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 development
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 …
The fear of shame is stronger than the fear of death
Shame is the most powerful motivator of human behaviour. There are many examples of the power of shame overcoming the fear of death. Shame made Roman soldiers commit suicide rather than suffer the humiliation of defeat. Adolph Hitler's Will said: "I and my wife choose death to escape the shame of deposition or surrender." This …
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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 …
We all speak many languages
Many people think that they speak one language, but this is not so. There are more languages than ethnic languages – there are professional languages, the language of hobbies, sport, etc. The average person would not understand a medical conversation, nor a discussion between lawyers, but the same would be true of a football coaching …
To see ourselves as others see us
I have just received this birthday card from one of my younger sisters: Or to use the language of our Scottish bard, Robert 'Rabbi' Burns, in his poem To A Louse: On Seeing One On A Lady's Bonnet, At Church, 1786. "O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see …
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 …
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Self-examination
"Self-examination is asking oneself the right questions and following them through until one arrives at the right answers." Bias We are biassed in our own favour, so we must call in the help of heaven by prayer and ask God "Examine me, O Lord, and test me; purify the motives of my conscience and my …
Street Pastors in Tain and early experiences
I have just the attended another Street Pastor training day today. In the morning we met with a group of new trainees who hope to launch Street Pastors in Tain shortly, and who had come to Inverness for training. It may be of interest to note some questions that Street Pastors encounter in their first …
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