Presbyterian Polity In recently preaching a sermon on the biblical basis of Presbyterianism I was made aware by a number of hearers that they had never heard a sermon on church polity.  They had heard plenty of sermons on the doctrine of the church, but had been left to suppose that Presbyterianism was just a personal choice for some churches with no solid biblical basis. Dr Thomas Witherow is a name perhaps known through his small work, “The Apostolic Church, Which Is It?”  https://archive.org/details/apostolicchurchw00with He did, however, write a much more substantive work o ..read more

Some Resources on the Psalms Some old, some new - but we should constantly be returning to the study of the Psalms.  I said in preaching to my home congregation recently, “Read the Bible.  Read all of the Bible, but saturate yourself in the Gospels and the Psalms.” We can never be too much in the Psalms! Firstly in terms of music I have discovered the wealth of Psalm versions produced by My Soul Among Lions.  They have a musical style that I particularly enjoy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=my+soul+among+Lions These wil ..read more

Excellent article by Don Carson on Abusing Matthew 18:  http://themelios.thegospelcoalition.org/article/editorial-on-abusing-matthew-18 ..read more

Serve to Lead My son posted some pictures on Facebook this week of 400 Troop, Royal Logistic Corps, clearing snow at their barracks. The post said “All hands on deck at 400 Troop this morning to clear heavy snow from the access road to Helles Barracks. All ranks were involved in the effort using shovels and spreading grit manually.”  He, a Captain, was working there alongside his troops.  One comment quoted the phrase, “Serve to Lead”. “Serve to Lead” is the motto of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, where British Army officers are trained.  John Keegan, writing i ..read more

All That Is in God All That Is in God: Evangelical Theology and the Challenge of Classical Christian Theism – July 13, 2017 by James E. Dolezal This important study on the simplicity of God has certainly generated a lot of discussion in Reformed circles. Dealing with the issue of the immutability of God he defends the traditional orthodox and catholic view against revisionist arguments.  Those he interacts with (or rather against) include Donald Macleod and John Frame, so it should be of interest to those in the Free Church of Scotland. Amazon are offering the Kindle version ..read more

The Preacher, The Pastor and the Theologian. You can be an excellent theologian but a poor preacher.  You cannot be an excellent preacher but a poor theologian. You can be an excellent theologian but a poor pastor.  You cannot be an excellent pastor but a poor theologian. Both preaching and pastoring are nurtured and developed by a thorough acquaintance with God’s word and an awareness of confessional theology. Sadly, when we focus on producing so-called popular preachers or practical shepherds, to the neglect of foundational theological and biblical knowledge, what we produ ..read more

Keeping Spiritually Fresh Sometimes things just come together – what I am reading, what I am listening to, and what I am discussing with others. This week I have been catching up on the White Horse Inn podcasts, listening to the excellent current series on Worship: https://www.whitehorseinn.org/radio/ I have also been listening to an excellent address given by the Rev Ian Hamilton at a fraternal this week in Glasgow.  His theme was “What is the Church For?”, and his emphasis was that the church is the gathered assembly of God’s people engaged in glorifying God collectively in their wo ..read more

I’ve Been Jammed Alisdair Smith introduced me to the concept and has done an excellent job in producing the videos for the National Day of Prayer:   https://www.facebook.com/freechurchofscotland/videos/1645961345463605/ May I encourage others in Scotland to engage in biblical prayer for the nation on St Andrew’s Day.  ..read more

Overview of the First Four Commandments An outline from last Sunday, as we looked at the first four commandments concerning our duty to God, (Exodus 20).  That duty is summed up in the requirement to love God with the totality of our being.  Love demonstrates itself in obedience.  The first four commands are essentially concerned with the worship of God. We therefore show our love by keeping God’s commandments regarding his worship. 1     WHY we worship – v1, 2.  He is our personal God and powerful redeemer. 2    WHOM we worship – v3 ..read more

Pro-Smacking Fundamentalism The online propaganda sheet for secularism, rabid Scottish nationalism, LGBTism etc, the Herald, has sunk to new depths with its headline, “Revealed: Pro-smacking lobbyists funded by Christian fundamentalists.”  http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15626142.Revealed__Scotland__39_s_pro_smacking_lobby_funded_by_Christian_fundamentalists/ In its “exclusive” revelation it uncovers the fact that Christians are against criminalising loving parents who occasionally physically chastise their children.  Shock, horror, outrage! The language is interesting, It sp ..read more