The Record - June 2019

THE

RECORD

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

Editor • Rev. David A Robertson The Editor, The Record, St Peter’s Free Church, 4 St Peter Street, Dundee, DD1 4JJ 07825 748752 drobertson@freechurch.org News Editor • Dayspring MacLeod dayspring.macleod@icloud.com 07974 261567 Missions News • Mrs Sarah Johnson Free Church Offices, 15 North Bank Street, Edinburgh, EH1 2LS sarah@freechurch.org WFM Editor • Sarah Cumming 31 Doune Park, Dalgety Bay, KY11 9LX sarah.cumming@hotmail.co.uk Gaelic Editor • Janet MacPhail 24 North Bragar, Isle of Lewis, HS2 9DA 01851 710354 Seminary News • Rev. Thomas Davis St. Columba's Free Church, Johnston Terrace Edinburgh, EH1 2PW thomas@stcolumbas.freechurch.org Prayer Diary • Mrs Mairi Macdonald ian.macdonald57@btinternet.com Design & Layout • Fin Macrae @DUFI Art www.dufi-art.com The Record • ISSN 2042-2970

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Cover: ©Photo by Graeme Hutton

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 JUNE RECORD

F

or

those

of

you

getting

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edition

04 BEAUTY FOR ASHES Editorial

and

— sorry — you will have to wait until the July/ August double edition. I can assure you that the Moderator’s address is worth waiting for!

But if you are looking for a lot of other Free Church news in this edition — again you will be disappointed.

We rely on being sent such news and this month we were sent very little. I sometimes get complaints from people that their church does not feature in the magazine…to which the answer is, there is no news about your church because we haven’t been sent any! Please encourage your minister, elders and others to send us the news. Perhaps the new editor will have more success!

But we do have plenty for you. Our poem of the month is Ps 139, and we continue our look through Ecclesiastes. We also look at the apologetic argument for objective morality. We have had some great feedback on the science/religion debate so we have some excellent letters on this for you…

Some Free Church news we do have is of the Youth Conference. The Church is at work throughout the world — whether teaching in North Korea, or helping refugees in Eastern Europe.

And there is much much more.

If you have articles, letters, news that you would like to submit, please feel free to do so… • looking forward to news of the assembly

08 SETS:CONFERENCE ON BUILDING BIBLICAL COMMUNITY Philip Foster 09 PRAYER DIARY 10 ETS NEWS 12

WORKING WITH REFUGEES IN EUROPE Calum King

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A THEOLOGICAL REINTERPRETATION OF POVERTY Ewan Gurr

16 REASONS TO BELIEVE IN A CREATOR: MORAL OBJECTIVITY Dr. Antony Latham 20 ECCLESIASTES: PARTY ON 23 FCYC TRAINING DAY Kirsten Macdonald 24 DEUS VULT, MEDICE CURA: A CHRISTIAN MEDICAL APPROACH TO VACCINATION SCEPTICS. PART 02 26 LETTER FROM NORTH KOREA Callum Bowsie

See you next month for the Assembly edition, Yours in Christ

27 ME, YOU AND OUR SAVIOUR COMPLEX Dayspring MacLeod

The Editor…

28 BOOK REVIEWS 30 TOP 10 BOOKS FROM 2018

One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

32 LETTERS 35 “LOOK AT THE STATE OF THAT...”

Danny Grant 36 MISSION MATTERS David Meredith

Psalm 27:4

37 GAELIC Janet MacPhail 38 POETRY PAGE Psalm 139 40 POST TENEBRAS LUX Catriona Murray

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BEAUTY FOR ASHES

BY THE EDITOR

©Photo by Graeme Hutton

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LESSONS FROM M’CHEYNE Perhaps we can learn from the past as we look to the future? When Robert Murray M’Cheyne came to Dundee in 1836 the city was a dark and miserable place; church attendance was low and immorality was high. St Peter’s was what we would now call a church plant — with a building to seat 1,000 people. Every year on the anniversary of his ordination M’Cheyne preached on Isaiah 61:1-3.

he people of issachar were blessed to have 200

who ‘understood the times and knew what Israel should do’ (1 Chronicles 12:32). When we look at the wider situation in the government and church, we sometimes wonder if there are two who could fit that description!

When we try to understand the times, we are tempted to give up. Many of us think that if we adopt the ostrich approach and bury our heads in the sands of our own busyness or entertainment, that will do. Others see some of what is going on and are sorely tempted to despair. We understand something of what is going on, but we despair of being able to do anything about it.

We rage against the machine, rant on social media and heave heavy sighs at the way the world is going. Neither approach should be adopted by the Christian.

Nor should we adopt the Disneyland fantasy view of the world — in the words of Louis Armstrong, ‘I see fields of green, skies of blue…and I think to myself, what a wonderful world.’ Things are good and are going to get better. Equally, we cannot join with those who are filled with an existential angst that the world is going to Hell on a handcart, that we’re all doomed, that we only have twelve years left to save the planet and that there is no point in having children because they won’t live to see their children. Our society is such a bizarre mix of apathy, blindness, unrealistic hopes and unyielding despair.

The truth is that the world is in a far worse state than we could ever imagine. If we saw even one millionth of what the Omniscient God sees, we would collapse in horror.

And that is true for the Church as well — some of us are aware of problems, but usually only when they rear their ugly head above the surface. The vast majority of us go on oblivious — until the snake bites.

However, there is an equal and opposite danger to the blindness, to those who say ‘peace, peace, when there is no peace’. The danger is that when we begin to see some of what the ugliness the Lord sees, we react in a wrong way. We despair…we become sinfully angry…we constantly come across as ‘Angry of Aberdeen’ because we are. If wishful thinking and willful blindness is not the answer, neither is anger and angst. leaders

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The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, Because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

BEAUTY FOR ASHES We live in a world of great human ugliness — the broken, dysfunctional families; the lust for power and money wreaking emotional and spiritual havoc; the slaughter of the innocents through abortion; the deconstruction of humanity through diabolical doctrines. But we don’t just shout at or about the darkness. We proclaim the light.

Leonard Cohen sings of the crack where the light gets in…

I can’t run no more With that lawless crowd While the killers in high places Say their prayers out loud

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But they’ve summoned, they’ve summoned up A thundercloud And they’re going to hear from me Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack, a crack in everything (there is a crack in everything) That’s how the light gets in -Leonard Cohen, ‘Anthem’

You saved it My tears are drying, my tears are drying Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you My tears are drying, my tears are drying Your beauty and kindness Made tears clear my blindness While I’m worth my room on this earth I will be with you While the Chief puts Sunshine On Leith I’ll thank him for his work And your birth and my birth.

Our society is cracking in so many places…that’s where the light gets in. I will never forget speaking to a woman from one of the large Dundee housing schemes who came to speak to me after a talk. ‘My partner died, I have a tumour, I don’t have a job, I live in this dump and my teenage daughters are wild…what hope is there?’ I was deeply moved by her plight and responded in the only way I knew how: ‘I can’t offer you money, I can’t offer you a perfect marriage, or a new house, or health or a job. You have had such an ugly time with so many ugly things happening to you. But the one thing I can offer you is this — I know someone who turns beauty into ashes. Someone who can take the ugly things of this world and make them beautiful. His name is Jesus.’

She looked at me with tears flowing and said, ‘If only, if only that were true.’ It is. That is our good news. Not Christian ‘values’, or political programmes, or church reorganisation, or whatever other shibboleth the church/ secular gurus offer us. We don’t have much to give. But we have everything to give. Because we have Jesus and his beauty that transforms ugliness.

I see the beauty of the Lord in so many people. I had wondered about naming names as Paul does in Romans 16, though I suspect they would be embarrassed; but let me tell you a couple of examples of what I mean. I think of a woman up in Brora, whose home was open at all times, for the stranger to come in. She was not a wealthy woman, and had family of her own, but her house was a haven in the midst of the community. Or the elderly couple in St Peter’s, a retired minister and his wife — whose beauty is as apparent as their frailty. Or the Dutch couple whose joie de vivre and delight in all of the Lord’s gifts is a constant example to me of the joy of the Lord being our strength.

Christians mourn. We are not the ‘shiny happy people’ of the happy clappy caricature. Nor are we the ‘doom and gloom’ caricature of the Scottish Calvinist, so beloved of the media. We weep. But not as those who have no hope.

THE SPIRIT OF PRAISE FOR THE GARMENT OF HEAVINESS Many of the people around us, many of us, are heavy burdened. We are not carrying the weight of glory, but the overwhelming burden of our and other people’s sins.

There is a fog of depression and a burden of cares. And again we have the solution in Christ… Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’ (Matthew 11:28). We need to bear one another’s burdens within the Church and so fulfil the law of Christ…and then we will see how we bear witness to a better community and life.

I recall a young man saying to me, ‘I hate everything you preach, but I love everything you have in the Church… can’t we have it without Christ!’

In Dundee, as well as the Discovery ship, we have the V&A museum — which is meant to be the saviour of this city. It is a spectacular building which is certainly drawing the tourists. But it has had very mixed reviews.

Mostly because of the content. The building is great, but there is not a lot inside. I wonder if that is reflective not only of our culture, but of so many of our churches.

Beautiful buildings but a content that lacks depth. We need the Lord to do a deep work within us so that people will discover the beauty of Jesus and so that our churches would not just be museums. But are we ready for the cost involved in that? Are we prepared to take up our cross and follow Jesus? Dostoyevsky made this astute observation: ‘Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth’ (Crime and Punishment). Great sadness…but oh, what joy! The oil of joy, the Spirit of praise, beauty for ashes.

Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. Shine, Jesus, shine. •

THE OIL OF JOY FOR MOURNING I love Scotland and the Scottish people — especially that dry Scottish sense of humour. What other nation in the world would have one of its major football teams singing about ‘sorrow’ when they have just won the Scottish Cup. Hibernian’s anthem is the Proclaimers’ ‘Sunshine on Leith’: My heart was broken, my heart was broken Sorrow, Sorrow, Sorrow, Sorrow My heart was broken, my heart was broken You saw it, You claimed it You touched it,

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The Editor

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SETS: CONFERENCE ON BUILDING BIBLICAL COMMUNITY

BY PHILIP FOSTER

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he scottish evangelical theological society (sets) held its annual Spring conference on Tuesday 26th March, at Stirling Baptist Church. The chosen topic was ‘Building Biblical Community.’ The day was split into four sessions, with the first two and the last one led by our main speaker, Mark Stirling.

Mark is a former medical doctor, perhaps best known for his prior work with the Navigators in Edinburgh, and his part time teaching in Christian Maturity and Leadership at ETS. In 2011 he gained a PhD in Biblical Studies from St Andrews University. He is the Director of the Chalmers Institute in St Andrews, has pastored Cornerstone St Andrews since 2013, and leads the European DiscipleMaking Leaders Network.

as saying ‘to put on the new self’. This implies self-effort.

However, this is properly the ‘new man’ (i.e. humanity) of Ephesians 2:15. It is not about trying harder, but rather, becoming a new human.

THIRD SESSION In the third session of the day we heard from three evangelical ministers of churches in Glasgow seeking to build biblical communities and reach their parishes with the gospel. Jane Howitt spoke about ministry at St Rollox, Stuart Love about Clinkarthill Parish church, and Tim Sinclair about Patrick Trinity.

FOURTH SESSION Finally, in the fourth session, Mark talked about the factors militating against biblical community. First, we thought about the weak points, such as a leadership which doesn’t effectively equip the people, or the expectation that the leadership does all the work. Then Mark covered four areas which threaten biblical community: consumer culture; idealism; disunity; and poor leadership. As Mark put it, the ‘sovereign consuming self on the throne of life must be dethroned!’ We, the church, need to speak biblically about ‘the good life’, what is worthy of pursuit.

It is essential to acknowledge that this side of heaven involves hard work. Unity involves hard work. There is no one method which always works. Each situation requires prayer, wisdom, and humility, as opposed to efficiency and a one-size-fits-all approach. Disunity in the church damages the church’s mission, when tribal concerns undercut the gospel. Good leadership is also essential. The church needs leaders who equip, who do not abuse power or seek dangerous ‘success’. •

FIRST SESSION Mark started with the Old Testament basis for biblical community, and emphasised its inescapably missional purpose. Then Mark began looking at the letter to the Ephesians, the basis for his three talks, outlining the practical theological implications of the letter for building biblical community. He then progressed to the New Testament foundations for biblical community. In Ephesians, by speaking of the sovereignty and power of God, Paul lays the necessary foundation, locating us in a stable and immovable relationship with God; in such a relationship we can have confidence and assurance. Next Paul discusses what Mark called our ‘transformational union with Christ’ (Eph 2:1–10). It is through our union with Christ that practical transformation occurs in our lives.

SECOND SESSION In Ephesians 2:11–20, Paul discusses the peace-making work of Christ, the new humanity, and temple. Mark pointed out to us the importance of temple building language in Ephesians. Through his work, Christ forms ‘one new man’ (i.e. humanity), making peace (2:15). It is this ‘new humanity’ which, founded on the prophets and apostles, with Christ in the supreme position, grows into God’s new temple.

The final foundation Mark discussed was ‘unity in worthy walking’ (Eph 4:1–6). We cannot think in terms of useful and useless people or any other divisions. All people, difficult or friendly, are to be equally valued and welcomed in the new humanity. Paul is calling us to work hard at it.

We need to be humble, meek, long suffering, to bear with each other in love, because otherwise the body of Christ will be in disunity. This can lead to the scandalous accusation that the cross does not work.

Third, Mark talked on how biblical community grows. This, he says, requires two main things: leaders who equip (Eph 4:7–16); and discipleship (Eph 4:24). Mark also highlighted the mistranslation of Ephesians 4:24, commonly translated

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SETS seeks to promote theology: in the service of the church; faithful to Scripture; grounded in scholarship, informed by worship, sharpened in debate; and catholic in scope, with a care for Scotland and its people. More about SETS can be found on the society’s website www.se-t-s.org.uk. Audio recordings of conference sessions are available at https://bit.ly/2HuXJsj

Mark Stirling addressing delegates at the SETS Conference

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PRAYER DIARY JUNE/J ULY 2019 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us — so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

Psalm 67:1&2 Sat 15th Tomorrow is Fathers’ Day. Pray that all the fathers in our congregations will be strengthened in their responsibilities and for the children growing up without a father figure.

Sun 16th As the vacant congregation in Fortrose rejoice over their new building, pray that they will be guided to the person the Lord has planned to take them forward in this new phase.

Mon 17th Please pray that the ETS Board will be guided into the right way forward as they have been unsuccessful in recruiting a Church History lecturer to replace Dr John McIntosh.

Tues 18th Pray for the ETS students who are out on placements. Ask that they and the congregations they are assigned to will be blessed through their time together.

Wed 19th Remember all those who have completed their time in ETS and who are looking to the Lord for guidance for their future ministries.

Tues 25th Continue to pray for the resource that the Scottish Bible Society has developed (Bibleworld Books) which is used in after-school clubs as a partnership between the school, the local church and the Society in an attempt to reduce the falling literacy levels in our schools.

Wed 26th Continue to pray for all those in government as they try to secure a workable Brexit agreement.

Thurs 27th Pray for all our leaders in all walks of life. Pray that all those in authority would be honest, wise and generous and that God would establish justice in our land.

Fri 28th As the school year comes to a close, pray for safety for all our children and rest and refreshment for all the teachers and school staff over the holiday period Sat 29th Give thanks for the increasing number of people attending services in London Presbyterian Church who are not Christians – pray they will come to faith.

Thurs 20th The Trustees are scheduled to have a meeting today.

Pray that as they meet they will know God’s mind in all their deliberations.

Sun 30th Pray for the congregation of Glenurquhart and Fort Augustus and Rev. Alexander Stewart, their interim moderator, as they look for a settled ministry.

Fri 21st Pray for the Leith congregation as they restart their Friday lunches after the completion of their building work. Pray for blessing on all such ventures throughout the denomination.

Mon 1st Pray for Catriona MacDonald as she balances a heavy teaching schedule in Colegio San Andrés with church commitments. Pray for fruitfulness, protection and daily renewing as well as for God to provide positive and supportive friendships.

Sat 22nd As the summer camps programme draws close, pray for all the final preparations being made by leaders and for the young folk looking forward to their holiday.

Sun 23rd Fort William is a growing town. Pray for Rev. Gordon Martin and the congregation there as they look to the Lord for the future of their ministry.

Mon 24th Thank God for the staff in Colegio San Andrés, many of whom have worked there for many years demonstrating great loyalty and commitment. Pray for positive relationships and a real sense of unity as they work together to educate and disciple the children and young people.

Fri 5th Pray to God for all those children and young people who are struggling with anxiety and depression and don’t know that God is there to comfort and help them.

Sat 6th Two camps begin today.

Pray for Mairi Macleod and her team as they lead in Kincraig, especially remembering the young children who are away from home for the first time.

Pray for Rod Morrison and his team as they nurture the older footballers in Dunbar.

Sun 7th The congregation of the Free North in Inverness is vacant. Pray for them and Rev. Alasdair MacLeod, their interim moderator, as they look for a pastor.

Mon 8th Pray for the many young people connected to our congregations who have come to the end of their courses in school, college or university as they move on to their place of work or further study.

Tues 9th Pray for the Timothy Project, which produces indigenous Bible study materials for the church in Turkey. Pray for wisdom and resources to develop the work further.

Wed 10th Pray for Rev. Donnie G MacDonald in his moderatorial year and his congregation as they continue to raise funds for a new building.

Thurs 11th Give thanks for all families who have foster children. Pray for patience, especially where previous bad experiences may cause difficulties as children settle in their new home.

Tues 2nd Pray for any you know who are suffering because of relationship breakdown. Pray for reconciliation and family unity.

Fri 12th Pray for all those travelling to and from Oswestry today. The two camps beginning there are being led

by Andrew Martin, Laura MacGillivray and Emma and Davi de Paula.

Wed 3rd Pray for all those who have had to abandon their homes for one reason or another. Pray too for all agencies trying to help them.

Sat 13th Another three camps begin today. Pray for Susan MacLean, Stewart Johnson, Deuan Jones and Paula White and their teams as they lead their teams in Kincraig, Dunbar and Renfrew.

Thurs 4th The first camp begins today. Pray for all the young folk travelling to Oswestry and for Howard and Miriam Stone as they lead that popular camp. Pray that the ministry at all the camps this summer would be richly blessed by the Lord.

Sun 14th The Kilmallie and Ardnamurchan congregation use their building in the community. Pray for them and Rev. Dr John Ross, their interim moderator, as they look to have a settled ministry.

Prayer requests to: ian.macdonald57@btinternet.com.

Please take time to send requests for your congregation or ministry to be included in forthcoming Records.

These prayer notes are prepared 5 weeks in advance of publication.

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ETS NEWS

BY REV. THOMAS DAVIS

WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THE ETS ACCESS COURSE? YES!

Every year, ETS runs an Access to Theology Course. This is a weekly course which meets on a Tuesday evening, either at ETS or online. The aim of the course is to give people an introduction to the key areas of theological study in a way that is both accessible and relevant to life. But what is the course like? Well, to help us answer, we interviewed Eilidh Proudfoot, who completed the course in 2018.

Please tell us a little about yourself and your family I grew up in the Highlands and Islands and after studying in Aberdeen and Glasgow landed in Edinburgh to start teaching I’m married to Andy and we have 2 children, Angus and Isobel. I was a High School teacher for 16 years and left it last Summer to take on a new role with Home for Good, a Christian charity working around fostering and adoption.

really look forward to the lectures.

How have your studies helped you to grow as a Christian?

Reflecting on my studies, I benefitted on two levels. I enjoyed the academic challenge of studying; digging deeper, exploring aspects of Christianity I had never thought of. However, there was also a pastoral element to studying at ETS in that I couldn’t help but be encouraged by the teaching.

What made you choose to study the Access Course at ETS? It all started with a friend and I blethering. We used to talk for hours on end (and still do) about various aspects of our faith and we reached a point where we both felt we‘d benefit from studying some theology.

We started researching and realised we didn’t need to use distance learning when we had such a brilliant resource on our doorstep with ETS.

How has the course challenged or equipped you for your work and life?

The course is partly responsible for my taking a huge leap last year. I had a good job in a lovely school working with great people and while I had been wondering if it was time to do something different for a while I couldn’t see how that would be possible. It seemed so irresponsible to think about leaving what I had. I was intrigued by the Home for Good job when I saw it advertised but it seemed like too big a risk to leave my sensible job. God wouldn’t let it go. He kept giving me little prompts and looking back now I can see he was giving me the tiny baby steps that I needed to be able to move in the right direction. I blame John Angus MacLeod, who was giving a lecture on James one night, which speaks of faith without deeds being dead, and then the verse in 1:27 about orphans and widows. I realised then that all of the worries and questions I had about making a move were so small in God’s hands and so they have proved to be. My application was in the post the next day.

What was the course like? Was it hard?

The course was BRILLIANT. While it answered plenty of questions, what I really loved was that it opened up so many more! I’ve found it such a healthy thing to investigate my faith and dig deeper. Was it hard?

Yes and no. It was hard in that I had to carve out time with a full time job and small children, BUT the content was just so captivating that the reading and assignments were genuinely enjoyable to complete.

You’re really well equipped with first class lectures and very helpful lecturers.

What did you enjoy most about the course?

I loved a Tuesday night. The lectures made even subjects that I hadn’t thought I would be interested in (like Church History for example) absolutely fascinating. Even after a full day of work I would

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Would you recommend the Access Course?

Yes! It should maybe come with a health warning though — it’s transformative!

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How can readers pray for you?

It would be great if readers could pray for me in the work of Home for Good.

There is such a need in Scotland for adoptive and foster families. We believe the Church is ideally placed to help provide homes for vulnerable children and support families who step up to foster and adopt. Readers can find out more on our website www.homeforgood. org.uk or they can contact me at eilidh. proudfoot@homeforgood.org.uk.• Applications are already open for next year’s Access Course which begins in September. There are no entrance requirements; it is open for all! If you would like any more information, please visit www. ets.ac.uk

Eilidh, with her husband Andy and children, Angus and Isobel

POSITIVELY PRESBYTERIAN

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he 2019 positively presbyterian conference is to be held at lendrick muir, kinross from the 19th

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21st august.

The programme starts with dinner at 6:30pm on Monday 19th August and finishes with lunch at 1pm on Wednesday 21st August. It would be good to see you at the conference where you will enjoy talks, times of fellowship and relaxation.

We are delighted to welcome Rev Donnie G Macdonald to lead our worship and devotional sessions this year.

The cost of the conference will be £130. Day visitors are also welcome (Fee for Tuesday will be £35 and for Wednesday £30). Please note that this year you should pay by debit/credit card in advance online for your place at the conference. To pay, please visit www.freechurch.org/donate. In the description box, enter ‘Positively Presbyterian 2019’ and the amount of £130. You may, if you wish, pay a non-refundable deposit of £30, with the balance to be paid before the conference.

Do let your congregation know about this event. It is open to all: ministers, office-bearers, non-ordained workers, men and women.

Please address any queries to Clive Bailey, booking secretary to positivelypresbyterian@gmail.com www.suscotland.org.uk/lendrickmuir

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Monday 19th August 6.30 pm Dinner 8.00–9.15 Session 1: Rev. David Meredith 9.15-10.00 Evening Worship: Rev. D.G.Macdonald, “Loving Jesus” Tuesday 20th August 8.00-9.30 Breakfast and devotional: Rev. D.G.Macdonald, “Loving Jesus” 9.30-11.00 Session 2: Rev. Andy Longwe, “Thomas Chalmers” 11.00-11.30 Coffee 11.30-1.00 Session 3: Ciaran Kelleher, “Contemporary Catholicism” 1.00 Lunch + Free time 2.30-4.00 Football Match : North v South (County v City) 4.30-6.00 Session 4: Stuart Lee, “The Church’s Response to Disasters, Emergencies and Extreme Poverty” 6.00-8.00 Dinner 8.00-9.30 Session 5: Adrian Armstrong, “ Healing the Wounds of Trauma.”

9.30-10.00 Coffee 10.00 Evening Worship: Rev. D.G.Macdonald“Loving Jesus” Wednesday 21st August 8.00-9.30 Breakfast and devotional: Rev. D.G. Macdonald, “Loving Jesus” 9.30-11.00 Session 6: Martin Patterson, “God’s Mission in a Globalised World" 11.00-11.30 Coffee 11.30-1.00 Session 7: Dr. Calum MacKellar, "Transhumanism and Posthumanism from a Christian Perspective" 1.00 Lunch

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WORKING WITH REFUGEES IN EUROPE

BY CALUM KING

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provided food packets as the refugees changed train.

Soon after that, along with another missionary friend based in Romania, we answered a call for help from the Spanish NGO Remar, who had started a work on the border with Serbia and Macedonia. Over the following months we took more than ten teams from Romania to help serve food, distribute clothes and provide a warm place for people to rest and sleep as they crossed into Serbia from Macedonia.

he refugee crisis in europe may largely have been forgotten by the mainstream media,

but the situation is still critical and by no means over. In the first month of this year alone 6,278 people arrived in Europe by boat via the Mediterranean (IOM).

These people come from many different countries and of course the question often asked is who are the true refugees fleeing war or significant risk to their lives, and who are economic migrants seeking a better life in wealthier countries. Our motivation to help, however, comes from Matthew 25:35-36, which doesn’t ask us to question motives or backgrounds: ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Makeshift tents, home to children

As the work in Serbia continued throughout 2016 we also began travelling to Greece, where we transported materials as well as humanitarian aid and helped set up large tents from which food and clothes could be distributed. One in a shipping port in Athens where thousands of people were sleeping in tents and disused warehouses, one in a refugee camp close to Athens where food and clothes continue to be distributed daily, and another in a camp on the island of Lesbos where we continue to take teams from Romania to help distribute meals.

The flux of refugee arrivals through the Greek islands which was seen in 2015 and 2016 has significantly reduced since the European borders

'Home' in the Romanian woods

My involvement in the crisis began in November 2015 when an average of 3,000 people per day were travelling from Greece to Germany on what was known as the Balkan Route. Initially I worked for several days alongside other independent volunteers at a train station on the border between Croatia and Slovenia, where we

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The majority of the refugees we meet come from Muslim backgrounds and are from countries where the gospel cannot be freely proclaimed. In his providence, God has now brought millions of these people to our countries. were closed, but refugees continue to arrive, with 1,839 new arrivals during the first month of this year.

There are currently more than 16,000 people living in camps on the Greek Islands – more then 7,000 of whom are on the island of Lesbos, where we have been serving over the past three years.

Unfortunately, the living conditions in the camp we work in on Lesbos can only be described as inhumane. Built to host 3,000 people, the camp is currently home to 7,000. Many people live in improvised tents and those who get space in a container can share it with up to 30 other people.

Due to water shortages, running water is only turned on at certain times of the day and there is one toilet between approximately 70 people. Many major NGOs have condemned the conditions, with the BBC calling it the worst refugee camp on earth.

We continue to visit with teams – helping with the food distribution and providing some distraction for the hundreds of children – while trying to offer some hope to these people, who can expect to be stuck in these conditions for many months before they are allowed to move to the mainland.

started entering Romania from Serbia. Romania was unprepared and did not have room in its immigration reception centres to accommodate all of the new arrivals. This meant that soon we found a group of young boys from Afghanistan sleeping in some woods close to a supermarket. We started visiting them three times a week, taking them tents, sleeping bags, clothes and food. Within a couple of weeks the number of people had grown to around fifty people and included families with young children. Our visits there continued for around three months, after which all of the remaining boys were accepted into immigration centres and given the chance to ask for asylum in Romania.

Two months later, two of those boys, aged 18 and 19, who are ethnic Pashtuns and originally from Afghanistan, were granted subsidiary protection and the right to remain in Romania. At that point, I was able to invite them to come and stay in my home, and after a month a Christian family gave them jobs in their building company and we found them a small flat to rent. Over the past year, with the help of people in our church, we have been able to help them in all aspects of integrating into Romania. We pray that through our practical witness to them, the Lord would soften their hearts and they would come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord as Saviour.

Sometimes God calls us to go and take the gospel to other people groups around the world, and at other times he brings the people to us. The majority of the refugees we meet come from Muslim backgrounds and are from countries where the gospel cannot be freely proclaimed. In his providence, God has now brought millions of these people to our countries and we must use this opportunity to tell them and show them the good news of Jesus Christ. The harvest is plentiful but the labourers few. Maybe you can help... •

Activiities for children

Pray — pray for opportunities to share the good news with the people we meet while serving.

Over the past three years we have met thousands of refugees and have made many friends with whom we have kept in contact. Many of them are now settled in Austria, Germany and Holland, and we have made several trips to visit them as they start their new lives. God has also opened doors for me to visit friends in locked detention facilities both in Hungary and Romania. Through these relationships, God has allowed us to share the gospel with these friends, most of whom come from a Muslim background.

In the autumn of 2017 the first groups of refugees

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Give — contribute towards the financial cost of taking teams from Romania to Lesbos, Greece.

Come — if you’d like to come and help practically or even bring a team, please get in touch.

Callum King is a missionary based in Arad, Romania.

He can be contacted on callumking@btopenworld.com

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t has been my life’s privilege to work alongside churches to help alleviate poverty in their communities.

The church is one of the few organisms on earth that has access to such an attractive arsenal to alleviate need and intervene at a point of institutional or individual crisis and has, historically, done so. However, one prevailing frustration for me has been the casual misuse of Jesus’ words that ‘the poor you will always have with you’ to legitimise the notion that the existence of poverty is inevitable.

In 2013, I was at the launch of Perth & Kinross Foodbank. The venue was filled with about one hundred people, from press and politicians to pensioners, and I was invited to say a few words. I shared some of the reasons underpinning the proliferation of poverty in Scotland and why churches were dedicating time and deploying resources to respond to the needs in their communities. I also talked about the havoc being wrought in people’s lives by the Welfare Reform Act, which was just being rolled out.

The Welfare Reform Act has been one of the most punitive political programmes for people experiencing poverty. Since April 2013, it penalised families with spare bedrooms with deductions to their Housing Benefit. It persecuted claimants turning up two minutes late to sign on by sanctioning them faster than a foreign diplomat. It punished people with up to a five-week waiting period from the point of applying for Universal Credit to receiving a payment.

As I spoke that day in Perth, the left-leaning politicians clapped their hands and the right-leaning politicians folded their arms. As I set foot off the platform, a reporter approached me and asked if the UK Government were responsible for the existence of poverty. I could have sung to the tune of the choir and secured a front-page splash by launching into an anti-establishmentarian tirade. Instead, I said: ‘No, I believe poverty is the direct consequence of human greed and, for that, we are all to blame.’

Darren McGarvey nails it, in his excellent Orwell Prize-winning book Poverty Safari (2017: 125), when he writes: ‘Whether it be the left blaming the rich or the right blaming the poor, we tend only to be interested in whichever half of the story absolves us of responsibility for the problem.’ As long as we blame others for the prevalence of poverty, we are guilty of the oldest sin, rather than understanding the reasons that underpin it and identifying the role we can play to eliminate it.

When Mary broke the alabaster jar of perfume and, according to the gospel of John, washed the feet of Jesus with her hair, it was an indiscriminate act of undignified and uninhibited devotion. The gospel accounts of Mark and John specify that the value of the perfume was 300 denarii, equivalent to a year’s wages. The late William Barclay, in his commentary on The Gospel of Matthew (1975), observed that this was more than the amount required to feed the five thousand. What an astute analogy.

It is in response to this beautiful act that Judas queries: ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?’ Jesus responds: ‘You will always have the poor among you…’. However, embracing a defeatist interpretation of Jesus’ words here as a statement concerning the inevitability of poverty is to completely miss the point. As my friend Josiah Haken (2018) observes, this ‘fill-in-the-blank teaching style’ Jesus uses when addressing a Jewish audience is a crucial piece of the theological jigsaw.

In the Ancient Near East, young Jews had to memorise what we know as the first five books of the Bible by the age of ten years old. So when Jesus utters these words, a Jewish audience would hear Moses in Deuteronomy, where it is written: ‘There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open-handed…’ And this very same chapter lays waste to the belief that poverty is inevitable, by earlier stating that ‘… there need be no poor people among you…’.

Last week, another friend, the co-author of A Church for the Poor (2017), Natalie Williams, pointed to Acts 4:34 as the culmination of the charge to the church moved from there should be no poor people to there was no needy person. Institutional factors and individual behaviours can play a part, but dig deep to the roots of poverty and you will unearth greed. And nothing is stronger to defeat greed and overcome poverty than open-handed and radically redistributive generosity.

That is the Jesus way! • Ewan Gurr has spent 15 years working alongside people experiencing poverty in local and national charities and is currently a non-executive director for Social Security Scotland and writes a weekly column for the Evening Telegraph.

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BY EWAN GURR

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Photo Matt Collamer on Unsplash

A Theological Reinterpretation of Poverty

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. 1 John 4:7

BY DR ANTONY LATHAM

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‘Conscience reveals to us a moral law whose source cannot be found in the natural world, thus pointing to a Supernatural Lawgiver’01 C.S. Lewis

I

s there really a moral law ,

as C.S. Lewis asserted?

And is such a moral law objective? By objective we mean that it is not dependent on ourselves but is a universal reality.

wrong and helping someone who has collapsed in the street is good. These values seem to be objectively true.

ARGUMENTS FOR SUBJECTIVISM One of the main subjectivist’s arguments is like this: ‘The fact that no one can establish exact rules of this law (objective morality) calls its objectivity into question, thus supporting a human as opposed to divine origin.’ In other words, lack of agreement amongst people about moral values suggests that there is no objective truth to them.

But, suppose a culture believes that it is wrong to eat meat and another culture believes it is right; the fact that there is disagreement is hardly a reason to say that both are right.

Indeed, the moral subjectivist must also come under his own philosophy: how does he know that he is right about moral values, if all views are to be held equal?

Another argument of the subjectivist is that it is intolerant, dangerous and bad to impose certain morals on people. They say it is better to accept one another and not condemn each other. This indeed sounds ‘tolerant’ and respectful on first sight. But there is a difference between objectivism and absolutism. Objectivism simply maintains that there is objective truth about moral values. Absolutism is more about forcing one’s views on others and condemning them. Objectivism and absolutism are very different things. In fact, it can be argued that subjectivism is the most dangerous position; the subjectivist can never challenge people about their behaviour. They would have to tolerate slavery, for instance, because a few sincere people believe slavery is morally right.

It can be argued also that moral progress in our societies cannot happen unless we believe in moral objectivity. The abolition of slavery had much to do with people like Wilberforce who held strongly to a moral objectivity about the evil of slavery.

OBJECTIVE MORALITY AND THE ARGUMENT FOR GOD If there are objective moral values which do not depend on culture or opinion, then we have to ask how such values came to be. This article explores the arguments for and against objective morality.

We look at the implications of objective morality: does this imply there is a God? If we then can agree there is a God, then what can we infer about the God behind such morality?

The principal argument goes like this 1. If objective moral duties exist, then God exists.

2. Objective moral duties exist.

3. Therefore God exists.02 ARGUMENTS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF OBJECTIVE MORAL VALUES As already stated, by objective moral values we mean that they are independent of the person having such values. Subjective moral values are dependent on the person having them. The view that moral values are always subjective is often called ‘moral relativism’.

To amplify this issue: moral objectivism holds that there are moral truths that do not depend on our belief in them. For example: child sacrifice has been considered morally right by some cultures while other cultures believe that this is morally wrong.

Slavery is considered morally right by some cultures and others believe it to be wrong. The argument for moral objectivism is that we cannot hold both views to be right. The moral objectivist does not even need to know which view is true, just that one of them is true. If there is disagreement over morality this just means that some people’s beliefs are mistaken — without even deciding which one is correct.

We hold to objectivism in other disciplines such as science. Some people believe that climate change is occurring, due mainly to carbon emissions. Others dispute this sincerely. They cannot both be right. One of these views is objectively true. In the same way, moral values, it is argued, do have objective truth and cannot be relative to each subject.

There is in fact general agreement worldwide about certain moral values and we would be right in assuming these are universal and not dependent on subjective thinking. For example, it is generally agreed that stealing is wrong, cheating in exams is

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OBJECTIVE MORAL VALUES AND THE EXISTENCE OF GOD If there are indeed objective moral values, then we must look to their source. Why are there such values which do not depend on any individual or group or culture? It seems obvious to conclude that only God can have put such values in place.

The atheist is really only left with a moral vacuum — believing there is just energy and matter and no purpose or person behind the universe. The atheist, when the chips are down, has to face the fact that this position outrules absolute morality; there is >>

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If God is the source of moral values, which are objective, necessary and eternal truths, then we can assume that God is necessary and eternal.

OBJECTIVE VALUE AND GOD’S NATURE What can we deduce about God’s attributes from all this? If God is the source of moral values, which are objective, necessary and eternal truths, then we can assume that God is necessary and eternal. More than this, the Creator relates to us personally as humans by enabling us to know his moral law. We mostly know this intuitively. Both the atheist and the theist know intuitively that child sacrifice is wrong and the Holocaust was evil; we are related to each other in this way as persons by a personal moral law-giver.

<< nothing ‘out there’ that is right or wrong.

However, if we quite rationally believe in absolute values or objective morals, then we are inevitably led to believe in a God who is the source. Most people can get this argument if it is spelled out.

THE DARWINIAN ANSWER TO MORAL VALUES The standard Darwinian view is that moral values and indeed all forms of altruism are hard-wired into our brains by natural selection. The biological reasons given for this are:

RESPONSIBILITY AND SIN If we are honest and we know there are objective moral values, then we have to admit that we often transgress them. This is not the place to put forward a doctrine of sin, but it at least shows us that in the face of eternal moral rules, we often do not live up to them or obey them, which leads us to the need for salvation.

1. The immediate group of individuals (particularly your ‘kin’ who carry some of your own genetic material) are more likely to survive, thus ensuring the best possible survival chances of your genes.

2. If you are nice to other people, then they are likely to be nice to you in the future and your genes are more likely to be passed on. This is known as ‘reciprocal altruism’.

CONCLUSION There is every reason to believe rationally that objective moral laws exist. This leads us to believe there is a law-giver and Creator. We can gently but effectively lead atheists to consider all this and demonstrate that God as the provider of moral values must also be moral, eternal and personal.

Referring to the Gentiles who had no knowledge of the scriptures, Paul wrote:

If you look at the YouTube clip, referenced below, of Richard Dawkins you will see exactly these views expressed by him.03 Notice how confused he is in replying to the theist who gives him the second question in the clip.

By asserting these views the Darwinist is implying that it is not actually, objectively bad to murder, it is merely bad for the survival of your DNA. I realise that this disturbs Darwinists and causes offence, but it is the logical conclusion of the Darwinian position. It is not that Darwinists are nasty people, just that the implications of the evolutionary view are rarely fully appreciated.

Sometimes we do need to spell out the darker sides of Darwinian theory. It is trotted out for absolutely every human characteristic. If we swallow that, then there is no such thing as actual love, self-sacrifice, compassion, or altruism; just selfish genetic programming to enable you to pass on what is in your chromosomes. And if you really believe that, then objectively, you have licence to do anything you want .

02 03

Dr. Antony Latham is a GP based on the Isle of Harris.

He is the writer of a number of books including The Naked Emporer: Darwinism Exposed and The Enigma of Consciousness — Reclaiming the Soul.

C.S. Lewis. 1997 edition Mere Christianity. HarperCollins.

Williams, Peter S. 2013. A Faithful Guide to Philosophy. Paternoster. https://bit.ly/2VATB41

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©ultimator - stock.adobe.com

01

‘They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.’

Romans 2:15

It is not that Darwinists are nasty people, just that the implications of the evolutionary view are rarely fully appreciated.

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THE

GOSPEL

FOR TODAY’S

SOCIETY

ECCLESIASTES 7:1-6

“PARTY

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What about extreme politics? Is it because there is a need to relieve boredom? What about extreme religion? In chapter 7 of Ecclesiastes Solomon warns us that living at the extremes causes us to miss the wisdom of life, although he also implies that it is at the extremes of life that we often discover truth, meaning and purpose.

In ch.6 he has asked, who knows what is good? Here he begins to answer that — stating that there are some things that are relatively better than others. Reputation is better than perfume. A funeral is better than a party.

REPUTATION He begins by dealing with the question of reputation. Our name is essential. If you want to destroy someone, you need to destroy their reputation. Solomon uses a play on words to emphasise this — name is better than nard. Nard was an expensive luxury perfume. The perfume that Mary used to anoint Jesus was worth up to £25,000 today. The point is that whether it’s perfume or other symbols that proclaim our status or value, nothing is as valuable as our reputation. The name of God is essential to him. ‘You sent miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day’ (Nehemiah 9:10, NIV). A good name is essential for us. ‘A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold’ (Proverbs 22:1, NIV). In this regard Solomon regards the day of our death better than the day of our birth, because at birth we do not have a name in terms of reputation. When we die we do. It contains all that we have done in life.

Photo by Paweł L on Pexels.

CELEBRATION He then moves on to speak of celebration and mourning.

Surely the former is better? Not necessarily. One of the cult films of the 1990’s was Wayne’s World, which basically had as its theme ‘Party On!’. For some that is the >>

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O

is the misuse and diminution of the English language. The way that words change or are used in different ways fits well with Solomon’s assertion that everything is meaningless. One such word is ‘extremist’. We think we know what it means, but it has become a term of insult and of attack.

Anyone who disagrees with us or has strong convictions must be an ‘extremist’. For example, the UK government likes to warn us about extremism…and in order to appear balanced seems willing to class those who don’t agree with Same Sex Marriage as extremists on a par with ISIS! I was once called an ‘extremist’ because I went to church every Sunday (I shudder to think of what my accuser would have called me if he had discovered I actually went twice!).

But what is real extremism? Why do people try extreme sports? ne of the problems with modern life

<< solution to life. You live a life of drudgery from Monday to Friday — the weekend is party time.

Solomon says no: it’s better to go to a funeral than have that attitude.

Is he being morose? No — this is the same man who wrote ‘A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit’ (Proverbs 15:13, NIV). He is not against cheerfulness or parties. He is saying that just as a cheerful heart can be good medicine, so sorrow can be a nourishing food. Why? We live in a society that wants to avoid sorrow and thinks that it is unnatural. We want to avoid pain and hurt as much as possible. Yet it is out of the brokenness that sometimes the sweetest perfume comes.

Inner character is more vital than outer fragrance — so the funeral, not the birthday party, poses the real questions.

Is it really better to go to a funeral than a party? In some ways, yes. Death helps us think about life. A party does not. Every funeral anticipates our own. ‘Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom’ (Psalm 90:12, NIV). So in v.3 he tells us that one of the effects of suffering is that it can help put our heart right.

The heart here is the centre of attention, thought, understanding and memory. There is sorrow and anger in the presence of death. ‘The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning’ means that death causes us to reflect and think. The fool, on the other hand, is blind to spiritual issues and content with that — ‘How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will

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mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?’

(Proverbs 1:22, NIV) When we live as though life is just one big party, we end up with shallow and meaningless lives.

Why think about the big issues when we can just have fun? Traudl Junge, Hitler’s secretary, tells of how she just did not bother with the big issues, and the harm that caused her. ‘A life of conscious thought began for me only after the war, when I started thinking about important things, asking questions. Wondering about the meaning of human relationships. Until then I’d just accepted everything as it happened to me. I moved from place to place without consciously wanting to leave my mark on them. Wherever I was, I just tried to take an interest in what I was doing, and give of my best.’

‘A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions’ (Proverbs 18:2, NIV). His preoccupation is with the party.

LAUGHTER It is the ultimate accolade for some people, ‘He’s a good laugh.’ But for Solomon laughter is often the song of fools. The fool’s laughter is a sudden flame: lots of heat, light and sparks and plenty noise, but soon spent and easily put out. If Solomon thought that his own culture was shallow and superficial, one wonders what he would say about contemporary Western society! Just 24 hours watching most of our entertainment output would confirm his analysis.

In some ways I think the whole of Ecclesiastes is a wake-up call to our superficial and shallow society. Whilst there is great beauty and reasons for joy in our society, overall I think that we live in the kind of trivialized and dumbed-down society that Solomon laments.

T.V. Moore has a wonderful paraphrase of these verses — ‘Beware the man who’s always making jokes and laughing at a hat’s drop or the stroke of every hour. His heart is only set on foolishness and mirth. You’ll never get a man like this to share your sorrows. Learn to feel the pain of others, and discern their grief. You’ll find that this will fill your heart with happiness, when you know how to impart a sympathetic gesture. So the wise man is the one who learns to care, who tries to be there for his friends when they’re in pain. The fool can only think in terms of gain for him; he’s always out for fun.’

Jesus Christ did not save us with a superficial sound bite or by urging us to ‘always look on the bright side of life’. He was the Man of Sorrows who took up our pain and bore our suffering (Isaiah 53:5). His funeral leads to the ultimate party.

Let’s reflect on these things and be real, deep and thankful, in sorrow and joy. •

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FCYC Training Day 2019

BY KIRSTEN MACDONALD

O

While the leaders were participating in training on being a good leader, and how to deliver Bible talks and lead dorm discussions, the cooks were given some training on cooking for crowds and how to cook for those with dietary requirements. The training was led by experienced camp cook Kathleen Nicolson, ably assisted by Catriona Macleod, who has first-hand experience of cooking for dietary needs.

The cooks had a hugely beneficial time together, discussing various aspects of cooking at camp and sharing stories and top tips.

We are hugely grateful to the congregation at Smithton for the use of their building and their wonderful hospitality, and to everyone else who contributed to making the day such a success.

n saturday 4th may around 50 free church youth

gathered together at Smithton Free Church in Inverness for the annual FCYC Leaders and Cooks Training Day. We caught up with first-time FCYC leader Karla Urquhart to find out more… camp leaders and cooks

As God’s children, we have all been called to the same mission, commanded by Christ himself in Matthew 28, to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’. Free Church Camp Leaders and Cooks were rightly reminded about this, and about whose strength we go in as we look forward to Summer 2019 Camp adventures!

The FCYC Training Day was an opportunity for the various camp teams to network together, learning from shared experiences whilst also receiving valuable teaching and direction from camp leaders and others; discovering how best to share Jesus and teach the simple gospel message of Christ for all to hear. After sharing worship together, we were joined by Bruce (SU Scotland) and Kirsty Lockhart, who work regularly with young people requiring additional support. We were challenged to consider how we organise Camps to suit the range of camper needs and were also reminded of the importance of building relationships with our young people, ensuring that no matter the age or ability, everyone hears about our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Learning how to lead Bible talks and facilitate dorm discussions was something from which I really benefited as a first-time camp leader (and indeed camper!). Pointing campers to the one true Leader is the main aim of our leadership role, and the practical workshops led by Davi de Paula and Iain ‘Cheeks’ Morrison highlighted methods of doing just that. Study strategies were given and the importance of preparing effectively was emphasised to enable us to support young people as best as we can.

It is both a great privilege and responsibility to be a part of God’s work at Camps this summer, and we pray that many young people will discover the love of Jesus Christ for themselves and learn more about the Bible's relevance for their lives today!

Camps Supervisor Donald Macleod leads a session on Safeguarding and Social Media.

FCYC Supervisor Donald Macleod said "It was great to meet so many of the camp leaders and cooks, some of whom had travelled such a distance, at the Training Day. The presenters all challenged us to reflect on what we are doing at camp and why we are there. Once again, I felt a deep sense of awe at the commitment and dedication shown by our FCYC leaders and cooks and what they are doing for the young people they are working with this summer.

Smithton were excellent hosts and we are indebted to the team there for that. We all left expectant of great blessings in summer 2019". •

Leaders involved in this year's Free Church Youth Camps engage in discussions about Additional Support Needs.

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DEUS VULT, MEDICE CURA A Christian medical approach to vaccination sceptics.

An ANONYMOUS contribution

PART 02

S

o if what I discussed in part 01 is true, and vaccines

are people going to get their information other than those who reinforce their prejudices and already agree with what they think? Learning is uncomfortable; as with science, often you have to admit to being wrong.

Particularly prominent recently has been the growth of the ‘anti-vaxxer’ movement. They are a widespread phenomenon now — mostly white, well-educated, middleclass and very sceptical about the claims of modern medicine. They are backed up by famous actors and personalities, even some politicians (such as in California and Italy). ‘BIG PHARMA’ is one of their enemies-in-chief and they refuse to accept the evidence for the benefits of immunisation, as they see that evidence as somehow tainted or misrepresentative of the truth. One of their prominent prophets is the disgraced UK doctor/clinical researcher Andrew Wakefield, whose paper on the

have been incredibly successful at preventing the spread of disease, saving lives in the process, what then is the problem in 2019? Why are vaccination rates falling?

The successes of vaccines are in one way their weakness. We are no longer so terrified of infectious illness. Smallpox exists only in history books, and to most people, diseases like polio and diphtheria may as well also. ‘Surely they can’t have been that bad,’ seems to be the underlying cognition. What we must realise is that in the 21st century, we live in an anomalous period. Most of human history has been blighted by high infant and childhood death rates, and the majority of the common people succumbed at the end of their lives to infection. Now, in the western world, our typical

Anti-vaxxers are not stupid, but they are very, very wrong. They inhabit a twilight world where the evil mega-corporations run the puppet governments . bogeymen are diabetes, cancer, heart attacks and strokes. It seems strange to us that our ancestors lived in fear of the smallest of wounds or animal bites, as even small breaks in the skin could bring swift death from tetanus or bacterial cellulitis. Indeed, we are sheltered. And ignorant.

We live through the unprecedented rise of social media and the democratisation of information dissemination.

Anyone who can type a tweet or record a YouTube video can find an audience, and a following for their ideas.

Evidence is secondary to sensationalism, emotionalism and politics. People naturally associate with their own ‘tribes’, and whereas that may once have meant family groups or religious organisations, now there has been a mass splintering of mankind into endless ideological minority groups. In a time when various segments of the mainstream media have been shown to be hopelessly biased and partisan (particularly in the USA, but also in the UK), is it any wonder that people seek out voices that echo — and amplify — their own?

More widespread in our culture today is a growing trend towards anti-intellectualism, or ‘anti-experts’.

Fewer children study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM subjects) at school than they used to, and I wonder if in general people are losing the ability to think rigorously about the world around them.

If everyone has a voice and the previously authoritative information sources (doctors, scientists, government, traditional media) now seem untrustworthy, where else

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supposed link between autism and MMR was retracted

by The Lancet when it was exposed as basically lies. He is now something of a cause celebre because of the way he was ‘wronged’ by the ‘corrupt establishment’ when the General Medical Council stripped him of his licence to practice. Job 13:4 (NIV): ‘You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you!’

Anti-vaxxers are not stupid, but they are very, very wrong. They inhabit a twilight world where the evil mega-corporations run the puppet governments to ensure that vulnerable children are exposed to dangerous ‘chemicals’ that ‘weaken their immune systems’, where if only they could be exposed to diseases ‘naturally’, their immune systems would be ‘turbocharged’ into superiority over everyone else’s. No amount of evidence to the contrary seems to change their minds, made up as they are by a mixture of paranoia, suspicion, good old American rebelliousness and sometimes even misguided biblical justification.

Experience suggests that the more anti-vaxxers are presented with otherwise convincing, sensible evidence about vaccines’ safety and efficacy, the more they dig their heels in and become entrenched in their beliefs. They display a wilful refusal to even comprehend the concept of herd immunity. The existence of pockets of anti-vaxxers in Washington State has led to a state of emergency due to an unprecedented measles outbreak. How do we protect society (and their own children) from anti-vaxxers?•

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Letter from

North Korea

BY CALLUM BOWSIE

Y

that this time the heading of my letter comes with a different prefix before Korea. In Autumn past I was invited to Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) in North Korea (officially the DPRK) for their spring semester. It is an English-speaking university primarily taught by foreign faculty on a voluntary basis who have a heart for the DPRK. My role is to teach English to firstyear students to enable them to study their subsequent undergraduate degrees in English.

It had been my desire to return to the DPRK ever since my first visit here in 2015. I’ve been here for three months now and it has been an amazing but challenging experience.

One of those challenges, like anywhere, is dealing with my own prejudice. People are often surprised and sometimes reluctant to hear me telling them that the DPRK and its people are beautiful in so many ways. Beauty is what we choose to see. Every day I have the privilege of teaching

about an appropriate response at the same time, it can be all too easy to just regress to the usual chatter about ‘my lovely country’. I’ve realised that most of our cultural treasures aren’t usually that impressive or relevant at the end of the day. I could talk about our nice buildings, but why when everyone here gets a free house? Why boast about our most heroic figures when we dispose of them the same year? Or even about our modern technology when I’m currently getting faster internet here than I do at home?! Once I forget my cultural pride, students acknowledge this and in turn we have more meaningful conversations about life. Conversations that break down barriers instead of building them and thus that make them learners and not just advocators.

Our mission on campus is that our students would not only be upright in character, but would be diligent learners and innovative researchers. Hence, when many of our students recently graduated this semester – although it was a sad farewell – it was a joy to watch the next generation of leaders here go off and serve their country having been gifted quality education with an international outlook. And in the process wondering why they got this gift •

ou will have noticed

©pavlofox - stock.adobe.com

Tree-planting ceremony during graduation day.

some of the brightest minds in this special country.

Ironically, I’ve discovered that my students here know so much more about the world than many of my previous students elsewhere. Today I taught my students the paradox ‘less is more’. It is so fitting to the concept of knowledge here. In our own culture of information bombardment, young people have lost interest in facts, figures and theories. But knowledge is valued here. My students know how tall Everest is, what the capital of Azerbaijan is, even about the existence of Northern Ireland while many other Commonwealth nations don’t!

My students have taught me a lot about my own culture.

During meal appointments they often ask about my culture. As I try to eat noodles with chopsticks and think

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Callum with his guide in Pyongyang

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Second, we need to not do it over and over again. Nowhere does the Bible recommend us to constant chewing over of our past sins, constant self-examination on one alreadyrepented mistake, constant mulling over of our own errors or anyone else’s. Once godly grief has done its good work, it becomes sinful to hang on to it, shutting out God’s voice on any other topic. We can blind ourselves with the growing beam in our own eye! If we are always looking at one looming problem, where is the concern for the lost, for the persecuted, even for praise?

We need to accept the Lord’s forgiveness. But don’t confuse that with the muddled concept of ‘forgiving yourself’ — as if we have the authority to do such a thing!

Forgiving yourself all too often turns into a ritual of self-

remember as a child reading a story about a naughty

who squeezed all the toothpaste into the sink in order to make a toothpaste mountain. As the little girl’s mother discovered her deed, I became aware of a weird phenomenon — I felt guilty. I suppose one lesson to take from that is the empathetic powers of literature, but what it really reminds me of is the guilt complex that plagued me almost from my earliest memories. I felt guilty all of the time. I’m not talking about that mythic ‘Calvinist guilt complex’ we read about or any guilt imposed on me by someone calling me a bad girl; I was rarely badly behaved. This was a guilt that came from deep within. I was obsessed with guilt. And, as the above incident illustrates, sometimes it wasn’t even my own guilt. little girl

ME, YOU, AND OUR SAVIOUR COMPLEX

BY DAYSPRING MACLEOD

I wonder if you’ve ever felt burdened with other people’s guilt. Job felt so afraid for his unbelieving children that he made sacrifices on their behalf. In our day, don’t we feel guilt on behalf of our unbelieving spouse? Our ungrateful or ill-mannered children? Our blaspheming colleagues?

Our petty or gossiping friends? We feel the shame that we think they should feel; or, worse, a responsibility to change them, or at least their behaviour. Worst of all, we can feel that we are directly to blame for their wrongdoing. That we enabled or allowed this, that there was something we didn’t say. That we haven’t corrected enough, quoted enough Bible to them, showed a good enough example.

As if we ourselves have ruined their relationships, their reputations, their finances. As if it’s up to us to fix it for them. Of course, this is really mulling over other people’s sins primarily, not our own — however blameworthy we may feel – and that is a judgemental attitude that it in itself sinful. And it is much easier to obsess over others’ shortcomings than to address them, head on, in a biblical way. It’s easier to pass on word of their sins to others, ‘for prayer’ or ‘asking for advice’, than to talk to the person himself. It’s easier to turn over (and over and over) every facet of their hurtful attitude or words in our own minds than to even pray about them. It’s easier to bear the weight of sin ourselves than to lay it on Jesus’ shoulder, because at heart, it’s still a struggle to accept that we can save nobody, we can change nobody.

There are a number of ways to deal with this misplaced guilt or shame for those around us. First, we need to examine before the Lord and confess where we have been remiss — where we have been a bad example or an enabler — or have avoided that difficult conversation with someone out of fear. If we feel really convicted that we need to approach the person, then we must do it in a biblical way, one-on-one, gently, humbly.

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justification and excusing your own behaviour (I know this from experience), whereas accepting forgiveness from God means acknowledging the full extent of our sin, repenting of it, and then allowing ourselves to feel the balm of knowing that sin to be as far away from us ‘as the east is from the west’.

But I’m still not sure what I’m meant to do now… But it still hurts…. But they haven’t changed…

And this is where you leave the person to God, to hear from the Holy Spirit. You can’t have the ‘meaningful conversation’ over and over. Because it doesn’t work.

Presenting verses and spiritual insight and tearful pleas to someone repeatedly on the same topic won’t do anything but make them feel judged and alienated. At this point, continue pleading with God to speak to the other person, but also to give you peace. And resolve to move on.

Sometimes it helps to write down those of God’s promises that you find particularly appropriate to your situation, and read them over as necessary. Of course, for really dangerous or serious situations — addictions, violence, a spouse having an affair — you may need to ask for advice, or get the elders (or the authorities!) involved. The Holy Spirit will guide you in these things.

Here’s what I know: other people’s sins are too heavy for us. Our own sins are too heavy for us. Goodness knows I feel too weighed down by my own shortcomings to bear anyone else’s. We can’t be the saviour. We are all in equal need of the true Saviour. He is good, he answers our prayers, and — crucially — we have seen his faithfulness before. If we believe and hold on to these things, we never need to live weighed down — by guilt or anything else on this earth. • And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:6

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BOOK REVIEWS This month our book reviews have more of a focus on the best book of all, the Bible, alongside the challenges of living out its message in everyday life.

All of these books, unless otherwise stated, are available from our online shop at thefree.church/shop.

RUTH & ESTHER DAVID STRAIN (2018) Ruth & Esther are two of the most fascinating and unusual books in the Bible. They are the only books that focus on the lives of women and reveal the way God is at work in their situations. There are aspects of these books which are difficult for us to understand in 21st Century Scotland as they occur in a different culture from us, with practices we often don’t fully understand. David Strain has done a great job of opening up this culture to us and helping us to understand what is going on in these books. He is honest about the difficult situations we meet in the lives of Ruth and Esther – for example he exposes Naomi’s awful plan in Chapter 3 of Ruth for what it is and at the same times shows the integrity of Ruth and Boaz. He constantly shows us the connections between the events in these books and our lives today – seeing both in light of Jesus. David Strain’s book is a wonderful commentary on the books of Ruth & Esther that should be read both by the preacher of God’s word and the ordinary believer who wants to understand God’s word better. • Stephen Allison, Kiltarlity Free Church SERVING WITHOUT SINKING JOHN HINDLEY (2013) Hindley’s gift for biblically addressing our skewed view of God, ourselves and others comes to bear on this book as he highlights how this impacts our ‘service’. The reminder is that God looks at what our hearts are saying over what our hands are doing. The challenge is to consider that the motivation behind our efforts makes the difference between what is actually ‘service’ and what is in fact ‘sin’.

Whether we’re trying to bargain with Him, earn His favour or pay Him back because we’re uncomfortable being in His debt, we transform what should be rooted in love into actions that are highly offensive and essentially sinful.

It is the difference between seeing the cross as a debt to be paid or salvation to be received freely! Or maybe you ‘serve’ out of a need to please others or a need to belong?

Maybe you serve because you think Jesus needs you or because you’ve forgotten how much you need Jesus. For a reminder of our God who came not to be served but to serve, I couldn’t recommend this book highly enough! • Annemarie Douglas, Bellevue Chapel, Edinburgh

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THE LORD’S MY SHEPHERD, I’LL NOT WANT TIMOTHY CROSS (2018) In the preface to this book Timothy Cross questions how many Christians really understand the meaning of the 23rd psalm – and then sets out to put matters right. Taking each verse in turn, he carefully explains its literal application to sheep and shepherding in the original Middle Eastern context, and then goes on to discuss its spiritual application to the Christian – in the light of David's life experiences and of other passages of Scripture which use the same metaphors. These turn out to be surprisingly numerous and rich in content, especially those related to the first four verses of the psalm – the green pastures, the still waters, the right paths, the valley of the shadow, the rod and the staff.

Cross attempts, however, to maintain his analysis to the end of the psalm on sheep/shepherding lines – as others have done before him. Thus the imagery of the table, the anointing with oil, and the cup continues to be applied to the sheep.

This, as Derek Kidner points out in his commentary, makes little sense, although the value of the metaphors as applied to the believer remains. Taken as a whole, the book does indeed offer "fresh insights into a favourite psalm". Cross writes straightforwardly and without pretension, in keeping with his description of psalm 23 as "an open and honest testimony to David's own personal experience". The author's frequent cross-references to the Westminster Shorter Catechism are also illuminating. • Donald Mackay, Knox Church, Perth (This book is available from DayOne.) BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR BIBLE MATT SMETHURST (2019) This is a great wee book of just 89 pages which can be read in no time at all. It’s a bit like Psalm 117 which, though very small, contains in two verses foundational and fundamental Gospel truths that are built upon and expanded on throughout the rest of the Bible. So also, Smethurst has packed into a few pages really helpful, insightful and useful guidance of how to approach reading the Bible that will undoubtedly make a difference to what is a critically important Christian discipline. In nine brief chapters, Smethurst lays out the importance of coming to the Bible prayerfully, humbly, desperately, studiously, obediently, joyfully, expectantly, communally, and Christocentrically. By so doing, we honour the matter, the message and the Messiah of the Bible.

Each chapter is grounded in Scripture and with witty and winsome examples and illustrations makes this a book I think every believer could easily and should definitely read, whatever point on the road of redemption we happen to be.

The more we know the Scriptures and approach them in this way, the more we know our Saviour and the more we know our salvation. • Colin L. Macleod Gairloch, Kinlochewe & Torridon Free Church

GET IN TOUCH: EMAIL: books@freechurch.org SHOP: https://thefree.church/shop

2019

WEBSITE: books.freechurch.org MAILING LIST: https://thefree.church/books-sign-up

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OUR TOP 10 FROM 2018 Since we opened our new online bookshop just over a year ago, it’s been fascinating to see which books have proved most popular with you, our customers. It’s been a great year, and we’re glad to say that you have excellent taste! Here are the books that you were most keen to buy last year...

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CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY BOOKS! It is hugely encouraging that six of our top-selling titles were short Christmas books, designed to be given away at carol services and Christmas outreaches — ‘Countdown to Christmas’, ‘Good News, Great Joy’, ‘Christmas in Three Words’, ‘The Christmas Truce’, ‘Christmas Journeys Tract’ and ‘So This is Christmas’. In total, you bought an astonishing 1255 copies of these books — just imagine how many people’s lives that could change! •

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SING! KEITH & KRISTYN GETTY (2017) This little book is a missional and biblical look at why singing is such a hugely necessary part of the Christian life — whether you can hold a tune or not! Beginning with why worshipful singing should be an instinctive reaction to becoming a Christian, it mainly discusses simple ways to infuse your entire life with singing in praise. Finally, four chapters pull no punches in advising those involved in leading church worship on how to make sure your singing is welcoming, accessible and most of all, God-focused. We’re so glad so many of you have bought and hopefully enjoyed it. •

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LITTLE BOOK, BIG PICTURE MARTIN COLE (2004) A short tract aimed at children and teens, this book tells the whole Bible story in only fifteen pictures, each with a short explanation and Biblical reference.

It isn’t new, but it does all it needs to — and finishes with an encouragement to the reader to be a part of God’s big picture for themselves. •

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IS GOD ANTI-GAY? SAM ALBERRY (2013) One of the most popular and culturally challenging books of our times, this book is a thoughtful and thought-provoking look at one of the biggest questions Biblically faithful Christians face today. If you haven’t read it, you should (It’s less than £3.50). If you would appreciate reading more like it, try Glynn Harrison’s A Better Story. Issues around sexuality and gender aren’t going anywhere, so it pays to be prepared. •

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05

NONE LIKE HIM JEN WILKIN (2016) Chapter titles like 'Infinite’, ‘Incomprehensible’, and ‘Immutable’ could imply a very heavy book — but that’s what this book certainly is not. By exploring ten attributes of God within the context of Scripture, this title uses relatable examples from the author’s own life to leave the reader feeling humbled by God’s uniqueness, as well as secure in their personal faith. Ideal for use in a group study; we’re delighted that so many of you have bought so many copies. •

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BIBLE HEROES: JOSEPH CARINE MACKENZIE (2005) It is wonderful that so many of our bestselling books are for children, as they are both the present and the future of our church family! This book may be a simple colouring book, but it still tells the story of one of the Bible’s key characters; a man whose life was guided, protected and blessed by God. It’s a story that even the youngest believers can benefit from. •

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ELIJAH & JOHN: GOOD BOOK GUIDES The Good Book Guides are collections of studies on characters, themes and books of the Bible, so the presence of two different Guides on this list is a great sign that you are enjoying digging deeper into our wonderful Word of God. As you prepare your small group studies for the year ahead, it’s worth exploring the resources we have available — there are many great ones. •

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FRISKA MY FRIEND PATRICIA ST JOHN (1985) One of Patricia St John’s best loved titles, this book uses the story of one boy and his dog to explain to children how we as Christians belong completely to God. A perfect gift for children who love to get lost in stories, but who are also keen to know more about the One who made and protects them. It’s a delight to see a book that has such lasting appeal; we hope that many of the newer books we’ve recommended this year prove just as durable. •

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ESV INDIVIDUAL GOSPELS An increasingly popular Bible translation, the ESV is both easy to read and faithful to the original text. These individual gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) are available for under £1 each, and are perfect to have on hand to give away to those who are exploring Christianity, but who may not be ready for a whole Bible. In total, you bought 100 copies – that's good news for a lot of people! •

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HOLY BIBLE NIV 2011 For all that we’ve spent the past year encouraging you to read good Christian books of all shapes and sizes, nothing can ever take the place of the ultimate Good Book; the Holy Bible. We’re glad that your top ten favourite books is rounded out by this popular copy of the Bible – the NIV 2011 translation in an everyday, readable edition. Hopefully many of you will have a well-thumbed Bible somewhere close to hand. If you don’t, or if you know someone who doesn’t, why not just take the plunge and buy one? It will change your life! •

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Creation Letters There has been an interesting correspondence on the subject of Creation — the following letters will close this (for just now!). Thanks to all contributors — not least for the spirit in which they have conducted this debate.

The Editor

Dear Editor

who take a young earth position having a bias against clear scientific evidence is not consistent with the careful reasoning from the science that takes place in these writings — I grant that Anthony disagrees with their conclusions but the disagreement is on the science and needs discussing carefully in that context. One must not give the impression that there is disregard of the scientific method in those who come to the conclusion that the world is in fact not millions of years old. It is the scientific evidence that they reason from and not only the clear biblical statements in the Old and New testaments that the Flood was indeed worldwide (Genesis 6-9, Luke 17, 2 Peter 3).

I am not expecting agreement immediately from Anthony, Alan and George, but I know they are thoughtful people who love the Scriptures and love the science. Can I therefore urge them and our readers to listen carefully to such DVDs as ‘Set in Stone’, produced by Truth in Science, which looks at the geology of Britain (including the famous Siccar Point in Scotland!) and comes to very different conclusions than the well-rehearsed statements of millions of years. That DVD is available at the website: https://bit.ly/30y7MFY. Can I also encourage readers to get a copy of the book Thousands not Billions (New Leaf Publishing, 2005) and available on Amazon UK https://amzn.to/2HlAi66.

This book (in agreement with Anthony’s approach summarised above) takes the scientific facts and shows that the interpretation of the data does not imply millions or billions of years for the age of the earth, but is entirely consistent with the biblical timescale of thousands of years. One of the best short treatises on radioactive dating produced originally

by Genesis Agendum, and called simply ‘Radioactive Dating’, by Andrew Snelling, is another very useful summary of the major arguments showing that the data are entirely consistent with the catastrophic model of geology and in particular with the worldwide flood. It is not so readily available, but I have a pdf

I have noted the interesting correspondence between Anthony Latham, Alan Fraser and George MacAskill in The Record in the last few months, and I do appreciate the spirit with which the discussion is being held. It is vital that there is a respect amongst those who believe in Christ as Saviour and Lord, and that we encourage a listening to one another. I think Anthony began well when he stated ‘… even amongst Christians there is a multiplicity of views … we have a duty to respect and listen to one another,’ but his more recent letter began to diverge from this when he wrote ‘… much harm is done to our witness when there is a bias by some Christians against clear scientific evidence … those who insist against all reasonable evidence for a very young earth of only about 6,000 years age.’ The statement rightly asserts that we must be guided by clear scientific evidence, but to say that the view that the earth is of the order of 6,000 years is ‘against all reasonable evidence’ begs the whole question of the debate which is being held. To say that the debate can only be held in the context of old earth thinking is presuming that the matter of the age of the earth is not to be questioned.

Many of us beg to differ.

Back to Anthony’s first letter, he stated quite rightly that ‘the study of God’s Creation is neutral. It is how we interpret scientific facts, along with the light of scripture, that is the key.’ A significant group within the scientific community hold to a young earth position and have written on the issue, not only because of Scripture, but because of the science which we regard as very consistent with a biblical timescale of thousands of years. It is the science of catastrophic deposition of sedimentary rocks and fossils which has convinced many that rather than millions of years of slow deposition as presumed by Lyell in the 19th century and others since, that the primary cause of most of the rocks’ layers and fossils is the worldwide Flood. Anthony’s assertion of those

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of this document if people would like it — if the editor passes on such requests I can send it. One of the strongest arguments is concerning Carbon-14.

Unlike Potassium-40 and Uranium-235/238 (which have half-lives of millions of years), Carbon-14 decays very quickly to nitrogen (with a half-life of thousands of years), and yet is found in significant amounts in coal, dinosaur bones and fossilised wood, all indicating that the layers are at most thousands of years old. Another book by a trained geologist who holds to a young earth perspective, and who heads up the group called Biblical Creation Trust (http:// www.biblicalcreationtrust.org), is Paul Garner. who has written the book (published by Evangelical Press) entitled The New Creationism, which I warmly recommend and who features in the DVD Set in Stone mentioned earlier.

Once one allows for a young earth position, the issues that Anthony Latham has ably explained concerning the evidence of design all begin to come clearly into focus. As George MacAskill and Anthony have rightly stated, there is room for variation within kinds, so that dogs are descended from an original pair from the Ark 4,500 years ago but the variation is enormous, which dog breeders make good use of at Crufts and elsewhere! Such variation I would not refer to though as evolution, since the distribution of all these dogs is still essentially ‘dog’ and not another kind of creature. Using the term species to refer to the ability to mate together, it is true that in some creatures, speciation has occurred where the subgroup no longer interbreed with the ancestral population. Many think that this is the reason that some groups of gulls — for instance the herring gull

and the lesser black backed gull — do not interbreed because of what is termed ring speciation. They probably have both come from an ancestral group of gulls, but subgroups have moved around the Arctic Circle, and though adjacent groups may interbreed, the eventual meeting of very different groups after such changes means that some subgroups no longer interbreed at all. But even in those cases of speciation, there is no bringing about of new creatures with new information for different body plans, as Anthony carefully explained in his original article. The Creation of the original kinds is entirely consistent with the evidence followed by the worldwide Flood.

I maintain that when one carefully re-examines the issue concerning the age of the rocks and fossils, and looks at the strong evidence of design even in a fallen world, there are very powerful arguments here for simply taking Genesis 1-11 at face value. I have written on both the science and the theology in the books Genesis for Today and Genesis 1-11. May I also mention the recent book I have written with Professor Stuart Burgess — Wonders of Creation: Designing a Fallen World — which discusses in depth the design features of many creatures, as well as going on to consider Fossils and Rocks, Astronomy, Mathematics and Beauty. All three books are published by Day One. May the Lord lead our hearts into greater appreciation of Christ as Creator and Saviour.

Dear Editor

traditional interpretation of the six days of creation in Genesis, together with the chronology indicated in the subsequent genealogies. There is a vast amount of scripture which is held in derision by the world at large as being scientifically ridiculous in its improbability or in its apparent conflict with subsequent scientific findings, whether the age of the patriarchs, the events at the crossing of the Red Sea or the account of the creation of man first and then of woman. This has ever been the case, and as Calvin noted in relation to the traditional view of creation, ‘they will not refrain from guffaws when they are informed that but little more than five thousand years have passed since the creation of the universe’ (Institutes, ch. XXI, 4).

The more we deviate from the obvious meanings of scripture in order to accommodate our opinions about what we think science is saying, the more in my view we need to have inventive approaches to explaining things which would otherwise have been plain. For example, to embrace the notion of a universe and an earth which are billions of years old, we almost inevitably must likewise embrace the

Sincere regards to all Professor Andy McIntosh, Leeds, UK

I have followed the correspondence in The Record in recent months regarding evolution. I write not because there are clearly very differing views on the matter but rather because some of the statements made in the letters present matters of opinion as if they were beyond dispute as matters of fact. I refer in particular to the letter by Antony Latham (Letters, March issue), where he says it is ‘right to encourage us to speak the truth about science and not to stick to traditional interpretations of scripture which are in obvious conflict with the scientific facts’. He believes that ‘much harm is done to our witness’ by a bias among some Christians against ‘clear scientific facts’. He exemplifies this by referring to ‘those who insist against all reasonable evidence for a very young earth of only about 6,000 years age’.

Clearly there is not scope here to set out either the scientific or the biblical basis on which many Christians reject that viewpoint and why they believe that the Word of God is honoured and the Christian witness best upheld through the

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belief that death did not enter the world because of sin, and that for aeons of time we had suffering and death, thorn and thistle and much else in the fossil record which we can no longer attribute to the Fall.

Although we may be in a small minority — indeed an even smaller minority that we occupy by simply being Christians — there are many of us who work as chartered scientists, who are fully committed to the scientific method and who spend much of our lives

assessing the quality of scientific evidence, but who are also fully committed to the historic interpretation of the six days of Genesis 1 and of a young earth.

Dear Sir

the one hand we are to believe, rightly, that God is present in all aspects of his creation and is active throughout nature. On the other hand we are to accept the full-blown Darwinian package which, by definition and in all its teaching, absolutely denies any creative, teleological input. Read any evolutionary text and you will find that mutations are random (within the available constraints) and non-directional (isotropic, meaning that there is no inbuilt tendency to ‘improve’ the organism). The only creative aspect is the physical environment which weeds out or culls the unfit (natural selection). TE supports the Darwinian position while at the same time saying that God is active within all this and in charge of the entire process. I do not accept these two views as compatible, nor do most people; which is why Darwinism gives succour to atheism.

Secondly, the TE position denies, a priori and rigidly, finding or reporting any actual evidence of design in biology, though very oddly those such as Denis Alexander are prepared to find design in cosmology.

When I or someone else suggests that particular aspects of an organism show evidence of design, with arguments such as irreducible complexity or specified complexity or the information in DNA, then we are purported to be interventionist deists (Alan in his last letter), as if we are promoting a God who has to correct his mistakes now and then.

Such caricaturing of ID is unhelpful and cannot be deduced from ID theory. By this reasoning, the finetuning of the cosmos could just as well be dismissed as God correcting his mistakes.

It is also probably dangerous to cite particular reformed theologians who supported Darwinism.

Alan mentions B.B. Warfield, who did apparently support Darwinism in early life, but later wavered and had severe doubts.

I take Romans 1:19-20 as clear guidance for us all in this matter and as a warning: ‘For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.’

Yours sincerely Tommy MacKay (Dumbarton Free Church)

My article on evolution (The Record, January 2019) has, encouragingly, sparked letters from a variety of people. I will briefly try to address some of the issues raised.

It is good to hear from an atheist (John Perry, The RecordMay 2019). I agree with his advice to the church to reach out to the vulnerable and in practical ways; we should be doing more of that.

However, he finds my views, which criticise aspects of evolutionary theory, to be ‘anti-science’ and tries to ridicule what I wrote about the evolution of humans from apes. He should get his facts right. I assumed that he and others know that there were apes millions of years ago which differ from the current ones. Any evolutionary text book will say that the apes (Hominoidea) diverged from the gibbon family about 15 million years ago. Humans and all the current apes are said to have ‘evolved’ from such a common ancestor ape.

A blanket dismissal of intelligent design theory as unscientific is not much good if the actual arguments and facts put forward are not intelligently refuted.

Those who find fault in my reasoning should argue from the scientific information that I put in my article. John challenges me to put my ideas in a peer-reviewed scientific paper. Being peer-reviewed is no guarantor of truth, but the following is a link to peer-reviewed articles and books supporting intelligent design theory: https://www.discovery. org/id/peer-review/ I would recommend John reads my book The Naked Emperor: Darwinism Exposed, available on Amazon, in which he will find references to many peer-reviewed scientific papers and books.

Alan Fraser in the April 2019 Record writes thoughtfully again. In so many ways we agree. We are both Christian theists and we both believe in a very old earth with a form of ‘evolution’; a somewhat slippery word. I have read many of the authors he recommends and have spent an evening with and much correspondence discussing evolution with Denis Alexander, the foremost British apologist for the form of Theistic Evolution (TE) that Alan espouses. There are two things I could say in this short space.

Firstly, I find the views of TE very conflicting. On

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Sincerely Antony Latham

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Dear Sir, I wish to thank John Perry for interacting with my letter on evolution and the Bible. In an age of instant ‘likes’ on social media, it’s refreshing to engage with one who has a high regard for reason and evidence.

However, I would like to ask, ‘Why should I pay attention to reason or even believe that my reasoning faculties are valid tools for discovering anything?’ Because I believe in God as he has revealed himself to us, and because I believe he made mankind in his own image, then science becomes a worthwhile pursuit. James Clark Maxwell, clearly the greatest scientist Scotland produced, had Psalm 111 verse 2 inscribed (in Latin) on the door of the Cavendish laboratory, Cambridge: ‘Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who take delight in them.’ It was his Christian convictions that drove him in his quest for truth in the physical world.

The idea of self-conscious but sinful beings made in the image of their Creator is a powerful tool for searching out the meaning of life, the order in the universe, what it means to be a person, what it means to love, plus a whole host of other big issues.

I find it difficult to understand how one can reject God and still believe in the ‘Big Bang’ description of the development of the cosmos, with its marvellous picture of unimaginable forces held in exquisite balance over mind-boggling aeons of time. Likewise it seems inconsistent to accept the beautiful picture of life evolving on our planet and deny the existence of a Creator. Speculative belief in a fecund ‘nothing’ capable of bringing everything into existence, or eternal ideas or even laws of nature before nature existed, seem absurd attempts to avoid the conclusion that God is.

I would love to meet up with you, John, and pursue together consistent answerers to the questions, ‘Where did I come from?’ and ‘Where am I heading to?’

Sincerely Alan J F Fraser

We would love to hear from you…please write the editor at: The Record, St Peters Free Church, 4 St Peter St. Dundee. DD1 4JJ or e-mail drobertson@freechurch.org

“LOOK AT THE STATE OF THAT...”

DANNY GRANT, elder in Loch Ewe Community Church, encourages us to see hope for the future in our young folk.

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When we see and hear so much adverse reporting about our young people, we may be somewhat surprised to read the following quote. ‘The world is passing through troublesome times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint, they talk as if they know everything, and what passes for wisdom for us is foolishness to them.

As for the girls, they are immoral and unwomanly in speech, behaviour and dress.’ The above sounds familiar? It was written by Peter the Monk in 1274.

Aristotle wrote in 300 BC, ‘When I look at the younger generation I despair for the future of civilisation.’ However, civilisation has not yet come to an end because of the rebelliousness of teenagers, and we ought not to be like these two gentlemen, but let us by example and tolerance endeavour to lead our young people to a closer walk with HIM who looks at the heart and not at the hairdos or the mode of dress. •

irtually every newspaper we read has at least one article complaining of the behaviour of

young people. I have no doubt that on many occasions these complaints are merited. The unhappy truth is that we are breeding a damaged generation, caught in the slime of moral degeneracy. Infants are now being taught that they can choose their gender, and on the coattails of adult licence it is becoming mandatory that children as young as four be inculcated with this sexually damaging ideology that flies in the face of biology and refutes science. These and many other similar teachings make growing up in this age very confusing for young people.

As congregations and indeed as a nation we need to wake up to the fact that the young folk of today are the congregations of tomorrow. However, in spite of all this doom and gloom, together with all of the other rubbish that is now being taught in our schools, the kids I speak to are possibly more politically aware, and have stronger views on crime and punishment, than we did at that age.

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

W

e love clichés and worn out phrases.

In a Presbytery some years ago one of the fathers and brethren announced, ‘We don’t need better methods, we need better men.’ Heads nodded at this novel insight.

What’s wrong with that beloved phrase? Basically, everything.

First of all, it could be construed as clerical. In the immediate context it spoke of the need for godliness among ministers. The broader discussion focused on the decline of the Church in Scotland and the need for a missional outlook. Again, it is self-evident that holiness of life and winsome character are enduring aspirations for ministers. The nineteenth-century church planter Robert Murray M’Cheyne famously said, ‘It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus.

However, mission and evangelism are as much part of the responsibility of women as men. It was women who spread the word about the empty tomb (Luke 24: 9-12); it was a woman who sparked off an awakening in pagan Samaria (John 4:39); Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchrae (Romans 16:1) was a worker by definition; and Priscilla was so invested in the gospel that Paul called her a ‘co-worker’ (Romans 16:3). Egalitarianism is not the sole challenge to our position; chauvinism and sexism are more salient issues. So, ladies, tell the good story of Jesus and know that you too can be ‘better’.

The worst thing about the phrase is that it implies a binary choice. The sub-text is that if you are a person who seeks better methods, you are not a better man.

Even a superficial glance at the phrase reveals that it is utter nonsense. Of course we need better methods.

Photo ©Fin Macrae

Allowing your feet to be washed by a lady with a bad reputation and washing the foul-smelling feet of your disciples was not taught in Pastoral Theology 101 at the Pharisaical Theological Seminary.

A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.’ We need more ministers and better ministers, but the mission of the Church is more than that. The task of the pastor/teacher is to ‘equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up’ (Ephesians 4:12). We are all in this together, and if ever there was a pressing need in the Free Church of Scotland today, it is for the members to be the primary evangelists.

The primacy of preaching does not negate the duty of personal evangelism. My fear is that the prominent nature of preaching is perpetuating a culture of passivity in our congregations. We come, we listen, but few leave with a burden to tell friends and family about Jesus, who ‘told me everything I ever did’ (John 4: 39). Mission in the Free Church is not The Voice, where we admire or criticise the ‘performer’, and it’s certainly not The One Show where the minister is the one.

Is it also sexist? It certainly uses the word ‘men’. We are complementarian, so we believe that ordained leadership is a male role. Paul was not having an off-day when he wrote ‘I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet’ (2 Tim 2:12).

THE RECORD

Jesus spent three years with twelve men teaching them better methods. The professionalism of the religious elite of the day with their ‘tick-box’ approach to religion was replaced by the new paradigm of the kingdom. Allowing your feet to be washed by a lady with a bad reputation and washing the foul-smelling feet of your disciples was not taught in Pastoral Theology 101 at the Pharisaical Theological Seminary. Paul spent his entire ministry modelling better methods.

Here is the irony. The good man who used the phrase told me in conversation that in a previous age and context all he did was preach and engage in compulsive visiting of people in the community. He experienced a degree of blessing and growth. He then moved to a completely different context and did the same things, but the congregation declined. He was in despair but found it difficult to explore other methods. In the strange providence of God, the congregation is now prospering with an every-member ministry and different methods.

What do we need? Above all, an all-consuming love for Jesus which is infectious. We also need better women and men along with better methods.•

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JUNE

Ùrachadh (Renewal)

LE JANET NICPHÀIL

A

ig an àm-sa den bhliadhna tha an talamh mar gum biodh,

a’ dùsgadh à cadal, agus daoine a’ faicinn na tha ri dhèanamh tro mhìosan grianach na bliadhna.

Tha an talamh air ath-nuadhachadh, agus saoilidh sinn gu bheil na daoine fhèin cuideachd, agus blàths, no eadhon teas na grèine a’ dèanamh slàint’ don mhòrshluagh.

Cha bu chòir seo annas sam bith a chur oirnn’, oir bidh cuimhn’ aig mòran gur e an Solas a’ chiad nì air am bheil iomradh againn ’s a’chruthachadh.

Leughaidh sinn mun Tì a tha na Sholas ann Fhèin a’ coimhead a-steach dhan dorchadas agus ag àithne dhan t-solas a bhith ann. Nach e mìorbhail mhòr a tha an sin fhèin?

‘Labhair Dia is rinneadh e; Dh’òrdaich, is chuir air chois: Is ann na sholas -san a chì sinne solas-iùil a stiùireas sinn tro chùrsa ar beatha. Nach math nach do dh’ fhàg E an cinnedaonna ann an dorchadas? Nach eil seo fhèin a’ sealltainn cho gràsmhor, tròcaireach ’s a tha E? Gheibh sinn iomadh leasan spioradail le bhith a’ coimhead ‘bàs agus fàs a’ ghràinne cruithneachd’, mar a thuirt am bàrd, agus Esan a’ meòrachadh air slighe na slàint’, agus am bàs a bha air an t-slighe-sa do Mhac Dhè, ged a bha Là na h-Aiseirigh ann cuideachd.

Chì sinn iomadh lus a’ cur dhiùbh an seann duilleach, agus glè thric, bidh seo na shìneadh marbh air an talamh,agus beatha ùr, àlainn, fhallainn a’ nochdadh.

Nach ionnsaich sinn leasanan mòra bhon t-saoghal a tha mun cuairt oirnn’? Tha sinne bàsmhor, ach leughaidh sinn anns an litir gu na Corintianaich, ‘gur èiginn don chorp thruaillidh seo neo-thruaillidheachd a chur uime, agus don chorp bhàsmhor seo neo-bhàsmhorachd a chur uime’. Nach beannaicht’ an smuain, agus sin cho eu-comasach dhuinn a

ghabhail a-steach. Cha ruig na h-inntinnean againne air an seo. Tha e ro-àrd agus tha na h-inntinnean againne ro chumhang agus fada ro bheag.

Nach ann ann an dorchadas spioradail a tha talamh gach anam gus an deàlraich an solas, ’s gus an tèid an talamh-s’ a dhùsgadh à cadal, gu bhith a’ tuigsinn gu bheil ar là air an talamh goirid, ’s gu bheil sìorraidheachd gun cheann gun chrìoch. An uair sin, tha spàirn ann am beatha an duine agus an dorchadas air sgapadh, agus ‘solas eòlas glòir Dhè, ann an Iosa Criosd’ a’ deàlrachadh na anam. Abair dùsgadh iongantach agus beannaichte!

Cha thuig sinn an uair sin ciamar a bha sinn cho dòigheil a’ falbh nar solas fhìn airson iomadh bliadhna.

Tha an Treabhaiche mòr air talamh an anam a dhùsgadh ’s abair gu faod foghar a bhith aig beatha mar seo, ma tha an Cruthaidhear a’ faighinn an àite a tha E Fhèin a’ dleasadh.

Tha obair ri dhèanamh dhan Chruthaidhear a-bhos an seo gu bhith a’ craoladh an t-Soisgeil a bheir slàinte do gach aon a chuireas an dòchas ann an obair chrìochnaichte Chriosd.

Tha iomadh dòigh air seo a dhèanamh. Dh’ fhaodadh sinn a bhith a’ misneachadh muinntir a tha a’ dol tro nì air bith a tha na shàrachadh dhaibh.

Leughaidh an saoghal caithe-beatha gach Crìosdaidh, ach chan eil annainn ach lòchrain le solas beag, ach tha eòlas againn air an t-slighe gu Fear a tha na Sholas, agus stiùiridh Esan daoine, oir is E an t-Slighe, an Fhìrinn agus a’ Bheatha.

Nach biodh e math aig an àm-sa den bhliadhna, gum biodh mòran a’ dùsgadh, mar a tha an talamh a’ dùsgadh, ’s gu fosgladh iad an cridhe dhan t-Solas Fhìor.

Abair fogharadh. • Dùisgidh Tus’ à cadal sinn le Spiorad Naomh na Fìrinn.

Is bidh an saoghal nar sùilean-ne cho làn de nithean prìseil.

©OlegDoroshin - stock.adobe.com

Bidh do shluagh leinn tarraingeach.

Is iad a nì ar stiùireadh, is fosglaidh iad an tuigs’ againn ma bhios Tu Fhèin glè dhlùth dhaibh.

Treabhaiche is obair-san a’ dèanamh feum do shaoghal. ’S còir ceartas, coibhneas, tròcair a bhith air fhoillseachadh nad dhaoine.

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POETRY PAGE PSALM 139:13-18 OF DAVID. A PSALM

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God! How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.

The Centter for Bio-Ethical Reform

There is a lack of knowledge in society about the facts of abortion and what the embryo or fetus is. CBRUK uses images, science and statistics to educate on the issue. Our images show the humanity of the unborn child and the effects of the abortion procedure on the child. Presenting facts allows individuals to reach their own conclusions about abortion. We run educational programs for members of the public, churches, schools and post abortive women and welcome volunteers from all and no faith backgrounds.

See our website for more information. www.cbruk.org The picture shows the fetus alive in the uterus 9 weeks following fertilisation. Less than 2 inches long...It is a miracle, a human being made in the image of God.

THE RECORD

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JUNE

THE LIGHT of THE WORLD

2019 London Conference

Alistair Begg, Sinclair Ferguson, Albert Mohler, Burk Parsons, and Michael Reeves

BY CATRIONA MURRAY

POST TENEBRAS LUX

Photo by Fancycrave.com from Pexels

H

ans

christian

well-known

andersen’s

‘the emperor’s new clothes’ might well be a cautionary tale for our times. In it, two unscrupulous merchants persuade the foolish emperor that they are purveyors of a cloth so fine as to be invisible.

Falling for this line, he orders a suit of clothing to be made from the material, and his people go along with the sham — because to say that he was, in fact, naked, would be to admit that they lacked the qualities required to discern the fine fabric being worn.

I’m sure you see where I am going with this. We live in a day when our own rulers have clad both themselves, and the people they pretend to govern, in a garment so flimsy that we are exposed to every prevailing whim. In a very short time, we have reached a stage where opposition to the most ridiculous flight of governmental fancy is met with hostility; indeed expressing contrary opinion has become thought-crime.

Perhaps stupidly, I often find myself discussing these issues via social media. This week, in the process of debating with a fairly vitriolic atheist, who used words like ‘ludicrous’, ‘fantasy’ and ‘infantile’ to describe the Christian faith, we were joined by a fellow describing himself as ‘a very current Christian’. Now, call me a rampant traditionalist, but that’s the sort of language that sets my teeth on edge. What does it signify? That he is a Christian at the moment? Or —as I suspect he actually meant — that he subscribes to quite a lot of the world’s reinterpretation of biblical truth.

THE RECORD

story

Which brings us back to the scantily-clad leadership of our country. The reason that Nicola Sturgeon and other liberal western leaders have blithely signed up to all this nonsense about hate speech and gender fluidity is because they are quite simply not leading; they are following. Instead of reflecting biblical truths and values, they are doing what so many weak leaders who are at the mercy of the fickle ballot box do to preserve their position: they are trying to second-guess the electorate. We are being given not what the First Minister, or her cabinet, or even the majority of their party membership wants — but what a small minority has fooled them into thinking that WE want.

It is my firm belief, and that of many Scottish political insiders, that the relentless pursuit of this insidious agenda is actually fairly repulsive to the majority of MSPs. Regardless, it is certainly not the route that most voters want the country taking. I have yet, for example, to meet one person who thinks that it’s necessary for a small child to know anything at all about sex, let alone in the detail and variety that such ‘education’ is being proposed. Having seen some of the materials, I would point out that teachers are being asked to speak about things to innocent youngsters that your average man in the street would be arrested for mentioning.

Yet, few people are speaking out. It is a difficult thing, and when objections emanate from Christian lobbying groups, you

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will find that they are easily written off. In the UK, there is virtually no overtly Christian influence in politics — unlike our cousins across the pond.

Think about the way that the President has habitually closed any public speaking engagement since Ronald Reagan first used it to accept the presidential nomination in 1980: ‘May God bless you, and may God bless America’. Now, imagine the British Prime Minister, or the Scottish First Minister, doing the same thing. You can’t, can you?

I’ll tell you why not — because, even if they wanted to, even if they are privately praying people, they are afraid of the backlash.

And from whom would such a backlash against mere words come? From a tiny, but incredibly vocal, and incredibly powerful minority, who are powerful because we permit them to be.

Our politicians have become so frightened of giving offence, or of receiving protests, that they bend themselves all out of shape to avoid such situations.

The only way that we can change this is by becoming more USA in our political strategising. America took one issue — abortion — about which few voters cared, and used it to make the evangelical vote count.

Scotland too needs to manoeuvre into a position where the church lobby is as politically feared as the so-called ‘progressive’ one.

We may not like the idea, but the church has a lot to learn from the likes of Stonewall about making Christ’s agenda the one that moves the hands of power.•

JUNE