Get Flash Player Get Flash Player Get Flash Player Requirements


Minister's Message - 10th December 2006

It is not often that we take up issues abroad, particularly in America. Yet this week an issue came to light of which we should all be aware. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but only on the Koran. Yet again, we see militant Islam demanding that we all change to accommodate the faith of Allah. Jews, Mormons, and even humanists have previously taken the oath to office on the Bible. Now, in the interests of political correctness and the desire to facilitate multiculturalism, all national religion must be sacrificed on the basis that above all else, the Muslim must not be offended. This phenomenon is not unique to the United States. Indeed, it started in Great Britain. For example, in a much-publicised speech this week by Tony Blair, he warned that foreigners coming to this country must respect Britain’s traditions and its language. However, one item always missing from such a speech by Blair and his godless colleagues is respect for Britain’s religion – Christianity. If foreigners do not want to live in a Christian country, they have the choice to live elsewhere. This country’s Christian heritage has made it what it is. For the same reason, America is the power it is.

What gave Britain its education system? What gave Britain its Health service? Why does Britain give so much money in donations to charitable causes whereas muslim countries give very little? It is because of our Christian heritage. The laws and traditions to which Mr Blair and others so often refer have been conditioned by Christian values, values that are being eroded day by day.

It is now time for Britain to stand up and be counted. What are the basic values that we are to adopt in the 21st century? Let us turn again the the Law of God as it is given to us in His Word - The Bible. Only then can we claim any moral authority as a nation.

Minister's Message!

Minister's Message!

Minister's Message - 15th October 2006

The communion season will soon be on us again. It becomes us therefore to turn our thoughts to preparation for meeting with the Lord at His appointed ordinance. Let us consider a few thoughts from 1 Corinthians chapter 11.

Firstly, we must acknowledge the headship of Christ over the table. It is interesting to note that within the same chapter that the Lord’s Supper is expounded, reference is made to the headcovering and to the fact that Christ is the head of every man (verse 2).

Secondly, the Lord’s Supper is a time of uniting and fellowship for the Lord’s people. Paul was shocked at the divisions that there were in Corinth: “…when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.” (verse 18)

Thirdly, the Lord’s Supper must be conducted in the way appointed by the Lord Himself: “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you…” (verse 23).

Fourthly, the supper must be taken with thankfulness of heart. “And when he [Jesus] had given thanks…” (verse 24).

Fifthly, the elements do not, indeed cannot, literally turn into the body and blood of Christ. Christ was actually there in body with his disciples when he first instituted the Supper. Instead, we receive Christ by faith.

Sixthly, after self-examination, we go to the table in obedience to His command alone: “…this do in remembrance of me” (verse 24, 28). Minister's

Message - 8th October 2006

Where do the souls of infants go at death? And where did the Old Testament saints go prior to the resurrection of Jesus Christ? The answer the Church of Rome has given since the 13th century has been a place of ‘Limbo’ (from the Latin limbus = hem or boundary). Limbo is neither heaven nor hell, but somewhere in between. Limbus patrum is the place where the souls of the Old Testament Fathers went, and limbus infantium is the place where those who die in infancy go. Pope Pius X gave the concept papal authority early in the 20th century. [Note that this theory is different to the concept of Purgatory, which is official Roman dogma]. Now it appears that the idea of Limbo is to be scrapped by Rome.

What does all this say about Roman Catholicism? Where does it leave the doctrine of the infallibility of the Pope? And having placed infants into a place of limbo, Rome now takes them out – where does this leave their idea of salvation and the after-life? All this results from the fact that Rome exalts the traditions of men rather than building on the Word of God. Rome itself acknowledges that the doctrine of Limbo is not to be found in the Bible. But what does the Free Church believe about the death of infants? The Westminster Confession of Faith states: “Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ, through the Spirit, who works when, and where, and how He pleases…” (Chapter X.III). Note that the salvation of infants is acknowledged. However, elect infants alone will be saved. Who these elect infants are only the Lord knows. This should certainly encourage believers who lose children. But are all such infants elected? The Confession wisely leaves this an open question. Scripture has not clearly pronounced upon this subject, so neither should we.


Minister’s Message - 3rd September 2006

Several firemen in Glasgow have been disciplined for refusing to hand out leaflets at a Gay march in Glasgow. I think it is right that all Christian congregations should express their support for the men who have taken this action.

It is a sad day when one is no longer permitted the liberty and freedom to speak out against such imorality. It is outrageous when one is forced to publicly endorse it. The Bible is our only rule of faith and manners. It condemns homosexuality unreservedly. Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed for this heinous sin. When the Apostle Paul looked for a sin to demonstrate God’s judgement on mankind, it was this very sin that he set upon: “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly…” (Romans 1:26-27)

The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ has the power to change lives. In the Lord Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven. We pray that those who have suffered for standing out against the imorality of the day, especially those who do so for religious reasons and who now suffer for it, will be blessed by the Lord.


Minister’s Message - 13th August 2006

Israel invades Lebanon! Hezbollah - an Arabic name meaning ‘party of God’ - is a terrorist group intent on the elimination of ‘the Zionist entity’ (i.e. Israel). But should we be surprised at the events going on in the world? The biblical answer is no.

The Arabs descend from Ishmael and Esau, both of whom were noted for their animosity against God’s chosen people. Ishmael would be a wild man; his hands “will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him…” (Gen 16:12). As a young boy, Ishmael was cast out for his mocking of Isaac (Gen 20:9). Indeed, Paul uses the antithesis between the two to build an allegory of the opposition of legalistic religionists to those ‘born according to the spirit of God’ (Gal. 4:21-31). And Jacob had to quickly retreat to Padanaram because of Esau’s hatred (Gen. 27:41). Again, the Apostle uses the contrast between these two to illustrate the distinction between God’s disposition to the elect and to the non-elect: “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom. 9:13).

One must also remember that Israel as a nation (as opposed to spiritual Israel) took to itself the unique responsibility of crucifying the Lord of Glory. All the people imprecated any judgement for the act upon themselves “and on our children” (Matt. 27:25). The initial consequence of this was seen in the total destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. but can still be witnessed throughout the 20th and into the 21st century.



Minister’s Message - 30th July 2006

It is always good to go off on a holiday. I went down to England and enjoyed a very relaxing time. The weather was very warm indeed. It sapped one’s strength. This got me thinking on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here was a man who gave himself sacrificially in the service of His Father in Heaven. During the heat of the day, throngs of people wanting his attention continually surrounded him. Even in a crowd on a warm day in Britain can be very tiring. What must it have been like to have been the centre of that crowd’s attention in Israel? And what must it have been like to be crucified in the heat of the day, with the crowd taunting and jeering their venom?

Yet, he was required to endure an even greater heat. The wrath of God poured out upon him can only be compared to the heat of hell itself. He endured this wrath to the full. He extinguished the flames of hell for his people by his actions. What love the Lord demonstrated towards hell-deserving sinners such as we are. What that love accomplished can be seen in sinners being drawn to him in love, and their being delivered into glory. 

Minister’s Message - 28th May 2006

The Rt. Hon. David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of this country from 1916-1922, visited the Free Church General Assembly in May 1918. He was so impressed with the earnestness and the sincerity of the Assembly Commissioners, that in a conversation which he later had with Sir William Robertson Nicoll, Lloyd George declared, “I tell you Nicoll, these people are conserving something that ought to be conserved, whatever it be.”

One may give many reasons for becoming an office-bearer within the Free Church of Scotland. Exclusive psalmody is but one of many reasons for joining our Church. Yet, if there is anything that impressed me this week during the General Assembly, it is the need for every office-bearer within our denomination to be faithful to the whole testimony for which the Free Church stands. We have the duty to pass on to our children and to our children’s children that which the Free Church of Scotland has consistently confessed.

It is very easy to lose sight of this. There is the great temptation to be blinded by passionate speaches that carry us along the road of compromise on principle. To stand by Free Church principles is not secondary, but must be of paramount concern for us all. Otherwise, we have little reason for being a separate denomination from any Church within Scotland. For example, a church does not debate the rightness or otherwise of same sex marriages out of the blue. Such a situation begins the very day that denomination forsakes the biblical principles she confesses.

There may be many reasons given for a Church departing from princples. Some of these reasons may be transparently wrong. However, some of the reasons may in and of themselves be very commendable. For example, evangelism is necessary and good. We must bring the claims of the gospel before the unevangelised i.e. those outside the Church. Yet, this must always be within the context of the biblical principles believed by the Church. and not at their expense.

Mental Capacity Act - 19th March 2006

(From the Internet – Mail on Sunday dated 10/3/06)

Sign on the dotted line and vote to die. Make doubly certain by carrying a "kill me off" card at all times. And rest assured: a doctor who refuses to act as your executioner risks criminal prosecution.

A macabre fantasy? Not at all. This is the reality of the Government's Mental Capacity Act, arguably one of the most sinister laws ever foisted on this nation. Yet it began with good intentions. There is nothing wrong with the principle that those who fear becoming too ill to manage their own affairs should be able to grant power of attorney to someone they trust. But this Act also allows patients to draw up "living wills", giving these third parties power of life and death. When sick people fall into a coma, their representatives can order hospitals to withdraw food and water.

This is a world away from those sad circumstances where a doctor prescribes powerful drugs to ease the pain of a terminally ill patient, though they hasten the end. This is the legitimizing of killing. And it is horrifically open to abuse. What if patients change their minds about dying, but can't communicate? What if their representatives have ulterior motives for wanting them out of the way? How many ill, vulnerable people will feel subtly pressurized to give up, when the cash strapped NHS needs their beds? And it doesn't matter what doctors think, even though they are bound by their Hippocratic Oath. The guidelines say they must do as they are told.

So euthanasia comes to Britain by the back door. The moral and religious dimensions are brushed aside by a Government that forced this Act through on a three-line whip, instead of treating it as an issue of conscience on a free vote. So it is, in the sixth year of the 21st century, that Britain finally abandons the most fundamental principle of civilization: the sanctity of human life.