10 of those – Plains Evangelical Partnership

Plains Evangelical Church are pleased to announce a new innovative partnership with ‘10 of those’ to meet all your reading requirements.

The ‘10 of those’ vision is to help local churches and Christian organisations by providing quality Christian resources at prices they can afford. Their resources are consistent with the Word of God as we understand it and all generated money is used to further resource the church with quantity goods, seeking to equip the church and reach the world.

Plains Evangelical is pleased to be part of this vision and enter into partnership with ‘10 of those’. What that means in practice is that you will be able to buy books from the Plains Evangelical Church Bookshop at unbeatable prices and as you buy you will be helping support the wider ministry of Plains Evangelical. And no….you don’t have to buy 10 of the books, but if you do there will be major discounts for you! You can visit the bookshop here

Tell your friends and enjoy great books at great prices and support the ministry of Plains Evangelical at the same time!

An Open Letter to the Airdrie & Shotts Candidates

It has been a great pleasure to meet with you in the course of this election campaign. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to spend some time talking through your values and policies with me. I have enjoyed it greatly and it has helped me to think through how I will cast my vote on Thursday.

In a few short days one of you will be elected to represent the people of Airdrie & Shotts in the House of Commons as our Member of Parliament. It is my prayer that whoever is elected, you will recognise that not only are you accountable to the people of Airdrie & Shotts, but you are also accountable to the God of the universe for the decisions you make in governing our country. My prayer is that you will govern well and that you will seek the guidance of the Lord as you govern, putting him first in all your decisions. I’d like to share a prayer with you. It is a prayer that was prayed at the opening of the new session of the Kansas Senate by Rev. Joe Wright. Yes, it’s from an American context but please don’t switch off, if we have ears to listen we may hear some insightful truths for our own situation.

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.

We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem..
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbour's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honoured values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!”

Politics in the UK is at its lowest ebb, but the successful candidate from Airdrie and Shotts will have an opportunity to make a difference and regain the confidence of the people. Can I ask you to reflect on this prayer above? Can I ask you to honour the God of the universe in your legislative activity? Can I ask you to defend the sanctity of life; to defend the sanctity of marriage and the family; and to defend religious liberty in this land?

My prayer is that guided by the Lord himself you will make this your agenda. Please be assured of my prayers for all of you, in whatever capacity you serve in our community and may the Lord’s will be done on Thursday both locally and nationally. Every Blessing, Alan

To the Blog Readers

This will probably be the last of the General Election blogs, so I won’t be emailing and facebooking quite so assiduously to let you know when a new blog is up. However, both Jim Coyle (one of the elders at Plains) and I will be continuing to blog here on a reasonably regular basis. If you would like to be kept up to date with blog updates then please subscribe to the blog by inserting your email address in the panel on the top left hand side of the blog. This way you will be automatically updated on any future blog activity. Friends use your vote wisely and prayerfully.

Should I Vote for John McGeechan – Independent?

I visited John McGeechan tonight and enjoyed a tea and blether. He has decided to stand because he is sick of what the traditional parties have served up over the years and wants to be a sort local councillor writ large serving the Airdrie and Shotts constituency. We discussed the same three issues that I discussed with the other candidates. Here we go for the last time….

Sanctity of Life – We discussed the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill and John indicated that he had significant misgivings concerning the creation of human – animal embryo’s and the creation of saviour siblings. He indicated that he believed that human life is precious but also considered that it is not accurate to say that an embryo becomes a human entity immediately upon conception. In relation to abortion he was of the view that the gestational limit needed to be brought down from the current 24 weeks

We also had quite a discussion in relation to assisted suicide and John was aware of the complexity of the issue. He was of the view that there are limited circumstances where assisted suicide might be permissible.

Sanctity of Marriage – John was supportive of the civil partnership legislation and the right of same sex partners to form state recognized partnerships. However, he felt that there was no need for this to be equated with marriage. He was in support of sex education in schools to ‘promote homosexuality as a normal and valid choice’; and he was aware of the complexity of the issues surrounding same sex adoption and fostering. John was cautiously in favour of this.

Religious Liberty – John recognized the difficulties that the Equalities Act 2006 and 2010 posed for faith based groups and considered it ridiculous that faith based organizations could be compelled to appoint people who do not share their faith based beliefs, ethos or values.

We discussed the Westminster Declaration 2010 pledge to, “respect, uphold and protect the right of Christians to hold and express Christian beliefs and act according to Christian conscience.” John was of the view that this was a basic requirement of a democratic and free society and indicated that we would be happy to make that pledge. He also indicated that making the pledge did not constitute an agreement that Christian belief and conscience could be imposed on the larger society.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to John McGeechan for taking the time to chat through these issues with me. It is greatly appreciated.

So there you have it! Five candidates, five perspectives on three crucial issues! The decision is ours! Do please tell people about these five interviews. Get them to come to the blog and read over them and pray over them before voting. God has granted us the privilege of living in a democracy and being able to choose who we want to represent us, so lets make the most of it. That’s all folks!

Should I Vote for Pamela Nash – Labour?

Earlier today I had the privilege of spending some time with Pamela Nash the Labour candidate for Airdrie and Shotts. She was accompanied by Councillor Tommy Morgan who is an elected representative on North Lanarkshire Council. Pamela began by telling me that she is fully committed to ‘Labour Values’ and to the Labour Party manifesto upon which she is standing. We then went on to discuss the same three issues that I discussed with the other candidates. So let’s begin at the beginning.

Sanctity of Life – We began by talking about the ‘Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act’ which the current Labour government passed. I explained that there were a number of aspects of this Act that were of great concern to me, namely (i) the legalisation of human – animal embryos (ii) the legalisation of the creation of ‘saviour siblings’ and (iii) the abolition of the ‘need for a father’ consideration before commencing IVF treatment. I asked Pamela if she could share her thoughts on these issues. Pamela indicated that she was supportive of the Act because it would further the reach of science in our society. She expressed some initial concern at the ‘animal-human’ embryo’s’ but was reassured to know that these embryos would be destroyed within 14 days of creation. She felt that this meant that the needs of science could be catered for adequately.

We then went on to talk about her views on abortion and I asked her how she would vote were the question of reducing the gestational limit for abortion to a level below 24 weeks put in parliament. She indicated that she would be supportive of a reduction in the limit to 18-20 weeks. On the issue of the morning after pill being issued in schools, Pamela was supportive of the government ensuring that the morning after pill was available in schools for pupils who wanted it and was of the view that this did not need parental consent.

We very briefly spoke about assisted suicide and Pamela acknowledged that this was indeed a complex area. She felt that it was appropriate for a terminally ill person to be helped to die, though she was uncomfortable with provisions which would extend this to people who were not terminally ill and yet experiencing intolerable health issues. Using the example of the current bill passing through the Scottish Parliament, Pamela indicated that she would be unlikely to be able to support such a bill because of the width of the provisions it contained.

Sanctity of Marriage – We discussed a number of issues concerning marriage and family. I asked Pamela if, given that ‘Civil Partnerships’ were now on the statute book, she would be supportive of this being upgraded to a ‘full marriage’ for same sex unions. Pamela indicated that she was fully supportive of same sex unions being given full marriage status. She also indicated that she was also fully supportive of same sex partners being given the right to adopt and foster despite the implications of this for faith based fostering and adoption agencies.

We also discussed sex education in schools and Pamela indicated that she was fully supportive of the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ in schools. She said that the use of the word ‘promotion’ was rather unfortunate as what she thought this education should involve was the teaching that homosexuality was an absolutely normal and appropriate sexual choice for people to make.

I also asked her about the ‘free speech’ provisions that were inserted in to the ‘Incitement to homophobic hatred’ laws by the House of Lords. The Lords had to insert that clause three times before the Commons accepted it. However, it is Labour Party policy to try and repeal that free speech clause and if the Lords try and insert it again, then to use the Parliament Act to force it through. We used an example to work it through. I said that my view was that God had ordained that sexual activity should only take place between one man and one women bound together in marriage and that all sexual activity that took place out with this was sinful and wrong. I said that based on this I did not think that homosexual practice was normal or right. I asked Pamela’s views on how far my freedom to express that view should extend. Pamela felt that I should be free to express that view in my own home and also to express it from a church pulpit. However she felt that should such a view be expressed in the street, in the context of open air preaching, then it might be appropriate for this to constitute an offence.

Religious Liberty – We spoke about the Equality Act 2006 and 2010 and Pamela indicated that there were a number of provisions which were concerning. She felt that faith based groups should be able to employ people on the basis of their commitment to the beliefs, ethos and values of that faith community which this Act has eroded.

Finally we discussed the Westminster Declaration 2010 pledge to, “respect, uphold and protect the right of Christians to hold and express Christian beliefs and act according to Christian conscience.” Pamela indicated that she would not be able to make this pledge. There were two reasons why Pamela held this view. Firstly, her pledge to the people of Airdrie and Shotts was the pledge to uphold Labour values and deliver the Labour manifesto. She felt this was the key pledge that she wished to make. Secondly, Pamela was of the view that it was wrong to make such a pledge for one religion, when there are many in our society of other religions and none. Accordingly, Pamela was unable to make the pledge to “respect, uphold and protect the right of Christians to hold and express Christian beliefs and act according to Christian conscience.”

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Pamela Nash for taking time out of her busy schedule to spend time chatting through these issues with me. It is greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank Cllr Tommy Morgan for arranging the meeting.

So there you have it, the view from Pamela Nash! So far we have had contact with all of the main the parties; an email from the Conservative candidate and meetings with the Lib Dem, SNP and Labour candidates. We have one final candidate to meet with and he is the Independent candidate John McGeechan. I’ll be seeing him tonight so check out the blog even though it’s the weekend for the final installment.

Should I Vote for Sophia Coyle – SNP?

I’ve just had the privilege of spending an hour or so over coffee with Sophia Coyle the SNP candidate for the Airdrie and Shotts constituency. She was accompanied by her father Cllr. Michael Coyle and her daughter. Sophia has been active in local politics for a number of years currently serving as a North Lanarkshire Councillor and having previously stood for the Scottish Parliament. Our discussion was focussed on the same three issues that I discussed with the other candidates. Let’s look at them in turn.

Sanctity of Life – We began by discussing the issues of abortion, embryo experimentation and euthanasia. Sophia indicated that her upbringing and background had given her a deep respect for the sanctity of life. I asked her about her voting intention should she be in the position of having to vote on a potential reduction of the time limit for abortion to a lower level than the current 24 week limit. The SNP’s policy is to give MP’s a free vote on this issue. Sophia indicated that she would certainly vote to reduce the time limit for abortion to a lower level than 24 weeks. She also indicated that she was strongly against experimentation with human embryo’s and was generally uncomfortable with procedures which seemed to be ‘playing God’ with human life.

In relation to assisted suicide and euthanasia, again Sophia indicated that whilst this was a complex issue, she was not in favour of interfering to bring about the end of life. We discussed Margo McDonald’s Assisted Suicide Bill which is passing through the Scottish Parliament and Sophia indicated that if called to vote on a bill such as this one, she would vote against.

Sanctity of Marriage – We then moved on to the area of marriage and human sexuality. Sophia was of the view that the state had now recognised same sex unions as ‘civil partnerships’ and that she would not support any move to make these unions, ‘marriages’ since she believed that marriage was something that existed between a man and a woman. She also indicated that she is not in favour of homosexual partners being given the right to foster and adopt. She confirmed that had she been in the Scottish Parliament when this Bill was going through she would have voted against her party whip to oppose it.

She also indicated fundamental concerns with the sex education teaching within schools and was concerned about the promotion of homosexuality in schools where parental concerns are not taken seriously.

Religious Liberty – We had a discussion concerning religious liberty with specific reference to the Equalities Act and the issue of employment within religious organisations and the use of church buildings. Sophia was of the view that religious organisations should be free to appoint people to jobs, whose belief and lifestyle are consistent with the belief and ethos of the religious organisation. She was also of the view that churches should be able to let out their building to community groups without this compelling them to let the building to groups which were inconsistent with their Christian ethos.

We also spoke about the issue of freedom of speech for Christian groups and she was concerned to make sure that Christian groups were free to speak and act according to their Christian conscience.

We then moved on to speak about the Westminster Declaration 2010 pledge to respect, uphold and protect the right of Christians to hold and express Christian beliefs and act according to Christian conscience. Sophia indicated that she had already emailed Westminster 2010 to indicate that she was supportive of the pledge. She even showed me the email on her blackberry! She also said that the pledge was so minimal that it was amazing that anyone was finding cause not to sign it!

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Sophia Coyle for taking time out of her schedule to spend time chatting through these issues with me. It is greatly appreciated.

So there you are the view from Sophia Coyle! I’m still trying to track down the Labour Party candidate. I’ve had a friendly councilor trying to organise a meeting with her but so far he hasn’t managed to deliver the goods! Never fear your election news hound will continue to track her down! Until next time…

Ruth Whitfield - Conservative Update!

Do you remember the pledge? The pledge to ‘respect, uphold and protect the right of Christians to hold and express Christian beliefs and act according to Christian conscience' that is. It doesn't sound that controversial does it?

Well as I mentioned on an earlier blog I had asked Ruth Whitfield if based on her earlier comments here she would be prepared to make this pledge. Well here's the response, "Dear Alan, Thank you for contacting me again, but unfortunately I am unable to sign up to this pledge. Best Wishes, Ruth"

We are in a bad way when potential politicians refuse to pledge to respect, uphold and protect the right of Christians to hold and express Christian beliefs and act according to Christian conscience. God have mercy on the United Kingdom!

Should I Vote for John Love – Liberal Democrat?

It seems that the question, ‘Should I vote Lib Dem?’ is one which half the country is asking at the moment! I’ve just had the privilege of spending an hour and half with John Love the local Lib Dem candidate. He has been active in local politics for years and is currently a sitting North Lanarkshire Councillor. I asked him about the place faith had in his own life. He told me that he was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and that he was an Elder in the Church of Scotland in a local congregation. He told me that the reason he got involved in politics was as an expression of his Christian faith, and he indicated that since it was his Christian faith that led him into politics; that faith would shape how he reacted politically. There were three areas I wanted to speak to him about:

The Sanctity of Marriage
The Sanctity of Human Life; and
Religious Liberty

Let’s take them one at a time.

The Sanctity of Marriage – I asked John what his position was on the issue of same-sex marriage. Nick Clegg is the only main party leader so far to advocate the legalisation of same-sex marriage. (This would mean ‘civil partnership’ being upgraded to a full bone fide marriage). John was very clear in his view that a marriage, by definition, could only be between a man and woman. He accepted that the state may wish to assign a legal status to other types of unions but was emphatic that this is not marriage.

In relation to family issues and adoption, I asked John for his view on same sex couples being allowed to adopt children. John indicated that he opposed the policy of allowing same sex couples to adopt children and was concerned about the negative effect this policy had had on religious adoption agencies.

The Sanctity of Life – We then moved on to discuss life. The Liberal Democrat policy is that they would allow MP’s a free vote on the issue of reducing the time limit for abortions to below 24 weeks. I asked John how he would vote if elected and called to vote on such an issue. He indicated that he would vote to reduce the time limit below 24 weeks, since he is against abortion except in limited circumstances. He indicated that he was fundamentally against ‘abortion on demand’.

In relation to embryo destructive research; animal/human embryos; and saviour siblings, John indicated that he was against the creation of life for scientific experimentation. He indicated that life is in God’s hands and that we ought not to be ‘playing God’ with lives.

The Liberal Democrats are also committed to a free vote on the issue of assisted suicide and euthanasia. When I asked John for his view on this issue he indicated that he was fundamentally opposed to all forms of assisted suicide and euthanasia, acknowledging that all of life was in God’s hands.

Religious Liberty – Under this heading we chatted about the Equality Bill 2010 and various free speech issues. John indicated that he was very much in favour of the state ensuring equality of treatment. He did recognise the need for churches and church based organisations to be entitled to employ Christians without interference from the state. Further he was committed to the rights of Christians to speak and live according to their Christian conscience.

If elected John would respect, uphold and protect the right of Christians to hold and express Christian beliefs and act according to Christian conscience.

So in a week where the Lib Dems are riding high in the polls, here is the view from the Airdrie and Shotts candidate! I would like to express my sincere thanks to John Love for taking time out of his schedule to spend an hour and half chatting through these issues with me. It is greatly appreciated.

So, now, off in search of the SNP and Labour candidates! I also hear that an independent candidate is also standing; if any of you have a contact number for him/her then perhaps you could pass it on to me. We want to hear from the Independent as well. From your election eager beaver; over and out!

John Wesley's Accountability Questions

As an Elder's group at Plains we have entered into a mutual accountability framework, where hold each other accountable for our walk with the Lord. We have been running it for a few months now and I think we are feeling the benefit of it personally and corporately. It seems there is a long history of holding oneself accountable in an objective way. I came across these accountability questions of John Wesley's at Jehovah Shammah - The Lord who is Present

1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
3. Do I confidentially pass onto another what was told me in confidence?
4. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work , or habits?
5. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
6. Did the Bible live in me today?
7. Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?
8. Am I enjoying prayer?
9. When did I last speak to someone about my faith?
10. Do I pray about the money I spend?
11. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
12. Do I disobey God in anything?
13. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
14. Am I defeated in any part of my life?
15. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?
16. How do I spend my spare time?
17. Am I proud?
18. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisee who despised the publican?
19. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I going to do about it?
20. Do I grumble and complain constantly?
21. Is Christ real to me?

These are questions which cut to the heart of who we are as Christian believers. It seems the issues were just the same in the 18th Century as they are today.

Chris Moyles on the Church

Did you hear Chris Moyles speaking about the church on his radio show last month? I picked it up from Paul Rees at Gospel Growth . It is really interesting to hear the perceptions of the Radio 1 DJ on what he saw one Sunday morning on his television screen.

‘GOMA’ shows Scotland the Truth about itself!

The Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Glasgow is exhibiting an installation which features a video of a woman defacing a bible. She rips pages out of it and eats them; she stuffs pages from God’s precious word down her underwear. Next to this video installation is a bible, a box of pens and a notice which says, “If you feel you have been excluded from the Bible please write your way back into it.” People who visit this exhibition have been writing all sorts of offensive comments and many of them shaking their literary fists at what they call a ‘fascist God’.

I hate this installation with a passion. It makes me sick to think of the God of the entire universe who gave his own son to die for sinners being mocked and profaned in such an unbridled manner. It breaks my heart to think that the nation I was born and raised in and which I love is so hard hearted and hostile to God. And yet, despicable though this installation is, I can’t help but feel that it holds a mirror up to Scottish society and tells us some truths about ourselves.

As a society we began rejecting God’s Word decades before this disgusting installation. Divorce is endemic and children are being brought up in broken homes all over Scotland because we have ripped out what the bible has to say about marriage and family. Alcoholism and drug addiction touches every community in Scotland, not least the city of Glasgow, because we have torn up the good news of the gospel of salvation and replaced it with a materialistic philosophy which says you live, you make the best of it, you die and that’s it. People are crying out for hope, but we have erased that too. Teenage pregnancies are the highest in Western Europe because we have ripped up what the bible has to say about sex. Abortions are taking place in their thousands because we’ve flushed away what the bible says about life.

However, before we start decrying a ‘godless’ unbelieving world, as a church in Scotland we need to take some responsibility for the sick state we find ourselves in. After all, it was ministers of the church who, decades ago, decided to rip all traces of inerrancy from their bibles. It was so called church leaders who told us to tear out the supernatural bits from our bibles; and theologians told us that this precious book is no longer God’s Word, just a place where we might seek a word from God, no longer authoritative just a place where we might find some good advice.

Is there really a difference between theologians mutilating the Word of God to suit a liberal secularist agenda and punters at GOMA writing down their own take on the bible? I don’t think so. Is there really a difference between thousands of individuals all over Scotland saying ‘stuff the bible, I’ll do it my way’ and these art buffs having ‘fun’ with their godless mockery? I think not. God have mercy on Glasgow! God help this nation of Scotland.

Glasgow used to have a city motto. It read, “Let Glasgow Flourish by the preaching of His Word and the praising of His name”. It has been ripped up as well. It now reads, simply, ‘Let Glasgow Flourish’. But that’s the problem; Glasgow never will flourish unless it returns to the preaching of His Word and the praising of His name.

The mutilation of the Word of God so nauseously portrayed at GOMA is perhaps the most incisive, if unwitting, diagnosis of the problem with Scotland today. As a nation we need to get back to God’s Word; as individuals and families we need to get back to God’s Word. This is the only way we will ever flourish. God have mercy on us.

A New Church for Scotland?

John Ross, who is a prominent Free Church of Scotland Minister currently serving in South Africa recently wrote a very thoughtful essy posing the question of whether recent developments in the Kirk might herald a new church for Scotland. He argues that it might be time for a union between the 'Confessing Churches' congregations of Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland. Here is an extract of his essay....

"On Sunday morning, 24 May, a large number of Church of Scotland people awoke utterly perplexed by their Church’s decision the previous evening. The General Assembly, by a huge majority of 326 to 267, had taken an unprecedented, if not entirely unanticipated, decision to approve the Aberdeen Presbytery’s sustaining a call from the congregation of Queen’s Cross Church to Rev Scott Rennie, a 37 year old divorcee and father, who lives in an open homosexual relationship.

The following day the BBC website focused on the emotional upset suffered by Mr Rennie, running the headline “Gay minister ‘hurt’ by church row”, whilst the Scotsman reported “Gay minister humbled by Kirk’s backing.” Hurt or humbled, or both, and I would not want deny his emotions, nor minimise them, many others were also deeply wounded that night. The over 5,000 members of the Church of Scotland who had signed the on-line petition of the Fellowship of Confessing Churches were grieved to the core of their souls by what had transpired.

In its pre-assembly statement, the Fellowship of Confessing Churches made it very clear that, in its view, by inducting into its congregations those living in relationships other than heterosexual marriage, the Kirk would be crossing a Rubicon into a moral, spiritual and theological wasteland, thus positioning itself outside “the fellowship of orthodox, creedal Christianity worldwide.”

The issue now confronting all those good and godly Kirk ministers, elders and members who subscribed to the petition is simply this, how, for the glory of Christ and his cause in Scotland, can they remain where they are? Does not the logic of their own argument mean that their position within the Church has now become untenable?

Saturday’s decision is not, however, a sudden, erratic, departure from “orthodox, creedal Christianity,” to quote the Fellowship’s statement. It is but the latest staging post on a long road strewn with the debris of all that is valued by orthodox, confession Christians. For over a century confidence in the cardinal doctrines of the Faith has been eroded; denial of the Bible as itself the Word of God, attacks on the miraculous and supernatural, doubts about the Trinity, reservations over the resurrection, qualms over the twin eternal destinies of heaven and hell have all been voiced by Kirk ministers without fear of restraint. For some, the ordination of women elders and ministers was to be the final straw, but the camel’s back has proved to be remarkably strong and has not yet buckled. Now this latest Assembly decision is set to test once more the resilience of the evangelical conscience, and I fear it will prove to be a hardy old faculty, well up to the latest challenge. The reality is, time and again, evangelicals have complained about departures for orthodoxy, and have even mildly protested against them, but have concluded, in words I have heard repeated ad nauseum, that nothing but nothing would induce them to leave the Kirk. Well, we will see.

Even without this latest debacle, the moral and spiritual landscape of Scotland is as bleak as ever it has been. Does this mean all is lost? Is the spiritual decline of the Scottish church now terminal? Of what significance is it that the twentieth century was the first century since the Reformation without national religious revival? And is that a sign that the candlestick of Christian witness is being removed? Are we one of the last generations of Scottish Christians? Will it perhaps fall to our grandchildren or our great-grandchildren finally to turn out the lights, lock the doors and watch the dust settle on a derelict Church, abandoned both by God and man?

The scale of the challenge now confronting evangelical and Confessional Presbyterians calls for nothing less than the redrawing of the Christian map of Scotland. It calls for the creation of a new Presbyterian Church made up of the Free Church of Scotland and the confessional congregations of the Church of Scotland, along with all others who desire to be reunited in wholehearted commitment to Christ, Scripture and mission. Of course there will be difficulties to overcome. An obvious concern for some Presbyterian churches is worship, using as they do the metrical Psalms alone. But that is an issue they would do well to concede, rather than sacrifice the greater principles of confessional Christian unity and national mission.

I would like to think that a new confessional Presbyterian Church in Scotland is not a fantasy of imagination but a vision glimpsed with the eye of faith. There can be no doubt that the deplorably shattered and fragmented state of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland is contrary to God’s revealed will and Scripture’s unambiguous insistence on Christian unity.

We are all too prone to justify our separate denominational existence by an emotional attachment to our heritage and traditions, an attitude that leads us to disparage the Bible’s call to unity. May I remind you of something Professor John Murray once wrote?

Though the diversity which manifests itself in differentiating historical developments might appear to make ecclesiastical union inadvisable or even perilous in certain cases, yet the biblical evidence in support of union is so plain that any argument to the contrary, however plausible, must be false.

We must reject of the fractious tendencies inherent in our history and engage with other Christians in a movement towards Confessional unity, where the People of God work hand in hand to heal and reunite the fragments of a torn and disordered church.

A reunited Scottish Church would make possible Columba’s vision of Christ’s Good News being carried to a pagan nation and souls won to God. It could secure Knox’s desire for reformation enabling our nation to hear the Good News uncomplicated by aberrant theology, both liberal and fundamentalist. Such a Church would facilitate Melville’s dream of a nation united under the supreme but kind and gracious headship of Jesus Christ. How wonderful if a Church existed able to recover the Christ-like compassion for the marginalised and excluded that led Thomas Chalmers to care for the urban poor and inspired Thomas Guthrie to provide education, nutrition and career training for destitute children."

Let us pray that the current crisis within the Church of Scotland might give way to a greater unity among our Presbyterian brothers and sisters around orthodox biblical Christianity. Let us stand as one Church of Jesus Christ in Scotland today. John Ross's full article can be found here
http://johnstuartross.wordpress.com/redrawing-the-christian-map-of-scotland/

A New Day for Scotland?

This year will see a highly charged debate at the Church of Scotland General Assembly, with some of our brothers and sisters in Christ from Aberdeen Presbytery appearing at the assembly to appeal against the Presbytery’s decision to induct a man who has openly declared himself to be living in a homosexual partnership.

A group of gospel men have set up an organisation called, "Fellowship of Confessing Churches" which has published a "Confessing Churches Covenant" and have developed a statement in support of biblical othodoxy. The Statement which can be found at www.confessingchurch.org.uk It seeks to urge commissioners to support the Aberdeen protesters, and also to support a motion being brought from the Presbytery of Lochcarron and Skye, which seeks Assembly support for a clear endorsement of biblical sexual morality:

“That this Church shall not accept for training, ordain, admit, re-admit, induct or introduce to any ministry of the Church anyone involved in a sexual relationship outside of faithful marriage between a man and a woman”.

This could be a major development for gospel churches across Scotland. This is not just about the Church of Scotland, the same kind of drift can be seen in many churches and denominations across Scotland and it is time to take a stand. It is time for a 'Scotland Gospel Partnership' to emerge around the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must not care more for our denomination than we do for the cause of Christ in Scotland. It is time for Gospel churches to stand together for the cause of Christ.

Please support this movement by signing up to this statement, which can be found at www.confessingchurch.org.uk please also pray that God would be honoured and glorified at the forthcoming General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and that God would have mercy on our land.

Man Looks on the Outside

It's amazing what you learn watching Britain's Got Talent! I was watching the show at the weekend when I thought of David and Saul. Perhaps you remember the story from 1 Samuel 16. God had sent Samuel to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as the next King of Israel. He arrived at Jesse's home took one look at Eliab and thought he must be the one, tall and handsome just as a king should be. Then God said, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things a man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

All of Jesses' sons were brought before Samuel before he got to David, the youngest, the one who looked least like a King in the making and God said, "He is the one."

On Saturday night Susan Boyle from Blackburn in West Lothian walked onto the Britains Got Talent stage. She looks somewhat older than her 47 years, she does not look like a star in anyway. The judges, the audience and me sitting at home were waiting on a awful (but perhaps humorous) performance. She opened her mouth and out came an utterly stunning and beautiful voice. Truely 'man looks on the outside' and what a mistake that is! The wee wumin from Blackburn is headed for stardom and isn't that great.

We all need a reminder that the plastic world of perfect celebrity is just an illusion and we all need a reminder that too often we make judgements based on the outward appearance, man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. You can view Susan's wonderful performance below. Get your hanky ready!

What is Biblical Preaching?

Good question! I recently read a short booklet in which Eric Alexander set about answering that very question in a concise and yet profound way. Eric Alexander is an internationally renowned minister of the Church of Scotland who has been a gift from God to the Church IN Scotland for almost half a century.

Mr. Alexander organises his material under the following 8 propositions:

Biblical Preaching is Fundamental in Its Importance

"It seems to me that the fundamental place of preaching in the church is simply a corollary of the fundamental place of scripture in the church. If you erode the latter, you will certainly erode the former. Church history has consistently demonstrated this." P7

Biblical Preaching is Spiritual in its Essence

"It is possible to be homiletically brilliant, verbally fluent, theologically profound, biblically accurate and orthodox, and spiritually useless. That frightens me. I hope it frightens you too." P12

Biblical Preaching is Didactic in its Nature

"Our ultimate concern, of course, is to reach the heart and the will, but the scriptural route to the heart and to the will is through the mind." P13

Biblical Preaching is Expository in its Form

"the quarry in which we work and from which we dig is the quarry of Holy Scripture. There is no other quarry from which we may find the gold of God's truth." P15

Biblical Preaching is Systematic in its Pattern

"I have found again and again that as I have come to a particular passage or chapter, I could not have begun to think of anything more relevant for a current situation in the congregation at that time." P23

Biblical Preaching is Pastoral in its Concern

"It is by faithful ministry of the Word of God that true pastoral care comes. We are to pastor biblically and preach pastorally" P24

Biblical Preaching is Clear in its Structure

"If we truly care for people, we will want to break the bread of God down in such a way that they will find no unnecessary obstacles in digesting it."P25

Biblical Preaching is Relevant in its Application

"I think the secret of applicatory preaching is that we must apply to ourselves the Word of God while we are meditating upon it, while we are studying it. We must do this before we ever begin to think about applying it to other people."

This refreshing little booklet is part of the "Basics of the Reformed Faith Series" and is published by P&R Publishing. If you preach, even occasionally, it is essential reading and if you listen to preaching (even occasionally) it is well worth the read.

Driscoll's Friendly Assessment of the Sydney Anglicans

Last month Mark Driscoll, one of Christendom's hottest and most controversial preachers made his way to Sydney to engage in a conference with the Sydney Anglicans. It seems a very useful time was had by all involved and Driscoll gave a friendly critique of what he sees wrong with the Sydney Anglican movement. Obviously the critique was aimed at a different denomination on a different continent, but in reading through the critique I am very struck by how relevant it is to our own church and to the church in Scotland today. Natasha Percy's summary of Driscoll's challenge is as follows:

"Mr Driscoll introduced these points asserting that, if we are seeing no fruit from our ministry, rather than doing more, we have to ask what we are doing wrong. He also asserted that "pruning" must precede "harvesting". This pruning could involve such things as people and programs.

"You need to cut that which is taking energy away from evangelism," he said.

Mark Driscoll asserted that these 18 points were coming from a "friend", as he asked all present to consider whether their ministry was doing "all" that it could to ensure people were "meeting Jesus" (1 Cor 9:22)

1. The Bible guys are not the missional guys, which leads to proud irrelevance - (Ministers are) less aware of the context of their ministry and more aware of the content of Scripture. It's not enough to just be the faithful, you must be the fruitful.
   
   
2. Your culture struggles with a lack of entrepreneurialism, due to the influence of Socialism and Great Britain. Socialism brings the concept that everyone must be taken care of, with resources given to the weakest pastors in the weakest churches rather than pruning. This means you are neglecting to send nourishment to new buds and branches in the name of socialistic equality. The British are not an entrepreneurial people - they play by the rules and operate within existing structures. This has caused Aussie culture to not be very entrepreneurial and new things are not highly embraced.
   
   
3. There is a lack of merit-based reward in denominations. In the United States there are far more entrepreneurs. I'm not saying your culture is bad and my culture is good. I'm saying your culture is bad and my culture is bad differently. People are rewarded for tenure but not for fruit. Men can't be demoted or thrown out of ministry for more than stealing money or falling sexually. Just because you're doing ministry long-term doesn't mean you should be guaranteed of a job. You all know that some churches are being led by men who are not the best men for the job.
   
   
4. Christian Australian men are immature. There is a lack of entrepreneurialism and a system which discourages the ambition of young men. Men are living with their mother until 25, getting married at 32, delaying the taking of responsibility for as long as possible. The fact is, there is not a denomination in the room that I'm qualified to pastor in. I planted a church at 25 - could I do that with you? The answer is 'no'. What if there is a young man who wants to be responsible and plant a church... is there a system built to accommodate? The longer you delay responsibility, the longer you delay masculinity. Being in a Peter Pan lifestyle indefinitely is a sin. Jesus Christ had atoned for the sins of the world by the age most men become associate ministers. There are good godly men in their 30s leading big churches overseas, and you are flying them in to preach to you because you don't have them in your system.
   
   
5. Church planting is not widespread or welcome. The skills required of a church planter are very different. There is not widespread opportunity for young innovative men in this area. Young men who want to plant a church are left with a terrible dilemma - innovate and destroy the church or live within the parameters of the system and negate God's call on their life. No less than 300 men have walked up to me and said 'I want to plant a church and I can't. What do I do?' They need to be assessed and trained and only those who are fit should be released, but they have to be released.
   
   
6. You suffer from tall poppy syndrome. Through preaching, people must realise this is a sin. Having a church of 1000 as a high-water mark is unhealthy. You don't want to rise up because people will think you're proud - the fact that you're thinking of yourself means you're already proud. This is a sin. We should celebrate if God would allow a church to grow. My elders give 10 per cent of our money to church plants. Having a big church is not bad - it all depends on what that church believes and what they do.
   
   
7. Your teaching lacks three things: apologetics, mission and application. (i) Anticipate the objections of your hearers and answer them. This will also encourage people to bring their friends. (ii) Ask the church what is our mission and how are we to live that? This is application for the whole church. (iii) Offer personal application for individuals, It's not just enough to give doctrine. Application needs to connect life and doctrine.
   
   
8. Many of you are afraid of the Holy Spirit. You don't know what to do with Him, so the trinity is Father, Son and Holy Bible. You are so reactionary to pentecostalism that you do not have a robust theology of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit calls people into ministry. He also empowers people for ministry. You don't have to be charismatic but you should be a little charismatic, enough at least to worship God with more than just all of your mind. The word charismatic here means prosperity, excessive, bizarre. In London, it means you're not a liberal. Don't get hung up on all the terminology. Do you love the Holy Spirit? Jesus says the Holy Spirit is a 'He' and not an 'it'." Ministry cannot be done apart from the Holy Spirit - I think that is in part leading to the lack of entrepreneurialism and innovation, because if it's not already done and written down, you're suspicious of it.
   
   
9. Many of you are Anglican. The parish system works for some, not all. Less than half of those who live in this city own their own home and do their social networking online. People have three places, where they work, play and live (the place where they play is the place they really like and would live if they could afford it). So what place is theirs? The parish model says we've drawn boundaries... but this makes evangelism in this society very difficult. People no longer organise themselves by geography, but by affinity. People are moving all the time. The parish system also makes church planting very hard. And the overseer may deny it.
   
   
10. Denominations are built on an old paradigm that young men don't understand. This is a paradigm of control - we control your benefits, your income, your tenure, we control you. Young men operate under influence - some young men are disrespectful towards authority and need to be rebuked. Not all young men are disrespectful, but they operate through influence - this comes through relationships and mentoring. "Influence comes up close and control can be maintained at a distance". They need to be given encouragement and responsibility. Young men will increasingly avoid a system that's built to control them and will increasingly work around the system to make their freedom.
    
    
11. There is a propensity to call the trained rather than train the called. People need to be tested and proved by church leaders but ministry needs to begin with a calling. There should be an innate sense of desire, rather than going to college, then being trained, then being called into ministry. Colleges that have alternative delivery systems, for example part-time options, will be more effective in training the called. Four years in college without sufficient practical experience can lead to idealism and self-righteousness, where young men critique older men who've done something. That then gives the young men the false impression that they themselves are doing something. Pastor Driscoll said Mars Hill had grown to 8000 by the time he finished his Masters degree in Theology. "Sometimes you don't know what you don't know until you're doing ministry - and then you're more teachable than ever."
    
    
12. Churches need prophets, priests and kings, according to 1 Peter 5 where Jesus is chief shepherd, leaders are undershepherds under Him. Prophets do preaching and teaching, priests look after people (for example, hospital visits), and kings are concerned with systems, policies, procedures, real estate and the like. Most churches in Sydney are filled with priests and there's a deficit of prophets and kings. There is a limit to how many people a pastor can care for... pastors can't do all three. Kings are discouraged by systems that are already built.
    
    
13. There is a lack of missiologists A missiologist evaluates the culture and uses discernment to find the idols, "so missionaries can be employed and churches can be missional". "Theologians defend the truth of the gospel and missiologists then take it to the streets." When you stack the team with theologians and not missiologists... lots of people still don't know Jesus.
    
    
14. There is a proclivity to try to raise ministers before making them husbands and fathers. Many men delay marriage and children so they can enter college and ministry. They need to learn to be good husbands and fathers and shepherd a little flock. If they are not good husbands and fathers, they are not going to be good ministers. "In fact... being a husband and father trains you more for ministry than any college." You should really press young men to take responsibility early, be good husbands and fathers, and then encourage them into ministry. Otherwise their priorities end up being God, ministry, wife, children, rather than God, wife, children, ministry. If you delay marriage for ministry, you are organising a paradigm that is dangerous.
    
    
15. There is the doing of evangelism but not mission. Evangelism doesn't belong just to the individual Christian, evangelism is something that belongs to the Christian church. Are we using all the resources at our discretion? Don't ask, 'what would a faithful minister of the gospel look like?'. Ask 'what would a faithful missionary of the gospel look like?'.
    
    
16. There are a lot of No 2 guys in No 1 slots. Number 1 guys are preachers, teachers, leaders, innovators. A No 2 guy isn't bad, but he's not the right one for the job. This is part of the issue of having a system based on tenure rather than meritocracy. No 2 guys need to have the humility to step back as John the Baptist did with Jesus - which is good to preach but hard to practice. When a No2 guy is in a No 1 slot, the church will survive, but it will not multiply.
    
    
17. There is not a great sense of urgency "I believe God has a sense of urgency for planting churches, and releasing young men" but this urgency is not evident. You're not seeing a lot of conversions, and everywhere I go I'm having guys come to me and complain that they have no permission to plant churches. Urgency shows itself with new services and new churches. Lack of urgency shows itself with a lack of innovation. Not everyone is an innovator or entrepreneur - but is there room in the system for those who are? You can allow innovation without taking away from what is good.
    
    
18. Movements have become institutions and museums. A movement is where God does what He always does, but in greater depth than we normally see, for example the Puritans, Methodists, Charismatic movement.
    
    

Defining variables of a movement are:

• Young people are often at the centre of a movement - everywhere but Sydney. I'm an older guy where I'm from - but here, I'm young. Young people are often at the centre of movements - most of the Methodists were guys in their 20s, Billy Graham was 19 when he first started preaching.
  
  
• "Statistically I think one of the reasons your church is so small is that your young men don't get to lead them until they are old" - and they run out of gas before they get there. You say, 'but the young are irresponsible' - of course they are! Young men say and do stupid things, but it's good to get the losses out of the way early.
  
  
• Movements are marked not just by birth, but by new birth. New churches have to be planted and you need new leaders so there can be new churches.
  
  
• A lot of movements are completely unaware of their influence - "I was shocked by the number of Aussies who download my sermons."
  
  
• Movements have supporting organisations, such as theological colleges and publishing houses.
  
  
• Usually, new movements come into existence when there's new technology. For example, the Protestant Reformation happened at the time of the printing press, Billy Graham used the advances in amplification and radio at the time he was preaching. Today, we have the internet. Old systems were based on control, but today, there is no control. "You can sit on your Macbook and even if no leader approves of it, you could communicate to the world. That changes everything." People spend more time looking at a screen than a human being. Mark Driscoll's sermons are downloaded more than 10 million times each year. "That's crazy - we could never have a meeting with 10 million people, we'd call it a country."
  
  
• The movement leader embodies the values and then tells the story of the movement so that the movement has integrity into the future. They are attacked and maligned and usually not appreciated until after they're dead.
  
  
• Movements become organisations, which become institutions. Innovators don't go into or come out of institutions. Institutions are marked by a fear of failure and a preservation of previous wins. "Eventually, young leaders realise that it is too cumbersome to get anything done and they leave."
  
  
• If an institution doesn't come back to being an organisation or a movement, it becomes a museum. "A museum exists to tell the stories of when God used to work." A museum doesn't exist to call future leaders. So you need to ask: 'Are we a movement, an organisation, an institution or a museum?' Do the best and brightest entrepreneurial young men want to partner with you, or are they unwilling to walk with you because they don't want to be controlled by you?"
  
  

Five ways you've gone off track:

1. Doctrinally, you have too much or too little control. You define the world so tight theologically that you don't give much flexibility.
   
   
2. Relationships - people love each other and don't want to walk away from the relationships they have with others in leadership - so the love of relationship means all seats (of opportunity) are taken.
   
   
3. Organisationally, you have too much or too little control - too much, and ministry becomes too complicated, too little and people who don't have good doctrine or character can come in.
   
   
4. Pride or 'Not invented here syndrome' - not adapting something unless it was created by someone on your team. Your worship and service structure is painful and slow and frustrating - you need to have humility to learn from other people in other denominations and discernment to know what not to implement.
   
   
5. Failing to honour founders and future. Issues of succession are difficult and significant. The key is to honour both your founders and your future. You need to do some things differently, and you need to be innovative in what we do."
   
   

The Sydney Anglicans are being big enough and brave enough to take these challenges and work through them and allow them to spur them to action. Philip Jensen, a leading spokesman for the Sydney Anglicans in an article reflecting on Driscolls challenge outlines three dangers; reactionary defensiveness, sycophantic following or doing nothing and ended his article with his own challenge, "his (Driscolls) challenge to us was to get moving, to take initiative, not to wait around to be told what to do next." If we look at our own churches, or indeed the church in Scotland, we can see that some of Driscoll's challenges have sharp application to us. May the Lord give us the strength, the humility and the determination to look, see and act.

If you would like to read more about this debate you can do so atwww.sydneyanglicans.net/ or perhaps you like to comment on which of these challenges the church in Scotland most needs to hear.

Together for the Gospel 2008

Together for the Gospel (T4G) is a collaborative partnership between four leading ministers from the USA; Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C. J. Mahaney, and Albert Mohler. These friends differed on a number of theological issues, like baptism and the charismatic gifts. But they were committed to standing together for the main thing - the gospel of Jesus Christ. So they began a conference which take place every two years and aims principally at encouraging other pastors to do the same - to stand together for the gospel. I have just finished listening to the audio from the 2008 conference which took place back in April. I would wholeheartedly recommend all of the audio messages to you.

1: Ligon Duncan - Sound Doctrine - Essential to Faithful Pastoral Ministry
2: Thabiti Anyabwile - Bearing the Image: Identity, the Work of Christ, and the Church
3: John MacArthur - The Sinner Neither Able Nor Willing: The Doctrine of Absolute Inability
4: Mark Dever - Improving the Gospel: Exercises in Unbiblical Theology
5: RC Sproul - The Curse Motif of the Atonement
6: Albert Mohler - Why Do They Hate It So? The Doctrine of Substitution
7: John Piper - How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Sacrifice
8: CJ Mahaney - Sustaining a Pastor's Soul

Listening to this audio will have a profound effect on your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. Have a listen to it and let me know what you think - you'll get it here http://t4g.org/08/media/