The tenth anniversary of Street Pastors in Scotland was celebrated by a debate and reception in the Scottish Parliament on 19/12/2017. The debate was secured by Murdo Fraser, MSP, and can be viewed here. Inverness was the first place in Scotland to invite the Street Pastors initiative and pioneered its introduction to the Highlands ten …
Category: Personal religion
A merry heart is a good medicine
Not many people know that this is a quotation from the Bible. ‘A merry heart does good like a medicine’ Pro 17:22. Some Christians are too morose for their own good and for the good of Christianity. Some people think that serious Christians should be morose; rather morose Christians need to learn their Christian behaviour …
Homosexual Christians – an oxymoron?
There are real oxymorons – "Unitarian Christians" and "Arian Christians" – and there are what ought to be oxymorons but are only too real – flawed Christians and sinful Christians. Is it any surprise? Biblical students and students of human nature should not be surprised. So why is it a great surprise that there are …
Every idle word that men shall speak…
The language battle is heating up. Redefining marriage is the most spectacular and far-reaching milestone on the secular journey to destroy Christian values in western society, but the language battle began a long time ago with tolerating swearing and blasphemy. Christian terms such as Jesus, Christ, God, Lord, heavens above, hell and damn are all …
Peer-group pressure is changing you
Cambridge Analytica, a company which specialises in behaviour change, is credited, along with Facebook, with Donald Trump’s victory in the US Presidential election victory on 8/11/2016. The homepage of Cambridge Analytica's website says “Data drives all that we do. Cambridge Analytica uses data to change audience behavior [sic].’ This is an acknowledgement that peer-group pressure …
Denial and post-truth – the real problem with faith
The film Denial has been recently released in British cinemas after its premier at the Toronto film festival on '9/11' last year and its UK premier on International Holocaust Memorial Day 27th January 2017. It gives the outline of the libel trial brought by notorious Holocaust denier David Irving against the American historian Deborah Lipstadt …
Continue reading Denial and post-truth – the real problem with faith
What do we do about confusion in congregational preaching?
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?
When did the Bible last change your thinking or behaviour?
Christians claim to be submissive to the Word of God. They acknowledge that they are not 'the finished article'. So when did the Bible last change your thinking or behaviour? The development of one's Christian character is effected by the Holy Spirit applying the Word of God to one's thinking, speech and behaviour. It is …
Continue reading When did the Bible last change your thinking or behaviour?
The maturing Paul
At a conference of Christian political party leaders in Leissigen, Switzerland, in 2013, I heard the following observations made by Valeriu Ghiletchi, a member of the Parliament of Moldova and a former President of the European Baptist Federation. He drew attention to four stages of the apostle Paul's life and ministry, to show his changing …
Sermon preparation
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 …
Donald's Thoughts 