Pride was the first sin, originating in the devil 1Tim 3:6. It is closely allied to independence - the desire to be independent of God. This was the devil's first temptation of man Gen 3:5. Sin is a separating force and results in death Jas 1:15. The essence of death is separation. Spiritual death is …
Author: Donald
Christian behaviour
Many Christians can reel off the five points of Calvinism, but what are the five points of Christian behaviour? They do not exist, because it is more likely to be 505, or 5005. There are systematic theologies galore, but there is no systematic theology on Christian behaviour. There are books on Christian behaviour, but no …
Degrees of freedom
In statistics, they speak of degrees of freedom. Our body illustrates degrees of freedom. Our feet need to be stable for our foundation and so the joints of our feet are stable and fixed with little movement. The ankle has a little more movement. Our knees have more movement in one plane, and less movement …
When Love Fails
When people begin to demand their rights, it is an indication that love has failed.
Climate change
Notice that the language is changing from global warming to climate change. The hottest year in recent times was 1995. The media furore about global warming was about the attempt to 'get rid of the mediaeval warm period' - in other words, to remove from the temperature graphs the awkward fact that temperatures in the …
Thee and Thou – You and Yous
If you want an accurate English translation of the Bible, you need a version which distinguishes the singular of 'you' by the use of thee/thou. Almost all languages have this distinction between the singular and plural, but English has lost it in common speech. Indeed, a new plural 'yous' is beginning to emerge in slang …
Calvin’s Calvinism
Calvin scholars often tell the story how William Farel hastily visited John Calvin as he passed through Geneva on the night of 10/7/1536, and detained him in Geneva with the solemn curse of God upon his literary studies if he did not stop in Geneva to help forward the work of the Protestant Reformation in …
Two significant deaths
There have been two significant deaths in the past three months - Christopher Hitchens and Steve Jobs. I feel sorry for Christopher Hitchens, an intelligent atheist, who died yesterday. He had a powerful intellect, like Richard Dawkins, but this does not help if one is spiritually blind. The smallest child can see the sun, which …
Salt on the streets
After the 'storm of the decade' on Thursday, which closed the Forth Road Bridge, the Tay and Erskine bridges, and left 150,000 homes without power, the calm on Friday brought down a layer of snow. It had a clear, full moon, suggesting a cold night for Street Pastors in Hilton. In fact, later today there …
Sing Psalms
A new website promoting four-part-harmony Psalm singing has been recently launched. A series of Psalmody CDs called Worthy to be Praised produced by the Psalmody Committee of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) are available. These have one disc of Psalm singing and one disc to teach the soprano, alto, tenor and bass parts for …
Donald's Thoughts 