Comments by the leader of the Scottish Christian Party on the secular, scientific, political and ecclesiastical scene and the application of Christianity to public life.
Patrick’s Places – the difference between Law and Gospelby Patrick Hamilton, 1527. Patrick Hamilton was Scotland’s first Reformer and martyr, burned at the stake by Roman Catholic cardinal Beaton at St Andrews in 1528 for preaching the Gospel. Of noble birth, he graduated MA from the College of Montaigu, Paris, in 1520 and enrolled in …
Continue reading Patrick’s Places – the difference between Law and Gospel
I have just finished reading The Unsinkable Dream by Johan Huibers, the Dutchman who has built a full-sized replica of Noah's Ark. Its Dutch title is Let Your Dream Sail. It is a wonderful read about an amazing project with so many lessons that you should simply purchase the book for yourself. The Ark is …
Intelligent listeners will notice differences in teaching between preachers even in the same denomination, as well as between denominations. The right of private judgment is permitted to Christians, but the continuous and unchallenged preaching of different doctrines only leads to confusion in congregations - and God is not the author of confusion 1Cor 14:33. So …
Continue reading What do we do about confusion in congregational preaching?
The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) have many similar stories, but with very slight variations. For example, Mark tells us Jesus healed blind Bartimaeus Mk 10:46, but Matthew tells us that Bartimaeus had another blind companion Mat 20:30, with the same request at the same time Mat 20:33. So why did Mark mention only …
Continue reading The Synoptic Solution to the Synoptic Problem
Most of those acquainted with their Bible have heard about the rich, young ruler. He came to Jesus and asked him what he should do to inherit eternal life. He received the surprising answer - to sell all that he had and follow Christ! At this, he went away sad because he had great possessions. …
Continue reading Was the rich young ruler actually Saul of Tarsus?
Some bullet points on sermon preparation. 1. Have an interesting introduction. In Lectures to My Students, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 'the prince of 19th-century preachers', says that every notice should have the word “Attention!” at the top; and so every sermon should call attention to the topic of the sermon. It should be composed last, when …
You may be familiar with the argument that we don't know what Jesus said because His sayings were written down after the event. I came across it recently when people were discussing how to live a good life. Jesus was mentioned as an example, but not as the answer. When various aspects of His life …
I had a bad tumble last night - the same day as Elizabeth took delivery of our new tumble drier at Ebenezer! At least I was not hung out to dry. During my next Street Pastor shift in Hilton, just as the night was finishing, we returned to base through a play area to engage …
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 …
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 …
Donald's Thoughts 