Code Red for Scotland’s Children

In one sense, this post is relevant only to Scots, and those living in Scotland. However, in these last days, it is a warning to others who may, sooner than they think, be faced with the same situation. The post is from David Robertson, who currently lives in Australia, and is reproduced with permission. It is considerably longer than my usual posts, but it is well worth persevering to the end! (Even if you don't read every word, please scroll down to the end for some additional thoughts).

«  It is so important to understand how real this is – the Scottish Government is sanctioning and promoting child abuse.   I do feel upset about this – I was warning about it for years before I left Scotland and got little support – people (including many in the church) saw it as exaggeration, irrelevant and so unbelievable that it would never happen.  One of the reasons I encouraged the Church to consider Christian schools was because I saw this day coming.  They didn’t take it seriously and now the day they said would never happen – has arrived.  We are not prepared for it.  We need to repent and make up for the years that the locusts have eaten.

The cynical would suggest that it’s not often that a politician or government keeps their promises. But sometimes they do. In 2018 the Scottish Government Deputy First Minister John Swinney announced that Scotland would become the first country in the world to have LGBT inclusive education embedded in the curriculum. He was following up on the priority stated in 2014 by his boss Nicola Sturgeon who declared that “it is trans issues that are the next big challenge”.

Sturgeon has been determined to follow the trans ideology – even getting rid of one of her more competent ministers, Joanna Cherry, simply because she dared to stand up for women’s rights. No one should be surprised at the trajectory that Scotland has been going. The SNP promised it and they have kept this promise.

This week it was reported by The Telegraph that “children as young as four will be able to change their name and gender at school without their parents’ consent under new LGBT inclusivity guidelines drawn up by the Scottish Government.”

You have to stop, take a breath and re-read that sentence again. Many people just simply don’t believe it. As someone said to me, it’s so mad that it cannot be true. Four-year-olds sometimes think they are animals or Thomas the Tank Engine – they are certainly not capable of determining that they are a different gender from their body.

When my children were at primary school they were not even allowed to have sun cream put on them by a teacher without written permission from a parent. Now a four-year-old can change their gender without their parents even being told! Following that logic, there is no reason why a child should not also determine that they want to be sexually active! One atheist contacted me to say that if this were true he would be on the streets protesting – but of course it can’t be true. But such denial doesn’t help. This is happening in Scotland today.

The guidance states that pupils should be allowed to use whatever toilet or changing room they want, have gender neutral uniforms, and transgender characters and history should be included. Of course all this comes from Stonewall – who are funded by the Scottish government to tell the schools what they should be doing.

Women’s groups are rightly concerned. Again to quote from the article: “This is really, really worrying,” said Marion Calder, co-director of the For Women Scotland campaign group. “The bottom line is that this is a dangerous ideology that the Scottish Government is pushing.

“It shows a failure in safeguarding and a removal of parental rights. It used to be commonly understood that children should be able to play and experiment with gender roles, with clothing, their likes and dislikes.

“Those children are now being encouraged on to a medical pathway, potentially for the rest of their lives. We should not be teaching children, and especially primary school children, that you can change sex, because you cannot change sex.”

I have a great deal of personal experience of this. I could tell you so many stories. The-7-year old returning home from school in tears because the teacher said that she had to choose whether she was a boy or girl; the 14-year-old teenage boy advised by a guidance teacher that his depression might be because he was a girl trapped in the wrong body (the school was after a Stonewall award and as they had no trans pupils that was difficult); the posters in a classroom for six-year-olds telling them to ‘respect others’ pronouns’ (are you not impressed that six-year-olds know what pronouns are?); the angry young woman in tears because after detransitioning she wanted to know why no one in authority discouraged her from taking such a damaging path; and so many more. A trail of damaged young lives all because our leaders are enslaved to this harmful ideology.

The Scottish government has now gone down this damaging route. What Abigail Shirer calls ‘Irreversible Damage’ in her insightful and disturbing book of the same name, is now official State doctrine in Scotland. The extraordinary thing in this is not just that the government is encouraging this – but that it is also displaying its utter contempt for parents in doing so.

A few years ago, because of my writing on the subject, I was asked by the Scottish government to meet with their civil servants who were drawing up the legislation. They asked me if I could ever see my way to support the proposed gender recognition act and the changes in the law. I said no – but that I would ask for compromise on three things. Firstly, women would be guaranteed women-only spaces in jails, hospitals, refuges and sport. Secondly, I would not go to jail for saying that a man could not become a woman or vice versa. And thirdly, that this queer theory ideology should not be taught to children. At the end of our discussions, it became clear that none of these things would be given. Even then the Scottish government was set on this abusive and destructive path.

A month later I was summoned to meet Shirley-Anne Somerville, who is now the SNP education secretary, and who has stated that the new government guidance for schools does not promote transitioning. When we had what is often called a ‘full and frank discussion’ I suggested to her that this was a suicidal route for the SNP to go down (I didn’t fully realise what a stranglehold the SNP has over the Scottish press and the civic institutions) and that if she and I had a debate on this issue in front of any group of parents in Scotland, she would overwhelmingly lose, not because of my brilliance but purely and simply because most parents have far more knowledge and common sense than our civic elites.

I have never forgotten her chilling reply: “That’s because most parents are ignorant.” In that one phrase the contempt of the Scottish government for parents and the family was exemplified. So this week’s announcement that four-year-olds can transition under the influence of teachers, but not parents, was not a surprise to me.

What can be done about this? You would hope that politicians, teachers’ unions and medics would all speak out. But the truth is that the civic institutions have either been indoctrinated into this insanity, or people within them are too scared to speak out because it could be career ending. This will be even more so now that the SNP are to go into a formal government with the Greens – who under their leader, Patrick Harvie, are the foremost advocates of Queer theory and will insist on even more indoctrination.

You would hope that the Church leaders would speak out. But I suspect that whilst they will have no qualms about making proclamations about racism in America, or Brexit, or climate change, it will be a hot day in Scotland before they say a word on this issue. Perhaps an odd mix of women’s groups, left wing social conservatives, evangelical Christians and parents can be mobilised to work together to oppose this evil. Because it must be opposed.

‘You’re upset,’ I’ve been told. Absolutely! This is not about cultural wars. This is not about politics. This is not about oppressing those who suffer from gender dysphoria and need proper help. This is about the abuse of children. This is about my grandchildren and many others. This is about Scotland heading down into Hellish depths.

I share the upset of Jesus. “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).

This is Code Red for Scotland’s children. Enough. »

Those who have read to the end may wish to support the petition against these proposals by the SNP administration. Please follow the link:

https://tinyurl.com/43yzunhx

If you live in Scotland, you may also wish to communicate your concern to your Holyrood representative and, if that representative happens to be Kate Forbes, or John Mason, or any other member who claims to be a disciple of Jesus, ask them to give you a straight answer as to whether, or not, they are willing to go against the Party line if, and when, this matter comes to a vote.

Promoted to Glory.

At the end of last week, my wife and I received the news of the death, in Scotland, of a very dear friend of more than 30 years. Sadly, we were unable to travel back to attend the funeral service. We are so glad that we were able to attend the wedding of our friend Peter, to his second wife, Kate - both of them having been widowed, but having known one another before either of them were first married!

Although current restrictions meant that, in order to broadcast the service, it had to take place in the Chapel of Rest, in the Border town of Dumfries, Peter and Kate worshipped with the Salvation Army. I love the way in which the Salvation Army refers to the death of a disciple of Jesus. The person has not "passed away", or "been lost", or started "kicking up the daisies", or any other euphemism! No! When a disciple of Jesus in the Salvation Army dies, that person is "Promoted to Glory"!

Promotion, in any area of life, is seen as a very good thing. Many spend their lives seeking it - in work, in organisations, in many other fields of existence. However, I have not a shadow of doubt that the greatest promotion that anyone can experience is to be "Promoted to Glory". So what does the expression mean?

Well, "glory" refers to heaven - the "dwelling-place" of Almighty God. The eternal spirit of the  disciple of Jesus, at the moment of physical death, leaves the mortal body that had been its dwelling-place for the earthly life of the individual, and goes directly to be "with the Lord". Paul writes: "So we are always of good courage; we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." (II Cor 5:6-8; emphasis added). The Lord Jesus, Himself, assured one of those who was being crucified alongside Him, but who had recognised that this Man was no common criminal, that "Truly, ..., today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43; emphasis added).

Now that, of course, is not the full story! Thinking along such lines was the problem for the early believers in Thessalonica, that led Paul to provide this assurance: "But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord." (I Thess 4:13-17; emphasis added).

What Paul is emphasising is that, until the Rapture*, it is the spirit of the disciple of Jesus whose earthly sojourn has come to an end, that goes to be "in Paradise" - the mortal remains are dealt with in an appropriate manner. Then, at the Rapture, those 'dead' bodies will be resurrected and instantly changed into 'resurrection' bodies (see I Cor.15:52), that shall never decay and, as they rise to meet the Lord Jesus "in the air", those disciples of Jesus who are alive at that moment, will be caught up with them, and all of His people will be with Him throughout eternity*.

Of course, as my repeated reference to "disciples of Jesus", and equivalent terms, will have emphasised, the written Word of God, the Bible, makes clear that all of this is only true for those who are "in Christ" and who have the Christ "in them". If you are not in that position, or if you have some doubts, then I would encourage you to read the previous four posts. I do not believe that it is 'coincidence' that I am composing this post immediately after them!

As always, if I may be of further assistance, at a more personal level, please feel free to contact me at the e-mail address above.

*These words are dealt with, more fully, in my first book - Great Words of the Faith. Please remember that I urge folk to purchase any of my books, not for personal gain, as ALL royalties are sent, directly, to Release International, in support of the persecuted church, but because I believe that they will be found to be helpful to those who are seeking, and also to those who have found!

Holy - me?!

It would appear that a number of those who receive these weekly posts, did not receive the one sent out last week. The post was rejected by about 20 Inboxes! The message, received by me, was "The response from the remote server was: 554 Message rejected on 2021/08/01 22:58:50 BST, policy (3.2.1.1) ID (60CA88F70810F1FD) - Your message looks like SPAM or has been reported as SPAM

As that post was the most important of the little series of three, I would encourage all to check it out on the blog (link below!). The reason for the "spam" message may have been that I included a couple of graphics. Anyway, I believe (but am open to correction!) that if you have my e-mail address in your "Contacts", then no message will be considered to be 'spam' unless you deliberately so designate it. Hope that helps!

Having dealt, in the previous three posts, with sin, I want to move on to something else. You may recall that sin has its consequences. You may be surprised to discover that salvation also has its consequences! Those consequences are summed up in a big, theological word: "sanctification". As with so many great words of the Christian faith, that word is dealt with, more fully, in my first book "Great Words of the Faith". The Kindle version is less than the cost of a couple of cups of coffee in an average café (or one cup if you use the more exotic establishments!), and ALL royalties are sent directly to Release International, in support of the persecuted church.

So what is "sanctification"? Well, to the disciple of Jesus - one who has recognised the reality of his/her sinful state; has understood the results of that sinful state; and has accepted the remedy provided by Father God through the Son; the word refers to the process of becoming increasingly more like Jesus. It has to do with holiness. However, holiness is a word that is often misunderstood! There are many who seem to think that it refers to "perfection"! After all, they would point out, does not Father God, Himself, say "... you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy."? (Lev 11:45). Yes, He does! But the word "holy" (qadosh, in Hebrew) does not actually mean "perfect", although Father God is, of course, total perfection. The word means to be separate - and is used, e.g., of the vessels in the Temple that were the best possible - but were "holy" because they were separated from common use.

So, to be holy is, in common language, to be different. The disciple of Jesus should be different - in a very positive way - from those who are not His disciples! I have often been told by people who claimed to be disciples of Jesus that if they acted in a certain manner, that was in line with God's Word, they would "stick out like a sore thumb"! My response was usually along the lines of "That's what you're supposed to do!" Would that more of us were like sore thumbs!

Sanctification, as I point out in the book, begins at conversion. "It begins as soon as I give control of my life to Jesus; as soon as I open my heart’s door to Him; as soon as I acknowledge my own sinfulness, and my total inability to deal with it; and accept His free offer of full salvation." Sanctification follows on from justification. However, while justification is an instant act, sanctification is a process. Just as physical growth begins, in one sense, at birth; so spiritual growth – which is what sanctification is – begins at rebirth.  I have a long way to go; I will make many mistakes; I will fall down again and again.  But I will have started!

Of course, even with the help of God the Holy Spirit, the process of sanctification is not easy! The simple reason for that is that when the enemy - the devil - realises that we are being serious about our new life in Jesus, he doesn't just leave us alone. Rather, he attacks with increasing ferocity! Peter writes: "Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion , seeking some one to devour." (I Peter 5:8). We must expect to take blows: discouragement, repeated falls, temptations. It's a daily struggle for all who want to walk in the Spirit - but this struggle is, in itself, proof that God has done something in us!

However, although not easy, sanctification is possible because God has made us a place of habitation of the Spirit, and John reminds us that "... He who is in you (God the Holy Spirit) is greater than he who is in the world. (the devil)" (I John 4:4). Sanctification is possible because God has made us new creatures, saints, so that we can enter into his pre-prepared works. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph 2:10). 

It is also worth noting that sanctification is not an option! Indeed, the very idea that it even could be is a nonsense! Listen to Paul, again. Having shared on the grace of Almighty God, that deals with my sin, and yours, he continues: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" (Rom 6:1-2). Being saved/born again/regenerated while still wanting to live in sin, is incompatible! Indeed, wanting to live in sin, is to be a slave to sin, while our salvation makes us dead to sin, i.e. we no longer wish to be controlled by it! 

The relevant chapter in my book ends like this:

« "Sanctification – the process of being made like Jesus:

Who are sanctified?  Only true believers – disciples of Jesus - because sanctification begins at conversion.

How are believers sanctified?  Through the indwelling power of God the Holy Spirit, as the process continues in Christian living.

When are believers fully sanctified?  Only after physical death, as their growing more and more like Jesus is completed in glory; as they become like Him; seeing Him as He is.

To the best of my knowledge, the little printed plaque that is on my study wall is a Brian Ross ‘original’ (the words, not the sentiment!).  It reads, quite simply: “In this life I shall never be sinless but, by God’s grace, I may sin less!” »  And that is sanctification. It's amazing what a bit of separation can do! 

Sin - 3

The reality of sin - it is, to use modern terminology, in your DNA and in mine. It is something of which, deep down, each of us is aware. The results of sin - it creates a great gulf between us and our Creator God; a gulf that none of our good works, resolutions, turning over a new leaf, giving to charitable causes, attending worship services, or anything else you care to name, can bridge that gulf. 

However, as I stated at the end of the previous post, this does not mean that we are without hope.  That is because there is, indeed, a remedy for sin - but not one that we are capable of providing by ourselves! Paul writes to his brothers and sisters in Rome that "... the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 6:23). Notice, if you will, that wages are deserved! If I have worked for my employer, and completed the tasks that have been assigned to me, in the time allotted, then I fully deserve the wages that I am paid. However, a gift is something that I don't deserve, but simply accept - with gratitude! So, my spiritual death is the fully deserved wages of a life lived in sin, and rejecting my Creator. On the other hand, I may receive, here and now, eternal life - the very life of Almighty God in me, now, and throughout eternity.* 

                                                                                                               

In what is almost certainly the best-known verse in the New Testament part of the Bible, the apostle John tells us that "... God so loved the world that He [the Father] gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him [the Son] should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). The Lord Jesus, Himself, claimed that: "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but by Me." (John 14:6; emphasis added). In those two verses we see both the inclusiveness, and the exclusiveness, of the Christian Gospel. It is inclusive in that it is available to all; it is exclusive in that it is available only to those who come to the Father through the Lord Jesus. Now there are some who will immediately ask about "predestination". That is too big a subject to deal with in a post - but I do deal with it in my first book, "Great Words of the Faith". The Kindle version costs less than a couple of cups of coffee in an average coffee-shop, and the royalties go directly, and entirely, to Release International in support of those who suffer in the persecuted church.

The God-provided remedy for your sin, and for mine, is the Lord Jesus Who, at Calvary, as the perfect spotless Lamb of God, paid the penalty for our sin, and opened the way into the Father's presence - without the need of an intermediary, whether physically alive, or already departed this earthly life. 

There are three things that we must do.

1. We must believe that He was, and is, God the Son - the second Persona (not a typo - see the chapter on 'The Trinity' in "Great Words") of the eternal Godhead. John tells us that he wrote his account of the Gospel "... that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ [the Messiah], the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." (John 20:31).

2. We must repent. Repentance is more than being sorry for our sins. After all, if I rob a bank and am then caught, I will be sorry - but not necessarily for my crime, but for now having to pay the price of that crime. Hell will be full of people who are sorry for their sinful lives - but too late! Repentance is seeing my sin as God sees it. The prophet Isaiah describes it, very graphically, when he writes: "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment." (Isa 64:6). It was a Messianic Jew (i.e. someone born a Jew but who accepts Yeshua [Jesus] as HaMashi'ach [the Messiah]) who explained to me, many years ago, that the Hebrew expression used by the prophet referred to the rag used, at that time, by a menstruating female during her time of menstruation. Not a pleasant 'word-picture'!

3. We must confess. That is to say, we have to share our new life, and our new-found faith, with others! Paul, again in his great letter to the early believers, writes: "... if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved." (Rom 10:9-10). 

All three steps are necessary. My current car is almost too clever for my liking! To start the engine, it is not sufficient that I turn the ignition key. Oh no! I must insert the "key" (that isn't even a 'key' as in my previous cars); I must press down, hard, on the clutch; and I must push the "starter button". No one of those actions, or even any two, will start the engine. All three are required! Would I expect my eternal salvation to be any different?!

However, when I follow the requirements, and the car engine starts, I may go on my journey - should it just be to Pineuilh, to the shops, or much further afield on holiday. So with the Christian life - life "in Christ Jesus". Our recognition of our sinfulness - its reality; our understanding of what it does - its results; if it leads us to the One Who is, Himself, the remedy; provides us with a new birth, that starts a new life, that will not always be easy, but will always be rewarding. 

And there is more! Just this morning, in Lamonzie-St.Martin, we were reminded of Paul's words in Rom.3: 23-24: "... since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, " Now there are some things that don't translate well, and one such is the easy way by which to understand the word "justified"* In the English language, and probably no other, it is that when I am "justified", it means that Father God treats me "just as if I'd" never sinned at all! Do you realise the magnitude of that statement? I am a sinner; I sin on a daily basis; yet because "...  the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (I John 1:7), Almighty God no longer sees my sin, and treats me as if I am sinless! Wow!

As the Gaither Vocal Band (the best-ever line-up!) sing - the iron bars and chains of the enemy, the devil, that hold us down are broken, and we are free, free indeed.

If anything above has touched your own heart,and you wish to receive further help, please do not hesitate to contact me. I shall endeavour to put you in touch with someone who lives in your own area, and who will be able to provide that help. Otherwise, I shall try to help you, myself, from a distance!

"There's a way back to God from the dark paths of sin; there's a door that is open, and you may go in: at Calvary's cross is where you begin, when you come, as a sinner, to Jesus."(E.H.Swinstead).

* This concept is also dealt with in "Great Words"!