Some of the most prejudiced people are those who take easy offence. How is this so, and so what? This is very relevant in our politically correct era when those in public life and on social media are busy taking offence at their opponents' opinions. So what is the connection? Both prejudice and offence are …
Category: Church reform
Walking in darkness
Jesus describes those who are walking in darkness. They do not know where they are going. "He that walks in darkness does not know where he is going." John 12:35 Multitude of people do not know where they going after death, and Jesus described this as walking in darkness. Jesus is the Light of the …
Dr John Kennedy (1819-1884)
Scottish Highland Christianity has been unique in preserving the biblical and spiritual attainments of the 16th-century Scottish Reformation to the present day. Foremost in the ranks of 19th-century Highland Christianity was Dr John Kennedy (1819-1884), the renowned minister of the Free Church of Scotland in Dingwall for 40 years. Dingwall (Tingwall) was considered the Viking …
Motives for Christian living
Jesus said: "If you love Me, keep My commandments." John 14:15. The Lord Jesus Christ tells us that "If anyone loves Me he will keep My words, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him" Jn 14:23. Experiencing the love of God is a strong …
Adequate modes of Christian baptism
There are a variety of opinions on how Christian baptism should be performed or administered. Who should do it, where should it be done, by whom and in what circumstances? In recent times, Roman Catholicism experienced an internal controversy particularly in America in which people changed the words used in baptism so that the Roman …
Christian usefulness
The usefulness of Christians is paramount. It is not enough to listen to sermons and to worship God, but God expects us to be useful. "Faith without works is dead." James 2:20,26 I suggest that prayer without works is dead also Ex 14:15, Act 9:6-11. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount – Matthew, Chapter 5 Immediately …
Old heads on young shoulders
There are many adages from a by-gone era that need to be resurrected for the benefit of today's youth. One is that "you cannot put an old head on young shoulders". The cult of youth and the pandering to youth and their opinions, on the principle that they are the leaders of tomorrow, has a …
How does God speak to us?
God is speaking to us all the time in a variety of ways, but we are not good at listening. The Bible is not the only way God speaks to us. Each morning we awaken to consciousness, noticing the world around us. We have come into a visual reality from an unconscious or dreamlike one. …
A Christian funeral and burial
Yesterday my wife and I attended a funeral in a small community on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands. The usual practice there is to conduct family worship and then the minister gives a short address at the local cemetery after the burial. The hearty singing of the praises of God from the Scottish …
Disestablishment and the Church of England
This video at the New Culture Forum's spring conference 2022 shows some of the current problems in the Church of England. Some of us have known a much longer list for a much longer time. However, one proposed 'solution' was to disestablish the Church of England, which was compared to privatising a national institution. The …
Donald's Thoughts 