In Psalm 50 God complains about formality in worship vv8-13 and says that if worshippers were more spiritually-minded v14 then they would discover His deliverance even in the day of trouble v15. They would then learn to glorify Him v15 and offer Him proper praise v23. It is interesting that the Lord uses Asaph, a …
The cost of abandoning Christianity
For decades I have noted the cost to society of the loss of Christian principles. But only now have social scientists examined the enormous potential of voluntary groups to contribute to providing services. A study by the University of Pennsylvania has for the first time placed a cash value on the activities of voluntary societies. …
The point of no return
Jeremiah 19 teaches that there is a point of no return for the church. In Jer 18 Judah was soft clay in the Potter's hand which could be re-formed, but by Jer 19 Judah is compared to a hardened earthen vessel which is beyond the point of re-formation. The Lord breaks it Jer 19:10 because …
Political interviews
I had a series of interviews and hustings prior to the last Scottish election on 5th May 2011. The Rant was a student-produced Question Time hustings in the City of Glasgow College (CGC) on 31st March 2011 and is available on-line (view this video with Internet Explorer; the link currently does not work with Firefox). …
Judd Trump trumps Donald Trump
A new star is born. Just when we thought that we would never see the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan's natural snooker talent again, and that Donald Trump was the only Trump on the circuit, up steps Judd Trump to the podium to wrestle the Trump card from the American Trump. Young Judd Trump in his …
Contained in the Scriptures
Following the 18th-century sceptical attacks on the Bible by Scottish Enlightenment figures claiming that it was not the Word of God, and the 19th-century higher critical attacks upon biblical inspiration by unbelieving scholars, during the past one hundred years the opinion has grown up that the Word of God is found in the Scriptures of …
The blessed effect of the Word of God
Watch this video for five minutes of pure delight. The Kimyal people of Papua, Indonesia, celebrate the arrival of the complete New Testament in their own language for the first time in March 2010. If the video is jumpy, click on the HD symbol at the bottom to switch out of high definition.
The first hard copies of Scripture
We are familiar with electronic and hard copies of documents, the former being stored as electronic medium and the latter being the physical tangible version. What and where is the first hard copy of Scripture? Moses wrote the Pentateuch on manuscript and copies were made from it. In Deu 17:18 we read that the king …
My righteous Servant
It is common for the Jews to interpret the Lord's Servant in the prophecy of Isaiah as either king Hezekiah or the Jewish nation itself. It is just as common for Christian expositors to use the term "the suffering Servant" in Isa 52:13-53:12. The latter term has arisen because Isa 53 is about suffering, but …
Bible Word Cloud
An interesting Word Cloud of the 66 books of the Bible gives the following list of the most frequent words in each book of the Bible as they appear to me. There are some very interesting combinations, particularly the Gospel of John. Gen Lord God Jacob father Joseph Abraham land son sons Now Ex Lord …
Donald's Thoughts 