At times over the last year or so, the bible has been a dry book to me; my prayers have been those of one who knows not how to pray; I would have been embarrassed if any of you could have heard their brevity and simplicity and feebleness. At such moments “beauty” has been a powerful peace-bringer through the Holy Spirit; a couple of days ago it was a tree in all its Autumnal glory that brought stillness and peace and a tangible sense of the nearness of God to me; not so far from “Consider the lillies,” I guess. I stopped short of speaking to the tree the way that Spurgeon used to speak to the flowers to find rest for his soul….. but then I’m not a Baptist, I am a Presbyterian, of sorts!

Remember, those of you who preach and who are called to pastor souls, or those of you who are seeking, perhaps right now, to help a friend or loved one, that what may seem reasonable advice or the most lenient of encouragements to spiritual activity or discipline, can seem like a huge demand to the hearer; way beyond reach, possibility or capability. Why not try the Jesus way; an invitation to consider something beautiful? His way works… so let’s let our words be few….

…and remember, laughter can be a powerful medicine too… skateboarding dogs and Kung-fu cats  on “Facebook” have blessed me more than many zealous Christian sites…more of that another time.

God Bless

Kenny

P.S. – You are very welcome to enjoy these blogs and share them with anyone “without money or price!” However, if you ever feel grateful for these blogs and are able to do so, then please make a donation to Open Doors, Scotland. Their website is

http://www.opendoorsuk.org/scotland

In case you have not heard of them, Open Doors works to help our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world.

​So James Dobson, if what Donald Trump has admitted doing is not considered sexual abuse what is? Or are you just using sophistry when you say he is not guilty; in other words he has not been found guilty in a court even though he has admitted “wrong” in a totally non regretful way? Sad beyond belief that an evangelical leader who cares about “The family” should inflict such pain on millions of women struggling to get free from the effects of sexual assault or abuse.  Why not break down in tears and invite the Evangelical constituency to seek the face of God to show America where His controversy is with the U.S? When democracy produces a choice between Clinton and Trump, then democracy has lost its marriage with goodness, indeed it has entered into a marriage with something insidious.  Poor, poor America….

Found myself reading Jeremiah today and thinking about the word “holy.” What does it mean to call God “Holy God”? Well, the word “holy” really means “separated.” God is separated from all other “gods.” They had to be fashioned out of wood or stone, covered with gold or silver, fixed to a base etc. The true God is holy, separated from all these gods by virtue of the fact that He is unmade and Living. All these other gods, so called, tended to be gods of specific places who aggressively defended limited territory , perhaps the mountains or the valleys, but God is “holy,” separate and distinct and different, because He is God of the mountains and of the valleys and can win His battles anywhere: everywhere is His territory, the earth and all its fullness belongs to Him as do the highest heavens. The other gods were dumb and could not speak to predict events long before they happen, but God is Holy, different, separate from these gods who know nothing, in that He makes His will known to His servants the prophets before it comes to pass. So God is holy, separate, distinct, set apart as different from all other gods in these ways as well as in a host of other ways, but perhaps I have said enough to illustrate the point.

However, as I was thinking these thoughts I was remembering the odd paradox that formed in my mind when reading Rowan Williams book, “Being Disciples.” I want to quote quite a lengthy extract from it. I have written for permission which has not yet come. Without quoting directly then, but rather mixing his thoughts in with my words, Rowan Williams writes about Jesus speaking of consecrating Himself in John’s Gospel, setting Himself apart, making Himself “holy” as His death approaches, indeed making Himself holy through that death. The paradox is that the God who separates Himself from all other gods, shows Himself holy in such ways as mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog, makes Himself different from them in this way too: He does not set Himself aloof and separate from human beings and their need, but comes right into the deepest of human need, vulnerability, weakness and sinfulness to live in it as one of us, to  carry it and touch it with divine mercy and love and help. The paradox is that God’s Holiness, being separate, is shown by Him not being separated from human beings. He comes close, dives right in to where help is needed, even when it is needed by those who have offended His ways and spurned Him.

That leads to this application: Christian holiness involves being in the world but not of it to be sure; part of living this out involves entering into its need in love and practical compassion, to do what we can do by the help of the Holy Spirit of the God who is near, whose Kingdom is at hand, not distant or all for a future time, not in some far away place, but here; here now, as well as coming.

I have more time now to read the Bible and pray and think than I once did, which I guess is a good thing – not that I make as much use of that time as I want to yet. In itself none of that would make me holy in the Jesus sense of that word. I enter into His holiness not through separation from people on some ascetic spiritual pursuit, though spiritual disciplines are most definitely needed. I miss the ready made bridges afforded to being a parish minister, but I guess this will be an exciting time too as I learn to make new bridges. Hold on to this paradox: holiness cannot be achieved in separation from people. Whatever can be achieved by separation it is not “holiness’ in the Jesus way. Well, I guess I am looking back over my day wondering if I have touched holiness today…how about you?

God Bless

Kenny

P.S. – You are very welcome to enjoy these blogs and share them with anyone “without money or price!” However, if you ever feel grateful for these blogs and are able to do so, then please make a donation to Open Doors, Scotland. Their website is

http://www.opendoorsuk.org/scotland

In case you have not heard of them, Open Doors works to help our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world.

Well, some thoughts that arose through reading Jeremiah today. This is what God says about His own daughter Israel/Judah; even if two of the most famous, effective and powerful intercessors in the history of people of God, Moses and Samuel were to join their voices in united prayer, God would not listen or change His mind concerning a coming judgement. Even if Jeremiah, one of the greatest prophets was to add his prayers to theirs so that 3 were agreeing in prayer, the prayer would not be heard or granted. This is a bit uncomfortable for those who pepper their prayers with “Lord Jesus, you have promised where 2 (or 3) of us agree on anything in prayer, we can have it!”

This is such a corrective to the present trend on a “how to” approach to everything to do with God and His Kingdom which brings a lot of disillusionment though promising so much; verses and promises from within the context of being honest about a relationship with God or its lack are turned into formulae; if we learn a certain formula or approach to some blessing, or repeat a certain verse of Scripture often enough, “Shazaam!” it will be done: indeed God must do it, He has to, He has promised, and He has to fulfil His promises, doesn’t He? The fact is that every “how to” whether it is to do with healing, prayer, mission, revival or whatever is subject ultimately to the will of God. So when two (or even three) ask for something, or agree on something in prayer, the question still remains; is what is being prayed for the will of God from hearts that seek His will to be done? If it is not, then we can agree all we want, claim by faith all we want, to no avail. God is not a puppet to the shouting and proclaiming or the activity of His people no matter how confident, loud, passionate or convinced the sound we make; it may be that such declared assurance is merely confidence in our own loudness or passion: an unquestioning slavery to our own conviction about the rightness of our convictions. We do seem to live in days where there is a lot of passion about being passionate resulting in “feel good” meetings with exaggerated claims but little true testimony as to the activity of God in these meetings beyond the occasional lengthening (or shortening!) of a leg – though I believe that happens at times, it is rather depressing that after all the moves of God and centres of renewal that have arisen since the 60’s this is still given such prominence so often in a meeting as a testimony to the God who heals…. while many who really need healed go away trying not to be disappointed…. or maybe I am just reeling from the tailoress in Rose Street a week ago announcing under her breath in a beautiful but concerned continental accent, lest others should hear what I already knew and have lived with without difficulty for 58 years, “three quarters of an inch difference in the legs…” I said equally quietly in a slow Scottish accent, “Yes, it’s ok. I know that…”

I had a dream not long ago about the hacking of my navigation system. For all that I am grateful for the insights of the charismatic movement into the bible, I am not so grateful for any school of theology or approach to church life or mission that seems to suggest that if we follow a “model” then we will get a desired result, as though relationship with God or seeking to know and to pray for His will is irrelevant. It is hard to be involved in present day Christian or Church talk without yielding to the relentless pressure that somehow we can control God to give us a desired result; systems become more important than relationship and can even replace that relationship. I am also grateful that I read in Jeremiah today about how to recalibrate the navigation system. “Stand at the crossroads and ask for the ancient paths…”

The ancient paths: whatever that may mean for you, for me it means remembering what I was taught at the beginning of my Christian life: the importance of prayer; the bible; meeting with God’s people every Sunday at least; valuing the insights of those who had followed Jesus more years than I had been alive; seeking to live out “the Jesus life” in relation to anyone I may meet under any circumstance in the course of any given day. I seem to remember a time when these simple things mattered, when Christianity and Church were about such things… but maybe it’s  just my medication….

God Bless

Kenny

P.S. – You are very welcome to enjoy these blogs and share them with anyone “without money or price!” However, if you ever feel grateful for these blogs and are able to do so, then please make a donation to Open Doors, Scotland. Their website is

http://www.opendoorsuk.org/scotland

In case you have not heard of them, Open Doors works to help our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world.

Really enjoyed being at the first “open to all” service of St Mungo’s, Livingston, yesterday. This has been a venture that has been prayed over and thought about for many years and the blessing of God was manifestly upon it.

Before I went to the service I had been praying for it. I found myself singing to myself, “ I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter his courts with praise.” Many of you will know that is a song that comes from the early heady days of Charismatic Renewal. It would be considered rather old fashioned now. As I thought about the song, I was thinking, “Surely we are not going to sing that this morning?” Well, we didn’t, but we did say it! We said it together through a corporate reading of part of Psalm 100 in good Episcopalian style!

Thanksgiving is a powerful thing. I have said that several times in the course of these blogs, but it is worth repeating: imagine if every Sunday when we crossed the church threshold we said an inward prayer, (or for that matter an outward exclamation for everyone to hear!) thanking God for the church we belong to, for the gathering of people that I am part of, for a place where God’s Name is praised, His Word preached, His cross honoured, and His compassion and love extended to all. I felt I was part of such a gathering yesterday, and as one who sits in the pews now on Sundays, I was immensely grateful. I have made the decision however to be grateful on the way in next time, rather than wait and see what happens before I decide whether I will be grateful or not!

I don’t know what may be happening in your life right now, but if it does not seem too insensitive to suggest this, is there something you can be thankful for? If you have read this blog then you could start with thanking God for eyes to see, a mind to understand, wealth enough to have a phone or a computer to view this on; many in the world are lacking one or more or all of these things. I don’t mean to instil any guilt when I say that, nor do I want to sound as though I am minimising any darkness you may be going through, and may have been going through long term. I just hope you may find thankfulness is a powerful thing, and the practice of thankfulness is a helpful one to develop.

God Bless

Kenny

P.S. – You are very welcome to enjoy these blogs and share them with anyone “without money or price!” However, if you ever feel grateful for these blogs and are able to do so, then please make a donation to Open Doors, Scotland. Their website is

http://www.opendoorsuk.org/scotland

In case you have not heard of them, Open Doors works to help our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world.

Dear blog readers

Please take a look at the web page of this much needed ministry. Pass on news of this to pastors and their spouses. I feel this is a God venture. Just click the word “WELCOME” below and it should take you to the site.

God bless

Kenny

OK, I will no doubt get over the mesmeric effect of the beautiful writing of Rowan Williams; but before I do, let me share more bread I found in his book, “Being Disciples,” (SPCK 2016).Please don’t dismiss these two short quotes from Chapter 3 of that book as mere tasty morsels that you can take or leave. This really is someone who loves Jesus Christ simply and humbly breaking the Bread of Life and offering it to you and to me in the context of thinking about the Lord’s Prayer: it is not caviar, some luxurious extra or mere indulgence. May it be more than your spiritual taste buds that are activated as you read and think…

“We start from need – where else can we start?” (Page 37)

“A willingness to forgive is clearly the mark of a humanity touched by God.” (Page 40)

I might explain these a bit in coming days, but I will let you do your own chewing first!

God Bless

Kenny

A long time ago now I made a decision that instead of preaching 3 point sermons as a matter of principle, I would try and make one point in each sermon. It is not an absolute rule, but more than not I stick to that approach. I guess part of the reason is I want people to really get what I am saying. I guess another part of the reasoning was I can make point 2 the following week, God willing!

I find at the moment that something similar has happened with my reading patterns as well. Normally I used to always read to the end of a Chapter, trying to digest the whole story or all the points. Since retiring though, I now find I have time to close a book when I have read to a point that has made an impact. There is no pressure to get to the end of the chapter. I can savour more, make sure I have fully grasped rather than half-grasped what the author is saying. The habit of skim reading has been difficult to break. It goes back to the late 70’s and early 80’s when I was a student, although it is a useful tool to hold on to, as not everything in the Christian book scene written merits savouring.

Well, I stopped at “impact point” today while reading a book I have previously mentioned, “Being Disciples; the essentials of Christian Life” (SPCK 2016) by Rowan Williams. I am making extremely slow progress with the book, not because it is especially difficult to read, but because there are so many impact points in every chapter. I confess it is the first book by Rowan Williams I have ever read and I hope it will not be the last. It has taken me a month to get through 3 short chapters; they are just so good! Buy it!! Read it again and again! Let me share the thoughts that left me shutting the book and thinking with a mixture of joy and longing earlier today: “… what the Church is fundamentally, and must show itself to be, is a place where time and space are given, where people are allowed the space to experience eternal love, a place where nothing needs to be left at the door and where people are made free to receive in a world that can seem to be demanding of them all the time…” (Page 33).  As well as joy and longing, I was moved by a slight sense of sadness as I read these words: is this what church seems like to those who attend regularly or to those who cross the threshold for the first tentative visit? Well, I am still wondering….

Give some time to wonder about this with me….

God Bless

Kenny

P.S. – You are very welcome to enjoy these blogs and share them with anyone “without money or price!” However, if you ever feel grateful for these blogs and are able to do so, then please make a donation to Open Doors, Scotland. Their website is

http://www.opendoorsuk.org/scotland

In case you have not heard of them, Open Doors works to help our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world.