Today is the final day of the Jewish Hanukkah celebration, also known as the Festival of Lights. Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem following its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes. It is a winter festival, mentioned in the New Testament: 'it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem, and it was …
Edward P. C. Greene 1937–2018
Not many Free Presbyterians will have an obituary in The Times. So today's obituary of Edward Greene, former elder in the London congregation of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, is a rare event. Edward was larger than life, physically and phenomenally. A day in the life of Edward Greene was rarely normal. It was …
Selective quotations
We have a very clear and recent example of selective quotation by the BBC in its commentary surrounding the use of parliamentary privilege to name Sir Philip Green as the anonymous person who secured a court injunction preventing The Daily Telegraph publishing allegations of sexual and racial harassment. While other commentators quite rightly concentrate on …
Balancing individual rights with societal rights and the common good
Individual rights are trumping societal rights. The tail is wagging the dog. Since the Nuremberg trials for Nazi atrocities in WWII, individual rights have risen up the agenda, but now the pendulum has swung too far to the detriment of societal rights. We cannot each have bus routes and bus stops outside our home. Individual …
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Brexit ignorance
Some people claim that they did not know the issues at the time of the Brexit Referendum. Having educated themselves a bit more, they joined a massive march in London today to call for a second referendum. It seems that they need to learn a few more points. 1. What they did not know in …
The biblical view about denominations
"I am the Vine. You are the branches," said the Lord Jesus Christ. John 15:5. So why are people trying to join different branches of Christ's church into one branch? Whoever thought that a vine or a tree should have only one branch? Yet this has been the unwieldy vision of the ecumenical movement, which …
Common sense from the Supreme Court
For the second time in recent years, the Supreme Court has brought common sense to bear upon the ill-thought decisions of British governments and inferior courts. Just as the Supreme Court struck down the SNP Government's Named Person legislation, it has now struck down the commonly held view that homosexual activists should not be offended …
Delaying divine providence
There are missed opportunities in divine providence. The Lord gives opportunities that can be lost. I will mention three. 1. ‘And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious to you’ Isa 30:18. There are situations in which the Lord is waiting for us to act. There are enough Christians in Scotland, with …
Selective Scottish history
There are some centuries of Scottish history that are overlooked in favour of other ones. This morning I was at a meeting of about 30 senior men who were asked to name the main events in Scottish history. The list of options went all the way from the battle of Bannockburn (1314) to the Highland …
What should we expect from preachers?
Most people watch television, so public speakers including preachers should thereby learn some presentational skills. This being so, preachers who cannot read the Scripture clearly and intelligibly are without excuse. It is sometimes evident from the wrong emphasis they use in their reading of Scripture that they do not understand what they are reading. What …
