War – First Anniversary              Word on the Week          25^th February 2023.

Nobody thought the Ukrainian War would last 12 long months. Now no one thinks it will be over soon!    It is much easier to start wars than to stop them!   Not that the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, shows any signs of wanting a ceasefire.

Indeed, his belligerent speeches before the ‘faithful’ this week attributed the outbreak of hostilities to the West.    This presented the fanciful picture of little Ukraine with supporting friends challenging Russia.    In a modern version of the David and Goliath contest, the roles are reversed, and David becomes the aggressor! (1 Samuel 16 verses 41 to 50). 

The history of wars demonstrate that they are waged in order to gain territory.   They tend to come out of extreme nationalism.   In the case of Ukraine, it is a territory that Putin clearly thinks should be Russian.  It was part of the lands restored to independence following the 1991 collapse of Soviet Union.

Those born since 1991 are known as the “Born Free Generation”.   They are eager for their nation to escape Russia’s shadow and join Europe and the West.    The East of Ukraine have Russian as their first language and were less inclined to go with their Eastern people and join NATO.

This reluctance has now disappeared. The war appears to have united the country under their able President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.   This was the very thing the invaders did not want to happen!   

But there are many wars being fought in the world right now.   Where do they come from?   Hear it from the Book of James Chapter 4 Verses 1 to 2 in the ‘Message’ paraphrase: –

‘Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to.’ 

But there is something we do have access to whether we are Putin or Zelenskiy or you or me and that is the cleansing blood of Christ which applied to the sinner opens the door to forgiveness and a Christ centered way of life (1John 1 verses 7 to 9).  This is the miracle of God’s grace we call the Gospel comes through prayer in faith to Jesus Christ.

Anniversaries                   Word on the Week                     18^th February 2023.

We appear to be living longer these days.   Our neighbour passed the 100 mark a couple of years’ ago and this week celebrated reaching 102.

This led me to figure out that my mother would be 123 years old had she lived to this day which is in fact her birthday.   She lived all her life in the 20^th century; her age matching the year which made it easy to work out how old she was!

She was an energetic person and she needed to be.   Our household consisted of my father’s father, my mother’s mother, my parents and me!   Both grandpa and grandma lived on into their 90ies and so were very much part of my early years.

Not so my mother’s father who was a farmer and died at age 64.   He didn’t feature in my early years.   In my teens bits of information filtered through. It seemed that there had been a falling-out over the Gospel.   Gran remained in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland (it was the church farmers went to in those days) and grandad moved to the Christian Brethren.

There had been a revival around the middle of the 19^th century, the fires of which did not die down for a number of decades.   Kenneth Jeffrey is the author of ‘When the Lord Walked the Land’ a book which writes up the dramatic effects the revival had on the three main groups living there in the North-East of Scotland.   

First it broke out in the city of Aberdeen, then the farming community, to be followed quickly by the fisher folk.   The latter felt unable to join with the farmers (they smelt of fish) so they built Brethren Halls, many of them still standing but sadly few in their original use.

Grandpa Ross, mother’s father, must have ‘witnessed a good confession’ (1Timothy 6 Verse 12) to have moved church and joined the Christian Brethren with its practice of believer’s baptism.   Clearly this was a bridge too far for Gran!   Mother was never baptised which highlights the family difficulties around conversion.

Mother did teach me to pray.   The nightly prayer was ‘Gentle Jesus meek and mild, listen to a little child; pity my simplicity, teach me Lord to come to thee.  The last line of the prayer was answered when I was age 26 (St Matthew 11 verses 28 to 30). Praise God.

I too moved from the Presbyterian Church to an Evangelical Church and was baptised at age 30.   Strange as it may seem I did not know that my path mirrored that of Grandpa Ross until some years later!   As we saw in last week’s blog sometimes prayers take a long time before they are fully answered (1 Corinthians 3 verse 6).

Merkinch                          Word on the Week                     11^th February 2023.

What has a down-town district in a remote town in the Scottish Highlands got to do with ‘Word on the Week’?   How could such a place ever be newsworthy?               

Merkinch was usually referred to as ‘The Ferry’.   The place where the car ferry left Inverness and travelled across the Beauly Firth to North Kessock on the Black Isle.  

It was a deprived area in my time there and deteriorated further when the bridge was built spanning the Firth and rendering the ferry redundant.   There were no churches in the area so we prayed and started an outreach from the Baptist Church in the town.

We hired accommodation in the local school and distributed leaflets in the area welcoming young people to a weekly event in the school.   In the 1970ies there were far less restrictions surrounding the hire of the schoolroom.   The continuing occupation depended on the room being left tidy and the good will of the Janitor!

The highlight of each meeting was the ‘Witness Box’.   This was a popular form of evangelism in its day.   A local Christian would be invited into the Witness Box and cross-examined, usually by me, to see if he really was a Christian!    The young people, who would have had some Gospel teaching, would be invited to add their questions.

The person being examined then told the story of how he became a Christian from the time he first placed his faith in Jesus (Acts 26 verses 12 to 29).   An understanding of being saved by God’s grace and not by our efforts would become plain (Ephesians 2 verses 8 and 9).

The questions were answered, sometimes involving the witness in a thorough grilling, and a verdict was taken by a show of hands.    I remember marvelling that never once did they find the witness’s testimony lacking!

What brought all this to recall was my turning on ‘YouTube’ on Tuesday evening and being amazed to read the ‘Notice’ of a new Church in Merkinch!   Fifty years in the making!   I wonder how many from the original meetings were there to recount their experiences?   All praise to God who gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3 verse 5 to 9).

Brigit’s Day                      Word on the Week                     4^th February 2023.     

We have a new Public Holiday.   February 1^st has been decreed.   This brings us into line with the bulk of the EU with the same number of public holidays.

Historically this was St Brigit’s Day. The name Brigit means different things to different people!   She is claimed both by Christian and pagan sources.   Her trademark cross, woven with reeds, adorns many homes.  Her witches profile is becoming more prominent.   So symbolically, is she to be known by her cross or cauldron?   

In Wales she was known by fire.   It was a Welshman, the historian Gerald of Wales (1146-1243) to whom we owe a valuable account of “the fire of St Brigit”, believed to have burned continuously in Kildare for centuries.   

Today this seems to have morphed into the 1^st February pagan Festival of Light replete with fire-dancers, music and storytellers.   A portrait of Brigit has been painted on the ‘Wonderful Barn’ Leixlip showing her in a green cloak representing her Irish origins.

Brigit was born around the year 450 in Faughart near the border with Northern Ireland.   Her name is incorporated in a variety of places.   There is the Bridewell which was a prison in Dublin and is now a Garda station.   St Bride’s in London, also started as a prison, has now become a church with a Holy Well.

The girls name Brigit lost its popularity when it was abbreviated to Biddy. This occurred largely through the hugely popular RTE ‘soap’ Glenroe (1983 – 2000) where the leading character’s wife was nicknamed Biddy.  This concerned Archbishop Tomás Ó Fiaich who lamented the loss of patronage to St Brigit and encouraged women to name their daughters after the Saint!

It is now widely doubted that St Brigid was a Christian Saint at all (the Catholic Church delisted her in 1969) but rather a Pagan goddess appropriated by Irish neo-pagans. Her cult was a powerful one, and remains so in 2023, having just inspired Ireland’s newest holiday.

Legend has it she made her first cross from rushes she found on the ground beside a dying man in order to convert him to Christianity.   I wonder if she used Jesus’ words “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (on the cross), that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (St John Chapter 3 verse 16).

The cross was where Jesus carried our sins and dealt with them once and for all.   Was Brigid’s cross used as a visual aid to get the dying man to put his faith in what Jesus did when he died for him? 

There is probably no better use for her cross today than to show that Jesus died for others and now lives for them. 

Snowdrops                  Word on the Week               28^th January 2023.

They have reappeared, on cue, these harbingers of spring to delight the eye and reassure the heart of warmer days ahead.   God’s promise again fulfilled.   “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis chapter 8 verse 22).

My own interest in snowdrops started around the age of 7 when our school teacher required us to take our crayons and draw a snowdrop.   She brought a plant in full bloom into the classroom and supplied the paper.   Our task was to represent it in two dimensions.  I recall my effort was pinned on the classroom wall – an unrepeated success!

We have a hollow in a field where cattle once had dust baths in summer.   It was fenced, planted with trees and in due course ground ivy covered the woodland floor.   We have a galanthophile (snowdrop collector) in the house who planted clumps of snowdrops under the trees.  Each year they break through the carpet of ivy and brighten up the woodland giving us great pleasure.  

The plant grows out of a bulb to a height of 7 to 10 cm.   It is pure white on a green stem and has three thin green leaves.   It blooms in cold weather and has its own anti-freeze to survive the frost.   It continues to bloom into Spring when insects begin to appear. Remarkably, snowdrops have a built in insecticide to ward off the bugs! 

There are a large number of varieties as a result of enthusiasts breeding.   Whilst the common varieties can be obtained at little or no cost (they multiply naturally and require to be divided producing more bulbs annually) the rare varieties are much sought after and can fetch four figure sums.

Although not mentioned specifically in the Bible the flower presents a penitential picture, with its pure white head permanently bowed down, reminisicent perhaps of our Saviour when He completed the work of salvation, ‘Jesus bowed his head and gave up his Spirit’ (St John Chapter 19 verse 30).

May the humble snowdrop remind us of Him.

Talking to Bots                 Word on the Week          21^st January 2023.

Have you ever wondered, when making a business phone call these days, if the person at the other end of the line is a person at all?  Welcome to the world of ‘bots’.

Which brings us to “what on earth is a bot?”   It’s an abbreviation for the word robot!   We need to get used to the language as bots are cropping up everywhere.   In fact, that square printed next to where you sign a document and has printed, rather plaintively, “I am not a bot” required you to put your X in the box to prove you are not a bot!

Bots are made with computer programmes designed to copy some human activities.    These tasks can include conversing with a human — which attempts to mimic human behaviours — or gathering content from other websites.   

The programming dictates what intelligence is gathered and how it is put to use.   The skills are improving all the time.   It will soon be possible for the bot to replace repetitive jobs.   It has transformed the old ‘enquiries desk’ in modern companies having been equipped with the answers to every likely question.

Organizations or individuals have to train their bots to recognise ‘bad bots’ or scammers!   These are known as malware which attacks the workings of the bot or as ransomware.    The latter can sabotage a network of bots and demand a ransom to correct the damage.   

There appears to be a well-educated bot called ChatGPT.    It can produce a script around the items you speak into it.   This bot, having the appropriate program, would work wonders for kids struggling with essay writing!

With all this AI (artificial intelligence) around, word of it is bound to reach the churches.   Those with repetitive liturgies are easily catered for with seasonal variations to match the liturgical year cycle.    For Reformed churches the bible would need to be loaded and the congregation decide on whether or not to have a three-point sermon this Sunday!

Perish the thought!   Let’s keep the bots out of the Church!    Don’t even have them on the door!    The intelligence should not be artificial but God-given (2 Chronicles Chapter 1 verse 10).

The preacher is charged to ‘preach the Word’ when he feels like it and when he doesn’t feel like it, correct, rebuke and encourage and, with God’s help, may it be so till the Lord’s return.  (2 Timothy Chapter 4 verse 2).

Exile                              Word on the Week                        14^th January 2023.

The graphic picture of the exile in the Bible has been captured by the operatic composer, Verdi, in his opera Nabucco.   Few can resist the plaintive cry of the Hebrew slaves in Babylon as their captors taunt them to sing the songs of Zion.    How can we sing in a foreign land they replied?

The Hebrews’ pain in being separated from the land of their birth was accentuated by their love for Jerusalem, the city of David.   This was a place steeped in their history.   It was the seat of their kings.   But above all it was where the Temple of the Lord was located (Psalm 137 verses 1to 6).

It was where the Lord’s presence dwelled – in the Most Holy Place, between the cherubim and above the mercy seat (1 Kings Chapter 8 verses 6 to 9).  Underneath was the Ark of the Lord’s covenant containing the 10 Commandments written on stone.   They could never forget Jerusalem!

In addition to their memories of Jerusalem the exiles had the prophecy that the exile would last 70 years.   A generation would pass before their return but that return was sure (2 Chronicles Chapter 36 verse 21).   

Such certainty is not available to our Ukrainian friends.   Their period of exile will soon have completed its first year.    Their longing to return to their homeland has not diminished.   The tide of war ebbs and flows.   The stream of refugees continues to arrive with additions from other war-torn countries.

A relatively new feature in Ireland is the organised protest of the ‘far right’.   These people alight on perceived ‘weakness’ in this case the ever increasing flow of refugees which is causing a strain in some places.   This they try to exploit and by networking bring in others to form intimidatory meetings at the places where refugees are housed.   Hardly the Irish welcome we are known for!

But there is a bigger picture.   Whether or not you are a refugee when you put your trust in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit enters your life and you are twice over the Lord’s.   First by creation then by Jesus’ act of redemption on the cross.    We now have the assurance of an everlasting home in heaven (1 Peter Chapter 1 Verses 17 to 21).

The Apostle Peter then goes on to describe believers as exiles and strangers here in the world.   Heaven has now become our real dwelling place through Jesus…”He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter Chapter 2 Verses 11 to 25).

Our exile ends the day we go to be with Jesus – John Chapter 14 verse 6.

In the Year of our Lord        Word on the Week                 7^th January 2023.

Yes, it is 2023!    And have we indulged in that ego-centred practice of making any New Year’s resolutions?   In our self-focus we can easily lose sight of what we are here for – ‘To glorify God and enjoy Him forever’ – as the Westminster Catechism puts it.   But what does it mean?

For some, as depicted in a TV programme of the Inner Hebrides shown last night it is the magnificent scenery.   It was said to offer a spirituality.   When examined further this spirituality was attributed to the place which was ‘thin’.  That is the boundary between the spiritual and the real is very small.   It is further claimed there are a number of these places of which the island of Iona is one.

Many of us would avoid such spirituality but find an attraction to the beauty of God’s creation which goes beyond enjoyment.   It can become a place where we are, like Nathaniel under the fig tree – trysting place with Jesus (John Chapter 1 verses 48 to 50).  

The apex of creation is man or to use his Biblical name Adam.   The text reads: So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them. (Genesis chapter 1 verse 27).

It is important in our love for creation that we understand we are made in our Makers image.   It is even more important in today’s Ireland that we understand God created two categories recognised by their names ‘male’ and ‘female’.

It used to be called secular humanism but now it has gone much further and has become cultural Marxism.   In the latter the emphasises of the culture is to do away with the traditional family, remove the two genders by making gender fluid and nullify the authority of the church by, among other things, recreating man in their image and having abortion legalised! 

How do you change a culture?   Start with the young!   Get your ideology into the schools at an early age.   Introduce a new authority (the teacher) in the child’s life whereby the parent is not told about gender matters, at least not the personal ones concerning their body.      

The absence of the preaching of the Word as far as the vast majority is concerned makes these major changes relatively easy to introduce.   

How do we Glorify God?   When we obey Him.   When did Jesus glorify God?  When He went to the cross (John Chapter 17).   How do we enjoy Him?   By loving Him in every circumstance (Psalm 73 verses 25/26).  

Prayer from Kansas              Word on the Times               31^st December 2022.

A prayer uttered 25 years ago in the State Legislature building in Kansas created waves when it was first created.   A friend sent it to me recently, as large parts of it are still relevant today!   Here is an edited version.

Almighty God, our loving Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your forgiveness for the sins we now confess and to seek Your guidance in our lives.

We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good.’ And that’s exactly what we’ve done.  We’ve lost our spiritual sureness.  We’ve inverted our values.

We confess that we’ve denied the absolute Truth of Your Word in order to conform to the prevailing culture.

We’ve endorsed perversion and called it ‘alternative lifestyle.’

We’ve exploited the poor and called it a ‘lottery.’

We’ve neglected the needy and given them our small change.

Father, in the name of ‘choice,’ we have killed our unborn.

We’ve neglected to discipline our children and called it ‘building esteem.’

We have abused power and called it expediency.

We have short-changed the tax-man and called it creative accounting.  

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it ‘freedom of expression.’

We’ve ridiculed your time-honoured values observed by our forefathers and called it ‘enlightenment.’

Guide and bless the men and women in Government who we have elected both at local and national level.   Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions be guided by Your will.  And for each one of us personally…

‘Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’   Psalm 139 verses 34/4.

I ask it in the name of Your Son the Living Saviour, Jesus Christ.          Amen.

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR READERS.

Mary’s Song                      Word on the Week                     17^th December 2022.

Have you ever burst out in spontaneous singing?   Has the Joy of the Lord ever reached your lips in an unrestrained way?   There was a time in my life when it happened frequently.   For obvious reasons it was when I was alone in the car!

In Mary’s case it happened in the midst of the miraculous!   Herself pregnant, she had gone to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was in her 6^th month.   When they met the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth enabling her to ‘see’ that Mary’s baby was the Lord Jesus.    She also recognised Mary’s faith in what the Angel had passed on to her.  The message was that of a virgin birth (St Luke Chapter 1 verses 26 to 38).

Out of this cumulative blessings came the song known as the Magnificat.   The title comes from the desire to magnify the Lord in a majestic worship song.   She expresses joy in God her Saviour recognising her own sinfulness and believing the Angels choice of name – Jesus, indicated his calling…to save his people from their sins (St Matthew Chapter 1 verse 21).

It was a time of singing.  Elizabeth’s husband, Zachariah the priest waxed eloquent in a song in which his son, recognised by the Holy Spirit, would prepare the way for Jesus.   In it he predicted that his son (John the Baptist) would present an alternative way for people to get right with God.   This John did with his baptism for repentance (St Luke Chapter 1 Verses 68 to 79).

There was also Simeon’s song.   Moved by the Holy Spirit he was led to Mary and Joseph who had brought Jesus there for the child’s Temple ritual.   His song of salvation included the Gentiles (St Luke Chapter 2 verses 28 to 32).   Finally, we have the Angelic choir appearing to the shepherds Praising God and promising peace with God to those on whom his favour rests (St Luke Chapter 2 Verses 13 /14).

Returning to Mary’s psalm (like many psalms she starts praising God then explains why he should be praised) we can see echoes of Hannah’s great prayer of joy at giving birth to a son for the Lord (1 Samuel Chapter 2 verse 1 to 10).    

Bearing in mind that Mary was probably in her early teens she must have been well read in the scriptures.    There are lines inspired from a number of Psalms, Genesis, Job and Jeremiah to name a few.  Her hymn of praise ends in recalling the promise to Abraham that a seed (singular) had now arrived and was growing in her (Mary’s) womb (Genesis Chapter 12 verse 7 and Galatians Chapter 3 verse 16).

Such a time – she would probably have sung ‘Joy to the World’ had it been around!