The Record - March 2022 by Free Church of Scotland

THE

RECORD

MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND MARCH 2022 • £2.00

Editor • John Macdonald The Editor, Free Church Offices, 15 North Bank Street, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH1 2LS editor@freechurch.org News Editor • Dayspring MacLeod dayspring.macleod@icloud.com 07974 261567 Missions News • Mairi MacPherson Free Church Offices, 15 North Bank Street, Edinburgh, EH1 2LS mairi@freechurch.org WfM Editor • Fiona Macaskill 8 Campsie Drive, Glasgow, G61 3HY rfmacaskill@me.com Gaelic Editor • Janet MacPhail 24 North Bragar, Isle of Lewis, HS2 9DA 01851 710354 Seminary News • William Mackenzie Edinburgh Theological Seminary, 15 North Bank Street, Edinburgh EH1 2LS offices@ets.ac.uk Prayer Diary • Shona McGuire seonaid1954@hotmail.co.uk Design & Layout • Fin Macrae @DUFI Art www.dufi-art.com The Record • ISSN 2042-2970 Published • The Record is produced by The Free Church of Scotland, Free Church Offices, 15 North Bank Street, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH1 2LS 0131 226 5286 offices@freechurch.org This QR Code will direct you to the digital version of the magazine on ISSUU. Available for 30 days for current print subscribers.

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

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MARCH

Cover: Photo by Josh Calabrese on Unsplash

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

CONTENTS

WELCOME TO THE MARCH RECORD

04 HEAVY IS THE HEAD The Editor

ars and rumours of war continue to dominate the headlines alongside the wild storms which have already proved deadly

this winter.

Recognising the sheer volume of life’s circumstances which are beyond our control, I greatly appreciated Prof John Angus MacLeod’s reflections on the encouragement to be found in Ephesians. Truly, we have a great God who is sovereign over all things. More encouragement is to be found in the Rev Neil MacMillan’s latest article on the church planting which is ongoing within the Free Church. The fruit already borne from our denomination’s plan to plant 30 churches by the end of the decade is an exciting example of God’s faithfulness to redeem his people. Also this month, the Rev. Sean Ankers continues the Reflections which he began last month. I’m grateful to Sean for taking the time to write this series of devotions amidst his work as minister of Loch Ness Free Church. Sean encourages us to fix our eyes on Jesus, he who is ‘the heir of all things… the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being’ (Hebrews 1:3) and who is also our elder brother who knows and understands our circumstances. Even as he advocates on our behalf at God’s right hand, we can rest in the knowledge that there is nothing beyond his control. • If you have any news articles please send them to dayspring.macleod@icloud.com.

FREE CHURCH NEWS Free Church Youth Conference, Scotland's Census 2022

WOMEN FOR MISSION

PRAYER DIARY

WORLD NEWS U.S., Ukraine, Eritrea, Pakistan, Tonga

CHURCH PLANTING IN THE FREE CHURCH Neil MacMillan

A HEALTHY GOSPEL CHURCH...HAS A MISSION AND A VISION Peter Turnbull

REFLECTIONS Sean Ankers

SOLOMON Donald Mackay

FOOD FOR FELLOWSHIP

WHO NEEDS ENCOURAGEMENT? John Angus MacLeod

HEART APOLOGETICS: CHRIST FOR EVERY TONGUE AND NATION? Dayspring MacLeod

OBITUARIES: CALUM ANGUS MORRISON, ANDREW HENDERSON SHEARER

BOOK REVIEWS

POETRY PAGE Grant Colfax Tullar

PAGES FROM ADAM'S DIARY: THE FOURTH MAN IN THE FURNACE OF FIRE (PART 1)

FO SGÀIL AN UILE-CHUMHACHDAICH Janet MacPhail

Yours in Christ John

40 POST TENEBRAS LUX Catriona Murray

That in all things he might have the pre-eminence Colossians 1:18 2022

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Heavy is the head BY THE EDITOR

Photo by Isaac Davis on Unsplash

The sacrifice of Christian leadership

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To lead well is to seek to follow the heart of Christ, to be gentle and lowly, to prefer and honour one another. To lead is to sacrifice.

ike a heath robinson cartoon, leadership has become over-complicated.

There is a vast and impressive body of scholarship available on the subject, largely under the academic banners of psychology and business studies. But – interestingly the way we tend to understand leadership today is relatively new. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the origin of the word ‘leadership’ in English to the 1820s — only two decades older than the Free Church. It appears that the increasing democratisation and industrialisation of that era meant that established ideas of authority — which related to monarchs, lords and masters — didn’t fit the times.

FROM RULERS TO LEADERS Even so, society’s rulers and authorities have been studied for centuries. Naturally, Plato’s Republic is the starting point for contemporary Western scholarship. The philosopher argues that the ideal city guardian — in our terms, a political leader — must possess certain traits. Plato lists truthfulness, temperance, justice, and a good memory among these. He proposed a 50-year apprenticeship for these ‘philosopherkings’ involving both education and practical experience. He also thought they should have no desire for politics, but would only rule out of a sense of duty. The intellectual counterpoint to Plato’s idealism is Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince. Written shortly before the Reformation, this cornerstone of political realism advocates that rulers consolidate their position of power by providing security and stability for those they lead, meanwhile seeking glory and honour for themselves. Machiavelli was comfortable with the use of both deceit and brute force to achieve these goals. He introduced the idea that it was preferable for a ruler to be feared rather than loved, assuming that the former would allow more control than the latter. Controversial then and now, subsequent interpretation of The Prince has given us the phrase, ‘the ends justify the means’. The 19th-century Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle saw leaders as civilisation’s driving force. ‘The history of the world is but the biography of great men’, he wrote. Similarly to Plato, Carlyle was interested in identifying the characteristics of great leaders. His contemporary, Sir Francis Galton, an early geneticist and proponent of eugenics, argued that leadership traits were inherited. Even though their advocacy of racist ideologies and their influence on 20th century fascist regimes has discredited Carlyle and Galton, the ‘trait theory’ of leadership has continuing influence. By the mid-20th century, research began to consider the possibility that it is the behaviour of leaders, rather than inherent character traits, which makes them effective. This line of inquiry has resulted in a proliferation of models which purport to describe successful leadership ‘styles’. Such models tend to stem from either ‘situational leadership’ theory, which holds that the best way to lead depends on the external circumstances a leader is facing, or ‘functional leadership’ theory. which attempts to set out specific tasks which a leader should perform in order to succeed. Yet more academic work has been done on attempts to synthesise the best ideas from the traits, behavioural, situational and functional theories of leadership.

LEADERSHIP IN THE WORLD TODAY Despite all of this, modern ideas about leadership haven’t stepped far beyond Plato and Machiavelli. Plato thought of rulers in terms of their traits, and Machiavelli in terms of the behaviour they displayed in response to events. Today, these parallel tracks have begotten a vast range of leadership literature, training programmes and resources. There are psychometric tests to identify leaders’ traits, grids to assess their preferred leadership style and matrices to recommend the correct leadership response to given situations. Leadership has become its own industry and there are more unnecessary pulleys and springs within it than there are in Wallace and Gromit’s morning routine. Some say there

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The assumption is that, in and of itself, leadership is benign or, at worst, morally neutral. Its students are concerned with leadership’s effectiveness, but not its ethics. are six types of leader. Others say eight. Still others say 13 and that each contains its own specific traits. Even so, while leadership theory may be confused, it isn’t baseless. It is useful to understand our natural strengths and weaknesses (Psalm 19:12). And it is true to say that we each have unique gifts. We are to make use of them, and we are not to set them aside to try and imitate someone else’s (1 Corinthians 12). Leadership is one of the gifts which God has assigned within the church (Romans 12:8). And Scripture also has much to say on the behaviour which should be seen from leaders in church (Timothy 3:2-7) and in other spheres (Proverbs 16:12ff). For Christian leaders, and for those of us who elect and call our leaders, there is insight to be gained from current thinking about leadership. But it is incomplete. For a start, although it may have been in circulation as an English word for 200 years now, the definition of leadership remains fluid. Peter Drucker, the ‘founder of modern management’, thought that ‘the only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.’ Warren Bennis, who introduced Leadership Studies into contemporary, Western academia, decided that ‘leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.’ Philanthropist and founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, believes that, in the 21st century, ‘leaders will be those who empower others.’ John C. Maxwell, a Methodist minister, speaker and best-selling author of books on leadership, argues, ‘leadership is influence — nothing more, nothing less.’ These definitions are incomplete because they assume leadership begins with outward action. They are also amoral. They focus on the acts of influencing other people to do things, and achieving goals. But they have no concern for what those who are influenced may actually be doing in practice, or for what the leader’s goals might be. In an odd reversal of Machiavelli, they focus on the means without considering the ends. This pattern is repeated across the study of leadership in the world today. The assumption is that, in and of itself, leadership is benign or, at worst, morally neutral. Its students are concerned with leadership’s effectiveness, but not its ethics. More thought is given to what leadership is than what leadership is for.

WHAT IS LEADERSHIP FOR? Vladimir Putin is an effective leader. He has been in power, as either President or Prime Minister of Russia, since 2000. He has followers, is influential and has the capacity to translate vision into reality. In fact, Forbes rated him the World’s Most Powerful Individual every year from 2013 to 2016, and named him runner-up in 2018. Yet the results of his leadership include deteriorating human rights and civil liberties, economic stagnation and war. Boris Johnson is less effective than Putin. Still, in Machiavellian terms, he is successful. He has managed to take hold of the reins of power, and he has held onto his position despite losing a lot of followers. He seems to enjoy many aspects of leadership. From what can be observed of his leadership ‘style’, he may fit the profile of a ‘Laissez-faire’ or perhaps a ‘Narcissistic’ leader in management literature terms. Either way, Johnson appears to have followed the modern management approach of identifying his inherent style and maximising it. The idea here is that all styles are morally equivalent, so a leader should take advantage of what they have in a way that will facilitate the achievement of personal goals. But a full assessment of leadership does not end with traits and style. The exception in secular leadership philosophy is Servant Leadership. This approach was introduced by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s, and still finds widespread acceptance today. Greenleaf was inspired by a character in Hermann Hesse’s novel, Journey to the East, and argued that leaders exist to serve the people they are leading. Greenleaf wrote of ‘the care taken by the servant first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and the most difficult to administer, is this: Do

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Biblical leadership is not about power and influence, but submission to God. Leadership is not for enrichment or self-fulfilment, but serving and building others up. those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?’ In modern management, servant leadership comes closest to the Biblical perspective. Greenleaf thought that leaders should primarily be motivated by a desire to serve others, not by personal gain or an interest in wielding power. ‘This is my thesis,’ he wrote, ‘caring for persons, the more able and the less able serving each other, is the rock upon which a good society is built.’

SACRIFICIAL LEADERSHIP The Bible, of course, plumbs even greater depths. ‘He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk,’ remarked John C. Maxwell. But what about a leader who is also a follower? Leaders who are followers of Christ must look to how he leads his people. Dane Ortlund writes that there is only one place in the Gospels where King Jesus, the Head of the Church, describes his own heart. Matthew 11:29 tells us, ‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’ To adapt Ortlund’s insight, Jesus did not tell us that he is visionary and bold in heart. Nor did he say that he is creative and inspiring in heart. At his core, Jesus is gentle and lowly. As a result, he leads by washing his disciples’ feet. He tells them, ‘the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.’ (Matthew 23:11-12) So we see that Biblical leadership is not about power and influence, but submission to God. Leadership is not for enrichment or self-fulfilment, but serving and building others up. Leadership is not about achievement, but it is about faithfulness. This is the model for Christians who lead both within and outwith the church. ‘A minister may fill his pews, his communion roll, the mouths of the public, but what that minister is on his knees in secret before God Almighty, that he is and no more,’ wrote the Puritan theologian, John Owen. The same may be said of any Christian leader. No matter the height of the position to which a Christian ascends, they must always bend the knee to a higher authority, a greater king. Dr Jonathan Leeman, a Director of 9Marks, which produces resources on becoming a biblical church, points out that ‘Leadership is not just about running after your dreams; it’s about kneeling down and helping others to pursue theirs…You’re more interested in building up than moving up.’ Just as the Holy Spirit does not direct attention to himself, but shines a spotlight on the Father and the Son, so Christian leaders will not direct attention to themselves. Their response to failure and to success is the same: ‘Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!’ (Psalm 115:1) This kind of sacrificial leadership reflects Jesus’ heart. Leeman notes that it is reminiscent of God, as described by the psalmist in Psalm 18: ‘And who is a rock, except our God? — the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great’ (vv31-35). Robert Greenleaf’s thoughts on servant leadership provide many useful insights, but even more is required of a Christian leader. Leadership in God’s kingdom is to worship the true authority by loving and serving others. Leadership is a spiritual gift to be nurtured, a role to continually grow into. But it is only a blessing to those being led if it is pursued in proper perspective. Leading is not about status; it is not even about achieving goals or seeing positive results. To lead well is to seek to follow the heart of Christ, to be gentle and lowly, to prefer and honour one another. To lead is to sacrifice. ‘The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Matthew 20:28). •

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FREE CHURCH NEWS PLACES AVAILABLE FOR YOUTH CONFERENCE!

weekend of teaching, prayer, worship and

responses to hard times as a Christian. Andrew Robertson, from the church plant in Charleston, will be teaching from the book of Habakkuk. ‘We are thankful to have the opportunity to learn more about trusting and rejoicing in God during the hard times we can face in life,’ said Sheona. Organisers trust and pray these talks will be beneficial to everyone. They are also encouraging those who have not yet signed up to do so quickly. Sheona said: ‘The Youth Conference has been a blessing for so many and we would encourage everyone who is within the age bracket to consider coming along and sharing in fellowship with other young adults. We still have some spaces left – it would be a joy to see the conference full.’ For more information, or to book, go to: www. freechurchyouthconference.com •

fellowship is taking place at the free church youth conference this month (18th-20th march).

The conference, for those aged 18-30, aims to build up young Christians in their walk of faith. A full programme of events will be held at Lendrick Muir in Kinross. Sheona Forbes, on behalf of the Free Church Youth Conference Committee 2022, said: ‘Through our main talks, workshops, times of prayer, corporate worship and during free time we hope to establish networks of communication and accountability between our delegates as we run the race for Christ together. The conference also provides the opportunity to invite non-Christians, who will be directly confronted with the challenge and offer of the gospel.’ The theme of this year’s event is ‘How Long, O Lord?’, where those attending will look at three different

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SCOTLAND’S CENSUS 2022 BY MAL COOKE

n 20th march we will all be asked to take part in scotland’s census. actually, when i say ‘asked’, we are required to do so by law.

For 2022, we are being asked to complete it online, though if you are unable to do this you can obtain a paper form. You will probably have received lots of information about this already, or will do so soon, but I just wanted to highlight the question related to religion. Question 21 asks: What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to? This question is voluntary. In order to record numbers in the Free Church of Scotland accurately, you should enter ‘Free Church of Scotland’, and not just ‘Free Church’ or the name of your congregation. You can do this by the following: Online If you are completing the census online, pick ‘Other Christian’ and there will be a drop-down list with lots of denominations. One of them will be ‘Free Church of Scotland’, so pick that. The list also includes things like ‘Evangelical’ or ‘Evangelical Presbyterian’ or ‘Presbyterian’ or ‘Protestant’, which you might think also applies, but if you pick them you will not be included in the count of Free Church of Scotland. There is also the option of typing in a response. However, if you type an alternative such as ‘Free Church’, ‘FCoS’ or the name of your congregation these won’t be included with the Free Church of Scotland. Paper form If you are completing the census using a paper form, then tick the ‘Other Christian, please write below’ option. The problem now is that they only provide 18 spaces, and ‘FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND’ takes up 23 spaces. So please write FREE CHURCH OF SCO in the available boxes and write the remaining letters in the space just above. The census team have assured us that the computer coders will complete the rest. Please don’t be tempted to just write ‘FREE CHURCH’. If you do, you will not be included in the Free Church of Scotland count. •

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WfM UPDATE BY FIONA MACASKILL

trafficking, we’ve decided to offer through this Safe House as an opportunity for short-term front line housing which includes purpose-built classes and services provided exclusively by the CHD Day Center. Currently, after making some needed repairs and furniture additions, this front-line House has started to welcome one-by-one its new CHD Residents! Many other women are waiting to be welcomed to Damaris Second Safe House, with the opportunity to experience a family-style community with lots of diversities, languages, cultures, backgrounds, but united under the common goal of a meaningful independent living in the frame of integration, with the freedom of the Gospel. Please consider helping us embrace and welcome to our community these vulnerable women by helping tangibly to cover the total cost of the Safe House’s Central Heating in one of the following ways: Covering a year’s total cost of it which amounts to $8,000 Covering the cost for the coming cold winter months which amount to $2,400 Covering the monthly cost which amounts to $800 By offering ANY AMOUNT — even what you may think is a small commitment will go very, very far in this time of great need. In the midst of a great refugee crisis in Greece, God keeps providing richly. We continue with what we have, praying and looking with faith at what will come out of His hand. Thank you so much for your consideration and prayers. Love in Christ, Dina

s we head towards our agm in may and start to think about next year’s project we would like to share a little with you about the groups

we are raising funds for this year with our hope for the hurting project.

We asked those involved in the groups for a short update on what is going on with them this year and how we can pray for them. This month we have an update on the work of Damaris House in Athens. Community House Damaris December 2021-January 2022 Newsletter My Dear Friends, Happy and blessed 2022! Damaris House welcomed the New Year in the aftermath of one of our past beneficiary’s wedding! Yes, you read it right! I am so happy to share this wonderful news with you! This past December, one of our girls got married! She welcomed the New Year with a loving husband after all the tribulations she has been through, in a safe home of her own! Our hearts are overflowing with joy! Our bride, R., was referred to us in 2018, being disappointed due to all the things she had gone through from her homeland, Africa (one of them was being trafficked in Turkey), until she met our Damaris Family. After graduating from CHD Program, she began taking her life in her own hands, working and living independently. The groom is a Christian African man, working at a University in the UK. But R. never forgot Damaris Community. In one of the happiest days of her life, she asked my husband, as a pastor, to officiate the ceremony, and deliver her to the groom as a father, and also asked me to help her get dressed as a bride to be. She has also invited everyone at Damaris to the wedding -as bridesmaids and guests, with the little ones as flower girls. Saying, “it’s important to me to also have a wedding here with my Greek family.” What a great reward for this ministry, and a tangible aspect of the Damaris House mission — the Empowerment of women and their children, who have been sexually exploited and trafficked, with the opportunity for recovery, restoration, and reintegration! As I have already shared with you, this past September House Damaris opened a second Safe House, a two-floor home with the capacity of hosting up to 9 more beneficiaries and their babies. Given the fact that — according to a recent press release of the Athens-Macedonian News Agency — from the beginning of 2020 until mid-November 2021, the services of the Greek Council for Refugees received requests for support from 1,461 people registered as homeless and/or occupants of squatting, including women and victims of human

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Please pray for the work of Damaris House and do get in touch if you would like any more information on the work they are doing or feel you can support them. Please remember to put the date for the AGM in your diary. We will be meeting in Perth Free Church on the 21st May at 2pm. We would love to have you there to hear more about the exciting projects we are involved in and as we launch our new project for 2022/23. While our group is called Women for Mission we would welcome people of all ages along to hear about what is going on. Remember you are only as old as you feel! Another date for your diary is the away day in Inverness on the 17th September. We have various exciting speakers lined up and there will be food provided and we are hoping to be able to have craft stalls back. Please keep an eye on our website for details of both these events and for booking. •

MARCH

MAR/APR 2022 PRAYER DIARY “As God has said, ‘I will be with them and walk among them and I will be their God, and they will be my people’.” 2 Cor. 6:16 Let us pray this month for God’s people. Please send any prayer requests to Mrs Shona McGuire at seonaid1954@hotmail.co.uk Mon 14th – Wed 16th Let us pray this year for the Free Church Mission to have a healthy gospel church for every community in Scotland, including 30 new churches by 2030, with 70 new ministers. Pray for young men to come forward to be trained for this vision. Pray for active members in our communities and ask the Lord what he wants us to do. Pray for the faith and belief that this could happen. Thu 17th – Sun 20th Consider the situation in Ukraine and pray for the leaders of Russia and the neighbouring countries to see the futility of war. Perhaps they should watch the movie War Games, where a computer eventually discovers that there are no winners in war only destruction! Pray that man will discover that soon and start loving the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and our neighbours as ourselves. Mon 21st – Wed 23rd Many people in public life are being silenced for long-past offences on social media or mistakes they made in their youth. Let us pray for forgiveness and the belief that people can change. Pray that employers would employ former criminals who have served their time and are looking for a new life and should be given access to work. Lord, help us remember we are all sinners looking for forgiveness. Thu 23rd– Sun 27th Pray for the homeless and the work being done to help them. Pray for organisations like Street Soccer, which gives people a reason to stop drugs and take up sport. Pray for befrienders, as loneliness is a huge problem in our cities. Take time to stop and speak to people sitting on the streets. Pray for the organisations reaching out by opening halls and donating sleeping bags and the people who help fund these activities. Mon 28th – Thu 31st Pray for politicians and people in power, that they would be empowered by their faith. We see Christians in our government who are not bringing their faith to the table. Pray that elected officials would be obvious as Christians by the way they conduct themselves and the policies they vote for. Pray that they would become the ‘New Men’ C. S. Lewis describes in Mere Christianity. ‘Already the new men are dotted here and there all over the earth. Some, as I have admitted, are still hardly recognisable: but others can be recognised. Every now and then one meets them.’

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Fri 1st Apr – Sun 3rd As spring comes round again, let us give thanks to God for our ability to see and appreciate the beauty of the natural world while praying for the people suffering from depression. The suicide statistics for Scotland are constantly high with young men almost three times more likely than women to take their own life. Pray for the desperate who see this as the only solution to find a reason to live. May the Lord help them to want to live again. Mon 4th– Thu 7th Let us not undervalue the power of friendship. Sometimes just a message or a phone call can make a difference to those living alone. When did we last make a new friend? Pray for opportunities to reach out from our comfort zones. May God help us to have meaningful conversations with the people we meet, whether it is at our work or over a coffee. Everyone wants to understand the meaning of life, so pray for the confidence to reach out with love to those who need it. Fri 8h – Sun 10th Pray for the people who are living happy lives with good jobs and lovely homes and happy, healthy children, whose most important decision this year will be deciding where to go on holiday. Pray for the non-believers among them who find no reason to look beyond the horizon of this world. Pray that the spirit of the Lord would hover over these homes and pierce their hearts into thinking there must be something more. This group may indeed be the hardest of all to reach. Mon 11th – Wed 13th Pray for ourselves, that we may be used to further God’s plan. In Susan Howatch’s novel Absolute Truths, one character suggests that we line ourselves up with Him so he can use us and arrange us in the right pattern so that we are playing an active part in His creative purpose, an active part in His redemptive scheme. Finally, thank Him for finding us so that we can help find others. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Gen 1:27

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WORLD NEWS

AMERICAS AFRICA EUROPE ASIA AUSTRALASIA UKRAINE’S ORTHODOX CHURCHES REFLECT RUSSIA CONFLICT The conflict between Russian-backed separatists and pro-independence Ukrainians in Eastern Ukraine is reflected within the Orthodox church, according to historian J. Eugene Clay (via The Conversation). Two distinct denominations claim to be the true Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Moscow Patriarchate is a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church. The denomination’s Patriarch, Kirill of Moscow, has often commented on the ties that link the people of Ukraine and Russia. However, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, formed in 2018 but the result of decades of work towards a national church, emphasises its independence from Russia. It has been recognised as an equal member of the worldwide communion of Orthodox churches by Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the current spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodoxy. The new, self-governing denomination has been seen as a challenge to Moscow. The Moscow Patriarchate broke communion with Constantinople after Bartholomew recognised the new denomination. Meanwhile, Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, has written that Russians and Ukrainians are one people and should be united by one church. He claimed that the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was an attack on ‘spiritual unity’. In return, Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholic leaders accuse the Russian Orthodox Church of complicity in Putin’s aggression towards Ukraine. •

DELIVERY DRIVERS CHALLENGE 24/7 BUSINESSES Two Christian delivery drivers are challenging employers in court after they were fired for declining to work on Sundays, Christianity Today reports. Both have claimed religious discrimination. In one case, a delivery service in Florida, subcontracted to Amazon, has agreed to pay their former employee $50,000 and conduct ‘religious sensitivity training’. The other case is currently with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals after a district court ruled in favour of the US Postal Service. The situation arose when local USPS stations in Pennsylvania took on contracts with Amazon to complete Sunday deliveries. Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian, initially transferred to another station to avoid Sunday work, but the issue arose at his new station. He tried to adjust his schedule, but ended up missing 24 Sundays of work over two years, before his employment was terminated. Previous cases like these have usually involved Seventh-Day Adventists and Orthodox Jews, who observe the Sabbath on Saturday. David Strain, senior minister of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mississippi and formerly a minister in the Free Church, told CT, ‘It grieves me that as a society, things just happen on Sunday as a matter of course, almost automatically. ‘I’m not offended by that. I’m not angry at anyone about that. I’m certainly saddened by it because I see how challenging that makes things for those Christians who are trying to be faithful in this area, but I also see the great loss for all people, the loss of that rest and the loss of a spiritual benefit.’ •

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PASTORS ATTACKED BY GUNMEN IN PAKISTAN A Church of Pakistan lay preacher was killed and a priest wounded as they left a Sunday worship service in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan, according to Morning Star News. Humphrey Peters, the Church of Pakistan’s Bishop of Peshawar, said that two gunmen on a motorbike ambushed the car the pastors were travelling in. Bishop Peters reported that William Siraj, 75, was killed instantly while Patrick Naeem, 55, was shot in the hand. A third church leader in the car was unharmed. ‘It’s a miracle that Rev. Naeem and another priest escaped the volley of bullets,’ he said. ‘Siraj had lost his son-in-law in the gun-and-bomb attack on Peshawar’s All Saints Church in 2013, in which over 70 worshippers were killed and 100 others were wounded,’ Peters said. ‘He is survived by his wife, a son, and a daughter. This is a very tragic loss for our church. ‘This brazen attack has shocked the entire community, and we demand justice and protection from the government.’ The Anglican Church of Pakistan President, Azad Marshall, told Morning Star News, ‘Our people have been targeted several times by militants in recent years, and there has been a broader increase in violence since the Pakistani Taliban ended a ceasefire with the government last month.’ Peshawar Police Chief Abbas Ahsan called the incident a ‘terrorist attack’, stating that ‘we are determined to protect our minorities’. Pakistan People’s Party Senator Sherry Rehman tweeted, ‘Terrorism that targets anyone, especially for their faith, is heinous and must be fought against with the full force of clear, concerted policy and state power. No compromise, no equivocation.’ According to Open Doors, Pakistan had the second-highest number of Christians who were killed for their faith during 2020 and 2021, behind Nigeria. •

ERITREAN ORTHODOX LEADER DIES IN PRISON

TONGA REFLECTS ON GOD’S PROTECTION

Abune Antonios was the longest-serving prisoner of conscience in the Horn of Africa when he died in February, aged 94, and after 16 years of incarceration. Religion News Service reports that Antonios was placed under house arrest in 2006, two years after being installed as the third patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Church. He was moved to an undisclosed location the following year, and was kept in solitary confinement throughout his 16year imprisonment. Antonios had challenged state interference in his church. He refused the government’s order to excommunicate 3,000 members and also protested the arrest of other priests. The US State Department estimates that thousands of people have been detained in Eritrea on account of their faith. Open Doors currently ranks the country as the sixth most difficult place in the world to be a Christian. ‘It is very unfortunate that the patriarch died while in detention. There was no reason for the government of Eritrea to put him in detention,’ said Francis Kuria, the secretary general of the African Council of Religious Leaders. Rashad Hussain, the new US religious freedom ambassador, called Abune Antonios ‘a true leader’. •

The huge eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai volcano on January 15th sent a plume of ash into the atmosphere, triggered a tsunami that hit Tonga’s nearby islands and send out shock waves which circled the globe several times. Three people died as a result. Nature reports that the reverberations from the eruption were unlike anything recorded in the modern scientific era. Yet, volcanologists have been surprised that the volcano emitted less of the devastating ash than would be expected to follow an eruption of such magnitude. ‘We feel that we have been the subject of the prayers of the worldwide Christian community,’ Fe'ilaokitau Kaho Tevi, the former general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches, told Christianity Today. ‘For the last two weeks, I have been in prayer day and night, thanking God that he spared Tonga,’ added Siesia Puloka, pastor of Seaview United Methodist Church in Seattle, one of two Tongan diaspora churches in the city. ‘The tsunami and the eruption could have wiped Tonga out in a second. It’s flat like a pancake.’ CT notes that Tonga’s overwhelmingly Christian population has been reflecting on King Tupou’s decision to dedicate the islands to God and adopt a new motto for the kingdom in 1839 - Ko e 'Otua mo Tonga Ko Hoku Tofi'a (‘God and Tonga are my inheritance’). King Tupou was part of the first generation of Tongans to convert to Christianity after missionaries arrived in the late 1700s. ‘Tonga was to a large extent saved by forces that are beyond us,’ concludes Tevi. ‘If we’re estimating the explosion to have been [many] times the explosion in Hiroshima, it’s just a surprise and wonder that we’re still here. We are in God’s hands. He has brought us through a number of disasters and we’ve come out safe and sound.’ •

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CHURCH PLANTING IN THE FREE CHURCH

Photo by Михаил Павленко on Unsplash

BY REV. NEIL MACMILLAN

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MARCH

We are all aware of the rapid decline of Christianity in Scotland over the last few decades. Today only around 8% of Scots attend church regularly and less than 3% of Scots would identify as an evangelical Christian.

passion to see many more new congregations planted as part of our mission to the people of Scotland. The great challenge facing Scottish believers today is the re-evangelisation of Scotland. We are all aware of the rapid decline of Christianity in Scotland over the last few decades. Today only around 8% of Scots attend church regularly and less than 3% of Scots would identify as an evangelical Christian. The church has moved from a maintenance footing in Scotland — just keeping things going — to a mission footing — how do we bring the good news of Jesus as Saviour to our families, friends, colleagues and neighbours when more than 90% of them don’t attend church? How do we bring the gospel to the many communities where there is no real church presence anymore? Part of the answer to this is planting new churches. Church planting is at the heart of our evangelistic vision. We are planting new churches to reach new people, new communities, new generations and new cultures in our rapidly changing nation. We plant churches because we want to see many, many, many thousands of people become Christians. In 2020 I was asked to give two days a week to the denomination in order to help deliver the 30x30 vision. A big thanks goes to my own church, Cornerstone, for freeing me up to do this. Cornerstone is itself a church plant and from its start has had a strong commitment to helping plant more and more churches. When I took up the 30x30 challenge I sat down with a friend who coaches me (to help me with my work). He helped me lay out a realistic plan for how 30x30 could be achieved. (I think he set me this challenge because he thought it was so unrealistic!)

he free church has a growing focus on the planting of new churches.

It’s good to know church planting is producing good fruit. Here is one story worth hearing. ‘A woman, the mother of someone in our church, was invited to join our online Christianity Explored course during lockdown. While her late mother was a Christian, she knew she did not share her mother’s faith. This made her want to come along to our course to find out more. It was the first time she had looked into the Bible and she began to make personal discoveries about the good news of Jesus. After the course had finished, she was thirsty to learn more, so we hooked her up with our female apprentice to continue to study the Bible one to one on Zoom. She asked lots of questions and loved learning more about Jesus. When church opened up for in-person services again she came along and continued to ask questions as she listened intently to the Sunday preaching. God was clearly at work in her life and, over time, she came to grasp message of Jesus and put her faith in him. She has joined one of our community groups and loves learning more. She now speaks openly about her faith in Jesus and wants to share it with others.’

THE 30x30 PROJECT In 2017 the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland took a bold decision to plant 30 new churches by 2030. Voila! 30x30. The denomination had already seen multiple new congregations started in the previous few years through Generation Church Planting. The growth of these new congregations ignited a growing

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THE 30x30 PLAN

closed. Finally we are hoping to have a number of pioneer plants – where we send out a gifted evangelist to plant a church amongst groups of people or places where we have had little evangelistic success. A few of these have been informally entitled ‘skunkworks’. (Skunkworks were originally cutting-edge R & D departments used by the military in WW2 to develop new and innovative projects. Skunkworks is now widely used in business, engineering, and technical fields to describe a group within an organisation given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy, with the task of working on new initiatives in unchartered territory. In our context it is the idea of supporting innovation in evangelism and church planting.)

At the heart of the plan is the simple reality that I cannot plant 30 churches and the Mission Board cannot plant churches. It is local churches that plant churches. The 30 new congregations will be planted by other Free Church Congregations. We have identified around 15 churches that will plant the 30 new congregations. We call these ‘mother churches’. Our first stream of planting churches is found in several larger city churches. This year St Columba’s Free Church in Edinburgh has embarked on its fourth church plant since 2014! We believe that larger congregations in Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh can plant at least 12 of our 30 new congregations if not more. These city churches are our Church Planting Hubs. A second stream of new plants should also come from more recently planted churches. Our church plants are all started with the DNA of multiplication – that they will go on to plant churches that plant churches that plant churches. We are praying and planning that churches like Cornerstone, Esk Valley, Haddington, Grace Church Leith, Christ Church Glasgow, and Stirling Free Church will be in a position to plant seven more new churches before 2030. The other new plants will come from other congregations which have a vision to plant and from the replanting of congregations that have

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30x30 - THE PLACES WE AIM TO PLANT The plan envisions new churches being planted across the nation. We realise that our plans can fail or alter and that this whole enterprise will only prosper as God moves among us. As things stand, we are aiming at 7 plants in the Highlands, 3 in the Aberdeen region, 3 in the Dundee region, 3 in the central region around Stirling and Falkirk, 9 in the Glasgow region and 10 in the Edinburgh region. We are aiming to see some rural plants, some plants in housing schemes, some in towns and others in the cities and their suburbs. We are aiming at a wide spread of church plants both geographically and demographically.

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30x30 PROGRESS

least 30 church planters, and that he will also provide the finances needed. To plant 30 new churches will cost over £5 million. This seems like a huge sum of money but we believe the resources are there to achieve it if the people of the Free Church give generously. We also have very generous support from people and churches outside the Free Church. The essential need is that of God’s favour. This is his work and we are totally and utterly dependent on him for it. To help inspire your prayers let me share another story from a different church plant.

Between 2017 and 2020 we saw four new plants: Christ Church Glasgow, Merkinch Free Church in Inverness, Charleston Community Church in Dundee, and Haddington Community Church in East Lothian. In 2021 new planting initiatives were put in place for Tornagrain near Inverness, Galashiels in the Scottish Borders, and Winchburgh near Edinburgh. The pioneering work in Helensburgh led by Colin Dow and Glasgow City Free Church also appointed a full-time church planter in 2021. In 2022 we anticipate new works starting in the Northern Presbytery, in Montrose, and in Fife. Our hope is that by the end of 2022 we might have 10 of our 30 plants underway.

‘One of the core team of the church is a painter and decorator. We spent a long time before launch speaking about the main way the church will grow being through invitations and people being able to speak with people they meet about their faith and connect them to church. He was working in a lady’s home (who he slightly knows), speaking about his beliefs and invited her to church. She came and met a few people there who she knew already and soon felt part of the community. A couple of months later the lady became a Christian, praying with someone after a Sunday service.’

30x30 PARTNERSHIPS 30x30 is a great vision and a great challenge. The ambition is huge. It means growing our denomination by 30% in ten years from around 100 congregations to around 130. Our hope is that the whole denomination will take ownership of 30x30 and partner in it. Even if your church is not going to be a ‘mother church’ to a church plant you can partner through prayer, giving financial support and even through sending people to be part of a plant. Currently we have a few congregations in the Highlands and Islands partnering with church plants in other parts of the country. We hope more and more congregations will take up this idea. Contact neil@freechurch.org to find out more.

Scotland is a nation of great spiritual need. Let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and our hearts strong for mission and evangelism. •

30x30 PRAYERS

The Rev. Neil MacMillan is minister of Cornerstone Edinburgh and is currently serving as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church

Infographics by moose77.com

We have two pressing needs and one essential need. The two pressing needs are that God will raise up at

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A HEALTHY GOSPEL CHURCH… HAS A MISSION AND VISION BY REV. PETER TURNBULL

he vision of the coca-cola company is ‘to refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit, [and] to inspire moments of optimism and happiness’.

Illustration ©Jozel Micic - stock.adobe.com

‘Get real,’ I hear you say, ‘it’s a fizzy drink.’ We are (not unjustifiably) suspicious of anything that smacks of corporate mumbo-jumbo, especially in the church. Quite right too. The local church is not a corporation to be managed but a family to cherish; Christ’s own body to which each member belongs as they trust Him as Saviour and submit to Him as Lord. All of this is true, but remember, there are babies, and there is bathwater, so let’s pause for a moment and try to ensure the former doesn’t face too hasty an ejection along with the latter. Perhaps we could describe healthy leadership as ‘serving people by moving them toward a better future’? By the way, before you dismiss that definition as more corporate jargon, the models I have in mind are not Musk but Moses, not Jobs or Page, but Joshua and Paul; who, in challenging circumstances, had God-given vision for a people redeemed, a land conquered, and the gospel proclaimed. Here in Burghead, our congregation has adopted both a mission and a vision statement.* MISSION: KNOWING JESUS AND MAKING JESUS KNOWN VISION: TO GROW, TO BE A VIBRANT, ALL-AGE CHURCH OF 100 DISCIPLES

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We chose to include a numerical target, which I know will set some teeth on edge. However, as a church of 25, a vision for 100 stretched our faith. James 4:15 should give us humility in planning and vision casting, but it is certainly not a prohibition on these. We have found our mission and vision statements very helpful tools in the task of church revitalisation. Mission statements must be three things if they are to be of any use. Biblically based and locally applied — how does the unchanging mission of the church to love God and neighbour by proclaiming the gospel touch down in the specifics of your situation? Short, memorable, and frequently used — a phrase at best, a sentence at most. To be useful, your vision must drive action, and it won’t do that if no one can remember it. Faith-stretching but not faith-snapping. We chose to include a numerical target, which I know will set some teeth on edge. However, as a church of 25, a vision for 100 stretched our faith, drew us to prayer, and inspired us to action. By God’s grace, we have seen progress toward that vision. A target of 1,000 would have been useless since none of us would have believed it to be realistic (which doubtless reflects more on our faith than the Lord’s power). Mission statements bring the following benefits: Everyone has some vision — why not make it a good one?! The fact is that everyone has some vague sense of the future in their mind. Optimists picture it as slightly better than the present, pessimists as slightly worse. How much better to have a well-thought-out, biblical vision to expand your congregation’s horizons and make you deliberately think, pray and plan for the future. They help with planning, administration, and organisation. A congregation of 25 is a completely different beast to a congregation of 200: they have different relational dynamics and require different levels of organisation and patterns of leadership. Sometimes growth may be inhibited because of administrative bottlenecks created by the fact that a church of 200 is still trying to behave like a church of 25. Having a vision of where you want to be can help you prepare to be there. They help navigate change. A congregation who are unified in the big picture of their mission will be better able to jump hurdles of personal preference along the way. They help you say no. One of the perennial problems of congregational life is uncontrolled busyness. Used properly, mission statements can filter out extraneous church programmes which might be ‘good’ but are not really ‘on mission’. People and resources flow towards vision. We have experienced this many times in our revitalisation journey. Christian folk have crossed the country to join us, believers moving into the area have spotted us, even the local community have taken note and have shown an interest. Others have been inspired to pray for us and given resources (including, in one case, a building!) because they saw we had a sense of vision for gospel work in our village. • *For more on the differences between mission and vision, pick up Advanced Strategic Planning by Aubrey Malphurs (catchy, I know). The Rev. Peter Turnbull is minister of Burghhead Free Church

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But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. Hebrews 2:9-11

FIXING OUR EYES ON JESUS, OUR PIONEER I hope you all had a good February. Last time here, we thought about running the race of faith, fixing our eyes on Jesus, and how that meant meditating on his character and actions. Someone shared an excellent thought with me afterwards, which was that we could reflect this month on a particular aspect of Jesus’ character and actions. So let’s do that, delving back into the letter to the Hebrews to see what the writer sees when he looks at Jesus. The verses at the top of our page this month are from a bigger passage stretching from verse 5 to verse 18 (why not take a couple of minutes to read these now?). The writer is thinking about what it means to be human, using Psalm 8 as a handrail. We humans have been crowned with glory and honour and have the whole world under our feet… but that’s not really how we experience the world, is it? If we’re honest, life is often less about glory and honour and control than it is about shame and dishonour and frustration. The writer knows this, and sums it up saying, “at present we do not see everything subject to them.” If we left it there, this would be a disappointing reflection! “But,” says the writer, and we get to the verses above, “we do see Jesus”. It’s almost as if the writer has pictured us with our heads down, buried in our circumstances and problems. Then we lift our heads up, and there is Jesus right in front of us. What do we see? Someone described at the start of the letter as “the heir of all things… the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being,” having become a human like us. A human who suffered. A human who tasted death. Why? Read these words of our writer and let each description sink in. Jesus became like us in death, “so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” He became like us “so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Again, “he had to be made like (us), fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.” And again, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” This is almost unimaginable humility, isn’t it? How often do I grumble at being asked to do something – because deep down I think I’m too important? And yet here is Jesus, the glory of God himself, willingly becoming human and suffering and dying – all for you and me. And not only does he become what we are; we become what he is, as he brings “many sons and daughters to glory” as his “brothers and sisters.” Though it can sometimes seem that life is against us, full of frustration, suffering and temptation, reflect on these verses. Fix your eyes on Jesus who died for you, makes you holy, calls you his sibling and helps you when tempted, so that you will face every trial in the certain knowledge and experience of his love, and run the race of faith towards him. • Would you like to reflect more on what the writer to the Hebrews has to tell us about Jesus? Or have these reflections sparked some other thoughts and questions with you? I’d be interested to hear those, and continue with our reflections together. May God bless you this March. (lochnessfreechurch@gmail.com) The Rev. Sean Ackers is minister of Loch Ness Free Church (Glenurquhart & Fort Augustus)

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REFLECTIONS REFLECTIO Photo by Nolan Simmons on Unsplash

BY REV. SEAN ANKERS

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SOLOMON BY DONALD MACKAY

THE RECORD

MARCH

olomon is one of the best-known figures of the

FOLLY

old testament.

Now comes disappointment and indeed tragedy. We have seen some negatives in the early part of Solomon’s life — his ruthlessness in disposing of threats to his rule, and the use of slave labour in his building projects. The Chronicler does not major on these, accepting that they were the common practice of the times. Instead, he focuses on two direct contraventions of the Law of Moses. According to Deuteronomy 17:16, the king was forbidden to accumulate great numbers of horses, particularly from Egypt. These, along with chariots, would constitute a force of cavalry for aggressive war. In addition, the king was not to take many wives, who would lead him astray. Solomon egregiously violated both these commandments. He had 700 wives of royal birth, from all the surrounding nations. We are told that, when he grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods; and he even built high places for Chemosh and Molech at which his Moabite and Ammonite wives could worship. There is no clear suggestion that he worshipped them himself. These infringements angered Yahweh, who reproved Solomon through prophetic warnings and, in due course, through judgments and political reverses. Edom, which he had ruthlessly subjugated, successfully revolted; Rezon of Syria whittled down his northern frontier; and he had a home-grown adversary in the shape of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who stirred up trouble in the northern tribes. All of this made Solomon furious but did not, so far as we know, lead to any change of heart or reformation of conduct. But God made it clear that, although his kingdom would suffer, the covenant with David would not be revoked. There is a minority view among scholars that, after his defections, Solomon may have repented and once again sought the Lord. This is based on Jewish legend and the ‘precedent’ of Manasseh, whose repentance, although fully set out in Chronicles, is not reported at all in the book of Kings.

He occupies twenty chapters of historical narrative, and no fewer than three Old Testament books are attributed to him. Yet it is hard to get close to him and his personality.

EARLY DAYS Let us start with his birth and upbringing. Neither was very promising. Although not born out of wedlock, he was the child of an adulterous relationship. He was brought up in a royal household full of jealousy and intrigue, redeemed only by the presence of the prophet Nathan, who conveyed the message that he was beloved of the Lord. His father David was failing in health and mental clarity, and it took all of his mother’s resolve to get from David a commitment that Solomon was to succeed him. Even after his hasty coronation he was threatened by various factions, including the army, and he had to take drastic action to make the throne secure.

Simeon Solomon: English: King Solomon (1874)

WISDOM He was now twenty years old, at the height of his powers, and the head of a nation which was phenomenally rich in spiritual and material terms, thanks to the genius of King David and the favour of God. Yet he was humbled by the prosperity which he saw around him, and when he was offered a choice of blessings at the start of his reign he chose wisdom: for who, he asked God, is able to govern this great people of yours? Wisdom he asked for; wisdom he got, in spades. He found himself competent in organising labour, in foreign policy, in economics, in architectural design, in administering justice and, perhaps above all, in his intellectual pursuits. He propounded 3,000 proverbs and his songs numbered 1,005. He described plant and animal life. Kings and commoners from all over the known world flocked to hear his wisdom. We have an eloquent example of his wisdom preserved for us in the great prayer which he offered at the dedication of the Jerusalem temple he had built. In it he besought God to hear the prayers that would be offered in the temple in days to come: prayers for justice, for forgiveness, for healing, for deliverance from enemies and natural disasters, for national repentance. And God responded by promising not only to hear such prayers but to put His name there for ever. The three books in the Old Testament canon bearing Solomon’s name are strikingly varied in style and content. There is a book of proverbs — nuggets of practical, often earthy, wisdom, with the overall message that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. There is a book of reflections on life and death, somewhat enigmatic but deeply suggestive. And there is a book of short love poems of great frankness and beauty. Jesus referred to Solomon’s wisdom and splendour.

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LEGACY There is certainly a puzzle here. Although we cannot escape the evidence of his materialism or his ruthlessness in the early years, we are assured that at that time he loved the Lord: and the childlike simplicity of his prayer for wisdom testifies to a genuine faith. The picture we get is of a gradual drift away from God under the influence of wives who were unbelieving or worse. So we are left with the legacy of Solomon’s writings (without which the canon of Scripture would be much the poorer) and the memory of his magnificent reign — obviously precious in the eyes of the Chronicler, and a foreshadowing of the glory of the heavenly kingdom. • Donald Mackay is a member of Knox Free Church, Perth.

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FOOD FOR FELLOWSHIP Tell us about yourself My name is Donna Maciver. I was born and brought up in the village of Bayble on the Isle of Lewis. I trained as a nurse in Aberdeen in 1974 and in 1976I married James. We have three children and nine grandchildren (eight boys and one girl). There is nothing we like more than having the whole family together for a good family meal. I have been involved with Women for Mission (WfM) for almost 35 years! My husband was ordained and inducted to the Free Church ministry and the congregation of East Kilbride in 1987. During our time there I started a WfM group. Back then WfM were known as WFMA. Having moved to Knock Free Church in 1997, as there was no formal WfM group in the congregation, we started a group in 2004. During these years we arranged an annual congregational meal which we used as an occasion for enjoying fellowship together and as a fundraiser for WfM. In 2006, along with Nan Ferguson, whose husband Kenneth was the minister in Cross Free Church, we formed the Western Isles WfM committee. This committee was comprised of representatives from every congregation within the Western Isles who had a WfM group. Nan became the first representative from the Western Isles on the main WfM committee of our denomination. We became very aware of how difficult it was for many of our ladies to go to the biannual ladies ‘Away Day’ and we felt they were missing out. So, we started our own ladies’ event here in Lewis. This has turned into an annual event with up to two hundred ladies attending! That was of course until Covid stopped us. But we hope to resume in May of this year. When Nan retired from the main committee in 2012, I took over. That was ten years ago. I also followed her as chairwoman of the Western Isles WfM, taking on the above roles, which was a huge task. However, with the Lord’s help I continue in this role. In 2016 my husband became the minister to Stornoway Free Church. In true Free Church fashion, a committee was formed to set up a WfM group here in Stornoway.

personal experiences, learn from one another and hopefully encourage each other. We have been privileged to host people from Africa, Asia, South Korea, the USA, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Northern Ireland, in addition to other parts of the UK. I have always tried to make food that is homely yet also relevant to our locality. I don’t have a particular favourite, but I do like cooking fish and making desserts and cakes! As a couple, we have been blessed with nine grandchildren, three of whom have dairy and gluten allergies, while another has a nut and pulses allergy. This has made me much more aware of dietary needs and requirements. Along with my daughter we have adapted old tried and tested recipes to make them ‘free from’. Some work better than others and she is far better at that than I am. Before Covid prevented us from having fellowship in our homes, we used to have a tradition in our home after the final communion service, when we would have a number of folks from the church for a meal, after which we sat round the table discussing the sermons we had heard, what we agreed with or didn’t agree with, then finishing our time together singing the last two verses in Psalm 90, in Gaelic. The last two years have been really frustrating not being able to have anyone outside our ‘bubble’ for a meal and I am really looking forward to being able to open our home again to church friends, as well as family, of course. As you look to retirement from the WfM committee, what are you thankful for? I find it hard to believe that 35 years have passed since I became involved with the work of WfM. It has been a privilege and a blessing to serve on the WfM committee, meeting and working alongside like-minded ladies from different parts of the country and various congregations, making new friends and meeting up with ‘old’ friends. Spreading the news of the work being done by missionaries at home and abroad has been a crucial aspect of my role, in addition to encouraging and enthusing ladies to become involved in any way they can, both in fundraising and praying for this work in the Lord’s cause. I can truly say that I have come away from our committee meetings feeling thankful to God for having been part of it. ‘To God be the glory, great things He has done.’ •

How does food play into fellowship in your church? I love cooking and especially baking. It is lovely to share a meal with friends, family, and Christian friends. We discus Bible teaching and

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Ingredients: • 500g new potatoes quartered and cooked • 1 onion chopped • 1 stick celery chopped • 1 carrot chopped • 2 pieces skinless white fish (haddock or whiting) cut into chunks • 1 piece smoked haddock cut into chunks • 250g uncooked prawns • 250-300g mussels (optional) • 50g plain flour • 150mls white wine • 200-300mls full cream milk • 100mls double cream • 200g sweetcorn • 200g peas • Salt and pepper • 2 tablespoons light oil • 250mls either chicken stock or fish stock • Parsley for serving Method: • Heat up the oil in a pan add the vegetables and cook until softened. • Add flour and cook for about a minute, then add the wine, the milk, and the stock. • Add the rest of the ingredients except the cream. Cook for about 30-40 minutes. • Season to taste. Add the cream and warm it through. • Serve sprinkled with fresh parsley. • This is a very hearty meal. I usually serve it with crusty bread as a main course. It is also popular with my boys, and I like making it because it is all done in the one pan. This recipe can be made Dairy-Free and Gluten-Free by using soya cream and milk and gluten-free flour or cornflour.

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WHO NEEDS ENCOURAGEMENT? PROF. JOHN ANGUS MACLEOD finds challenge and assurance in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians

hristians need encouragement, and there

undo their past or change their present. Thus, when God deals with them, that’s what they are in His eyes: sinners and transgressors – those who have fallen short of His standards, people who have repeatedly crossed the boundaries of righteous behaviour. In that situation, they are dead, not only unable to change who they are in the eyes of God, but incapable of living holy lives for the honour of God. Paul goes further. He tells them that they conducted their sinful lives quite in line with the age of this world. Yes, they lived in the world, as do others. However, they also lived in accord with – in harmony with – a set of morals and ethics which define this particular age of human history. It was (and it still is) an age and a world that does not seek to honour God. The Ephesian Christians, then, once belonged to their world. They were quite at home in it. Their sins and trespasses were acceptable in that society.

is often a dearth of this in our day.

We need theological encouragement, spiritual encouragement and ethical encouragement. Encouragement is not meant to leave us in the same place as before, but to take us forward, onward and upward. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is wonderfully rich in encouragement. In 1:3-14, he encourages them by detailing the blessings they have already received. In 1:15-23, he encourages by informing them of the specific requests he makes for them as they come to understand more of the God who blesses and the Christ through whom they are blessed. In chapter 2:1-10, he continues to encourage them by reminding them of two things: the enormous change that has taken place in them (vv1-3), and the gracious, powerful God who brought about this change (v4ff). It is important to understand that these verses are not there simply to provide a basis for key aspects of systematic theology. They were written by Paul to give assurance and challenge to believers at a particularly formative stage in their Christian lives, and should still be read, shared and preached in the same way today. Christians today need to be reminded of the enormous change that has taken place in the experience of every Christian, and of the grace and power of the God who graciously and powerfully intervened with such irreversible results.

CHANGING ALLEGIANCE Moreover, they were under a ruler. Not a ruler, of course, who was in any way interested in changing their sinful lifestyle. This ruler is described as one who has authority over the air. What does this mean? It may mean that he is able to influence the atmosphere in which human beings live. More likely, it is a reference to lordship over human beings intended to keep them from contact with God in heaven. He intends the world to be a dark place spiritually. The sins and trespasses of these people are quite in line with his rule and authority, determined as he is to ensure they will not do good works. Of course, this is not how these Christians would have described themselves at the time. It is strange to think how unaware people are of the ungodly distance between themselves and their Creator. God is no longer in their worldview, and they are quite able to live ‘normal’ lives in the world from day to day in their blindness and deadness; and Satan works hard to ensure that they can do so – he rules the air. There is more. Satan not only influences the outside ethical and moral atmosphere in which people live; he also shapes them on the inside. Under his rule and power, they are actively energised to sin against God, such that they will be characterised as ‘children of disobedience’.

OF THEIR WORLD Paul confirms what the Ephesians already knew about their own past, but sets it out with much more detail than, perhaps, they had previously grasped. The effect of spelling out the detail (and surely also the goal) is to give them reasons for their prayers of thanksgiving, in line with his own prayers of thanksgiving in 1:16ff. As a result of the teaching he provides in this letter, Paul expects the shape and content of their prayers to change. In particular, he knows they will be conscious of their debt of thanksgiving to God. Their prayers and their prayerful lives will change as a result. They were dead in trespasses and sins. We note that Paul does not just say that they were sinners and trespassers. He speaks of them as dead, quite unable to do anything to rectify the situation. They could not

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Of course, disobedience can only exist if there are rules. They, probably, did not see themselves as disobedient. As we have already noted, they kept the standards expected in their world, and that world would undoubtedly call them ‘normal’, not ‘disobedient’. It is those who are God’s holy people who view them as ‘children of disobedience’. They are the ones who understand God’s will and seek to obey it. The Christian’s default position is not allegiance to sins and trespasses as a way of life. Christians wish to be ‘children of obedience’ and long to see others transfer their allegiance from the world and its ruler to the Creator God.

Such wrath is not only what we deserved from a holy God; it was God’s divine response to who we were and to how we lived. He was angry, and showed it. How did this happen? How does God show his wrath? According to Romans 1:18ff, God shows His wrath by giving us over to sin, and more sin, yet with no lasting satisfaction. Ultimately, His wrath is expressed in his giving us over to death in all its various stages: spiritual, physical and eternal. Israel experienced this as well, despite being given the law. The reality is that to be a child of wrath is no small matter. It matters in life, in death, in our conscience, in our heart. This defines how we are viewed by God. Note that Paul says that this was also part of his story. Now, it takes a lot of recognition, honesty and humility to move from using ‘you’ to ‘we’. Indeed, it takes grace to see that we were like all the rest. Our racial, religious, ecclesiastical privileges did nothing to change what we were by nature or how susceptible we were to Satan’s influences. Nor did the revelation of God in creation, or for that matter in special revelation. The gift of the oracles of the law (see Romans 3:1) did not change the Israelites at heart, though it defined their sin even more clearly. Paul came to know that so well.

NATURAL STATE Those who are dead in trespasses and sins, who live in line with the prevailing lifestyle influenced by Satan, are led either knowingly or unknowingly to disobey God’s commands. Indeed, they are given strength and power by Satan to break God’s commands. This is an interesting realisation. Satan, the ruler of their world, helps to shape their worldview, to live within the world’s accepted norms, fostering ungodliness and sinfulness with demonic power. Even as Paul writes this letter to a people who have been blessed by God in Christ so richly, he knows that right ‘now’ Satan is still at work energising unbelievers. Christ being on the throne of the universe does not bring to an end the work of Satan in swaying the ungodly. A challenging question is whether he still works within the believer. There is a sense in which the flesh still lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. Sadly, Satan knows this well, and will always take any opportunity to encourage sin in all of its forms. Nevertheless, the reality is that this is not the whole story of the Christian’s present life, though it is certainly the story of their past. This is also our story. We were all, prior to the experience of God’s blessing in Christ, quite at home among such ‘sons of disobedience’. We thought as they did; we longed for the same desires to be fulfilled. We were continually doing what was purposed and willed by our flesh and our minds. It is not that we were without intellectual rigour. We were clever and worldly-wise. We were able to think and plan and desire – but God was nowhere to be found in the centre of our way of life. Yes, Satan may indeed have been at work energising, but it was our choice to conduct our lives in the way we did, and to daily plan the fulfilment of the desires of our flesh and the mind. Paul says it clearly: what we were, we were ‘by nature’. Satan certainly encouraged our sinful natures, but these natures were sinful to begin with. What an awful situation to be in!

BROUGHT TO LIFE What was it that could change our nature? What could irreversibly alter our conduct, transform our lifestyles into that which God could define as good? The answer is not found in ourselves, or in any human aspiration, effort or life re-structure. It is found in God. He is the answer. He alone is the answer. This is why the verses are structured as they are. Verse 1 was written knowing that verse 4 was to come. Paul portrayed our sinful, corrupt, ungodly natures as he did, culminating in the wrath of God, with a view to presenting the amazing intervention of God in grace and mercy. What did God do? The important verb, the main verb, is that He made us alive together with Christ. Now, that is quite something! We were alive physically, but not spiritually. We were unable to live for God. And the Ephesians were unable to change their situation. Indeed, they had no desire to change things at all. Thankfully, God was greater than the sins in which we were dead. God was stronger than the world in whose course we walked. God was mightier than the ruler of the authority of the air. While all else, with the full support of our flesh, conspired to maintain our deadness in relation to God, he made us alive – both Paul, the Ephesians and ourselves. This is what He, alone, can do. Whatever boast others may make of their power, life-giving belongs to God alone. No one else can bring us to this amazing God-shaped awareness of life. Has He done this for you? •

OBJECTS OF WRATH Yet, though God did not matter to us, we mattered to God. He viewed our choices with holy anger, with wrath. This is equally true for both Jew and Gentile.

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John Angus MacLeod is Professor of New Testament and Greek at Edinburgh Theological Seminary

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Heart Apologetics: Christ for Every Tongue and Nation? DAYSPRING MACLEOD looks at what sets Christianity apart from other faiths

as disciples, and certainly wouldn’t have spoken to a Samaritan woman. The Ethiopian eunuch would have been too important and too foreign to be considered as an early convert. The Philippian jailor would be too scary. And isn’t it a bit offensive to tell the Ephesians that Diana was not a true goddess? Why not leave the Greeks at the Aereopagus to the glorification of their own gods? How about a slave girl who demonically tells the future? What about us, before God came upon us? You, in your rebellion? Me, in my self-righteousness? The truth is that salvation is impossible, and equally impossible for all people. It was impossible for me to see the sinfulness of my own heart before God opened my eyes. He had to intervene in order for me to truly understand scriptures I had had memorised since childhood. So when we are considering evangelism, the most important part is to ask Him to prepare hearts — our own hearts of unbelief, and our friend’s heart of blindness. The world will disagree with this analysis, and we should expect it to. You may remember a few years ago when John Allen Chau was killed during an attempt to evangelise an unreached island people-group off the coast of India. He was roundly excoriated by the secular media and the general public. Yet, even though his death sparked some hard discussions within the Church about how we do missions now, we were in agreement that his motive was to fulfil the Great Commission: that even the few dozen members of the mysterious Sentinelese tribe needed to know that Jesus the Son of God loved them, gave Himself for them, and desired them for Himself. We must pray for these people, for God has not left them out of His view or out of His plan. They too are made in His image and require to be brought, as all things, under the kingship of the Lord Jesus. One of the unique things about Christianity is that

ow do we know that our own faith is the one truth that unlocks the purpose and meaning of life, and all other faiths and

philosophies

—

from islam and buddhism to politics

to trans identity

—

represent either false gods or

Especially these days, when the idea of objective fact is considered unspeakable lest it offend someone, remarks made on Twitter ten years ago can end a career despite being considered perfectly reasonable at the time, and an often rightful emphasis on the legitimacy of cultural differences can make public life difficult to navigate. We may see Christ as an excellent deliverer for someone who is mired in grief in trauma, or the one true answer for an unfulfilled seeker, or the rescuer for someone with addictions. But what about the apathetic agnostic who lives a ‘good life’ and gives to charity? What about a Muslim friend who finds community in the mosque and finds beauty and fulfilment in the Qu’ran? What about a colleague whose sexuality has become their identity, or a refugee who equates Christianity with decadent Western culture, or an old friend who has undergone spiritual abuse at a church? We so often fall into the pattern of ‘That person would make a great Christian’ — and we don’t even bother with those who, well, don’t seem to need it in our eyes. Those whom we might offend by undermining their particular version of the truth, or trespassing their cultural boundaries. It’s interesting to think what the Bible would look like if God operated with our eyes. David’s eldest brother would have been king. The Babylonians, the largest and richest nation, would have been the Chosen People. Peter would have stayed in the synagogues — after all, Jesus was the Jews’ promised Messiah, right? Missionaries would have given Paul a wide berth. Jesus wouldn’t have picked either a nationalist zealot or a ‘Roman traitor’ tax collector

©Illustration by Dima Oris - stock.adobe.com

subordinate priorities?

THE RECORD

MARCH

it even aims to evangelise on an individual level. There are other religions that seek to conquer — Japanese Shintoism in Korea, Islam with its promised caliphate. There has also been a worldly, political brand of Christianity which had the same aims. (See the Crusades of the Middle Ages right through to Victorian missionaries teaching their African audience that ‘civilisation’ meant not only faith in Christ, but also dressing a bride in a white veil.) However, these are instruments of control, not true faith. What about the individual? Your Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or Jewish friend is almost certainly not interested in winning you over to their beliefs. They are tied up in culture and identity, not in salvation for incomers, and certainly not any kind of relationship with the Almighty God. In this respect the ‘faith systems’ of sexual rights and atheism bear a stronger resemblance to the Christian culture from which they ultimately come — because your trans or atheist friends will try to convince you that their own version of the truth is absolute, for all peoples, and will make a moral argument for it, on however shaky assumptions. So, then, what sets Christianity apart from other religions is that element of relationship: not control by God, but freedom in Him, friendship with Him, reliance on Him. Even those things He asks us to do for Him, in living a holy and pure life, He asks us to do out of love for Him, and for our own happiness. He constantly proves His patience as we learn the outworking of His will. It is the only faith where we are not to earn our own salvation with works, but to accept it as a gift. The only one where God comes down to man, not to abuse and confuse the locals like some Greek god, but to teach and to save and to die and to defeat death. We must treat all people with kindness and respect, no matter what their beliefs. But as C.S. Lewis reminded us, tolerance is not synonymous with agreement. In the Old Testament, the nations of

2022

Israel and Judah were constantly going after foreign gods depending on whichever pagan nations seemed to be prospering the most at the time. Now we know that Dagon and Baal and the pantheons of Egypt, Greece and Rome were nothing more than stone statues with fictional backstories. But we must not give more latitude to modern religions in an effort to please people, as if they are any more true or more able to save than those idols of long ago. There are times when people need to be saved from their most sincerely held beliefs, and it is our relationship with God and our example of grace that can show them a better way. Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God, the eternal Creator, the very image of the brightness of God’s glory, came to dwell among us. He took upon Himself the sins of the world, submitted to a criminal’s torture and death, and laid in the grave before the Father called Him back into life in a glorified body. He is now interceding before His Father, His wounds eloquently pleading innocence for His people, and He will one day come again bringing with Him judgment and the end of all things, and the start of a glorious reign that will never end. This is not ‘my truth’. This is not ‘nice for me to believe in’. This is true for all peoples throughout all time and every land, for every single knee will bow and every tongue, in every language, confess that Jesus is Lord. All roads will lead to that bended knee and that confession, but all roads do not lead to eternal life as a subject and child of this King. Objective, universal, factual truth does not equivocate or compromise. But, miraculously, it does love. We must be firm in our knowledge that we hold the one great truth, but we must offer it with kindness and respect and with a pure and joyful lifestyle that speaks of Christ even before we speak a word. The gospel is life and death to the entire world, but we must remember that it comes not as an accusation but an invitation. The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. •

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CALUM ANGUS MORRISON (1948-2021)

BY CALLUM MACDONALD

C child

alum

angus

morrison

was born on the 14th of january 1948, the third

(of

six) to rev. john and

effie morrison, in ardnamurchan where

rev.

minister

morrison

congregation

the

was

free

the

church

kilchoan.

When Calum was 6 months old, his father accepted a call to Broadford Free Church on the Isle of Skye. The family remained in Skye for 10 years when Mr Morrison accepted a call that took them to Glasgow where he was to serve as minister of Govan Free Church. In Glasgow Calum Angus attended Bellahouston Academy before joining the police in which he completed 27 years’ service. In 1972 Calum Angus married Mary Ann Maclean, a native of Breasclete in Lewis, and they had two children, Iain and Donna. It was during his time in Glasgow that Calum Angus came to profess his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour, attending Govanhill Free Church. Prior to their return to Lewis, Calum Angus and Mary Ann attended Thornwood Free Church (continuing). On retirement they moved to Breasclete, in 2006, initially worshipping in the Stornoway congregation of the Free Church (continuing) but latterly, in 2010, joining the membership of Callanish Free Church, where Mary Ann’s father, Donald was an elder. Calum Angus was a welcome addition to the congregation. He loved the Psalms and was a gifted Precentor who was always ready and willing to lead the Praise. In April 2012 he was ordained to the office of elder and he undertook his duties with a quiet diligence. Calum Angus also took on the role of congregational treasurer and he applied himself to that

THE RECORD

office with assiduous and scrupulous care. Despite having to endure struggles with ill health, he continued to attend church regularly. At the onset of the Covid Pandemic, however, because of underlying health issues he was required to endure a period of shielding, but his heart was always at the services and his interest in the things that mattered most did not wane. Calum Angus was a devoted husband and father as well as a proud grandfather to Charlie, Grace and Calum Lewis. He delighted in sharing their exploits and achievements. Calum passed away on 9th December 2021 following a short battle with cancer. He was a gentleman, a man of integrity who will be missed by his family and friends as well as the church family who mourn his passing. Calum Angus was interred in the Cemetery at Bragar, his paternal homeland, and where he spent many happy childhood days holidaying with his family. On occasion he committed his thoughts to verse and his fondness for the area was apparent from the sentiments expressed. This will be where he will rise on that great day of the resurrection morn when the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. At the conclusion of the book of the Revelation, the apostle John writes these words, “Surely I come quickly. Amen, Even so, come Lord Jesus.” We commit to prayer a mourning family, Mary Ann, Iain and Donna and their families. We also continue to remember Calum Angus’s siblings, Mairi, Peggy and brother Murdo and their families, thankful that our God is The God of all Comfort, who hears and answers prayer. •

MARCH

ANDREW HENDERSON SHEARER (1952-2021) BY REV. HOWARD STONE

in March 2021 he was heavily involved in the establishing and running of a Community Cafe in Castletown, and he initiated and arranged a number of gospel music nights. During the lockdown, he would regularly post gospel messages on the congregation’s Facebook page and make sure these messages were shared on other local non-Christian sites. Andrew wanted others to hear about Jesus. When the church could only have online events, he produced and distributed cards round the rural areas of north Caithness, which directed people to where they could hear a gospel message. As a result of a Covid infection, Andrew was hospitalised in September 2021. Although unable to speak very much during three difficult months in intensive care, it was plain that Andrew could, with peace and hope, anticipate leaving this world to be with his Saviour. He fell asleep in Jesus on 2nd December. He will be greatly missed by his wife, children and grandchildren. May the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort sustain and uphold them in their loss. The congregation, too, feels the sadness of Andrew’s passing, missing his cheery, fun-loving, godly character and his enthusiastic work for the Kingdom. •

ndrew was born and raised in the village of

skarfskerry ,

the

north

coast

caithness . He was part of a large family, with six brothers and one sister. He joined the Navy at 17. Consequently, heavy drinking became part of his life. But God was at work. Andrew testified to an occasion when, in his drunkenness, the words of an open-air preacher convicted him of his need of Jesus. However, that feeling passed. The Lord did not, however, give up, and Andrew was saved sixteen years later, in a house church in Tain. Jackie, whom he had married in 1982, was saved shortly after that. After a variety of jobs, Andrew studied in Stirling University, training to be an RE teacher. He worked first in Alness Academy, where he got to know other Christian teachers, some of whom remained close friends throughout his life. Andrew subsequently went to teach in Shetland. In the twenty years he was there, he was very involved with the churches. As well as becoming an elder in the United Free Church, he preached in many pulpits, frequently bringing Reformed truth to those who were unfamiliar with it. When Andrew retired, he returned to Caithness, settling in Dunnet and contributing a great deal to the life of the Castletown congregation. Much to the joy of the fellowship, which had been without an elder for years, in 2017 Andrew took on that role. Andrew was always very supportive of any effort to serve the community and to bring them the good news of Jesus. Prior to the lockdown

“Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labour, for their deeds follow them.’” Revelation 15:13

QUOTATIONS: No one can travel so far that he does not make some progress each day. So let us never give up. Then we shall move forward daily in the Lord’s way. And let us never despair because of our limited success. Even though it is so much less than we would like, our labour is not wasted when today is better than yesterday! John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion The cross of Christ…is the proof and measure of that infinite compassion which dwells in the bosom of God towards each and all of the lost race of Adam, and his infinite willingness, or rather longing and yearning desire, to receive each and all of them again into his favour. Robert Candlish, The Cross of Christ; The Call of God; Saving Faith Believe God’s love and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your rock is Christ, and it is not the rock that ebbs and flows but the sea. Samuel Rutherford

2022

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BOOK REVIEWS Our books this month cover the whole spectrum of Christian thought. At one end, we have a short story about dementia, and at the other a formidable tome on missionary baptism and evangelical unity. All these books are important, and worth your consideration. All are available from Free Church Books ((https://thefree.church/shop) unless otherwise stated. BOOK OF THE MONTH MY LAST NAME ERIC SCHUMACHER (2021) My Last Name is a short story from Eric Schumacher, the co-author of Worthy. It is a poignant and delicate picture of a well-lived life coming to a bewildering yet satisfying end. It is the story of Charlotte, a woman whose life has been rich and fulfilling, but who is now 95 and confused by dementia. She lives between memories and the present, finding each both disturbing and comforting. My Last Name is a novella, so doesn’t have a ‘point’ in the same way a non-fiction book on dementia would. However, it is almost certainly more relatable in terms of the realities of living with dementia. This bleak disease is no less heartbreaking to live with for Christians, and yet the book has a compelling message for believers: whatever may come and go through our lives, our true identity is firmly with Jesus. This is our sure promise and future hope, however difficult or befuddled our ending here on earth may be. This is a gentle and easy read, and I would especially recommend it to anyone whose life has been affected by dementia in a loved one. Really, though, it is a book for everyone. • This book is available from Waterstones. Miriam Montgomery, Free Church Books

MAKING SENSE OF LIFE MICHAEL OTS (2021) ‘Do we need another book on apologetics?’ was my first thought when I opened this book by Michael Ots. ‘I’m so glad he wrote this’ was my final thought when I put it down. This is refreshingly different and right up to date. He covers the issue of suffering carefully, but apart from this I can’t think of another book that addresses the range of questions he does. For example, in ‘Making sense of humanity’ he shows where the idea of human rights came from; in ‘Making sense of our world’ he explores the origins of our concern for the environment. He very helpfully discusses issues of personal identity, our pursuit of happiness and our obsession with freedom. He even asks and answers the questions of how we can make sense of loneliness and love. He concludes by presenting the good news about Jesus as the only solid foundation for hope and calling the reader to follow Him. This is a fine book. It certainly addresses contemporary questions and it does so in an engaging manner with up-to-date and modern references and helpful quotations. The chapters can be read in any order and will be of great help to Christians wanting to share their faith. As a ‘give-away’ to those who aren’t already believers, I think it's aimed at an educated audience. It's probably most suitable for students or those who’ve shown a serious interest in the questions it addresses. • David Gallie, Bethesda Evangelical Church, Warrington

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DISSENT AFTER DISRUPTION: CHURCH AND STATE IN SCOTLAND, 1843-63 DR RYAN MALLON (2021) On 31st October 1900, 26 ministers of the Free Church of Scotland sought to enter the New College in Edinburgh. They found the gates locked and an angry janitor obstructing their way. These men formed the nucleus of the denomination we know today. But what do we know of what they stood for? And what do we know of the ecclesiastical tectonic plates which moved in the nineteenth century which resulted in this moment? It is an event of which we rarely think now, though it has important implications for how as a Church we engage with our society, and particularly the various authorities in modern life, be that central or local government or non-governmental organisations. The roots of the stand made in 1900 go back to two important events in the 1840s: the Disruption, with which many of us are familiar, and also the union of the seceding churches in 1847. In Dr Ryan Mallon’s monograph, Dissent After Disruption, the author seeks to detail the issues which distinguished these two new denominations in the early period of their formation. The most significant difference was the clash between the Free Church position on the Establishment Principle and the voluntaryist approach of the UPC. In essence, the Free Church held that the State has an obligation to support but not interfere with the life of the church, whereas the United Presbyterians held that there ought to be absolutely no connection between State and Church in either direction. Dr Mallon has written a magnificently and meticulously researched book which conveys detail and nuance by way of beautiful, readable prose. It is divided into four parts, and the first, also titled ‘Dissent after Disruption’, explores the history of both voluntaryism and the Establishment Principle. The second part covers ‘Cooperation and Incorporation’, where the desire for cooperation and the impetus for union is considered. The political themes of the period are under consideration in the third part, where issues around anti-Catholicism, bigotry and liberalism are brought into focus. The concluding section looks at attempts to reform Scotland through Social Reform and a scheme of national education. Dissent After Disruption covers the period 1843 to 1863. The latter date is significant because this was when the Free Church first began exploring the prospects of union with the United Presbyterians. Efforts at union would persist for the remainder of the 19th century, coming to their dénouement on 31st October 1900. There is a narrative which suggests that the Free Church of 1843 was conflicted on the question of

the Establishment Principle, though this is belied by Chalmers’ sermon with the oft-quoted words, ‘Though we quit the Establishment, we go out on the Establishment principle; we quit a vitiated Establishment but would rejoice in returning to a pure one. We are advocates for a national recognition of religion – and we are not voluntaries.’ This was later published, and later still used and relied upon in the court case of 1904 when the Minority sought to recover the property of the pre-1900 Free Church. In 1843 the Free Church entirely rejected the idea of dissent, and yet it sought to reject the Establishment of the day; in rejecting the Establishment, it claimed to uphold the Establishment Principle; in upholding the Establishment Principle, it desired to see a godly state created, though it dissented from the intrusions of the contemporary State upon the doctrine, government, worship and practice of the Church. There were many within the Church at the time for whom the Establishment Principle was not a priority, and as Dr Mallon explains, the realisation of its importance to a cohort of leadership of the Free Church appears to have come as something of a surprise. While there are many publications which cover the Disruption itself, there are precious few which examine and consider the post-Disruption period in a scholarly way and in the context of the principle and practice of the time. I found this book to be insightful and helpful both in identifying primary source material and in bringing helpful analysis of it. For anyone interested in this period, Dr Mallon’s work is of importance, and is to be recommended. • Neil DM MacLeod, Free St. Columba, Edinburgh

These books are only a small proportion of the ones we review. You can find all our reviews online at https://books.freechurch.org or sign up to our monthly email to get them directly to your inbox: https://thefree.church/books-sign-up Email Address: books@freechurch.org Sales Phone Number: 0330 2233423 (Please note that this number takes you directly to our bookshop partners, 10ofthose.com. They are very helpful!)

2022

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MISSIONARY BAPTISM AND EVANGELICAL UNITY J CAMERON FRASER (2021)

Cunningham offered a bold viewpoint on baptism. He argued that, although Infant Baptism is fully sanctioned by Scripture, it must be recognised as supplementary to the baptism of believers who have come to faith, which is the primary model the New Testament presents. Moreover, Cunningham maintained that the teaching of the Westminster Confession of Faith regarding baptism was written with believers’ baptism primarily in view; the baptism of infants is supplementary to that. Thus, Cunningham has a two-layered view of baptism which sees the baptism of mature converts as the biblical norm, and the baptism of infants is not identical, but supplementary. Fraser argues that such a two-layered approach is not at all far from the position of infant-dedicating Baptists, and thus opens the doors to unity. Cunningham’s position has proved controversial and Fraser helpfully surveys the criticisms that have been made. However, although Fraser endorses Cunningham’s viewpoint, the book could have given further weight to Cunningham’s argument by noting that circumcision, the Old Testament shadow of paedobaptism, can also be argued to reflect a two-layered dimension. It should be remembered that the first and paradigmatic circumcision was a believer’s circumcision, which was then supplemented by the command given to Abraham to put the same sign on his child. It also should be noted that, although Cunningham made important and provocative points about baptism, he never wrote an extensive analysis of baptism itself. All his comments come within wider discussions about the sacraments in general, rather than baptism in particular, so care ought to be taken when summarising precisely what Cunningham’s view of baptism was. After his analysis of Cunningham, Fraser goes on to explore various different approaches to the baptism question that have arisen among paedo-baptists. This is an immensely helpful summary, and Fraser writes with clarity, humility and insight. The result is that the reader is given a very clear introduction to the complexities of how infant baptism has been understood by its advocates. This alone makes the book a fascinating and valuable read which is to be highly recommended for anyone seeking to go a little deeper into the subject. Fraser’s tone throughout the book is exemplary. On a topic that has caused so much controversy, it is immensely refreshing to read a work that is deeply respectful to the opinions on all sides of the argument. In fact, the book’s greatest strength is not what it teaches about baptism, but what it highlights about unity. In an era of appalling division in the Reformed Church, this book is a wonderful reminder than when asking the question ‘Should evangelicals be united?’ there are very, very few circumstances where it is justifiable for our answer to be ‘No’. Whether you will agree with Fraser or not, his attempts to build bridges across centuries of division is not only to be commended, it is an example that all of us must strive to follow. • Rev. Thomas Davies, Carloway Free Church

The question of Infant Baptism has divided the Christian Church for centuries. Despite the thousands of pages of ink spilled on the subject over the years, Protestant Christianity seems to be stuck between two alternatives. Either baptism in all its fullness is granted to infants, or it is reserved only for those who make a conscious profession of faith later in life. Both these views have their challenges. Can paedo-baptists justify applying all the theological significance of baptism to an infant? Can credo-baptists justify excluding the children of believers from membership of the church? To deal with these challenges, paedo-baptists have attempted to have a theology of baptism broad enough to allow for the inclusion of infants; credo-baptists have adopted the practice of infant dedication. Still, the dividing lines remain firmly drawn. Fraser’s Missionary Baptism and Evangelical Unity is a fascinating addition to the debate because it seeks to offer a middle ground. Drawing on the riches of historical theology combined with his personal experience in the Presbyterianism of the Scottish Highlands and as a pastor in the Christian Reformed Church of North America, Fraser’s book presents the concept of what the author calls ‘Missionary Baptism’. This refers to the baptisms described in the New Testament where people with no prior knowledge of Christianity came to faith and were baptised along with their whole households. Fraser argues that this should be recognised as the biblical norm and thus the model from which our understanding of baptism should primarily be derived. For paedo-baptists, this means acknowledging that, even though the vast majority of baptisms seen in our churches today will involve children of believers, these (though numerically much more prominent) should still be regarded as supplementary to the paradigmatic missionary context of the New Testament. The consequence of this is that Infant Baptism should not be viewed as identical to the baptism of a mature convert. Instead, it should be regarded as subordinate and supplementary to the ordinary model of baptism being first and foremost for believers who have received the gospel on the frontiers of mission work. On this basis, Fraser suggests that, if paedo-baptists can view baptism in these terms, their position becomes almost identical to that of the credo-baptist who endorses infant dedication (although in saying this, Fraser acknowledges that infant dedication suffers from a lack of explicit biblical warrant). And once this similarity is recognised, the division that baptism has carved through Protestant Evangelicalism becomes a much narrower canyon to bridge, hence Missionary Baptism and Evangelical Unity. To support his thesis, Fraser draws on the insights of one the giants of Scottish Presbyterianism, William Cunningham. Cunningham (1805-1861) was a leading figure in the Disruption of 1843 and succeeded Thomas Chalmers as Principal of New College in Edinburgh.

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POETRY PAGE THE WEAVER BY GRANT COLFAX TULLAR My life is but a weaving Between my Lord and me; I cannot choose the colours He worketh steadily. Oft times He weaveth sorrow And I, in foolish pride, Forget He sees the upper, And I the underside. Not till the loom is silent And the shuttles cease to fly, Shall God unroll the canvas And explain the reason why. The dark threads are as needful In the Weaver’s skilful hand, As the threads of gold and silver In the pattern He has planned. He knows, He loves, He cares, Nothing this truth can dim. He gives His very best to those Who leave the choice with Him.

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Grant Colfax Tullar (1869-1959) was a Methodist minister, born in Connecticut, USA. His mother died when he was two years old, and his father was disabled following his involvement in the American Civil War. As a result, Tullar was raised by relatives who sent him to work in a woollen mill. He gained very little formal education. Tullar was converted aged 19 and went on to become an evangelist and hymn writer. He founded a publishing company which produced hymnals. Tullar’s poem, ‘The Weaver’, more commonly known as ‘The Tapestry Poem’, is often mistakenly attributed to the Dutch author Corrie Ten Boom, who cited it in her writings as one of her favourites. •

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PAGES FROM ADAM’S DIARY The Fourth Man in the Furnace of Fire (Part 1)

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

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2500 years later, that fourth man was sent to aid one of the Lord’s own in Central Asia — this time as an immigration officer.

things. In our fallen world, when people are given power, invariably they abuse that power to do two things: to enrich themselves and to oppress other people. It rarely fails. But we have the promise that one day, when the Lord God has taken his great power and begins to reign (Revelation 11:17), ‘the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea’ (Isaiah 11:9). Humanity ‘shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks’ (Isaiah 2:4). This means that all the predatory instincts on this planet will be purged (Isaiah 11:18). Only the promised ruler of Isaiah 9:1-7 is able to make all the wrongs in our world right. However, even now He occasionally steps directly onto our paths, and into our lives, to make a wrong right. The story I want to share with you is one example among many which I could recount. At the heart of this story is the faithfulness of our God to His promise to all believers: ‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, neither shall the flames consume you’ (Isaiah 43:2). Two and a half millennia ago, three Jewish boys were cast into the Babylonian furnace of fire by King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3:16-28). 'When he looked into the furnace, the king saw a fourth man walking beside them amidst the fire. He declared to his counselors, ‘Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?...But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods’ (Daniel 24-25). Twenty-five hundred years later, that fourth man was sent to aid one of the Lord’s own in Central Asia — this time as an immigration officer. If we are attentive, we too have seen him in the dark passages in our lives.

n the chaos and uncertainties of the present world , millions of human beings are on the

move . Some are refugees as a result of war and regional conflicts. Many are leaving lawless, oppressive, regressive and brutal societies in which corruption is the way of life and there is very little hope for change. So these men and woman become refugees seeking a better future for themselves and their children elsewhere. They come to the West because they think it is the attainment of all their dreams and aspirations. While they are among us, some of them meet the Saviour of whom they do not know. They hear the Gospel, this most beautiful timeless message, and the light of Christ penetrates the darkness of their hearts. However, today, across the western world, there is a growing antipathy toward these newcomers – often out of justifiable fear. Significant numbers of asylum seekers come from the Islamic world and/or backward cultures with equal antagonism toward the very culture in which they are seeking refuge. In a strange psychological pattern, they begin to create the very environments from which they have fled. There is ample evidence for this phenomenon across European and North American cities. Therefore, Europeans feel their cultural identity and civilization are under threat from people with whom they share very little in common. This is completely understandable. Undoubtedly, too, not all refugees are truly refugees. Many of them are economic migrants. And not all asylum seekers merit being granted asylum. There is no simple solution for the foreseeable future to this challenge facing our world. In the meantime, because of these fears and resentments, now and again atrocities are committed against refugees. This is particularly so in some of the old Soviet bloc nations of Eastern Europe where refugees face some of the harshest conditions. I have met refugees in Bulgaria upon whom the border guards and police had loosed hungry dogs trained to attack people crossing their borders. I saw evidence of this on three young West African men with torn flesh and severe injuries. One is aghast as to how anyone with some measure of humanity could inflict such cruelty on his own kind!

ARRESTED This story is about a young Christian couple. I will call them Ali and Maryam. I had known and discipled both of them. They fled their home in Central Asia when their house church was discovered. They left out of fear of imprisonment. A few years ago, as I was preparing to leave for Europe, I received a text message that Ali had been arrested in a northern European country where he and his wife were seeking asylum. On the day he was arrested, he was in a shopping centre. He was stopped by the police, who asked for his ID and soon discovered he was an asylum seeker. Ali was

GOD IS FAITHFUL These are symptoms of a deeper malady in the hearts of men. Our Saviour came into this world in order to cure this deadly infection, called sin and selfishness, which causes people to do such

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The Lord had allowed us to completely exhaust all our human options. And then he acted. taken to a police station where he told the officers questioning him that he was a Muslim convert to the Christian faith who had fled persecution and sought asylum in this European nation. To everyone’s astonishment, he was transported to a prison. A few days later, I arrived in Europe and he was still in prison. A lawyer was secured for him. She assured us that there was no need to worry, even though there had been a stream of deportations of asylum seekers recently. Where Ali lived, the Department of Immigration, under pressure from a new nationalist party in the coalition government, had been trying to send a message of firmness with asylum seekers through indiscriminate deportations. The sad thing in Ali’s case was that they could not have targeted a more worthy person for asylum. But, while the earthly authorities were sending a message to their constituents, they did not know that the One to whom ‘all authority in heaven and earth has been given’ (Matthew 28:18) was also sending a message to the weak among his people in order to strengthen their faith and glorify God in their midst. Ali’s heavenly Father was going to make an example of him in order to show that there is a God in heaven who rules and reigns in the affairs of men. Once the news of Ali’s arrest reached his friends, the effect was predictable — an epidemic of fear. Maryam, Ali’s wife, was in deep distress and pleading for help. I contacted everyone I could, asking for assistance. Promises were made. Nothing happened. Weeks passed and he was still in prison. Then, on September 24th of that year, he phoned his wife to say that the prison officials had notified him that he would be deported to the country of his origin within a week. Every day we prayed for God to intervene. We felt his life was being put in jeopardy — a Muslim convert who had sought asylum being delivered into the hands of his persecutors!

deportation to a country in which, as a Christian, he could potentially lose his life. No help was forthcoming. On Wednesday morning, October 4th, his lawyer phoned to say that she had been informed that Ali would be taken to the airport later that morning to be deported. Maryam went to her room and we did not see her again until midnight. Two other men and I decided to go to the prison and pray. We arrived at 10:30am, parked in front of the daunting gate and began to pray for God’s intervention. Shortly after noon, we saw a van swiftly leave the prison compound. We followed it from a distance. It was going in the direction of the airport. Near the airport, we turned around and went back to the apartment where a group of Ali’s friends had gathered to pray. At 2:00pm, his lawyer phoned again to say Ali was being deported on the 5:30pm flight to Central Asia. Someone in our prayer gathering began to follow the flight on his phone app. At 5:15, the flight was delayed for 25 minutes, and then again for 27 minutes. Hoping against hope, we thought perhaps something was happening and Ali would not be sent back. But the flight left shortly before 6:30. And all our hopes vanished when Ali’s lawyer phoned to inform us that he was on that flight to Central Asia. Those were anxious hours as we wondered, what would happen to Ali once he arrived? Would he be abused? Would he be sent to prison? And for how long? Would he ever see his wife again? What would happen to her now? I was also deeply concerned about the potential harm this event could do to the faith of these young believers who had expected a miracle. A small group of us stayed with Maryam. Around midnight, I was sitting in my bed, praying, when suddenly Maryam burst out of her room and exclaimed, ‘I just received a phone call from Ali. He is in Central Asia but he is being sent back.’ We were stunned. The miracle we had prayed for had been provided. But how? How was he being sent back? The Lord had allowed us to completely exhaust all our human options. And then he acted. In next month’s article I will tell you how the Lord intervened and, in a most unusual way, answered our prayers. The Word of God assures us that the Lord’s ears are always attentive to the prayers of the righteous, those whose confidence and trust are in the Lord and in Him alone. •

THE FLIGHT Through my European friends, we contacted two Christian members of the Parliament. On Monday, October 2nd, we appealed to the office of the Deputy Prime Minister. We were told that they could not intervene. On Tuesday, October 3rd, we appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. We explained that this man was separated from his wife, put in prison and now was threatened with

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Fo sgàil an Uile-chumhachdaich (In the shadow of the Almighty) LE JANET NICPHÀIL

s e luchd-turais a th'ann an sluagh dhè.

Is e Dia Fhèin an Athair, agus is e an ionad-còmhnaidh fasgadh an Tì as àirde. Abair tèarainteachd. Is Esan an Tì air nach tig cadal no suain, agus tha A ghràdh dha shluagh Fhèin coltach ri gràdh màthar d'a teaghlach. Tha an Cruthaidhear air leth cùramach mun timcheall. Ged a bhiodh buaireadh agus cogadh gan cuartachadh, tha A shluagh tèaraint' fo sgàil-san. Chaidh Abrahàm a-mach gun fhios aige càit' an robh e a' dol, ach e ag earbsa à gealladh Dhè. Fhuair Eliah agus Daibhidh fasgadh ann an uamh. Faodaidh sluagh Dhè an sùilean a dhùnadh agus iad air an uallaichean gu lèir fhàgail Aige-san. Nuair a dh' fhalbhas ar n-earbs' ann, sin nuair a dh' fhalbhas ar sìth, agus thig iomagain a-steach nar cridheachan 's nar smuaintean. Tha facail an fhàidh a' cur nar cuimhne, 'Cumaidh Tu esan ann an sìth iomlan aig a bheil inntinn suidhicht' ort-sa'. Bidh na stoirmean air an glasadh a-mach à cridhe an fhir no an tè a dh'earbas gach nì Ris-san. Tha an t-Salm a' cur nar cuimhne gur e an Cruthaidhear an Tì a chuireas dìon oirnn' air slighe na beatha. Tha cunnartan neo-fhaicsinneach mur timcheall. Tha rib an eunadair deiseil gur glacadh agus ar leagail. Tha cunnart buairidh ann cuideachd, agus thig seo ann an caochladh dhòighean. Leughaidh sinn gu robh Criosd air a threòrachadh leis an Spiorad don fhàsach gu bhith air a bhuaireadh leis an Diabhal, agus b' Esan an aon Fhear air nach tug an Sàtan buaidh. Tha sinn aineolach air na plàighean a dh'fhaodadh a bhith gar sgrios mur b'e gu robh A shùil-san oirnn' gar dìon. Nach e an Crìosdaidh a bu chòir a bhith taingeil? Tha iad aig an Athair nèamhaidh 'mar chloich A shùla,'agus tha am fàidh Sechariah a' cur nar cuimhne, 'an tì a bheanas ribhse, beanaidh e ri cloich A shùla-san.' Is e an Cruthaidhear cuideachd ar companach nèamhaidh. Tha E còmhla rinn anns gach ceum.

Treòraichidh E A shluagh gach ceum den t-slighe. Leughaidh sinn ann an Leabhar Dheuteronomi na facail, 'Mar a charaicheas iolair' suas a nead, a dh'itealaicheas i os cionn a h-àlach, a sgaoileas i a-mach a sgiathan, mar sin threòraich an Tighearna esan'. Tha dùsgadh suas anns an t-samhla agus tha dìreadh. Chì sinn dìlseachd agus cumhachd Dhè coltach ri iolair' làidir. Aig toiseach na bliadhn' ùire tha cinnt againn ann an dìlseachd Fear-coimhead Israeil; tha seo a' gealltainn gum bi turas sàbhailt' againn dhachaigh. Chan eil seo a' gealltainn nach bi doilgheasan againn, ach ma bhios, bidh adhbhar Aige-san airson gach sàrachadh a bhios anns an t-slighe. Bidh Esan gar dìon agus gar gleidheadh. Aig deireadh na Sailm, nuair a leughas sinn na facail, 'A chionn gu bheil gràdh aige dhomh, saoraidh mi e,' bha an teachdaire a' faighneachd na ceist, 'An dùil dè a bha an Cruthaidhear ag ràdh mur cridhe? A bheil sinn a' toirt àite Dha mar ar Fear-cuideachaidh, ar Companach air slighe na beatha agus ar Fear-dìon?' Tha sluagh a' Chruthaidheir sàbhailt' a-bhos, agus ann an Glòir tha iad tèaraint'. Nar turas a-bhos air thalamh is e seo 'àitecòmhnaidh sàbhailte'. Is e seo Fear a bhios còmhla rinn gach ceum den t-slighe, agus is E a chuireas dìon oirnn'. Nach Esan an Tì a thionndaidh an ailbhinn theann gu bhith na loch a dh'uisge tàimh, 's a'charraig chruaidh gu tobar uisg', le cumhachdaibh A làimh?

(Is e seo searmon na bliadhn' ùire ann an Siabost am-bliadhna, agus tha sinn a'toirt taing don Urramach Calum Macleòid.) •

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BY CATRIONA MURRAY

POST TENEBRAS LUX W

hen i was a young sabbatarian ( before my

list is depressingly long, because our capacity for sin is seemingly limitless. And so we do this with God sometimes too. Well, I say ‘we’, but I can only speak for myself and if I’m a good example of anything at all, it’s how not to be. Recently, I was having a bit of a time of it, and challenged God in prayer, asking him why he felt the need to ‘inflict’ more of this on me. I was upset and feeling put-upon. It was late at night, which rarely improves situations like these. And then, my phone pinged — and it was a friend, sharing a quote from William Tyndale with me that they had just come across: ‘Mark this, if God send thee to sea and promise to go with thee and bring thee safe to land, he will raise up a tempest against thee to prove whether thou wilt abide by his word, and that thou mayest feel thy faith and perceive his goodness...’ The Lord had not come, but he had certainly sent, and my self-pity turned that second to self-reproach. Why was I doubting any method of this God, who had brought me safe thus far, and who has promised to bring me safely home? I should be thanking him for this latest thorn and applying that question I have learned and had to relearn (for I’m spiritually dim and need constant remediation): how can I experience more of God’s love in this? Tyndale was only being used to remind me of something I should know better than many — God doesn’t hurt us arbitrarily, and he doesn’t test us in order, I think, to prove our faith to him. I believe he wants us to prove our faith to ourselves, as the only means possible to ease our journey through this world. Pretend, nominal faith won’t do that. It is the most threadbare of comfort blankets, the most inadequate of shelters. Faith that involves us in an ongoing conversation with God, discerning his hand in the smallest aspects of our lives — that really is what will carry us across the finish-line, straight into the waiting arms of Jesus. Heaven is home because he is there, and because he is both dear and familiar. And he is most familiar of all to those for whom faith is a living and daily truth. •

mind had narrowed to full maturity ), i used to while away the long sunday

afternoons by reading anything i could lay my

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hands on .

This led to my acquisition of eclectic, perhaps even eccentric, knowledge. For instance, I used to know the entire ‘to be or not to be’ speech from Hamlet... in the pidgin English of the Solomon Islands. Useful, eh? It was in my beloved ‘Reader’s Digest Book of Facts’. This was the same tome that supplied the names of all the US Presidents and UK Prime Ministers up to Reagan and Thatcher. Its entertainment value was — for me — endless. However, for less geeky days there were also the ‘Reader’s Digest’ abridged books. These were varied in content and style, but somehow always managed to be appealing. One that sticks in my mind was about a young girl’s poor upbringing in the Cotswolds of the 1920s. It was a charming rural reminiscence without being mawkish or sentimental. One incident which the author, Mollie Harris, related, made a powerful impression on my young mind. She described a holiday spent at her grandparents’ home. One day, her granny received a package, which contained a brace of game birds. Holding them aloft, the old woman exclaimed joyfully, ‘if the Lord don’t come, he sends’! I mulled over that expression. It returned to me often over the years, sometimes powerfully. And, say what you like, but I think the book, ‘A Kind of Magic’, was excellent reading for a fledgling Wee Free. The simple faith of that cailleach, and the instinctive acknowledgment of God’s hand in her good fortune... well, it’s a demonstration of practical Christianity. We think of that as being about what we can do — are we full of good works and charity to our fellow men? But practical Christianity is more than that; it’s the lived reality of trusting in our Saviour in everything — the small and the great. It means living out our belief. Of course it doesn’t mean never doubting. All human relationships have in them an element of doubt: can we trust the other person, are they true to us, might they be talking behind our backs, or taking advantage of us... The

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