they understand these concerns. Instead, the guidelines suggest they consider this situation in a similar way to ‘a white woman’ complaining about ‘sharing a ward with a black patient’. Susan Sinclair, an independent researcher on women’s rights, told The Christian Institute: ‘It’s important for hospitals to maintain single-sex wards, and for the privacy and dignity of all to be upheld. This policy fails to do that,’ adding that the comparison with racism is ‘abhorrent’ and ‘completely fails to acknowledge the fact that wards are separated by sex’, not by race. A spokesman for the Health Board said: ‘We ask that all patients, staff and visitors adopt an understanding that we are all part of the same diverse gender spectrum.’ •

ARK ARCHAEOLOGY (ASIA)

PERSECUTION IN CHINA (ASIA)

The Jerusalem Post reports that an excavation at Beit Shemesh, 20km west of Jerusalem, has uncovered a stone table whose age and location suggest it could be the place where the Ark of the Covenant sat after being returned by the Philistines (1 Samuel 6:13-15). Dr Zvi Lederman, who led the dig, said ‘this would be a rare case in which we can merge the biblical narrative with an archaeological find,’ while noting that it is not possible to prove this conclusion definitively from archaeological evidence. •

Government officials in China are continuing to persecute the church. By law, churches must register with the government and join either the Three-Self Patriotic Movement or the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. However, registered churches have faced serious restrictions in recent months. Religious liberty and human rights magazine Bitter Winter reports that Communist Party officials have edited sermons, removed crosses and replaced Ten Commandments displays with portraits of government leaders. As a result, increasing numbers have joined the unofficial house church movement. However, the state is intensifying attempts to shut down house churches. Officials have raided church members’ homes, confiscating books and forcing people to sign documents stating they will not hold religious gatherings. According to China Aid Association, more than 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church have been arrested and released. However the church’s pastor, Wang Yi, is yet to be tried. He could face ten years in prison as a result of the church using Christian books. •

VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA (AFRICA) Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) believes that more than 1,000 people were killed in Nigeria last year because of their Christian faith. HART reports that militant Islamist Fulani herdsmen are continuing a campaign to force Christian people from their homes. The herdsmen are pursuing a land-grabbing policy which the Nigerian House of Representatives has described as ‘genocide’. Hundreds of churches have also been burned. •

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN SUDAN? (AFRICA) Christians in Sudan are hopeful that greater religious freedom will be granted following statements by the Minister of Religious Affairs. Nasr al-Din Mufreh told International Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that Christians experienced ‘very bad practices’ under the regime of former President Omar al-Bashir. Mufreh also said that property stolen from Sudanese Christians would be returned through court proceedings, and confiscated church properties should be returned. ‘They [Christians] are Sudanese, and their religion is heavenly with its values and beliefs,’ he said, concluding that Christians have such a presence in Sudan that they should not be described as a minority. •

2020

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FEB/MAR 2020 PRAYER DIARY Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. Luke 1:68 Sat 15th Give thanks for all the courses available at ETS. Pray that all those who gather for the Saturday course in ETS and around the country today will benefit from their studies. Sun 16th Pray for the vacant congregation of Fortrose and Rev. Malcolm Maclean as they seek to serve the Lord in their community and use their new building for his glory. Mon 17th Pray for the Life Explored course that began in North Tolsta at the beginning of the year. Remember the congregation as they seek to be a greater witness for Christ in their community. Tues 18th Pray for guidance for those who believe God is calling them to become candidates for the ministry and for ministers within other denominations who are thinking of coming into the Free Church. Wed 19th Pray for God to guide families to place their children in San Andrés and so increase pupil numbers. Ask him to bring families that are spiritually open and ready to hear about Jesus. Thurs 20th Pray for the millions of our brothers and sisters who suffer harassment, torture, imprisonment and even death because they believe in God. Fri 21st The ETS Board is scheduled to meet today. Pray for them as they make decisions about training ministers. Sat 22nd Pray for our many rural congregations as they try to reach out into their communities and build bridges with those who do not come to church.

Tues 25th Pray for all those you know who are grieving the loss of a loved one. May God strengthen them as they go through the bereavement process. Wed 26th The Board of Ministry ask us to pray for them as they review the best way to train men for the Free Church ministry. Thurs 27th Pray for all those who have lost everything from the devastating effects of fire, thinking particularly of many in Australia over the past months. Fri 28th Pray for all those in authority as they work through the Brexit process. Pray that they will act and speak wisely with a spirit of integrity. Sat 29th Continue to pray against any attempts to legalise assisted suicide. Ask that all those who are involved in palliative care would be strengthened as they support families. Sun 1st Pray for the vacant congregation of Kilmallie and Ardnamurchan as they come together to worship today. Ask that they will be able to work with their interim moderator, Rev. John Ross, to find a pastor who will help them serve the Lord in their communities. Mon 2nd Continue to uphold our Queen and the royal family in prayer and give thanks for her inspirational life which has been shaped by her Christian beliefs. Tues 3rd Around the world, there are people crying out for a copy of God’s Word in their heart language. Pray for the Bible Society as they work to make this possible.

Sun 23rd Pray for the vacant congregation of Fort William and Kilmonivaig and their interim moderator, Rev. Gordon Martin, as they join in worship today.

Wed 4th Pray for guidance, wisdom, resources and strength for the small core group of members from St Columba’s who are meeting regularly with the hope of being able to start a church plant in the west of the city.

Mon 24th Give thanks to God for the provision of the Barracks for the Stirling congregation. Praise God that they will have outgrown their previous building.

Thurs 5th Pray for all the office bearers in your congregation. Many of the men in office are retired from paid employment but are working hard for Lord in their communities.

Fri 6th Pray for all those working in the fields of medicine and healthcare and give thanks for our National Health Service. Sat 7th As our ministers’ wives join together in Greyfriars Church today for Friendship, Food and Worship, pray that their time of fellowship will be a blessing to them. Sun 8th Pray for the vacant congregation of Kiltearn as they meet for worship in Evanton this morning. Pray that they and their interim moderator, Rev. Angus MacRae, will be able to find a pastor to lead them in their witness in that community. Mon 9th Pray that all the students and staff at ETS have a refreshing time during their mid-semester break this week. Tues 10th Every morning, Scripture Union staff meet together to read the Bible and pray. Let us pray along with them for the children and young people of our communities, that God would bless them. Wed 11th Remember the work of 20schemes in your prayers as they work in communities that are often hit hard by complex social problems. Thurs 12th The Youth Conference is being held this weekend. Pray for all the young folk and the speakers as they gather for fellowship and study. Give thanks for the good numbers attending. Fri 13th Tonight is the last of the winter lectures in Falkirk. Pray that all those who gather will know God’s blessing and be vitalised in their witness for him. Sat 14th As our young folks are at the conference, pray for the ongoing preparations for this summer’s camps programme.

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.

THE RECORD

FEBRUARY

FREE CHURCH NEWS LENNOXTOWN ORDINATION AND INDUCTION

BY ERIC STEWART

t was a cloudy and wet saturday afternoon ,

The opportunity was also taken to publicly thank our retired minister, Rev. Iain Beaton, and his wonderful wife Margaret for their faithful service over the previous 30-plus years. They maintained a witness in Lennoxtown despite many challenging circumstances. I trust Alick noticed the small print in the formula where 30 years is the minimum term required for Lennoxtown ministers! Following this we had a word from Rev. Bob Akroyd, who told us of the challenges and demands of ETS on students. Alick’s tenacity saw him through his studies, despite the added pressure of preaching and his active work in the community. By the Lord’s will he got there and we are all proud of him. The final speaker was a special guest, Alick’s brother, Rev. Jamie Stewart. It was clear that the brotherly love of a family led to God and now they are so active in preaching God’s Word. The event concluded with a splendid buffet prepared by the Lennoxtown congregation. •

the 23 rd of november , when the free presbytery of glasgow & argyll , folks of the lennoxtown

congregation , and friends and family gathered together for the ordination and induction of rev . alick stewart into lennoxtown free church .

Whilst the day was best described as ‘dreich’, the excitement and warmth within the memorial hall was felt by all who gathered to celebrate the continuation of the work to bring the gospel to this area, begun over 60 years ago. The service commenced with the singing of Psalm 46, with those in attendance making sure the good people of Lennoxtown could hear that the Free Church was in town. The formal process was presided over by Moderator of Presbytery, Rev. Ivor MacDonald. The Rev. Trevor Kane preached on the valley of the dry bones from Ezekiel 37, reminding us that the Lord said, ‘I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live.’ Those gathered felt the sheer joy when the charges to Mr Stewart were put by Rev. Iain MacAskill, and it was barely contained when Rev. Kenneth Macleod put the charges to the congregation. The emotion was palpable with the laying on of hands. Something special had occurred and the folks in Lennoxtown were overjoyed at seeing their very own Reverend Alick Stewart now confirmed as their minister. With the formal proceeding closed with the singing of Psalm 126, we were entertained when Alick’s old and dear friend Rev. John Nicholls, ex of London Free Church and the London City Mission, told us some of the ‘interesting’ situations Alick and Donalda got up to in London. Although telling many a funny tale, John was really telling us how well equipped Alick and Donalda are for taking God’s Word to the people of Lennoxtown and the surrounding area, where too many lives are blighted by addictions to drugs and alcohol. Sadly, London is not unique to these issues.

2020

From L-R - Rev Kenny Macleod (Interim Moderator), Rev Iain MacAskill, Alick and Donalda Stewart, Rev Ivor McDonald

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FREE CHURCH YOUTH CONFERENCE 2020

Cook Beth Maciver has assembled an Aberdeenshirebased kitchen team including her husband Angus MacIver, Norman and Judy Laing, Kirsten Green, Fiona MacAskill and Helen Morrison. Throughout the weekend, delegates can choose from several seminars by various speakers ranging from worship to relationships. Seminar speakers and topics can be found on the FCYC site. Costs this year are £59 for students and £65 for workers. Day attendance will cost £10. You can book a space through the dedicated online Youth Conference website: freechurchyouthconference.com •

ookings are now being taken for the annual free church youth conference

(fcyc),

which

takes place at lendrick muir, perthshire from

13th-15th march.

Aimed at 17-30-year-olds, the FCYC has steadily become a highlight of the Free Church youth calendar and continues to grow in attendance and popularity. Rev. Robin Sydserff, minister at Chalmers Church Edinburgh, is this year’s keynote speaker and will be sharing from 2 Timothy 2 with the title ‘Fit for Purpose’. Rev. Ivor MacDonald and his wife Rosemary, who are in ministry at Hope Church Coatbridge, are joining the conference as ‘house parents’ this year while Head

2020 DAILY DEVOTIONAL — WALK WITH ME

rev.

billy

graham,

former

principal

more to younger folk, others to an older group, but I hope all of them may have something to say to everyone. You will not find heavy theology here but I hope you will always find God’s truth! ‘What might I hope to achieve through these small helpings of “God-thoughts”? First of all I hope that those who use them will be blessed and encouraged by them as they go on with Christ day by day. Also, I would be so thankful if someone was encouraged to seek the Lord and find him as their Saviour. Most of all I just pray that, simple as these short messages are, they may be used by God to help you, not just to walk with me, but to walk through the year with God to a fresh realisation of the tremendous privileges which we have in our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Subscribe to the devotional at: walkwithme. generation-mission.org •

dumisani theological institute and moderator of the general assembly of the free church in

1991, has written a new daily devotional called ‘walk with me’.

Billy explains: ‘These devotionals were originally intended to be shared with my family, but I am now happy to share them with my wider family in the church! ‘There is not a theme running through the book other than the Bible itself. I have, however, aimed to take references from all areas of the Bible as I have always had great joy in every part of God’s Word. ‘In deciding to compile these simple “snippets” I was thinking of folk who were true believers in Jesus, others who may be believers but who need reminding of our glorious inheritance in Jesus Christ, and some who may not yet be believers. A number are directed

POP-UP SALON IN ST COLUMBA’S

parkle sisters, a project created by edinburgh

Attendees had their nails painted, hair cut and styled, and chose new clothes and toiletries from a free popup shop. Invisible Cities founder Zakia said: ‘Our events are all about bringing dignity back to people who need it the most. ‘We are so lucky to have found the incredible team at St Columba’s, as not only do they provide us with a lovely space, but also amazing volunteers and cakes.’ •

charity invisible cities and st columba’s free church, provided haircuts, manicures, toiletries

and new clothes for homeless women in edinburgh this winter.

Homeless women across the city were invited to St Columba’s church hall for a relaxing Thursday afternoon of pampering and self-care complete with hot drinks and cake.

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GIVING THANKS

he theme of 2019 at dumisani theological institute

& bible school was thanksgiving as we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the opening of dumisani

in 1979.

As a college community, we spent last year recalling many of the events, people, answers to prayer and unexpected blessings that the Lord has arranged to extend this part of his work in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Now as 2020 begins, we find ourselves again full of thanksgiving to the Lord for the provisions we received last year to go forward with our 40th Anniversary Campus Development Fund.

BY NANCY WHYTOCK

September 2019’s Record). We are aware that many gave sacrificially to help with this work — many whom God has already used for long years to bless the work at Dumisani in a variety of ways. Each gift brought encouragement and thanksgiving. We are pleased to report that much has been accomplished:

Entrance to main lecture hall and new male dorm rooms

Construction crew members

The focus of this development was our property at No. 12 Leopold St. in King William’s Town. In early 2018 we evaluated the situation at No. 12, met with our contractor, Lawrence Block from Breidbach, and began to pray. The increase once again in our student enrollment, the need for heightened security, and the state of the existing old buildings on the property meant that we were in urgent need of a building campaign. We published a book in connection with the anniversary, Voices of Thanksgiving, and prayerfully included a plan for re-developing No. 12.

New classroom

It is with great joy and thanksgiving that we now report how the Lord has blessed that plan. In 2019 we travelled extensively, distributed Voices of Thanksgiving, and affirmed in over 100 public meetings ‘The Vital Importance of the Bible School Movement’. Individuals and congregations in South Africa, Australia, Canada, the UK, and the USA were used to help us. One of the most touching donations came from a group of young girls who held a coffee morning in their church hall and raised almost £800 toward the new kitchen (see

A second classroom is completed that will seat 25-30 and we are hoping to soon have it fully furnished so we don’t have to share furnishings between lecture halls. Two new toilet areas are now accessible. The men’s toilet room also has a shower facility for the male students living on campus (there are no female dorms at Dumisani). A new kitchen is almost completed along with a large seating/eating area for students (this area is just outside the kitchen and can be closed off by a rolling door). An outdoor meeting area on a cement slab is completed and can be used as the base for a marquee tent for special events. Covered walkways are in place to provide protection from sun and rain. An expanded parking area is open at No. 12 — this is particularly important for our evening classes as cars can now be parked right on the property and kept behind a new security gate. The neighbouring car dealership has flood lighting that provides plenty of light for our car park (and it’s free!). A self-contained staff flat (that cannot be accessed from the rest of the building for security purposes) is now occupied by our college receptionist. There are a few remaining goals — the kitchen and second classroom furnishings are not yet complete – but that plan that we prayerfully (and boldly) set forth in Voices of Thanksgiving has largely come to pass. Praise God. We give thanks to ALL who partnered with us in this significant project. How wonderful it would be to sit together in the new outdoor meeting area and hold a service of thanksgiving! We will be doing that on your behalf in February when the students return to commence a new academic year. We hope that as you have a look at these pictures, you will join us in thanking the Lord for his gifts to us and for the encouragement he gives as we partner together in gospel labours. • Nancy Whytock is a visiting tutor and visiting librarian at Dumisani Theological Institute.

MY DEPRESSION JOURNAL CHRIS STONE shares some of his experiences with mental ill health.

’m chris. i’m 26, a personal trainer and a pretty ‘normal’, stereotypical guy who loves football, motorbikes and beer (classic). I worship at St Columba’s Free Church

Depressive Thoughts and Feelings One of the most challenging things for me was to try and explain my feelings. I often couldn’t really put into words how depression made me feel, which might explain why I am clearly frustrated in a number of these excerpts. The following entries will give you a glimpse into the feelings I had at that point; however, even reading them back, I feel like what I’ve written doesn’t quite do it justice. I hope it will emphasise the fact that I obviously didn’t want to have these thoughts, yet felt powerless to stop them. ‘My thoughts are taking me to a place I don’t want to go…my mind is all over the place, I feel so hopeless and empty.’ (March 2016) ‘Being busy takes my mind off all the horrible thoughts I’ve been recycling time and time again, but as soon as I’m alone, it comes back. It’s relentless.’ (June 2016) ‘I’m a mess and I’m not showing any signs of improving over the past few years — it’s just been a downward spiral and I can’t seem to do anything to change that.’ (October 2016) Depression is often described as a numbness, a lack of feeling at times, something which the following excerpt highlights. I wrote this the day after a funeral of a loved one. ‘I had very little emotion over the fact that she’s no longer with us. Didn’t affect me at all — unmoved. Even at the funeral…lots of crying yet at no point did I feel sad or upset. I didn’t really feel anything at all and I feel really bad that I didn’t feel sad about it! Don’t know if I’ve just become numb to idea of death.’ (Jan. 2017)

in Edinburgh. At the age of 19, I started feeling mentally unwell and was eventually diagnosed with depression. On the face of it, you wouldn’t have been able to guess that this was the case as there were few clear outward symptoms for anyone to pick up on. I was able to function, go to work, and be fairly sociable; but, unfortunately, it was easy to hide depression. Although there has been such great work done recently and attitudes towards mental illnesses are gradually changing, there are still many who perhaps do not recognise these disorders as illnesses and fail to recognise the severity of them. If you are someone who is dismissive of mental health illness, I would like you to do two things as you read this. 1) As you read through my journal excerpts, consider whether I would ever voluntarily choose to think in this way, or better still, consider if any human being on the planet would voluntarily choose to think like this. 2) If you consider mental health issues to be ‘weakness’, read through the excerpts and place yourself in my shoes. How long do think you could put up with these thoughts without trying to find some way to stop them?

Thoughts of Suicide, Self-Harm and Aggression This is undoubtedly the most difficult topic to speak about, but it’s such a huge issue in our society that needs to be addressed more openly. Depression has left its mark on me not only mentally but also physically. On my left wrist and my right leg I have a scar from where I cut myself in my darkest moments. I loathed myself so much that I would often attack myself by punching and scratching, which left me bruised and scraped. I can’t explain or understand the thought process that would ever make me want to do these things, but I genuinely hated my life and myself so much that I would attack myself. Remember when I said earlier that I was looking for anything to help with my depression? Well, self-harm was a method I adopted to do so — often, the physical pain was easier to deal with than the emotional pain. Although not always directly connected, suicidal thoughts were something that I also experienced, along with these thoughts of self-harm. When I felt stable, suicidal thoughts were there but I could deal with them and repel them; however, when I felt very low I was

MY JOURNAL Back in 2016, I hit one of my lowest points. I was so desperate for any form of relief that I was trying anything possible that might help. One suggested method was to keep a journal and record my thoughts and feelings throughout the day, so that’s what I did. I recently stumbled across the journal and in the following sections I’m going to share some excerpts.

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vulnerable. I contemplated suicide on many occasions and even wrote a note on my phone in case I ever went through with it. On occasions when walking over North Bridge in Edinburgh, I would stop just to peer over the edge. I would then get annoyed at myself for not having the guts to do anything. Quickly referring back to the start of the article where I addressed the mental health sceptics, suicide is tragic but it occurs because the person has a brain that tells them to kill themselves. When you are told every single day that you won’t be missed, life is not worth living and you should just kill yourself, do you not think you might end up listening to it in order to make it stop? Suicidal people do not want to die, they just want the pain to stop. They certainly don’t do it because it’s the ‘easy way out’ or out of selfishness. It’s mental bombardment and until you’ve been there I doubt you can truly understand how awful it is. ‘I still wish I was removed from this world as I want to be free from this pain and have no hope of getting better from this illness. I feel trapped within my body, constantly feel alone and low and just wish to not exist.’ (April 2016) ‘I’m willing an accident to happen to me (so not to have to experience suicide) so I don’t have to be in this world anymore.’ (May 2016) ‘Life is so terrible right now and I often do wish I were dead. I feel so worthless and alone, nobody would really care or remember me in a few years’ time anyway — life itself is just pointless. Just wish death would hurry up. I’m not planning to do anything but I do long to get away from all this suffering which I honestly feel like I can’t deal with anymore.’ (June 2016)

at times. I don’t think that having a break will help me.’ (Feb. 2017) Sleep and Exhaustion Depression has an impact on more than just your mental wellbeing, it can also have an impact on the physical. Feeling exhausted and having issues with sleep are fairly common with sufferers of mental health illnesses such as depression. I personally have found that being exhausted only serves to heighten the negative and suicidal thoughts. ‘I’m feeling very tired, almost dizzy, during the day because of tiredness. I’m just exhausted but I can’t sleep when it comes to night time. I just can’t seem to catch up on my sleep at all.’ (March 2016) ‘No wonder I feel so lonely. I spend all my evenings now in my room, all alone, doing very little — what kind of existence is that… I just don’t have the energy or strength to go do anything else.’ (August 2016) ‘This morning, I was very close to going to my manager and being upfront about my issues and tell her that I didn’t feel capable of doing the shift. Out of embarrassment and pride, I didn’t say a thing. Just got on with it which is what I’ve done ever since I’ve started working here. There have been so many occasions where I’ve physically felt unable to get up and go to work but somehow I’ve pushed myself every time and got it done.’ (Jan. 2017) This is just a snapshot of the journal I wrote. It’s pretty shocking to read some of it and I do hope that it reveals a lot about the nature of depression. I also hope it helps to show that depression can impact anyone and that this awful disease is very easy to internalise and cover. If you were a mental health cynic prior to reading this, I hope you will now begin to reconsider your stance on it. In closing, if you are suffering from any mental health issue in silence, can I encourage you to speak out and get help and support? When I initially began to feel unwell, I tried to hide depression from people and told myself I could deal with it. I couldn’t, and not speaking about it made everything so much worse. The best thing I ever did was open up and seek help, and I genuinely don’t think I’d be alive today if I hadn’t. This final excerpt from February 2017 powerfully highlights how depression can be undetectable unless you actually tell somebody about it: ‘He (a friend) said that he thinks I am a very positive person and I had to fight to convince him that this is not the case. It just again indicated to me how dangerous depression can be and how invisible it is. He has no idea what’s truly going on in my head all the time and assumes, based on how I act, that everything is great and I am happy. I would guess that the majority of my friends would be shocked to find out that I suffer with severe depression and have done for years. It’s so easy to hide.’ •

Negativity, Lack of Enjoyment and Impact on Day-toDay Life Because thoughts and feelings are dictated, it makes it extremely difficult to concentrate and function normally. No matter how hard I tried to concentrate and focus, my mind would quickly and autonomously return to those dark thoughts. There was nothing I could do to prevent this from happening and it was not a matter of willpower. On top of that, the negative thoughts drag you down and keep you down — being positive, no matter how hard you try, is almost impossible. ‘I don’t enjoy life, feel happy or have any sort of hope. Joy is distant and I cannot recall the last time over this last year that I have felt true joy. Everything I enjoyed and loved has either gone or now holds little attraction.’ (April 2016) ‘I almost now feel that this is the way it’s going to be for the rest of this life. Feel it is inevitable that I will have to battle this for the rest of my time in this world. Horrible thought but I just feel like it’s a part of who I am now.’ (Sept. 2016) ‘I’m going backwards and feel myself becoming more suicidal again. Noticing more and more that people are telling me to take a break and think I need to but I don’t want to spend all day alone and trapped — work provides a temporary relief but even there I feel like I can’t function

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You can read more from Chris on his blog at chrisstonepersonaltraining.com or on Instagram and Facebook @chrisrevolutionfitness.

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SPURGEON AND DEPRESSION: In His Own Words BY THE EDITOR

he ‘prince of preachers’ is known for faithfully god’s

very large congregation and the impact of his growing fame. He was also deeply affected by the trauma of the Surrey Gardens music hall disaster. Spurgeon arranged to preach in the music hall in 1856 as his church could not contain all those who wanted to hear him. During the first service there, a malicious shout of ‘fire’ caused a crush in the building. Seven people lost their lives. His wife, Susannah, wrote, ‘My beloved’s anguish was so deep and violent, that reason seemed to totter in her throne, and we sometimes feared that he would never preach again.’01 Although he came

word.

His sermons, commentaries and other writing continue to bless Christians today. He was known to his friends and to his congregation as a man of great humour, freqeuently laughing, and as someone who enjoyed life. He was also open and honest in his writing and preaching about his struggles with mental health. Spurgeon’s doctors believed that one reason for his depression was ‘extra pressure of care or labour’. He certainly noted the heavy responsibilities of pastoring a expounding

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close to giving up, Spurgeon carried on preaching. In his own words, here are some of his reflections on mental health.

He also knew that God could release him from his depression, writing, ‘The iron bolt which so mysteriously fastens the door of hope and holds our spirits in gloomy prison, needs a heavenly hand to push it back.’09

THE EXPERIENCE OF DEPRESSION Understanding of mental health was underdeveloped in Spurgeon’s day, though attempts have been made by modern scholars to ‘diagnose’ his condition in contemporary terms. Spurgeon himself referred to his experiences as ‘depression’, and described them in vivid terms. He wrote: ‘Quite involuntarily, unhappiness of mind, depression of spirit, and sorrow of heart will come upon you. You may be without any real reason for grief, and yet may become among the most unhappy of men.’02 ‘There are dungeons beneath the Castle of Despair as dreary as the abodes of the lost, and some of us have been in them.’03 ‘The mind can descend far lower than the body, for in it there are bottomless pits. The flesh can bear only a certain number of wounds and no more, but the soul can bleed in ten thousand ways, and die over and over again each hour.’04 Spurgeon was also familiar with the desperate thoughts which can accompany these bottomless pits. ‘I could say with Job, “My soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life” (Job 7:15). I could readily enough have laid violent hands upon myself, to escape from my misery of spirit.’

TAKING CARE Spurgeon was also wise enough to take a break from the many demands placed upon him in order to look after his mental health. He told his students, ‘In the long run, we will do more by sometimes doing less.’10 His preferred means of finding respite and recovery was to enjoy creation. His recommendation was to: ‘Breathe country air and let the beauty of nature do its appointed work. A mouthful of sea air, or a stiff walk in the wind’s face would not give grace to the soul, but it would yield oxygen to the body, which is next best.’11 Crucially, he brought his distress to God in prayer. ‘Thou art my Father, and I am Thy child, and thou as a father, art tender and full of mercy. I could not bear to see my child suffer as Thou makest me suffer; and if I saw him tormented as I am now, I would do what I could to help him, and put my arms under him to sustain him. Wilt thou hide thy face from me, my father? Wilt thou still lay on me thy heavy hand, and not give me a smile from thy countenance?’12

MARCHING ON IN THE DARK In many ways, Spurgeon’s deep understanding of mental ill-health, of God’s grace, and of the Christian walk is summarised in counsel he gave to his students: ‘Any simpleton can follow the narrow path in the light: faith’s rare wisdom enables us to march on in the dark with infallible accuracy, since she places her hand in that of her Great Guide. Between this and Heaven there may be rougher weather yet, but it is all provided for by our Covenant Head. In nothing let us be turned aside from the path which the divine call has urged us to pursue.’13 He did not expect God to remove his affliction. But he did expect his Father to strengthen him to bear it. We should expect the same. •

MENTAL HEALTH AFFECTS GOD’S PEOPLE Even in the midst of his trouble, Spurgeon remained assured of his salvation. He attributed his struggles with mental health to the effects of the fall, not to his personal devotion. ‘The troubled man experiences a good deal, not because he is a Christian, but because he is a man, a sickly man, a man inclined to melancholy.’05 He also realised that everyone has to deal with mental health to some degree. ‘As to mental maladies, is any man altogether sane? Are we not all a little off the balance?’06 This understanding enabled him to advise his congregation: ‘Especially judge not the sons and daughters of sorrow. Allow no ungenerous suspicions of the afflicted, the poor, and the despondent. ‘Do not hastily say they ought to be more brave, and exhibit a greater faith. Ask not “why are they so nervous and so absurdly fearful?” No… I beseech you, remember that you understand not your fellow man.’07 He also never lost sight of God’s sovereignty, and it was a comfort to him that his Heavenly Father was in control. ‘It would be a very sharp and trying experience for me to think that I have an affliction which God never sent me, that the bitter cup was never filled by his hand, that my trials were never measured out by him, nor sent to me by his arrangement of their weight and quantity.’08

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02 03 04

05 06 07 08

09 10 11 12

Charles Ray, “The Life of Susannah Spurgeon,” in Morning Devotions by Susannah Spurgeon: Free Grace and Dying Love (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2006), 166 C.H. Spurgeon, The Saddest Cry of the Cross The Spurgeon Centre, spurgeon.org Zack Eswine, Spurgeon’s Sorrows: Realistic Hope for Those Who Suffer from Depression The Spurgeon Centre, spurgeon.org The Spurgeon Centre, spurgeon.org C.H. Spurgeon, Man Unknown to Man C.H. Spurgeon, The Complete Works of C. H. Spurgeon, Volume 57 C.H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, Volume 1 C.H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, 128 C.H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, 126 C.H. Spurgeon, The Complete Works of C. H. Spurgeon, Volume 17 C.H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, Volume 1

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ETS NEWS

BY REV. THOMAS DAVIS

MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDYING

RISK NUMBER VIEWPOINTS

It’s an enormous privilege for anyone to have the opportunity to study a subject in detail; to learn, to grow and be trained. And to study theology and explore who God is and what he has done is probably the biggest studying privilege of all. Studying expands our intellects. It gives us knowledge. It provides insight that we didn’t have before. Studying is great for our minds. But at the same time, studying can be dangerous for our minds. There are risks and pitfalls that can hurt us, and that is true of every subject, not just theology. So this month, we are looking at some of these risks as we consider mental health and studying. tudying is brilliant.

FEAR

OTHER

Sometimes, embarking on study can leave us feeling vulnerable about what we believe. We can be nervous that studying other viewpoints might shake our foundations and leave us doubting. Will my faith be undermined? Will my background be challenged? And in wider study this is compounded by the fact that our culture tries to make out that our faith is irrational anyway, so the more you actually learn the less likely you are to believe. All that can leave us nervous. And to protect ourselves we can isolate ourselves or be defensive. We can view others as a threat and as a result we can keep ourselves to ourselves and end up isolated.

RISK NUMBER ONE: FEAR OF HUMILIATION When you start studying, one of the biggest difficulties is the feeling that everyone else knows far more than you. So you look around your class and you see people who seem to have read more than you, heard more than you, and know way more than you. People talk using fancy words, they mention famous authors and complicated books, all of which you’ve never even heard of, and you can be left thinking: I haven’t a clue what they are talking about. The result can quickly be a huge fear of humiliation. A fear that you will be shown up. A fear to show your weakness. A fear to ask questions. And the result is that you keep quiet, you struggle to grasp what is being taught and a flood of information that you don’t understand quickly overwhelms you.

RISK NUMBER FOUR: FEAR OF FAILURE When we start studying we want to do well, we want to honour God, and we want to reach the goal that we’ve set out to achieve. That’s a good thing. But it is all too easy to quickly set our expectations far too high. The result is that we can be disappointed with just a pass. We can be hard on ourselves for not getting a question right. We can be stressed because we haven’t read every page of a book that we thought we would. The result is huge pressure, most of which is self-inflicted. I have seldom come across a teacher who has been angry with students for not getting a certain grade, but I’ve come across many students who have been angry with themselves. The desire to do well is a good thing, but the fear of failure can be very harmful. All of these are pitfalls that we can so easily slip into. Fears, pressures, expectation and insecurities can plague us. And all of that can have a very damaging affect on our mental health. Consequently, instead of studying building up our minds, it can leave our minds badly bruised. Looking at my own life, I have fallen into all of these pitfalls, often more than once. And to be honest, I don’t think I know anyone who hasn’t. So what is the answer? Well, this may sound a bit simplistic, but the answer is to look to Jesus. That’s because when it comes to studying, Jesus never humiliates. He never expects people to know it all.

RISK NUMBER TWO: FEAR OF THE COMPETITION Studying is geared towards results, usually in the form of grades. You write an essay, you sit an exam, and everyone is waiting eagerly for the results. They finally come, and other people have done better than you. For some, that doesn’t bother them. But for others, the urge to be competitive is a massive temptation. That’s where grades can be a blessing and a curse, an inspiration or an idol. As an inspiration, they motivate us to do better, to grow in knowledge and skill. As an idol, they motivate us to be the best, and to beat our rivals. The result can be a whole host of negative emotions, both towards others and towards ourselves.

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He won’t mock us for asking a question, nor will he judge us for not knowing an answer. Our lack of knowledge never ever makes us less important to him. Our value to him is shown by his grace, not by our grades. When it comes to studying, with Jesus there is no competition. As Christians, our rival is the kingdom of darkness, not each other. Our fellow Christians aren’t our opponents, they are our teammates. The fact that we are all united to Jesus by faith means that as well as there being no condemnation, there is also no competition for those who are in Christ Jesus. We study, hand in hand, side by side, as brothers and sisters in Jesus. When it comes to studying, we don’t need to be scared of other viewpoints. The truth of who Jesus is and what he has done is perfectly strong enough! The more we learn, the more we will discover how the Bible’s worldview is the only one that ultimately makes sense. And if in the light of Jesus’s truth we change our minds to become more scriptural, then that is only ever a good thing. Finally, when it comes to studying, the only expectations that really matter are those of Jesus. And his expectation is not straight ‘A’s, nor is it distinction, nor is beating your rivals. His expectation is to learn from him, to be faithful, to work hard in dependence on him, and to follow him wherever he may lead us. Studying can be hard. It can stretch our minds, and sometimes it can hurt our minds. But if we keep looking to Jesus, it will help us avoid these dangers. With our eyes on him, our growing minds will also be healthy minds. •

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RENEWING YOUR MIND Photo Â©Victor Tongdee - stock.adobe.com

RODDIE RANKIN explores the marvellous complexity of the human mind.

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than being created by God and thereafter consciously waiting for our brains to develop. As connections in our infant brains multiply in response to the stimuli of our environment, our minds awaken, we become aware, and our personhood begins to assert itself. How this emergent mind can later exist without the brain which gave rise to it is a question whose answer requires more knowledge of the nature of the spiritual realm than we currently have.11 If we do attempt to delve deeper, we recognise the dependence of our brains on God’s mind. The particles that form the atoms and structures in our brains are not self-existent. They have properties, but particles do not determine their own properties. It takes a Mind to do that. That Mind is that of God, who speaks and the physical world comes into existence, and who upholds that world, along with our brains, by his word of power.12

o you remember the cartoon strip the numskulls?

Still running, it concerns the antics of several little men who are supposed to manage the various departments inside a human’s skull. The 2015 film Inside Out followed a similar formula, with a young girl’s head populated by tiny people who determine her emotional state. It’s all good fun, but it begs a question: do these little people have still smaller people in their heads running their lives? And so on. And when we think about what is inside our heads, do we also have a model where, for example, our eyes relay the outside world to a screen in our brain where a virtual numskull watches and guides us by what he sees? The true explanation is no less extraordinary, and is far from prosaic anatomy. You have no numskulls. You have a mind. Or, putting it more directly, you are a mind with a body. As this month’s Record explains, a healthy mind is a precious gift. It is also a marvel of God’s creative glory; a privilege of bearing God’s image.01 Our minds enable us to participate in the purposes of God’s creation as his fellow-workers,02 with a dignity granted us by the Lord himself. In this article let us behold the wonder of mind. To do so we shall exercise a talent unique to us among the creatures on earth: introspection. We will turn our minds in on themselves and describe what we see.

COMPLEXITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS As we would expect of something that gives rise to the phenomenon of the mind, the brain is complex. Its basic component is the neuron. Neurons are specialised brain cells. There are some 86 billion between your ears. They are relational cells which like to link up with their fellows in ways which represent and process the information reaching them from the outside world. Each neuron can connect with tens of thousands of others and hold highspeed ‘conversations’ with them. The most frequently used ‘telephone lines’ become hard-wired and determine memory, reflex and habit. The scale of the labyrinthine wiring of your brain far exceeds that of the World Wide Web! If this explanation tempts you to imagine the brain as an amazing machine, think again! Machines have outputs which can, at least in theory, be predicted by their inputs. The brain seems to defy this by generating consciousness. You probably take your self-awareness for granted, but it is the most surprising and unlikely phenomenon of the physical universe. Unlike a machine or computer, you know that you exist and your perspective is that you preside over your physical body. Machines react. You are proactive and intentional. They deliver results. You have experiences. Consciousness is a gift from God: the ‘I’ which corresponds to his ‘thou’. It makes meaningful fellowship with him possible. Consciousness is in every sense a revelation. How it kindles in the brain is an enduring mystery. It is a transcendent pattern, emerging like a Mexican wave, when millions of neurons coordinate in unison. It is the symphony heard when the whole orchestra plays; the opening of the peacock’s tail; a sunrise over a dark land.

MINDS AND BRAINS We begin with God. ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord?’03 We will never know the majesty of his thoughts,04 but we can be sure of one thing: he does not require a brain to think them. ‘God is spirit’05 and preexists the material world of brains and bodies. Also, angels are ‘ministering spirits’06 and they have minds. From this we draw a striking conclusion: minds don’t always need bodies! The apostles corroborate this. Paul says visions can take place ‘out of the body’;07 Peter that when he dies he will ‘put aside his body’ and continue his journey.08 So brains and minds are not the same thing. So long as our minds are embodied, however, they are interdependent. My mind will be altered if I use psychoactive drugs, or if I have a significant brain injury. Conversely, my brain will measurably change its structure if I repetitively practice mental skills like Sudoku or meditation. Today changes in blood flow to different areas of the brain can be imaged using fMRI scanners. These can be related to what the subjects’ minds are thinking, so that minds can be ‘read’ (in a very limited way) by looking at brains.

ORIGIN Where do our minds come from? This is a difficult question, and what follows is only one view. We are on safe ground if we simply answer: from God. If minds can continue without bodies, they appear to have a spiritual nature. And God is the ‘Father of spirits’ who ‘forms the spirit of man within him’.09 However, God often uses natural cause and effect to achieve his ends. Think of how David says God created him within his mother’s womb,10 where, in fact, biological processes were involved. Our experience of the genesis of our minds also suggests a biological origin. Our minds appear to develop in parallel with our brains, rather

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INPUTS AND OUTPUTS The way you experience consciousness depends on what perspectives on the world are available to you. These are supplied by the senses. The brain has sensors for balance, position, touch, pain and temperature. It can also detect certain chemicals through taste and smell, a particular range of sounds, and a very narrow band of electromagnetic waves through our eyes. Among other things it cannot ‘see’ are ultrasound,

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MENTAL HEALTH

infrasound, radiation, radio waves (thankfully), gravity, distant events, many chemicals, and stimuli below the threshold of my senses’ sensitivity. Neither can I detect the spiritual presence of other minds. So my consciousness, even when in full possession of its senses, is very specialised and limited, unlike God’s. He knows all things. I should therefore be humble in his presence, and leave judging to him13. Recognising that there are ‘things too wonderful for me to know’ is essential to spiritual progress, as Job discovered.14 Consciousness is but one arrow in the mind’s quiver. As you experience your environment through your senses, your mind draws a map of what is out there, and of its own responses to that. This is your memory. The richer your recollections, the better you can interpret the present and plan for the future. Yes, your mind can extend itself to conceive of novel future and alternative experiences. This is imagination or dreaming. Through bodily interaction with other minds your mind can learn language to describe experience and to relate it to other minds. It can retrieve and arrange information in order to reach conclusions. In this, subliminal, subconscious factors will play a part, as well as conscience and emotion. In short, you can think. And this makes it possible to scale the pinnacles of faith, hope and love, and to be moved to worship.15

What then is mental health? Standard descriptions cite a person’s ability to cope, realise potential, work productively and integrate in community. Our Bibles take this further and claim that reconciliation with God is essential to mental health. He calls us into fellowship with himself,20 mind with Mind, ultimately ‘to know as I am fully known’!21 If we reject this, although we may be lauded for our freedom and independence of thought, we are dooming our minds to corruption, darkness and futility.22 What heights of love, what intimate joys godless minds dismiss. The flourishing of mind God nurtures is impossible in the shadowlands of sin. They are not regions we should tread when Jesus Christ offers to bring our minds into their true inheritance.23 To enjoy the fullness of his fellowship your mind must be free from confusion, anxiety and addiction. While this will not be fully realised until you are finally freed from sin, God ministers to your mind even now. To combat confusion he has given you ‘words of truth and reason’ in the gospel.24 To overcome anxiety he opens wide to your prayers the doors of his heart, and invites your trust in his faithfulness.25 Beating addiction can seem an impossible challenge. This is because brain neurons readily hardwire for habits of anticipation and reward. If we dwell on these the brain’s feel-good chemistry reinforces the wiring and entices us to enslaving repetition.26 If those habits are sinful our minds will diverge from God’s. The only way to escape addiction is never to fire those brain circuits: say an instant, consistent ‘no’27 to every thought which arouses the feelings, and get your thoughts on the beautiful ways of Jesus, who enjoyed perfect mind health. Paul says, ‘set your mind on the Spirit and not on the flesh’.28 Your mind is a marvel for which to thank God. But with such great complexity there is much to go wrong. We need God in Christ to fix and maintain our minds. Like the Gadarene, we place ourselves in his hands. He will lift us up to his throne29 where it is our destiny to be ‘sitting, dressed and in our right minds’.30 •

THINKING Thinking is a wonder. The mind is a private space you share with no one but God.16 You can talk through a problem in your mind using whatever language is available to you. You are fortunate to have English, which is probably the most powerful conceptual and descriptive language. You may have several others, including mathematics. Your mind is so amazing that you can even observe yourself thinking. You may choose to reinforce helpful thoughts or change damaging ones; to be ‘transformed by the renewing of your mind’ in Christ.17 You may have unexpected flashes of insight, arising perhaps through mystic quantum processes in your brain, or through the light of the Holy Spirit.18 Every day your mind achieves triumphs: navigating delicate social situations with poise, or city traffic in safety. Awake, it gleans insights from scriptures; asleep, it conjures remarkable dreamscapes. From human minds cascade rivers of poetry and music, equations and inventions; theories and plot twists. We regard with awe the mental feats of some: the Countdown prodigy instantly unravelling anagrams, or the precocious child solving a Rubik’s Cube blindfolded. However, genius can take far less credit than it often does, since the workings of minds are inscrutable and inexplicable even to those whose minds they are. And we all need the assistance of other minds. Smart people often miss their potential because they do not collaborate. Everyone who refuses the wisdom of God’s mind will miss their destiny. We cannot come to know God through our own thought processes; we need his Spirit to teach us.19 In truth it is often our ignorance and not our intelligence that defines us.

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Rev. Roddie M. Rankin is minister of Kyle and Plockton Free Church

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09

10 11 12

13 14 15

Genesis 1:26 2 Corinthians 6:1 Romans 11:34 1 Corinthians 2:11 John 4:24 Hebrews 1:14 2 Corinthians 12:2 2 Peter 1:14 Hebrews 12:9; Zechariah 12:1; Isaiah 42:5 Psalm 139:13 1 Corinthians 13:12a Psalm 33:9; Hebrews 1:3 Matthew 7:1 Job 42:1-6 1 Corinthians 13:13; Psalm 103:1

17 18

19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

1 Corinthians 2:11; Psalm 139:1-6 Romans 12:2 Luke 24:45; Romans 8:16 1 Corinthians 1:21, 2:14 1 Corinthians 1:9 1 Corinthians 13:12b Romans 1:21-32; Ephesians 4:17-19 Ephesians 4:22-24 Acts 26:25 Philippians 4:6,7 James 1:14,15 Titus 2:12 Romans 8:5,6 Revelation 3:21 Luke 8:35

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ILLUMINED BY THE LIGHT OF REVELATION DR ALEXANDER DUFF AND THE PRINCIPLES OF MISSIONARY EDUCATION BY REV. WILLIAM M MACKAY

lexander duff was born in moulin, perthshire. his father was a crofter and alexander’s early years from 1806 were spent in the family home, a small cottage on open ground, flanked by mountain streams and with woodland of birch, ash, larch and oak as

background. it was attractive and impressive countryside.

The visit of Charles Simeon of Cambridge to that area in 1796 had had a profound effect on many in the area. Duff’s father and the parish minister were amongst them and the religious life of the district was strengthened. Alexander Duff was introduced to the teachings of the Scriptures, to the life histories of those who had suffered persecution and to the Gaelic poetry of Dugald Buchanan, known as the John Bunyan of the Highlands. Three experiences influenced Duff deeply. The reading of one of Buchanan’s poems, ‘Day of Judgement’, had a profound effect on young Alexander Duff, and from the impact of the experience he came to assurance of peace with God through the death of Christ. Almost drowned in a stream near his home, he shortly afterwards had a vision that confirmed his understanding of special service in which he would be engaged. A third experience illumined God’s loving, providential care for him. As a boy of thirteen, he was returning from school in Perth one winter weekend, accompanied by a school friend. Darkness fell when they were some distance from home; snow was falling and there was no sign of habitation. Exhausted, they tried to remain awake and prayed for help. Suddenly in the darkness they saw a light. Making their way towards where it had been, they discovered a garden wall and soon found warmth and shelter in a hospitable cottage. In 1821 he went to St Andrews University, having been dux of Perth Grammar School. He was an outstanding student, and was enthused by Thomas Chalmers when he took up the position of Professor of Moral Philosophy there in 1823. Along with other students of that time, Duff was to have great influence in Scotland, but extraordinary impact in India.

MISSIONARY EDUCATION In May 1829 Duff had been formally appointed as its first missionary by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. In September the missionary and his wife left Leith for London and sailed from Portsmouth on the East India Company’s ship Lady Holland a month later. In February of the following year, the 22 passengers and the crew were shipwrecked on Dassen Island, near Cape Town in South Africa. All survived the disaster, but the cargo was lost. Duff had taken with him a library of 800 books, his journals, notes, memoranda and essays. Forty books were washed up in very poor state — only his Bible and Psalter surviving in reasonable condition. The second part of the voyage from South Africa to the Bay of Bengal ended in a second shipwreck in the estuary of the Hooghly. A May cyclone drove the ship aground and again the Duffs and other passengers reached safety, sheltering in the village temple until they were rescued. Help was sent from Calcutta and the passengers were conveyed to the city. The ship was later refloated and its cargo safely disembarked. Duff had been charged to set up an educational institution, but not to do so in Calcutta. He resolved to ignore the advice in view of the advantages that he saw in Calcutta as a centre in Bengal from which to reach 500,000 people. The difficulties of missionary work were exemplified by the lack of Christian converts after many years of labour. Education, saturated with the teaching of the Scriptures, was the means to be used in bringing change. While religious instruction was of special significance, he aimed to teach every branch of useful knowledge — elementary forms at first, advancing to the highest levels of study in history, literature, logic, mental and moral philosophy, mathematics, biology, physics and other sciences. These aims were very different from those of other Christian educational institutions.

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WORKING WITHIN THE CULTURE After consulting with a wise Indian adviser, Duff resolved not to teach in Bengali, Persian, Arabic or Sanskrit, but to use English as the medium of teaching. This meant that students using these other languages were all learning English on an equal basis, were taught the Scriptures in English, were introduced to English literature — much of which was permeated with the spirit of Christianity — and studied the sciences in English, freed from the focus of the ideas that permeate Hindu thought. Duff spent six hours a day teaching 300 Bengali boys the English alphabet. His evenings were spent preparing a series of graduated school-books called ‘Instructors’. The first books dealt with interesting everyday subjects, the second with biblical themes, especially those which were historical. The boys were encouraged to think. Their delight in gaining understanding was infectious and the school acquired a very favourable reputation in the community. His pedagogical style was in very marked contrast to the mechanical and monotonous style of teaching prevalent in India. Although unable, because of the cultural context, to contemplate co-education in his own school, he gave his total support to those who were involved in the education of girls. To his students he emphasised the need for their sisters to have a good education and wrote articles for an Indian magazine dedicated to furthering the education of women. Within the first year the size of the school was expanded, as was also its scope, in that no student was allowed to begin to learn English until he could read with ease in Bengali. Alexander Duff was able to carry forward his own studies in Bengali in friendly rivalry with his students. Since Duff’s approach had been rejected out of hand by the European community, he

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tested the results of his first year’s work through a publicly-announced examination of his students. The boys responded with such effect that reports in the three daily English newspapers of Calcutta were totally favourable to the new venture. In the second year hundreds of students had to be turned away because of lack of space. Visitors from all parts of India came to review what was being accomplished and returned home to establish educational centres on the same principles. After three years of labour the work of the school was fully recognised. In correspondence, Dr Duff wrote, ‘The school continues greatly to flourish. You may form some notion of what has been done, when I state that the highest class read and understand any English book with the greatest ease; write and speak English with tolerable fluency; have finished a course of Geography and Ancient History; have studied the greater part of the New Testament and portions of the Old; have mastered the evidence from prophecy and miracles; have, in addition, gone through the common rules of Algebra, three books of Euclid, Plane Geometry and logarithms. And I venture to say that, on all these subjects, the youths that compose the first class would stand no unequal comparison with youths of the same standing in any seminary in Scotland.’ Work of a similar sort was set up in Bombay and Madras.

NEW BEGINNING After the Disruption, preliminary letters from Dr Brunton of the Church of Scotland and Dr Charles Brown of the Free Church of Scotland reached the missionaries in India, declaring that each church would continue Foreign Missions. In contrast to the East India Company’s Presbyterian chaplains, all fourteen missionaries to India gave their support to the Free Church of Scotland. The committee of the Established Church rejected a request to sell the College where Duff served. The work, however, had to continue and search was made for new premises in the vacation of 1843-1844. ‘From all sides, Hindus as well as Christian, Anglican and Congregationalist as well as Presbyterian, in America no less than in Asia and Europe, came expressions of indignant sympathy’. By early 1844, £3,400 had been received as spontaneous gifts. The second College having been organised, Dr Duff set about establishing branch schools in Baranuggui, Bansberia, Chinsurah, and Mahanad. Culna was retained. The College continued to grow. New buildings were provided and the school roll reached about 1,200, the students receiving instruction in literature, science and the Christian religion. Duff was nominated by the Governor General to be one of those who drew up the constitution for Calcutta University. For the first six years of its history, Dr Duff led the senate. Of his leadership Dr Banerjea wrote, ‘To his gigantic mind the successive ViceChancellors paid due deference, and he was the virtual governor of the University. The curriculum he promoted for the university was broad in its extent. Against the trend of the time, Dr Duff insisted on education in the physical sciences and urged the establishment of a professorship of physical sciences for the University.’ Sir Charles Trevelyan strongly recommended that Dr Duff be appointed Vice-Chancellor of the university. In a letter to him he stated, ‘It is yours by right, because you have borne without rest or refreshment the burden and heat of the long day, which I hope is not yet near its close.’ However, at the age of 57, it became obvious that the ill-health that had limited his activities from time to time required him to return to Britain. Some fifty years on, the work begun by Alexander Duff had had extraordinary impact in the educational sphere. The two primary schools at Calcutta and Bombay had grown to 210 colleges and schools in which more than 15,000 boys and girls received daily instruction in the scriptures. English had become the common language of hundreds of thousands of Indian students, crossing the barrier of local languages and dialects. Undergirding his whole philosophy of education was the recognition of the authority of the Scriptures for Christian teaching and Christian living. Along with the most advanced teaching in the sciences and the humanities, the knowledge of the Scriptures was a vital element. The processes of thinking were to be encouraged in every field, the whole of learning to be illumined by the light of revelation. • Rev. William M Mackay is a contributing author to Crown Him Lord of All: Essays on the Life and Witness of the Free Church of Scotland.

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JOHN STEWART GRAHAM (1939-2019) BY REV. JOHN S. ROSS

ne saturday in the mid-1990s, john graham was walking through the sydney suburb of bondi, distributing leaflets

for an event at bondi presbyterian church. Coming on a Jewish home, John decided not to interrupt their sabbath, and continued along the road. But each step troubled his conscience. Retracing his steps, he knocked the door. It was opened by a lady who, listening to what he had to say, commented that as her’s was a very orthodox home the family wouldn’t be attending church, but, nevertheless, invited John inside and introduced him to her husband. The man stated six objections to Christianity. John, a canny Scot, acknowledged them all, but added they were too large to respond to off-the-cuff then and there. ‘Why don’t I come back,’ he suggested, ‘when we can address each issue in turn?’ The following Saturday, John found himself at a large table, around which leading men from the synagogue were gathered. So began a long series of studies in which John led the group first through some Psalms, then John’s Gospel and finally Paul’s letter to the Romans. Why did orthodox Jews want to study the Bible with a Christian minister? Perhaps, it was partly out of curiosity. But two incidents suggest that for some at least there was more to it. One week, someone asked, ‘What is our greatest hope?’ Caught on the hop, and not, at the time, noting the ‘our’, John blurted out a trite formula about having our sins forgiven, peace with God and hope of heaven. ‘But, is that all?’ came the slightly irritated response, adding ‘I have been reading Colossians 1.27, “Messiah in you, the hope of glory.”’ Then, one of the group found themselves terminally ill in hospital. Called to the bedside, John was asked, ‘Tell me simply, as if you were explaining to an eight year old, what you believe about salvation by faith in Jesus.’ This was John’s last conversation with that person. Rev. John Stewart Graham was born on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, on 24th December 1939, the fifth and youngest child of godly parents. Following education at Tongue primary school and Back Junior Secondary School, John became an apprentice motor mechanic with John Mitchell & Son Ltd., Stornoway. Later, work in Manchester brought him into contact with Jewish people. He returned to Lewis. In 1964 John married Katie Macleod. The family was blessed with two daughters, Katherine and Margaret. John now believed himself called to Christian ministry among the Jewish people and in preparation gained a Master of Arts degree at the University of Aberdeen and the Diploma in Theology at the Free Church College, Edinburgh. Graduating in 1978, he was ordained by the Presbytery of Lewis, joined Christian Witness to Israel, and the following year, moved to Sydney, Australia, where he and Katie worked among the Jewish people. John also served the Sydney South congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia (PCEA), but a growing sympathy by some for theonomy placed the relationship under strain. John reacted strongly to these errors but adopted a position at variance with the Westminster Confession of Faith, which led to difficulties with the Free Church, especially his home Presbytery of

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Lewis, though not with CWI. The society retained John’s ministry because its basis of faith not only included the Westminster Confession, but also the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism, with whose teaching John complied. Leaving the PCEA, John and Katie joined Bondi Presbyterian Church, strategically placed at the heart of the Jewish community, but, at the time, vacant. John was accepted into the PCA in 1997, and inducted as minister of Bondi, thus combining congregational ministry with evangelism in a strategic Jewish area. John continued to minister at Bondi until prevented by illness. He died on 31st October, 2019. Following a service at Maroubra Presbyterian Church, John’s body was interred beside that of his granddaughter, Isla, at Robertson Cemetery. He is survived by Katie. A close ministerial friend, Rev Bruce Christian, said of John, ‘I was always very impressed, encouraged and blessed by John's godliness, his commitment to the authority and infallibility of Scripture, his faith and perseverance [towards] the many Jewish people with whom he shared the Gospel, and his complete dependence on the grace of God in Christ in every aspect of his life and work. John was a clear-thinking man of conviction and courage, and this came out in all his conversations.’ •

John and Katie in Sydney, 1985

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KENNETH MURRAY (1939-2019) BY REV. HUGH FERRIER

t was with a keenly felt sense of sorrow that the congregation of the high free, stornoway, heard of the passing of our elder,

mr kenneth murray, on friday 2nd november 2019. Kendar, as he was affectionately known, was born in Benside, Laxdale. He was married to Shordag and they were blessed with four daughters. Kendar himself would say that the greatest thing that ever happened in his life was the Lord’s sovereign work of grace. He was converted in the 1970s and professed his faith in the High Church congregation in 1980. It was clear in his life and witness that he was ever ready to serve his Lord in whatever way he could. He was ordained as a deacon and then as an elder in the 1980s. As an office-bearer he took his duties and calling seriously. He would regularly be found in the homes and hospital showing a Christlike care and concern to all those whom he met. He was always ready to pray with any in need and many warmly remember him in this way. As well as serving as an office-bearer, Kendar also served as the congregational treasurer for a number of years — his only desire being that the money would be used for the Lord’s kingdom and glory. Kendar took a great interest in local and international mission, and for many years attended the monthly Slavic Gospel Association, European Missionary Fellowship and WEC prayer meetings. He was a man of prayer. Kendar’s time of illness was short but it was evident, even in these difficult weeks, that the Lord was still using him to bear witness to his Name. Throughout his illness he accepted with grace the Lord’s providence and was frequently found thanking the Lord for all his goodness to him and his family. There were only two things Kendar longed for in these last weeks. The first was to be able to return to his own home, and the second was to be found with the Lord’s people at the means of grace. He was indeed able to get home and spent his last few days surrounded and cared for by his much loved family before finally hearing the home call of his Friend and Shepherd — the Lord Jesus Christ.

As a Kirk Session we shall miss Kendar greatly but are grateful to God for blessing us with his friendship, fellowship and prayers over these years. We commend his wife, Shordag, and his daughters Katherine Joan, Christine, Kay and Carol, along with their respective families, to the God of all comfort with the prayer that they would each know his righteous right hand upholding them in their great loss. • ‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid’ (Mark 6:50)

QUOTATIONS:

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Sermons break stigmas. When pastors are willing to talk publicly about mental illness, they take away some of the shame associated with these conditions. Churches need to be much more willing to acknowledge and destigmatize the presence of mental health issues in their faith communities…We should care enough about each member to stop and ask, “Hey, where is so-and-so?” This is the hard, but important, work of ministry and community. We cannot take the easy road and only care about the happy, easy-going people who continue to choose to attend our services and do not withdraw from their relationships. The church is for the broken. A church without the broken is a broken church. Rev Dr Ed Stetzer, Billy Graham Chair of Church, Mission & Evangelism at Wheaton College, Illinois, USA

” ”

It’s nonsense to think we’re supposed to make it through life on our own. The phrase ‘one another’ is used 58 times in the New Testament. We’re told we have to pray for one another, counsel one another, love another and so on. Everyone needs counsel at some point of life. There’s no shame, there’s no stigma, and there’s no sin in that. Rev Dr Rick Warren, Pastor and Author

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BY IAIN GILL A series of short articles about Jesus’ resurrection

n 1 corinthians chapter 15, paul’s biggest attempt to explain about jesus’ resurrection, its

It takes the careful reader by surprise. You might expect bunny rabbits and Easter eggs, but of course that’s not what you get. Or more likely the person used to reading the Bible might expect something like: ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade’ (Ephesians 1). But that isn’t what Paul gives us either. Instead Paul points to Adam and to the introduction of sin into the world, and he points to the consequence of sin, the biggest problem of all. As Paul says in Romans, ‘The wages of sin is death.’ One writer commenting on this passage says that we will never know the glorious joy of Jesus’ resurrection until we have first learned to look into, and acknowledge, the pit of our own sin. In doing that we realise the enormity of what Christ’s resurrection has achieved for us: the resurrection directly addresses the biggest consequence of sin. The resurrection is God’s answer to death. The resurrection promises life, the eternal life of God. ‘The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ That’s in Romans chapter 6. In 1 Corinthians 15:26, Paul says, in the context of explaining the significance of the resurrection: ‘The last enemy to be destroyed is death.’ It is physical death that Paul has in mind. He deals with spiritual death elsewhere and we’ll think about it next month. Paul juxtaposes Adam and Christ: by one man sin entered the world, and sin brought death; by one man who sacrificed his perfect life, all will be made alive. Paul sums up his argument in a beautiful verse: ‘… just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven’ (verse 49). Note the critical link here: sin has many consequences, but the worst one is death. Death is a reality we all recognise. Jesus’ death and resurrection offers not only an answer to sin but also an answer to sin’s worst consequence, to death. God’s Plan of Salvation is amazing. And the critical work that Jesus did on earth had to end with life, not death. Paul’s emphasis is that we share in that life; ‘… just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven’. What a promise there is in these words. But the promise is for believers. Does that include you? •

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Woilliam Blake: Christ Appearing to the Apostles after the Resurrection (1795-1805)

core reason is laid out from verse 20.

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PART 3 THE BELIEVERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PHYSICAL RESURRECTION

BOOK REVIEWS CLASH OF VISIONS ROBERT YARBROUGH (2019) Robert Yarbrough’s fascinating new book describes the state of New Testament studies and the divide that has formed between reading the Bible in the academy and in the church. He argues that, since the Enlightenment, New Testament studies have developed in directions that actually exclude people from believing these documents – especially in ways that the church has always understood them – if they are to maintain ‘proper’ academic credentials. Yarbrough’s outline of this development is incredibly insightful, and every past, present, or future seminary student should read this book. It provides an easily readable background and survey of many of the problems rampant in modern academic biblical studies. Yarbrough’s point, however, was not that conservatives should avoid academic study of the New Testament, but he actually called for the opposite, that we would engage as confessional churches with new rigour and enthusiasm in deep study of the Scripture and make academic arguments to prove the unbelieving approach to be the sham that it is. • Harrison Perkins, London City Presbyterian Church (Available from Christian Focus)

WHEN WE GET IT WRONG DOMINIC SMART (2019) Dominic Smart has once again written a simple, very readable book on the basic failures of life. We all get it wrong, and to read of Peter, who was so close to the Lord, apparently failing feels comfortable and yet challenging all at the same time. Comfortable because it means that we are not the only ones to fail. Challenging because Peter had a heartfelt desire to follow the Lord and messed up. In this book, we are shown that none of us fail so much that the Lord will not pick us up from all the mud and slime, setting our feet on solid ground – his ground. Dominic shows us our sin in all its ugliness, yet illustrates a biblical way of allowing the Lord to gently, kindly and compassionately bring us to our knees when we see the look of love shining from his face. In Peter we see ourselves, and in the Lord we see only love for fallen humanity and a desire to pick us up from that place of self-loathing and make us more like himself. • Ruth Aird, ETS

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BOOK REVIEWS JOCK’S JOURNEY JOCK STEIN (2019)

INSECURE JOHN PERRITT (2019)

There used to be a kind of Christian within Church of Scotland circles who was known as a Carberry Evangelical. The kind of person who was comfortable ‘giving their testimony’ and participating in Bible study but who also enjoyed discussing poetry and the theological implications of the latest film. The label came from Carberry Tower, a Church of Scotland retreat centre, now a luxury hotel. At the heart of this movement was its best known warden, Jock Stein, ‘minister and makar’. Diminutive in stature but immense of energy and ideas (and therefore of influence), Jock has been one of the best known figures in the Scottish church scene over the past four decades. Born into wealth (at one point he refers to his stockbroker), Jock takes us on a very personal memoir from Iona to Cambridge, Kenya, Dundee, Hungary, and Kincardine, and does so not only in prose but in poetry too. Along the way we meet some famous people, from churchmen like George MacLeod and Tom Torrance (who married Jock and Margaret) to politicians like Alex Salmond and Donald Dewar and celebrities like Natasha Kaplinsky (as a child she played with Jock’s daughter) and Sally Magnusson—though it is interesting to note which leading churchmen are not mentioned. While Jock avoids the danger of this memoir being a ‘vanity project’ (his own words), to be honest it can only be of interest to those who know who he is. A wider audience would require more reflection on the events he has lived through, particularly the catastrophic decline of the church in Scotland. That said, I’m sure his family and friends will enjoy it all. • Ian Watson, Hope Church, Blackwood & Kirkmuirhill (Available to purchase from Waterstones)

Though this book claims to be aimed at all ages, the focus and scenarios outlined are very much aimed at youth. Not just students, but high school pupils too. It is short, accessible and readable. It begins with defining what insecurity is, delves into the characteristics of insecurity and finishes with how to combat our insecurities. Each short chapter begins with a life-like scenario, followed by the lesson, and finishes with a ‘Take Some Time’ section which has questions for pause and reflection, but which also could be used for small group discussion. The chapters complete with a prayer or prayer suggestion. I will be passing my copy on to our Youth Leader for him to use! • Fiona M. Talbot, Plockton & Kyle Free Church

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

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KICKING FEAR INTO FREEFALL DAYSPRING MACLEOD talks about her greatest fears and yours.

caredy-cats of the church, unite! All those of you who want to get to heaven but not so keen on how you might depart this life — lend me your ears. Everyone who would like a better relationship with a friend, family member or colleague but not at the cost of a difficult conversation about past hurts — I’ve been there. Hands up who wants to see God accomplish his perfect work in their life, as long as it doesn’t mean answering hard questions from an accountability partner or making too many fundamental lifestyle changes? I hear you. Oh, and that guy in the back who hears the Lord’s call to preach but feels absolutely agonized at the idea of taking such a risk and standing in front of a congregation — okay, that’s not exactly me, but I get it, leaving the comfort zone is torture. And time fails us to talk about the hurdles of getting mental or emotional help, committing to a sacrificial tithe, opening your home to someone you’d rather not, being the first to apologise, or telling your friends about Jesus! Life is full of things to be scared of, and sometimes the Christian life even introduces new fears and risks. There’s a reason, as I’ve heard from more than one preacher, that the Bible gives the command ‘Do not fear’ 365 times! While Jesus tells us not to be afraid, he also tells us to count the cost. Living for Jesus, and living like Jesus, is a hard calling. A full life is one in which we don’t stagnate; It means dying to self. It means doing a lot of stuff we’d rather not do. And yet that is also we don’t stop growing. Like children at one of the means by which Jesus gives us ‘life school, it’s where we are challenged that to the full’. A full life is one in which we don’t stagnate; we don’t stop growing. Like children we grow the most. at school, it’s where we are challenged that we grow the most. No one is born fully grown; even Jesus had to be ‘made perfect’ (in an experiential rather than moral sense) through suffering. And those of us who would be made perfect in him would do well to remember that suffering is built into the calling. Personally, I think I’m pretty good at counting the cost. In fact, I’m better at counting the cost than I am at anticipating the result, so much so that going through any suffering at all looms much larger than the glorious outcome the Lord wants to accomplish in or through my life. And as for suffering being a necessary part of identifying with Christ — well, if it were up to me, I’d probably give that a big ‘no thanks’. There are places in the Bible where the Lord is really pretty specific about what lies in store for us as Christians. People will hate us,

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and beat us, and kill us, and then there’s the whole of Revelation, which has spawned an entire industry of fixation upon a global apocalypse. And yet, ‘He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and a sound mind.’ So why does God even forewarn us of all the hardships we’ll have to face as his children? Part of it is that need to count the cost, to commit to a life of service and self-sacrifice rather than embarking on Kingdom work on a whim and then falling away. All those proponents of prosperity gospel lie in saying that the Christian life is full of material blessing, and they cause their followers to doubt either God’s goodness or their own salvation when life is hard. But I also know that the Lord doesn’t warn us about hardship and persecution so that we can spend years dreading and fearing it, which is too often what I do. Instead it is to give us comfort — before we even need it! — in knowing that we aren’t deserted, God hasn’t lost control, and our suffering isn’t meaningless. We are warned of suffering in order to be free from fear. Rather we are to lift our eyes to the victory on the other side — the glorious final chapters of Revelation; the knowledge that in ‘all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.’ The truth is, there are many things I’ve spent huge amounts of time fearing where, in the end, God has been more merciful than I’ve ever imagined and has brought me through unscathed. He does not always teach us with the hardest lessons! And all that fear didn’t come from him. It was from the enemy, and part of our job is not to give in to what paralyses us without cause.

This brings me to those of you who may be facing the greatest fear of all: the fear of giving up the lordship of your own life to publicly follow Jesus. Now that is really scary. It means repenting of habits and attitudes that feel ingrained in your character. It means divisions in relationships with loved ones who won’t understand. It means accepting your own lack of goodness and inability to save yourself. It means being open to unseen challenges that he may one day ask of you. It also means peace, perhaps for the first time in your life. An easing of all those terrors about what if you die without knowing him. A neveraloneness. It means that you will see the living God do things you never thought possible, and be finally and freely forgiven for things you never thought you could even forgive yourself for. The fact is that you will face suffering, divisions and challenges whether you’re a Christian or not. But like me, if you choose to face them with Christ, there will be times when you will be amazed by his gentleness and mercy when you expected harshness and judgment. And you too will be able to remind yourself, over and over again, that with Christ there is freedom from fear. • Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. Psalm 116:7

2019

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as for suffering being a necessary part of identifying with Christ – well, if it were up to me, I’d probably give that a big ‘no thanks’.

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

our hearts have become hardened and our love for Jesus has diminished. In the wider Christian culture there has been a clarion call to fight against legalism. Devotion to God is not done by a ‘join the dots’ obedience where we believe that performance of certain duties will bring a smile to the face of God. This is not the gospel and it’s not how it works. I wonder if we have reacted against legalism to the point where godliness, obedience and duty have been sidelined. Love melts legalism. When there is love for Jesus, there is the involuntary response of speaking well of him and urging others to find out about him and follow him. When the woman of Samaria tasted of that water welling up to eternal life, she did not attend a course in personal evangelism. She did not read an article in her denominational magazine to motivate her to speak about the new pure and lasting love of her life. She spontaneously spoke of her life-changing encounter with Jesus, whom she now saw was the Messiah.

ne of the most enjoyable things i do is lead a seminar with younger ministers in training.

This takes place on Monday afternoons in St Columba’s in Edinburgh. I sit round a table with prospective ministers along with my friends Alasdair I Macleod and Derek Lamont. This week the subject was ‘church culture and strategy’. My opening line was, ‘Guys, let’s assume that we are all on board with issues like the need for prayer and total reliance on the Holy Spirit.’ The inference was that these things are what we call ‘motherhood and apple pie’ issues, i.e. they are self-evidently good. I was mistaken to assume in my assumption. The discussion flowed for a full two hours as we struck various productive seams of thinking. One issue which emerged was the reluctance of Free Church people to witness. Rightly or wrongly, we noted that this did not seem to be a problem among our Charismatic friends. They seem to be able to speak about faith with a natural enthusiasm. More importantly, this is the way the early Christians seemed to spread the gospel and grow churches. The late Michael Green famously wrote about evangelism in the early church, ‘This must often have been not formal preaching, but the informal chattering to friends and chance acquaintances, in homes and wine shops, on walks, and around market stalls. They were everywhere gossiping the gospel; they did it naturally, enthusiastically, and with the conviction of those who are not paid to say that sort of thing. Consequently, they were taken seriously, and the movement spread.’ Here is a question: Why is this not happening to any significant extent in the Free Church? Towards the end of our seminar one of our group offered a sobering explanation: ‘Quite simply, we lack basic godliness, belief in prayer and a love for Jesus.’ This column is read by a significant proportion of our constituency. In the quietness of the room where you read this, simply ask the question, ‘Lord, is this me?’ It is frighteningly possible that, in an evangelical and reformed denomination which boasts a strict adherence to the Westminster Confession of Faith,

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Please speak of Jesus and tell his story. Speak to people and tell your story. As we move on in this year of 2020, can I ask us all to consider our ways? That shyness which we think is part of our natural demeanor could be one of the tools of the devil to silence us. Consider the possibility of a Screwtape/Wormwood-type conversation taking place in the underworld every time you have an opportunity to share your faith in a natural context, but one which takes you slightly out of your comfort zone. People are not surprised when you talk about the things and ideas which captivate your heart and mind. We think of the wry smile when the doting grandfather speaks of his latest grandchild. Please speak of Jesus and tell his story. Speak to people and tell your story. Church is not about clocking up good deeds and filling our minds with facts. It is an encounter with the living God leading us to tell about a God who defeats death, forgives the darkest and deepest sin, and will one day heal this broken world. •

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Fear-togail mo chinn (The lifter of my head)

LE JANET NICPHÀIL

ha mi a’ creidsinn gun do choinnich sinn uile ri càirdean aig làithean saora na nollaig agus na bliadhn’ ùire.

Tha na làithean sin, saoilidh cuid, glè fhad às a-nis. Cha stad tìm dhuinn idir, ged a bhiodh sinne ag iarraidh aig amannan gu stadadh. Is e nì glè mhath a tha an sin, oir cha sheas sàrachadh gu bràth, agus cha sheas na làithean sona gu bràth. Tha mi cinnteach gum bi iomadh leughadair ag ràdh, ‘Agus cha sheas an dorchadas gu bràth’. ’S iomadh duine a tha a’ faireachdainn gu math ìosal, tùrsach nan inntinn, tro mhìosan a’ gheamhraidh, agus glè thric le soilleireachd, thig beagan cobhair. Tha a h-uile duine cho eadar-dhealaicht’, agus ’s dòcha gu bheil cuid ann a tha a cheart cho trom-inntinneach tro mhìosan an t-samhraidh, a’ faicinn muinntir eile le toileachas, agus iadsan, dh’ fhaodadh e a bhith, air call goirt fhulang air nach eil iad a’ faighinn seachad. Ach, cha bhris call dheth fhèin, spiorad an duine, agus dhearbh iomadh seann Chrìosdaidh sin glè shoilleir nam beatha. Chaill iad buill den teaghlach ann an cogadh, no le iomadh tinneas, ’s gun leigheas ann dhaibh aig an àm. A dh’ aindeoin sin, chùm an Cruthaidhear neart riutha nam bodhaig agus nan inntinn; chùm E beò an lasair a dhùisg E Fhèin nan cridheachan, agus, ‘B’iad A reachdan an ceòl ann an Taigh an Cuairt’. Bha iad mar leabhraichean, a’ dearbhadh dhuinn gu soilleir gu bheil neart aig Dia, ’s gur tèarmann dìleas a th’ ann dhuinn ann an àm na h-airc. Tha mi cinnteach gu bheil feadhainn ann a tha nas dualtaich a dhol sìos nan inntinn, ’s chan eil seo a’ ciallachadh gu bheil iad ann an dòigh sam bith air dheireadh air daoin’ eile. Tha nàdar gach duine cho eadardhealaicht’. Tha conaltradh, cuideachd agus toileachas a’ dèanamh feum dhuinn uile, ach, mar as sine a dh’ fhàsas sinn, fàsaidh an saoghal-sa gu math aonranach, falamh dhuinn, agus mòran der càirdean air an toirt dhachaigh.

2020

Chuala sinne searmon o chionn ghoirid mu bhan-Shamaritanach le dorchadas glè mhòr air a h-inntinn, agus nuair a bha i aig tobar, choinnich i ri coigreach, agus leughaidh sibh anns na rainn a leanas dè a thachair.

Bho dhorchadas gu solas. Aig meadhan là choinnich iad an dithis aig tobar Iàcoib, is’ a’ sireadh uisge ach stad an coigreach i na ceuman. Le iongantas gun d’ bhruidhinn E ’s ann dh’ fhaighnich i an uair sin, ‘Ciamar a labhair Esan rithe?’ ’s seo ro annasach d’a smuaintean. ’S ann thug E i air turas Is’ le ceistean is a’ feòrach, Is E fad na h-ùine ’g ìnnse dhi rud a stad i, is E a’ còmhradh. Bha na b’ fheàrr na tobar Iàcoib aig a’ choigreach bha na còmhdhail, is thairg E dhìse uisge beò is cha do thuig i’n còmhradh. Ach stiùir E i gu seòlta le bhith a’ sealltainn dhi A mhion-eòlas air cleachdaidhean a beatha ’s chuir seo iongantas ro-mhòr oirr’. Dh’ iarr i Air an t-uisge beò is fhuair i seo mar thiodhlac an- asgaidh; cha do phàigh i sgillinn ach rinn i èisteachd ri chuid bhriathran. Uisge beò a stiùireadh i na beath’ ’s na cuairt san t-saoghal, le bhith coinneachadh ri coigreach aoidheil Chaidh seo a thoirt gu saor dhi.

Chaidh na rainn a sgrìobhadh an-dèidh searmoin. B’e an t-Urramach I. T Caimbeul a bha a’ searmonachadh agus tha sinn a’ toirt taing dha. •

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POETRY PAGE THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT, PART 3: THE COMING OF CHRIST BY DUGALD BUCHANAN A ruddy blush along the sky, Like dawn of morning rising red, Now shows that Christ Himself is nigh, Bringing the day of doom and dread. Then like the Great King’s chamber door, The parting clouds before Him yield, And clothed with glory evermore, The mighty Judge shall be revealed. A rainbow round His head on high, His voice like mountain torrents loud, And keen as lightning flash His eye, That pierces thickest thunder cloud. Dugald Buchanan (1716-1768) was a Gaelic poet from Strathyre, Perthshire. Although he did not espouse their cause, he was enraged by the repression which followed the Jacobite risings. Eventually, ‘the genius of Christianity’ taught him to forgive. He became a teacher and evangelist, working with the Rev. James Stuart of Killin to produce the first translation of the New Testament in Gaelic. He is most often celebrated for his Gaelic poetry. During a conversation with Buchanan, the philosopher David Hume expressed the opinion that the most sublime passage in all literature is Shakespeare’s description in The Tempest, Act iv, beginning ‘The cloud-capped towers’. Buchanan countered that still more impressive were the words from Revelation 20:11-13 describing Judgement before the great white throne. The extract above is a translation of the third part of Buchanan’s poem, ‘The Day of Judgement’, which played an important part in the spiritual journey of the Free Church missionary Dr Alexander Duff. •

The sun, that shining lamp of space, Shall yield before His glory bright, The dazzling brightness of His face Shall dim and quench her borrowed light. A robe of mourning she will take, The moon shall glow a blood-red ball, The powers of the sky shall shake, And all the stars of heaven fall. Along the skies they bound and toss, Like fruit from trees when tempests rise, Falling like raindrops thick and close, Their glory dimmed as dead men’s eyes.

Photo by Sitraka Rakotoarivelo on Unsplash

On fiery chariot Christ shall ride, With thunders rolling round His path, Bearing His voice through heaven wide, Rending the clouds with storm and wrath.

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BY CATRIONA MURRAY

POST TENEBRAS LUX I

the

immediate

aftermath

of my husband’s death, i was invited out for coffee by an

old friend, himself a survivor of

cancer.

We sat in the lounge of a local hotel and talked about what had happened. Finally, he asked me what I was doing ‘for myself’, listing the possibilities that are open to a bereaved person trying to weather the storm of grief. The first thing he listed was mindfulness and I answered him very quickly in the negative. He then mentioned prayer, but proceeded to answer his own question, saying, ‘I don’t think you’re into those kinds of things.’ And that, friends, was the moment. Right there, the first opportunity to profess faith to anyone. How strange that it should be an avowed atheist. I had to disappoint him. We had a good relationship, despite a considerable difference in age. It was evident that he had thought I was of a reasonable intellect, that I could appreciate logical debate and clever argument...but I saw all such respect die in his eyes that Friday afternoon. Here, after all, was just another islander who, when the chips were down, eschewed the modern fad of mindfulness for the mediaeval prop of prayer. Another visitor — a Christian this time — counselled me not to ‘over-spiritualise’ my grief. It was kindly meant. I suppose she feared that I wouldn’t process my feelings effectively if I felt some pressure to deal with death as though it had no sting. As someone who had only just received assurance of salvation,

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there may well have been a risk that I would feel the need to prove myself, and not betray a lack of faith by weeping. Jesus wept, however. The shortest verse in Scripture is, in many ways, also the most eloquent. There, in those two words, you have the essence of his humanity and the depth of his empathy. It is as though he is mourning, not just because Lazarus is dead, or because Mary and Martha are bereaved, but because sin has wrought such destruction in the experience of mankind. His behaviour is not merely a pattern for ours — it is THE pattern. The only person who ever told me that I was not a proper Christian if I grieved was a stranger on the internet, and a humanist one at that. It turns out that overspiritualising was never the big threat to my mental health. The real issue crept up, without anybody warning me of its approach: stress. To stave off my worry that the days would lie heavy, devoid of anything to do or anyone to care for, I filled them with frenetic activity. I went from leading a quiet, introverted life to almost never being at home — sitting on committees, writing blogs and articles, giving talks, teaching Sunday School. Of course I wanted to make up for the years of secret discipleship. I felt the imperative to serve and to be an apologist, witnessing to the marvel that is salvation in Christ. When you have been through the worst time of your life and are amazed

to find him more than sufficient, all you want to do is extend that comfort to others. Ideally, you want them armed with it before the bad times come. Sometimes, though, my humanity seeps in and I am overwhelmed. I used to fight against those feelings, believing that if I searched Scripture, or prayed long and hard enough, God would reinvigorate me sufficiently to just get back out there. On some level, I felt that it was sinful to give in to tiredness. It isn’t. Please believe me when I say that burnout is a very real consideration in a world where the harvest is plentiful but the labourers all too scarce. Nonetheless, God is not asking anyone to do more than they can, nor to rely solely on their own strength. Our Saviour himself slept from exhaustion in a storm-tossed boat. Once again, I see in his conduct a pattern that I should emulate: the human can rest because the divine is in complete command. Whatever rages about us, this much is always true. Just follow Jesus: he wept when he was sad, and slept when he was tired — and in all things looked up to heaven. Nowhere is it promised that his followers would be spared pain, exhaustion, grief, depression, or human suffering in any of its myriad forms. Everywhere, though, in his own life, we see how to be in those situations, and where to go. Being mindful of that, and imitating Christ, we cannot go wrong. •

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