Honours!

One of the topics recently covered by the British media is, again, that of "Honours" and who is deserving of them! For what it's worth, I would not allow any Prime Minister to recommend his/her cronies for any honour, and certainly not for a peerage. These "honours" should be reserved for those who have actually done something outstandingly good for the country, and not just for their own little clique!

Last week saw a different kind of "Honour" being conferred as Honorary Degrees were conferred upon a number of people who, in the eyes of the University of Glasgow, had made a significant contribution to a variety of spheres of activity. I am still waiting for that august centre of learning to award me an honorary DD - having left with a lowly L.Th., and now having a string of academic qualifications; authored three books; and fulfilled a commission for the former Strathclyde Regional Council on Religious Education in the classroom. Perhaps a member of the University Court will accidentally read my blog, and this post!!!!

However, many years ago, my wife and I were visiting a dear friend whom I had first met when my ship - the original ss Oriana - was berthed in Vancouver, Canada, on a Sunday, and I had made my way to "Highland Presbyterian Church" for their evening service of worship. That is a story in itself, but suffice to say that I met two sisters, considerably older than was I(!), who became good friends and whom I visited when I was in the city, and Dr Jean when she retired and returned to Edinburgh. She was a very highly-qualified lady, and had been Chief Medical Officer of Health for the City of Vancouver. I was bemoaning the fact that, for a variety of reasons, I only had my L.Th, and my Diploma from the Bible Training Institute in Glasgow. Jean looked at me! "Never forget, my lad, that you have the best qualification of all." I looked at her, questioningly. "You already have your degree from the University of Life!" It was a comment worthy of thought!

Then, there is the greatest honour that can be bestowed upon any member of the human race. Writing to the early disciples who lived in the province of Galatia, in southern Asia Minor, Paul states: "...  in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith." (Gal.3:26). Later, in the history of the Christian Church, the apostle John penned his account of the Gospel record. He wrote, at the beginning: "... to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God;" (John 1:12). Paul, again, this time in his letter to the believers in Rome, writes: "When we cry, “Abba! Father!”  it is the Spirit Himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, ..." (Rom.8:15-17). I have added the emphasis in each quotation!

And we may go further! In my book "Foundations of the Faith", I state that as a child of God, I am also adopted – and that is even more wonderful.  Dr James Packer writes: “Adoption is the highest privilege that the Gospel offers: higher even than justification. This may cause some raising of eyebrows, for justification is the gift of God on which, since Luther, evangelicals have laid the greatest stress.  None the less, careful thought will show the truth of the statement we have just made.  ... ... ... Adoption is higher because of the richer relationship with God that it involves.  Justification is a forensic idea, conceived in terms of law, and viewing God as judge.  In justification, God declares of penitent believers that they are not, and never will be, liable to the death that their sins deserve, because Jesus Christ, their substitute and sacrifice, tasted death in their place on the cross. ... ... ... Adoption is a family idea, conceived in terms of love, and viewing God as father.  In adoption, God takes us into His family and fellowship, and establishes us as His children and heirs.  Closeness, affection, and generosity are at the heart of the relationship.  To be right with God the judge is a great thing; but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is a greater.”  (Knowing God, pps 230-231; Hodder & Stoughton, 1973; bold emphasis added).

I am a sinner! I don't need anyone else to tell me that - I am all too aware of my own weaknesses. Almighty God is sinless. Indeed, He cannot bear to even look upon sin. Yet, in Messiah Yeshua (to momentarily lapse into Hebrew!) I have the inestimable honour of being a child of that same God, the Holy One of Israel, and a joint-heir with the Lord Jesus! That beats a peerage, a knighthood, a DD, and anything else that may be relevant, into the proverbial cocked hat!

And more! You, too, if you have not already done so, may receive that honour. How do you deserve it? You don't! You never can. It's conferred upon you by His amazing grace. All that you have to do is accept it. Of course, once you do that, you begin a life that is, for so many, extremely difficult, even dangerous! But it is so worthwhile, and I commend it to you.

Limitations on God's Promises

Each day, in my e-mail Inbox, I receive a message based on a verse of the Bible. This morning's message was under the same heading as this blog-post and read as follows:

«“Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 31:37)

The people of Israel, in spite of all God had done for them, continually rebelled against Him, even turning to other gods. One might think God would have destroyed them and started again, but He had made a promise first to Abraham, then to Isaac, and then to Jacob, that this nation would be His special people, and He would not break that promise.

In our text God reveals the “conditions” under which He would cast off Israel, but they are such that there is no possibility of their being met.

If heaven above can be measured: Neither Abraham nor Jeremiah could have had any concept of the number of stars or the depth of space. Now, with modern telescopes, we see unthinkable distances and even farther and farther as our technology increases. Estimates of the radius of the universe now stand at around 46 billion light-years, and no end is in sight.

If the foundations of the earth [can be] searched out beneath: Sometimes scientists claim they know more about the sun than they do the earth. But in reality, only one percent of the earth’s radius has been explored. The pressures and temperatures that exist deep inside the earth are unthinkably great, and we don’t even know how matter acts under those conditions. The promise to Israel is secure.

Scripture is likewise full of “exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4) made to the believer. Our text indicates God’s attitudes toward His promises. We need not worry that He will keep His Word.» (Days of Praise - http://www.icr.org/homepage/)

That estimate of the radius of the universe really caught my attention! Up came the calculator, and I started to work. As many will know, a "light year" is the distance that light travels in one earth-year - at a speed of approximately 186,000 miles per second. This means that, in distance, a light year is 186,000x60x60x24x365.25! My calculator couldn't handle even that. However, I did manage to get to a "light-day" at more than 16 billion miles. Continuing from there, and now working only in billions (!), I arrived at the conclusion that the current estiimation of the radius of the known universe is 27²² miles (approx.)! That represents a figure of 27 followed by 22 zeroes:

220,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles (approx.) - and that is only the radius of what we know!

What an amazing universe! If we had reached the very edge, and it was a perfect circle, then the area covered would be (no pun intended!) astronomical! Of course that would also immediately raise the question as to what lay beyond the circumference of the circle!

Within the known universe, mankind (or 'peoplekind' if one is the rather silly and immature PM of Canada!) can predict the arrivals of comets; can plan journeys through space (at least through the Solar System - a mere speck in what we can see - although one tiny spacecraft has, if memory serves me well, gone beyond the Solar System but has lost contact with Earth); can plot weather systems. Yet, there are those who would continue to insist that all of this came from nothing (okay, you physicists, from a singularity: but from whence came the singularity?!) and, simply by a process of random chemical reactions, and random collisions, etc., became the amazing, ordered, predictable entity of which we still mknow only the tiniest part!

As I state in one of my own books: "It requires a great deal of faith to be an atheistic evolutionist"! 

It's February 13th!

Today has been a special day for me. It's that one that comes around, with unfailing regularity, every year on this date! Yes, today I have been celebrating my birthday. I have been blessed by good wishes from the UK (mostly Scotland!); from France; from Germany; from Canada; from New Zealand; and even from the United Arab Emirates.  Many of the greetings have been from former pupils at Lesmahagow High School - and many of them remembered that this is not my "birthday", but the anniversary thereof! It's always good to know that they remember something of what I taught them - even if it doesn't have anything, directly, to do with the regular lessons!

However, this is the second birthday anniversary that I have celebrated this year - the first one being just a few days ago. Today, I celebrate the anniversary of my physical birth; on February 9th, I celebrated the anniversary of my spiritual birth, when I was "born again" in the terms of the words of the Lord Jesus to a man named Nicodemus, as recorded in the New Testament Scriptures: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." (Jn.3:3).

My physical birth set me off on this journey that we call 'life'. It's a journey - as my former pupils may recall - that has lasted twenty-seven years ... ... ... and a few months (okay, it is now quite a few months!). It's been a varied life in which I have been wonderfully blessed in so many different ways. I was born to parents who loved me, cared for me, and often sacrificed their own comfort for mine. I received an excellent education so that I could read, write, count and, perhaps most importantly, think for myself! I was raised in a God-fearing environment; I was encouraged in all that I tried to do.

Then, I eventually "flew the nest" - but I saw a great deal of the world during my time in the British Merchant Navy. I moved on to tertiary education. I found the most wonderful girl in the world, and she agreed to become my wife. She gave me two beautiful daughters. She has been my faithful companion and friend for decades - encouraging me, caring for me, loving me; and she is still the most important human being in my life.

I have had three full-time careers - and dabbled in so much else from radio broadcasting to legal representation (and I never lost a case!!!).  Yes, my physical life has been varied, interesting, exciting - and has had its mixture of joy and sadness.

So what about my spiritual birth? Well, when I accepted that I am a sinner and unable, in my own strength, to do anything about it; when I accepted that the sacrificial death of Jesus, the Christ, cancelled all of my sin; when I came to Him, in repentance and faith; I became an adopted child of the Creator and Sustainer of all that is. I received that forgiveness that so many seek.

As an adopted child of the living God, I also have eternal life - that is, His own life in me, here and now! I have had a great life as a disciple of Jesus. Oh, I have often let Him down - but He has never let me down! However, the best is yet to come. When I "shuffle off this mortal coil" - either by my physical death, or by my being "... caught up in the clouds ... ... to meet the Lord in the air; ..." (I Thessalonians 4:17), I shall then spend eternity - which is not "endless time", but "timelessness" - in the presence of Almighty God, praising and glorifying "... the Lamb Who was slain from the foundation of the world." (Rev.13:8). And there shall be no "... mourning, nor crying, nor pain ..." (Rev.21:4).

I wonder how many birthday celebrations you have, each year? Each of us has one - but it's the second one that decides our eternal destiny. May you come to Him, "... the author and finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb.12:2).

Marriage - the fight continues!

Another brief video message - letting us know of some of the realities that occur when marriage is redefined!  It's worth taking the less than two minutes to view!