Comments by the leader of the Scottish Christian Party on the secular, scientific, political and ecclesiastical scene
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 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 for …
Continue reading Denial and post-truth – the real problem with faith
‘Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you fears God, to you is the word of this salvation sent’ Act 13:26. God's salvation is sent to you. The Holy Spirit sends the Gospel to all who hear it and offers salvation freely to them. This makes the Gospel of Jesus …
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 Gospel is the good news of the free offer of eternal life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The evidence of a living faith in Jesus Christ is love to God, love to one’s Christian brethren and love to one’s neighbour. Jesus said: "If you love Me, keep My commandments" Jn 14:15,23. Faith …
As a divinity student in 1980 I came across the term 'exegesis' in reference to the exegesis of Scripture. It means 'drawing out' the meaning of a written text and Scripture in particular. I was aware of the common problem of people reading into Scripture their own opinion and thus putting into Scripture something that …
Some bullet points on sermon preparation. 1. Have an interesting introduction. In Lectures to My Students, Charles Haddon Spurgeon 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 the whole message is clearly …
Ecc 12:10 v10: “the preacher sought”: a good preacher studies how to put across his teaching in an acceptable and memorable manner. “acceptable words”: to speak in a manner which will be well received by his hearers. This does not mean pleasing words, which will not upset people, but it is expanded and explained in …
In 1Corinthians Paul deals with some congregational issues and in 1Cor 14:35 he tells wives: "if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church." This strongly suggests that husbands were asking questions in congregations - but how many preachers …
Continue reading Questions and answers in church and congregational life
It is a preacher’s task to make the Gospel understood by his hearers. "So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading" Neh 8:8. He must begin by making himself understood. If you cannot understand what a preacher is saying, it …
We cannot simply say things and expect others to understand their relevance. It is a teacher's task to make things relevant. I teach advanced driving. To improve observational skills, the driver under training is expected to comment on what he sees. It is not enough to say that he sees a vehicle, pedestrians, animals and …
