The personal musings, and other writings, of a Ross who has maintained the Clan's ecclesiastical link!
This is an unashamedly Christian ministry blog. Many of the posts are comments on current affairs, from a Biblical perspective, but I also include some straightforward Christian teaching; poems and songs that I have written; quotable quotes; and information on the persecuted church. Some of my posts stray into politics, and science!
Important Information.
STOP PRESS:The third book in my series - "Defending the Faith" - is now available, as a paperback, at
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1791394388 Please note that ALL royalties, on all three books, now go directly to Release International in support of the persecuted church. E-book now also available at
https://tinyurl.com/y2ffqlur
My second book - Foundations of the Faith - is available as a Kindle e-book at https://tinyurl.com/y243fhgf
The story used to be told of an Assistant Minister who was a particularly handsome young man, and unmarried. In the parish in which he was serving, there were a number of unmarried young ladies, and the mothers of these young ladies were constantly trying to get the young minister interested in their daughter. Eventually, the situation became too much for the young man and he went to his senior minister and asked if he could be released, and sent to a different parish. When he explained his reason for wanting to move, the older man smiled and asked, "But don't you know that there is safety in numbers?" "Oh I do." replied the assistant, "However, I believe that there is even greater safety in exodus!"
Exodus - a 'leaving'. It was certainly that for the Children of Israel, as recorded in the Old Testament book of that name. Here is the link to the Bible Project video on Exodus. This is another "two-parter", so be sure to come back in a couple of days for the rest of the story!
Just before my wife and I went away for a few days (we returned yesterday), I started a new series that I hope to publish on this blog. It is to be based on The Bible Project, and will provide a basic overview of every book in the Bible. It should be helpful to anyone who wishes to know more about the most important book (or, more accurately, library of books!) in the world, whether as a new disciple of Jesus, or as someone who just doesn't like reading very much!
The Book of Genesis is the first book in the Bible Library and, as the name indicates, it deals with the beginning of all that is. There are, however, two distinct parts to the book. This video deals with the first of them - chapters 1-11.
Genesis 1-11 is one of the most important sections of the whole Bible! It deals with foundational truths, and sets the scene for the redemptive work of the Creator. In the next post, we'll look at the remainder of Genesis.
In his book "Five things every Christian needs to grow" (my emphasis), the late R.C.Sproul makes the point that living the Christian life, effectively, is not something that "just happens". Just as a Gold Medal winner in the Olympic Games didn't just happen to arrive at the Stadium one day, and just happened to jump higher, run more quickly, or lift the heaviest weight, but did so as the result of years of training, practice, and discipline; so the Christian does not "just grow" in his faith.
The Christian life is a vital relationship with Father God, through the Lord Jesus, the Christ and, like all relationships, it requires to be worked at. As I type this, my wife and I have been married for more than 48 years. That sort of marriage requires a lot more than the physical attraction we had for one another 50 years ago (when we started to be "an item"!). Our relationship with the Father requires to be worked at, as well! Paul encourages us: "... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Phil 2:12-13).
R.C.Sproul offers five disciplines that will help us to live our Christian lives to the full. The first of these is Bible Study. That is the topic that, God willing, I shall seek to deal with over the next however many posts it takes. A friend; here in France; has often stated that the Church in the "West" is dying from ignorance - ignorance (as in 'lack of knowledge') of the Word of God. I agree fully! however, knowing that there are those who do not enjoy reading as much as I do, I plan to use some video clips. I plan to go through a particular series produced by The Bible Project; and also to intersperse those with some of the "Shorts" - a series of short answers to important questions, produced by SOLAS (The Centre for Public Christianity).
As I am going to be away for few days, and have extremely limited internet access, so this first post is going to be merely introductory. Of course, if a topic arises that I sense needs to be dealt with, then the series will be interrupted!
So, here are your two "starter" videos. Watch, and enjoy. I trust that they will be sufficient to whet your appetite for what is to follow.
For the SOLAS video intro, please click on the following link:
https://www.facebook.com/solascpc/videos/1424789827556253/?t=60 Sorry, this link appears not to be working! Please "copy and paste"!
