Current Comment

Olympic Games? Rev JW Keddie

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:12:09 +0100

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH?
So, the Olympic Games are on us again. All eyes turn to Beijing and a festival of sport for the better part of three weeks. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea of course. It seems you either love it, or hate it, or are indifferent to it. Whichever way it is, though, it’s hard to avoid.
Feelings are always mixed with such sporting events. Nowadays the question arises if it is all ‘genuine.’ There is obviously great concern over performance-enhancing drugs, and big question marks have been raised in some areas, such as weight-lifting where drug tests have caught out many competitors. There are all sorts of stories of ‘blood doping,’ and even gene treatment. It seems that people will go to extreme lengths to get an advantage in sports competition. In some sports, though, the sheer bulk of competitors – male or female – seems un-natural. Physical exercise and play aspects are legitimate in themselves. As Paul writes to Timothy: “bodily exercise profits a little.” By contrast, however, “godliness is profitable for all things.” Why is that? Well, because godliness has “promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). The great Scottish Olympic champion of 1924 and later missionary to China, Eric Liddell, was once asked by a reporter whether he missed the limelight and fame of the sporting life. Liddell answered astutely: “Oh, well, it’s natural for a chap to think over all that sometimes, but I’m glad I am in the work I’m engaged in now. A fellow’s life counts for more at this than the other. Not a corruptible crown, but an incorruptible, you know.” This is in line with the teaching of Paul: “everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (1 Corinthians 9:25). That puts even the highest prizes in sport, or any other area of life, strictly in perspective.
But whether or not we may have the slightest interest in the Olympics, there is a race to run. In the letter to the Hebrews the apostle speaks of the cloud of witnesses of the Old Testament who exemplified active faith in their day. And there is a race the believer is to run in our day: let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (12:1-2). We are reminded that “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (11:6). Besides this, sport pales into insignificance.
Rev John W Keddie

Tony Blair ‘Converts’ to Catholicism

Fri, 4 Jan 2008 11:36:26 +0000

WHERE ARE WE GOING, RELIGIOUSLY?

So our former Prime Minister has ‘converted’ to the Roman Catholic Church. Whilst a boost to that communion it has perhaps come as no great surprise. What may be a great surprise is the changed status of the Roman Catholic Church itself in our society. It was a shock to read the other day (24th December) in one of the quality national dailies an article entitled ‘A confident faith invigorated by a willingness to fight God’s corner.’ What was it about? A resurgent protestant evangelical movement in the mainline churches? No, it was about the fact that there are now officially more Catholics in England and Wales than there are practising Anglican Protestants! Our point in drawing attention to this is not to knock the Catholic system. It is clear that evangelical protestants will have to address the errors of the Roman Catholic system, as measured against the Biblical teaching. However, the fact is that the commentator we have quoted is at least right about this: that the Catholic position, unsound as it is in our view, has had far more robustness and moral integrity than much of Protestantism in recent years. Protestantism has been dying largely because the mainline Churches have failed the nation. The acceptance of critical views of the Bible in the late 19th Century and the growth of liberal theology have ravaged the Church. Evangelical religion became marginalised in the big broad Churches and inevitably they became bodies which showed little robustness or resistance to the onset of the secular society. The vanquishing of the Biblical call to repent sin and believe in Christ as the divine Son and only Saviour; the displacement of the insistence on the necessity of the new birth by the Holy Spirit; and the undermining of Biblical authority in the mainline protestant Churches have been responsible for this demise. They have been so lacking in confidence in the plain authority of Scripture that it has more or less paralysed them as far as making any strong moral pronouncements on many of the major moral issues and ‘political correctness’ of the day. They have largely lacked a ‘prophetic’ voice in the nation and have reaped the consequences in terms of diminished power and influence. The Catholics have gained in at least seeming to have a strong position on abortions, and sexual morality, notwithstanding some scandals involving some of their clerics. In our view these are the roots of the weakness of mainline Presbyterian and Anglican churches, which seem to be awfully compromised with worldliness.

What is the answer? For the smaller conservative Churches the call is to be steadfast and immovable, morally and spiritually, with strong reliance on the authority of the word of God and law of God in personal and Church life. The call is for ceaseless prayer, and for discernment about error and emphasis on the necessity of repentance and faith, and the new birth, for anyone to be a Christian. The call is to maintain and preach high standards of Biblical morality and spirituality and get a vision for its spread. The call is to stand in the evil day, whatever the cost may be. People will see the sense of conservative evangelicalism, which is simply the right view and only sustainable view of Biblical religion and healthy Church life. And pray for the revival of true religion, and for reformation in the mainline Churches. They have in some respects the ‘ear of the people.’ Only what is heard is often not impressive. Maybe there will be a ‘melt down’ of such Churches before recovery begins. All such matters should be a concern for our prayers and influence, in dependence upon the great Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Because we want to see a vibrant Church throughout the United Kingdom. May the Lord hasten such a day, not least as we go into a New Year.

JWK

Ferry Facts and Figures, Dr A Naylor

Mon, 7 May 2007 22:23:15 +0100

The commercial sailing of ferries on the Sabbath continues to be a live issue for many of us living in the Western Isles (see our recent news article).
The article is submitted by Dr Naylor who lives in the the village of Leverburgh where ferries have now started to run on the Lord’s Day.

First let’s consider some figures:

18/7

Last weekend (April 9th) marked the first anniversary of the introduction of scheduled ferry services on the Lord's Day in the Western Isles of Scotland . This was despite a large petition , objections by local churches and being against council policy . Most importantly it was an unnecessary breach of the Fourth Commandment and many of us were saddened by this intrusion into the Lord's Day .

A silent protest was made by way of posters featuring verses of scripture and it was good that these were featured by the media . Perhaps eternity alone will reveal the effect of these portions of scripture on people travelling on that day and those who followed the media coverage .

Has the introduction of the service been successful ? Our impression is that the ferry is much busier on other days of the week and this is borne out by the company's own figures which reveal an average of only 18 passengers and 7 cars on each crossing . The subject has arisen again in view of the possibility of a Sabbath crossing from Stornoway to Ullapool in connection with a Celtic music festival this summer .

24/7

Perhaps one underlying argument for the introduction of the service was the ever increasing demand in our society for everything to readily available all day , every day . How forgetful men are of the wisdom of God in appointing a day of rest . Genesis 2 v3 " And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it : because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made ".

How often we see in the numerous family and social problems around us that man cannot possibly function at the same frantic pace day in , day out . How foolish man is in believing his wisdom to be greater than that of our creator .

10/7

In Exodus 20 we have recorded for us the Ten Commandments which were given for our instruction and our spiritual good . God demands obedience in respect of the fourth commandment concerning His day and it is interesting that four verses are devoted to this commandment compared to only one or two for the other commandments . This is perhaps an indication of how easily we are prone not to remember the Sabbath Day.
However God demands obedience in respect of all ten commandments , every day of the week and every week of our lives . Failure to do so will result in God's displeasure upon us . The problem is that , by nature , we cannot keep any of His commandments but we praise God that there was One who was without sin - the Lord Jesus Christ .

SOME SCRIPTURAL FACTS
We must fear the true and living God...

Jeremiah 10.7 : ”Who would not fear thee O king of nations ? ... there is none
like unto thee”

because of what he commands us to obey ...

Exodus 24.7 : “All the Lord hath said will we do , and be obedient “

remembering that God will judge us in the last day

Psalm 18.7 : “then the foundation also of the hills were moved and were shaken
because he was wroth .”

We must look to Christ , and Christ alone , for salvation .

Whose right to educate?

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 22:06:41 +0000

Rev J Macleod, Tarbat
Councillors in Highland Region are reported to have expressed grave concern at the number of children in the area who are receiving schooling at home.

Is it really so surprising that a rapidly-increasing number of parents can no longer see their way to having their children educated within the Council-run education system? Not all those who resort to home education do so from Christian convictions, but there are several areas of concern regarding the state-run system which should make Christian parents in particular ponder carefully as to how best to discharge their responsibility to bring up their children in a way that is honouring to God:

1.      The religious views of parents are increasingly treated with disdain. The Primary School Religious and Moral Education syllabus in use in Highland (and indeed elsewhere in Scotland) is unacceptable to many parents. It is not "neutral" but hostile to the Bible’s teaching and does not even reflect mainstream religious thought in Highland Region.

2.      The Health Education syllabus is not acceptable to Christian parents. What purports to be “Health Education” includes a great deal which is in Biblical terms sinful, and also material which when not sinful is sexually inappropriate in terms of the age at which it is delivered, the method by which it is delivered and in terms of the moral and spiritual vacuum in which it is delivered.

3.      It should also be of concern to God-fearing parents that school staff are increasingly taking on a social-policing rôle under the guise of implementing “Child Protection” policies. Whilst at first glance that might seems reasonable and even desirable, fundamental problems arise because

         i.      all that need be expressed, in order to start a multi-agency investigation involving Social Services is undefined “concerns” in relation to a specific child

         ii.     in any investigation under Child Protection procedures, there is no assumption of “innocent until proven guilty” – rather the opposite is assumed

         iii.    accusations under Child Protection procedures are not subject to normal standards of legal proof, nor is there any meaningful defence against the “concern” of a professional.

It is all too easy for a Christian parent to find their Christian views regarded as deviant enough to give rise to “concerns” leading to a consequent investigation which may have far-reaching consequences.

Now, it is true that at present lip service is paid to the fact that under international law the state must respect the rights of parents to ensure that education and teaching conforms to their own religious and philosophical convictions.

It is also at present the case with regard to home education that parents can deny council education staff access either to meeting directly with the pupil or their parents to see the arrangements for educational provision at home.

The Vice-Convener of Highland Council, however, has indicated that “The Council has a real responsibility to look after the interests of the child, and that could mean going against the interests of the parents................ we need to be in a position to ensure that the child is being properly educated.”

This is an area in which there are no soft options for parents, whether they take the decision to use Council-run schools but counter-educate their children, explaining to them that the Bible teaches very different values to the values held by those who follow the school's syllabus, or whether they choose to attempt to educate their children outside the state system, in spite of potential Council interference.

The Bible is quite clear that it is the responsibility of parents, by whatever means it be done, to ensure that their children are brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Wars, Religion & Christianity

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 19:48:26 +0000

Rev G Beers
In a recent radio debate on the freedom of religious expression one professed atheist expressed her conviction that religion should be exclusively a private matter and that the government should ban all public expression of it because religion was the cause of all of the wars in the world. This view was shared by many others in the debate.

War & Religion
We cannot deny that many of the wars fought throughout history have been religiously motivated. The wars of the Old Testament all had a religious element to them. The crusades of the medieval period were religious, and in the 20th & 21st centuries religion has again precipitated numerous armed struggles. The troubles in Northern Ireland are very closely linked to religion and the current global war against terrorism is a war against militant Islam. So religion has had a hand in many of the wars in the world but may we conclude that if religion was banished and with it the idea of God, in favour of a secular atheistic world, then all would be peace?

The bloodiest century in history!
From the mid to late 19th century there were a number of influential thinkers who were to have a profound affect on the 20th century. Nietzsche (1844-1900) famously boasted ‘God is dead, we have killed him.’ Interestingly he also predicted that because God had died in the 19th century, the 20th century would be the bloodiest century in history. His prediction proved correct, and it was his writings that Adolf Hitler adopted as his philosophical blueprint of his infamous Third Reich.

Karl Marx (1818-1883) was the father of Communism. One tenet of his Communist Manifesto states ‘Communism abolishes all religion and all morality.’ In the 20th century Marxist philosophy was put into practice and in Stalin’s USSR more than 20 million people were forced into slave-labour, 14 million were imprisoned and in a religious purge some 10 million people were slaughtered. In 1949 Mao Tse-tung established the People’s Republic of China where at one point 22,000 opponents to his Marxist revolution were slaughtered each month. The Black Book of Communism, written in 1997 by a group of left wing historians, estimates that in the 80 years since the Russian Revolution Communism killed between 85-100 million people wordlwide.

Wars & Rumours of Wars.
So we cannot lay all the blame for wars and trouble in the world at the feet of religion. Furthermore to think that the creation of secular atheistic states will usher in world peace is contrary to the facts of world history. So what is the answer?

The Bible teaches us that war is a result of sin. Sin has made us enemies of God (Rom 8:7) and enemies of one another. In Genesis 3 man fell into sin and in Genesis 4 Cain slew Able. This was the first murder and the first manifestation of war in history. As long as sin is in the world we can expect ‘…wars and rumours of wars…’ Matt 24:6.

The Gospel however promises peace. A believing sinner has peace with God ‘Being Justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’ Rom 5:1. Christ also makes peace between men. So Paul, a Jew, writes of Christ to the Gentile Ephesians ‘For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us’ Eph 2:14. This is the answer to sin and war, ‘peace through the blood of his cross’ and all must pursue it by faith in Jesus Christ.