I had a dream  as I dropped off to sleep during a very short time of prayer (conservative evangelicals roll their eyes at  that: “ Careful, here we go, some sort of extra biblical revelation on its way”);

it was about Adam and Eve, the real ones (liberals roll their eyes at “These fundies” );

they were naked and their genitalia  were very obvious (religious spirits  are now causing a few more people to roll their eyes and trying to get them to sign off).

It seemed to me ludicrous that the two human beings I saw in my dream might self-identify as anything other than what they obviously were, male and female, man and woman, unless they were to come under the most enormous deception from whatever source.

It is a shame that in this fallen and deceived world, what may have become a confusion and a source of secret suffering for some, is becoming misunderstood and so much the domain of the PC police,  that  it is being turned into nothing but a fashionably acceptable choice for others. It is a cruel course the PC ship is set on, despite what it claims to the contrary. Look at what it did in its earlier days with the lovely word “Outing.” That used to be associated with streamers and ice-cream and singing on a bus. It became a threat.

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.

Let’s remember God is God. There is so much talk and analysis about church, what needs to change what we need to say “sorry” for to the world even.  A couple of thoughts:

1- I used to know a minister in Culloden who said that busloads of Christians from South of the border would come to his parish asking for forgiveness and praying passionate confessions and intercessions for true reconciliation between the English and the Scots. As a Scotsman he thought it was very nice anytime anyone wanted to say sorry to Scotland! However as  a Scotsman too he knew that Culloden was  about Scots against Scots and the English had no need to be asking for forgiveness all these years later for that particular scene of bloodshed! I don’t know if he found it easy or hard to burst the bubble of passionate but ill informed and needless prayer. We can’t blame others for our own family fights, even though we seem to have it in our Scottish DNA that someone has done us some wrong, and we don’t know who or when but we know it is the case!

Well, there may be times when the church needs to apologise to the world and should do so with true meekness, sorrow and humility, but let’s make sure we don’t push that beyond any factual basis. There is a danger that we forget theology and become all sentimental about the lost and have a merely sentimental view of the love of God that belittles the cross. “If only the church was more….” Listen: the Church could be as near Christ like as humanly possible this side of glory and be utterly hated and rejected along with our loving and righteous Saviour. I remember reading a poem whose origins I have long since forgotten, but it talked truth; it said that if Jesus came back into our world, our smile too would bristle with a bunch of nails (I think the poem was in a Willie Barclay book but I had to get rid of them along with hundreds of other books because old books are not good for my lung condition!).

2 – Let’s not overdo the  importance of tinkering with or even completely overhauling church structures to be more fit for purpose.  A church  in dire straits needs to talk a lot about  new structures to manage its decline because through discouragement over many years it may have been bewitched and lost belief that God can come and work in extraordinary power on saint and sinner alike. God is no gentleman. He can convert a person against their own will. He can baptise people in the Holy Spirit and get them speaking in tongues against their will – my successor at Holy Trinity and I saw it happen once to a group of reformed pastors in the Netherlands! Do we realise it can be incredibly fearful and incredibly funny when God moves? There is such a thing as godly and holy laughter, though there is put on stuff too!

God can do what He wants when He wants. It is a fearful thing though that in the mystery of His own will, there are times when He does respect our desire or lack of welcome towards His Spirit. At other times He sets the state of our hearts towards Him totally aside. Whatever, at the last no one will be able to accuse Him of fault whatever He has chosen to do in any life or any nation in any era – though it is considered sort of trendy to imagine that God will apologise to us all one day for the way things are!  He does not need our counsel.

Oh if God should come to Scotland in extraordinary revival power, how we would laugh at so many of our own earnest discussions and angst ridden meetings, and say sorry to the One we truly need to say sorry to;  to God for knowing not His Scriptures nor His power.

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.

Managed out to a church tonight that i have come connections with from many years ago. The river is still flowing in a beautiful way. It was wonderful to drink!

I heard a young woman give her testimony to Salvation, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and deliverance.  No warning was given, but up she came without delay when asked! So unselfconscious. So, so God glorifying! I heard about a man who was saved last week, and his word to the pastor this week was that he knew he was born again, because there was “a hell of a difference “in his life!!! Love it! Love it!!Love it!!! “Thank you Lord, that you are at work in so many places, so many churches throughout this land! More Lord.”

I think what struck me as well was that the leader was someone who has sought God sincerely since her earliest days as a Christian; sought to take on responsibilities, sought to learn. There was an encouragement to current young people to do the same, as well as a reference to the fact that young people now seem to be putting off taking up responsibilities until much later than years ago: living an extended youth, unwilling to take on the commitment of marriage, or parenthood or opportunities  in church. I certainly don’t mean to tar everyone with the same brush, but I think there is  a cultural shift in that direction and I don’t believe it is simply the pressure of house prices or the difficulties in the world economy , the banking crises and its aftermath, Brexit or whatever  that is behind it all. Remember that as Christians we are to live by The Kingdom of God culture not slavishly  following the patterns of the Kingdom of this world. The Kingdom of God, following Christ means we are to be culturally aware, culturally relevant and culturally different. There is a lot of talk these days about how the church, to be properly missional, needs to understand culture and be relevant to it, but perhaps not so much is said about challenging the culture or living differently from it, which is what Christians of every generation throughout time and history  are called to  do.

I don’t know if there are many young people  in their teens or twenties, or stretching into their ealy thirties for that matter, who read my Facebook posts or blog  page or not, but if there are, I want to say to you in the Name of the Lord that life is short. Seek God’s will and get on with it. Take up your callings and the responsibilities God would place upon you.   Responsibility is not a bad word! Make the decision to BEGIN NOW!  Can we miss a calling? Can we miss the right person? Well that is for another blog when I have the courage to ignore possible reactions and write it. Is it true that what is for you will not go by you? Certainly it is a phrase that one hears often in Scotland and it would be convenient if it was in the Bible! All I will say is that the window of opportunity for blind Bartimaeus to be healed was as long as it took for Jesus to walk by as he called out repeatedly, “Jesus, Son of David have mercy upon me.” Jesus never passed that way again. Many people love the story of Bartimaeus. I do too, but there is a part of it that makes me fear God, that jumbles up my tidy theology, that  makes me aware I need to be alert.

I know it is different and things change, but is it for the better? In my younger days we couldn’t wait to get married have children if that was the Lord’s will for us, couldn’t wait to serve the Lord. Nowadays, often some or all of these are pushed away until the best and most energetic years are past. It’s a shame, I think. Anyway, very blessed tonight to be somewhere where God, FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT ARE HONOURED AND LOVED, His presence and activity welcomed, not censored.

I used to sing these words and mean them even before I started to follow Jesus: (Confused by that statement? Remember the Lord is at work by His Spirit in you before you believe in Jesus. If He were not then you could never have repented and believed or come to faith! He loved me from the first of time and before and in time drew me to Himself. The same is true of you if you are a believer.  It is all grace!)

1. Lord, in the fullness of my might,
I would for Thee be strong:
While runneth o’er each dear delight,
To Thee should soar my song.

2. I would not give the world my heart,
And then profess Thy love;
I would not feel my strength depart,
And then Thy service prove.

3. I would not with swift wingèd zeal
On the world’s errands go,
And labor up the heavenly hill
With weary feet and slow.

4. O not for Thee my weak desires,
My poorer, baser part!
O not for Thee my fading fires,
The ashes of my heart!

5. O choose me in my golden time:
In my clear joys have part!
For Thee the glory of my prime,
The fullness of my heart!

Thomas Hornblower Gill, 1819-1906

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.

I am not talking about Storm Doris!

I have a wonderful notebook entitled, “Things my brain won’t let me remember.” I think it could well have quite a few companions alongside it in years to come. I found something in it today that I had forgotten I had written there. I confess I have no idea who Doris Kareva is and I resisted the urge to Google her to make it sound as though I did know so that you would think me more clever than I am! However, at some stage my notebook shows I wrote down some lines from a poem she wrote:

The question isn’t 
how to be in style
but
how to live in truth
in the face of all the winds

Sometimes the way that the need to obey the command of Scripture to “Keep in step with the Spirit” is interpreted is that the times are changing and the way God does things is changing (not sure who told the unchanging God this) and the church needs to change in what it says and what it does too. Well, “Keeping in step with the Spirit” is more than that, albeit that of course we need not to be lazy or  unimaginative  and must seek  to be relevant and do things in a relevant way. Remember though that  the way of Christ faithfully followed will  at times make us look extremely irrelevant to the life of the world. In fact you cannot be a true disciple of Jesus unless you are at least prepared to be thought of or laughed at as a complete irrelevance  to our contemporaries without us trying to cause that.  Faithfulness to Christ will mean that at times ,for sure,  we will not be admitted to the tables of leaders and decision makers in the various aspects of human endeavour;  despite qualifications to be there, we will find ourselves ostracised, kept out. (Have we forgotten that we are following one who said, “The world hates me, because I testify of it that its works  are evil,”? It is not a matter of if only the world at large understood Jesus better everyone would want Him and it is the church that needs to apologise for its bad representation of Christ, needed though such an apololgy may be at times! They would not, without an operation of the Holy Spirit by the grace of God to free those we are representing Christ to from  a  deep seated humanly inescapable resistance and rebellion against God in which we all as beleivers once shared.) At other times we may be admitted to places of influence in the church and/or the world. Whatever, Scripture and the God of the Scriptures  speaks in very strong and hostile terms indeed  of those of His people who move boundary markers in the land, effectively saying “mine” to something that is not our territory at all to deal with as we choose, or wish, or see as being fit and sensible . You can work out the spiritual application of that for yourself.

Well, whether the aforesaid Doris Kareva is a Christian or not, I have no idea, but I close with some more of her words which should be read as flowing on from the words quoted above:

with mindfulness, courage,
patience, sympathy – 
how to remain brave
when the spirit fails.

If we are called to preach or teach God’s Word, to lead His people, or to encourage the church in its mission, I hope there may be sufficient fear of the Lord in our being not to feel we can pick up and move the boundary stones as we choose even if the intended result of doing seems like a good goal to aim for. After all we want to bring ourselves and God’s people into the promised blessings of God not the promised curses don’t we? Remember, all His promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace seven times , not just the nice ones. It is as much a reason to fear God ,in the humble and proper way, as it is to rejoice in  Him  with humble and proper joy, that He  will fulfil His Word.

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.

I find “this is that which was spoken” in the story of the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 one of the most thrilling statements in the whole bible.

Some moving forward moments in my life have come from asking,  “How did that become this? Is this that which was spoken of?”

Sometimes I have asked the “This/That” question that in the midst of meetings that everyone else seems to think are wonderful. Sometimes  that questioning has crept up on me in the midst of meetings, conferences etc. that I  felt very happy and at home  in myself: meetings in which the preaching has been wonderful and biblical (not just a motivational/humorous/polished/purposefully cool and casual  talk with little reference to the bible or to the priorities of Jesus in the gospels), the worship evidently carrying the blessing of God, where genuine gifts of The  Holy Spirit  are flowing freely in ministry time.

Have I let go of  “This is that” places I have touched in the past? Why? Have you?

“O Lord, save us from this, give us that!” sums up many of my prayers over the years.

“This is that” moments have been the most wonder-filled, awe-filled, fearful, joy-filled, tear-inducing and laughter producing moments of my life. They are precious.

May there be more “this is that” moments and seasons for you, for me, for Scotland and beyond.

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.

Saw this on Facebook today:

A six-year-old Scottish girl named Lulu wrote a letter to God: “To God, How did you get invented?” Lulu’s father, who is not a believer, sent her letter to various church leaders: the Scottish Episcopal Church (no reply), the Presbyterians (no reply), and the Scottish Catholics (who sent a theologically complex reply). He also sent it to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who sent the following letter in reply:

Dear Lulu,

Your dad has sent on your letter and asked if I have any answers. It’s a difficult one! But I think God might reply a bit like this –

‘Dear Lulu – Nobody invented me – but lots of people discovered me and were quite surprised. They discovered me when they looked round at the world and thought it was really beautiful or really mysterious and wondered where it came from. They discovered me when they were very very quiet on their own and felt a sort of peace and love they hadn’t expected. Then they invented ideas about me – some of them sensible and some of them not very sensible. From time to time I sent them some hints – specially in the life of Jesus – to help them get closer to what I’m really like. But there was nothing and nobody around before me to invent me. Rather like somebody who writes a story in a book, I started making up the story of the world and eventually invented human beings like you who could ask me awkward questions!’

And then he’d send you lots of love and sign off. I know he doesn’t usually write letters, so I have to do the best I can on his behalf. Lots of love from me too.

+Archbishop Rowan

Well, I liked reading this today and it set me thinking:  I think cleverness is a wonderful thing when it is combined with a heart for the Lord and for the least. On its own clever theology is not theology, or certainly  should not be considered such by Christians. After all, how  can  theology, “the Knowledge or Study  of God/the Divine,” be divorced from the love of God as demonstrated here and by Jesus who wanted the little children to be allowed to come to Him? Perhaps a theologian or scholar or preacher  who has not tried to answer the theological questions of a six year old is not worth reading or listening to. Perhaps  a church that does not hear or respond to such questions is not worth attending, more lost than the lost, more in need of the mercy and forgiveness of God than it may realise, if it is to enjoy a future and a hope.

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.

The title of this blog was the instinctive, under my breath murmur, as I read these words in Psalm 62.4 (NLT) in my daily readings for yesterday:

“Let all that I am wait quietly before God for my hope is in him…”

Is there a door in your head (or a few doors) that keep banging, refusing to stay shut? I pray these doors might “hear the Word of the Lord.”

It may be that for some of us there is a bit of help towards this in some words from verse 8: “O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.” It is strange that waiting quietly and the counsel to pour out our heart both appear in the same Pslam.

Jesus teaches us that prayer is not about using many words, or vain repetition, as though an answer to our prayers were based on these things as some sort of religious or superstitious formula. However, that does not mean there is never a time to pour out our heart be it with no words, few words or many, whatever  may be needed.

I am quite a quiet chap by nature. On a couple of occasions over the years when I have been asked to pray at meetings, all of a sudden I have started to pour out my heart, sometimes with emotion and volume that is alien to my normal way of praying. On one occasion the loudness and the heartfelt emotion surprised me. The more I tried to tone it down, the louder it all became…until it was done. Someone said to me afterwards in disapproval, “There was no need for that.” Actually, there was; they were simply wrong as well as offended.

I am not talking about mere emotional release, though that can be helpful too. I am talking about coming before God and whatever it looks like letting all that I am wait quietly before the Lord. Paraodoxically, to get there, at times there needs to be a bit of pouring out of our heart, so that we can rest and wait, knowing the prayer is done.

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.

I have been mulling over these words from Psalm 5:

“Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favour as with a shield.”

If we are believers in Christ, we are righteous through the blood of Christ shed for us, Hallelujah! The Holy Spirit is also working within us to make us righteous not only in status before God but in actual fact in our day to day living, more and more. How comfortable are you with the idea that God surrounds you with His favour? Perhaps you feel, “That doesn’t seem fair. It gives the people of God a benefit, an advantage.” Well, it looks sort of like it. “Favour ain’t fair” said T.D. Jakes. We will just need to get over it.

I think I often stop short in my prayers or in my expectation of God moving in my life for my good, or through my life to bless others and further His Kingdom purposes because I have not fully got hold of this idea of favour. I am feeling my way towards what it might mean if I believed in favour, truly. I am not sure I really know what it means  exactly,  but I felt I wanted to pray that those of you who read this blog will know what the favour of God is, by experience. I think I have to pray that we will experience doors opening for us that we did not push to open, while others push and these doors do not open. Others may look on and cry out in bitterness,  “favouritism.” We need to learn to call it “favour.” Remember though that Jesus was the one upon whom God’s favour rested above all. Sometimes being “favoured'” will not seem like that is what is happening at all!  Doors may open that we would not choose to  go through, save knowing it is the will of God that we do so.

God bless you with His favour,

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.

I heard a wonderful sermon today by Malcom Round at St. Mungo’s, Livingston. In the course of his talk, Malcolm referred to the following words from Mark Chapter 14:

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

I have found myself unable to get these words out of my mind. It is not that I have been thinking thoughts about these verses that I have never thought before. Rather, I have been feeling again the amazement I always feel when I come across these words. The setting for what we read here is that Jesus has been arrested; He is being tried unjustly; a few verses on, we read of people spitting upon Him, striking Him and mocking Him; He knew a friend at that very moment was in the process of denying Him; another friend had already betrayed Him;  He knew that much worse humiliation and agony were still to come. In the midst of all that seemed to mock the very idea that He could be the Son of the Living God, He asserts that He is!

Have you faced things in your past that seem to mock the idea that you are a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ, a much loved son or daughter of your Heavenly Father? Perhaps even in the present you are facing some hard to bear realities that again could easily mock the idea that you are a child of God; perhaps you are about to face something that would cause others looking on to  think that a child much loved by their Heavenly Father should not have to endure such things.

My prayer is that in the face of every mocking voice or circumstance, every taunt behind which you can hear “Are you really a child of God” you will be able to say by God’s grace and strength, “Yes, actually I am.  Through the cross of Christ I am a child of God. Nothing can unmake me a child of God; nothing can take that away from me. I am greatly, faithfully, sacrificially, warmly, eternally loved.” I am so glad that we have a Saviour who is familiar with what we go through, who went there ahead of His Sheep. I am so glad that the words of Corrie Ten Boom’s sister, which she first uttered in a Concentration Camp,  are true; “There is no pit so deep that the love of God is not deeper still.”

One final thought: I am writing this blog on a Sunday. It may not be your status as a child of God that has been mocked today, but your calling. Whatever you feel the call of God is upon your life, whether you be a church leader, a minister, a pastor, an evangelist, a prophet, an Apostle, a Church Planter, a Welcomer at the church door, a Teacher of the young, someone who leads worship etc. etc., it is entirely possible that this day has had sufficient in it to mock the idea of  ever thinking you were called and equipped by God to do something in His Kingdom. That can come about through lack of affirmation or response, or it can come about because of downright nastiness among the people of God. Some of God’s children can be really horrible, their tongues, eyes and cold shoulders wounding at times; sometimes deliberately so,  but more often in a thoughtlessly discouraging way.

Of course the mocking voice can come from within ourselves as well, but wherever we have heard that tone today, what and who do you think is its source? Certainly not the God who is for you, not against you! Jesus was astonishingly blunt when it came to confronting things being said that had a dark source. He did not say “Be silent please, ” in a pleading almost apologetic  way. He said, “Be throttled!” Maybe you have a bit of “throttling” in the name of Jesus to do before the day is out…by the way, remember not to throttle people but what lies behind their words! I have been throttled 3 times in my life physically… not a nice experience…

I will leave the overtly Charismatic bit aside…until now, right at the end of this blog. You may well discover this astonishing phenomena; if you throttle the source in the Name of Jesus, you may hear words sticking in the throat of a flesh and blood person, almost as though the person is choking; they will become unable to speak, to say what they were in the midst of saying. Who knows, the fear of the Lord may grip you both… not a bad result.

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.

For Scotland I sing,
the P.C. ruined nation,
that poet and saint
must rebuild with their passion.

(With apologies to George Mackay Brown, my favourite poet and short-story writer.)

Kenny

(In a quiet moment this morning…something better ‘felt than telt’ – ask a Scot to explain!)

“What do you look for in church?”

“I am looking for my Son.”

Of course, “Some said it thundered…”

God bless

Kenny

Further to my last blog (“What do we do with light?)  in whichI asked a question about why revival tarries, Ann, who was Session Clerk while I was minister of Holy Trinity, Wester Hailes, sent me a quote from a Leonard Ravenhill sermon. Its effect was like the stare of a headteacher I used to know; her look was capable of felling an elephant at a thousand paces out! Here is the quote:

“the only reason we don’t have revival is that we are willing to live without it”

I am relieved to say I have found I fear God enough to not add any comment.

God Bless

Kenny

There are so many good signs of the Spirit being at work in Scotland and throughout  the UK. There are many bright spots full of the vibrant life of the Spirit of God. There are those who have caught sight of a vision and have invested everything in it, perhpas having to go through the valley of the shadow of death with their vision before it rose again after the paying of a price… yet despite all thes signs of fresh life, Revival still tarries…why?

Perhaps there are many answers to that question. Of course we believe our anwer is more the real reason above all the other reasons people suggest. So, just one more question. How fully are you or I living according to the light we believe we have received on this matter or any other matter? If we believe that more prayer is needed, am I praying? If we believe new expressions of church are needed, am I actively part of that movement or just a critic of what has been, paying no cost? If we believe more love is the answer, more creative approaches to worship or witness, more true holiness, repentance etc.etc.etc…

I have been humbled over the years by meeting those who are living much more fully according to the light they have received than I do to the light I have received. I have a feeling that humbling will continue…..

God bless

Kenny

(Sorry if you have read this on Facebook, but sending it via WordPress too for those who avoid Facebook like the plague!)

Thanks for asking yet again Facebook, “Kenny, what is on your mind?” Well here is what I have been thinking: that believing that God calls and justifies a person (as the Apostle Paul clearly believed is the case from what he wrote in his letter to the Romans) does not mean that we fail to do what he said he did in his second letter to the Corinthians: to plead with men and women on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” If you are a preacher, in the Sovereignty of God’s grace this coming Sunday may well be the first, only, or last time someone in your congregation will have to hear about Jesus and to be encouraged by your Holy Spirit given pleadings to come to Him.

If Christ Himself is pictured by Paul as begging and pleading with people to be reconciled to God, is it time to throw caution and good taste to the wind and beg and plead too, whether in preaching or witnessing? When I say that, I am not talking of a dramatic display of feigned emotion, rather my mind is going back to a newspaper item I read about the Orkney Revival of the early 1860’s. The reporter spoke of seeing a little girl saying to an old spiritually distressed man, “Oh sir, won’t you come to Jesus. Can’t you see Him? Please let me help you to Jesus.” Being thought of as “cool” maybe needs to be let go of as an acceptable aim for a preacher of the gospel or a witness of Jesus Christ.  His cross is not a “cool” image. May lambs be born into the Kingdom of God throughout Scotland and beyond  by the power of God’s Word and Spirit.  May preaching, our witnessing, our pleadings be the midwife helping to bring God given life to birth.

God Bless

Kenny

I may never be the pastor of a church again, but if I was, I think I would make changes to the way I used to begin Sunday Worship. Somewhere  very near the start of  service I think I would have some sort of aid to focus people on why we come together in the Name of Jesus Christ. My guided devotions include saying this declaration of faith in the morning:

“Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life
and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ,
King of endless glory.

I just love saying these words in the morning. Just the saying of them seems to make me aware of the presence of a stream of life and strength that is not my own: The Lord Jesus Christ crucified for me, risen and present with me and in me by the Holy Spirit. I need Him every day, but especially now that I am more aware of my weakness and fragility in many ways than I was a few short years ago. Sometimes throughout the day, I lose the awareness of the presence of Christ; I lose focus. Within some hours though I have got the focus back, for the next morning if I have a will to so do,  I can say again: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and we have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Imagine if each Sunday, preacher and people joined together saying these astonishing words above  with reverence and humility… we might be mightily blessed… we might even stumble upon what preaching and a church gathering are really for and not misuse the time, or the pulpit, or the bible , or the gathering together of God’s people for other reasons and visions, save the impartation and the receiving of the life of Christ by His Word  and Spirit and though the Sacraments and one another’s fellowship.

Very  early on in my ministry, I visited a young couple in the parish to which I had been newly inducted. After pleasantries, I was asked a question that was like an open door to me to share Jesus Christ. The lady of the couple became a Christian. Her husband threatened to kill me he was so angry! In fact come to think of it a few husbands have threatened to kill me over the years – please take that in the right way! Come to think of it a wee bit more, some people have said some things over the years that have seemed more than/less than human, including an individual phoning me up and saying, “We will drive you out of here any way we can. How many more of us have you been sent here to destroy?” Does that sound familiar from somewhere? Though the anger of the husband of the couple I mentioned above abated in time he never came to faith in Christ, or at least not during my time in that particular parish, though writing about him has made me shoot up an arrow prayer for him even in the midst of blogging.  On my last day in that parish, he came to say a personal face to face “goodbye” and it seemed warm and genuine. As I say,  that visit was one of my earliest evangelistic ventures in a pastoral setting in a new parish as a new minister, but in the course of my whole ministry over all the decades since, no one has ever said anything more wonderful than the lady of the couple when describing the aftermath of our conversation. She said, “When you left, all I could think about was Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I wanted Jesus. I needed Jesus. In fact I just walked about the house, crying out, “Jesus, Jesus Jesus!”

I am reminded of an “iron fist in a velvet glove” question that Henri Nouwen asked a friend in a letter, which I mentioned in a blog a few days ago: “Could you not be more Christ centred in your thinking?”

I am sure that what that woman expressed was not always sadly the effect of either my visiting or pastoring… I wish it had been so more often.

As well as a declaration of faith at the beginning of  “service,” may it be the prayerful aim and true longing of all those called to preach and teach that people will go away and not be able to stop thinking about Jesus. I hope that our visions for church and mission have not become so exciting and grand  and cutting edge that we have become cynical of hoping and praying that after a Sunday Service, someone may say, “I heard the voice of Jesus say, come unto me and rest…stoop down and drink and live… and I came to Jesus and I drank of that life-giving stream!  My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him… I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad. I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad! I looked to Jesus and I found in Him, my star, my sun; and in that Light of life I’ll walk, till travelling days are done!”

I shudder to think that all some people may remember from my sermons  will be a funny story I told, or something I shared about myself, or the odd outrageous sentence or two – which can come rather easily to a Charismatic Glaswegian Christian preacher! I tremble at the thought. I know it is possible. Many ministers had an influence on me for good or ill! Even from my earliest years as a Christian, then through my training and throughout all the time since, I have met many who have left me thinking about Jesus and left me longing to know Him more. From others, I can only remember skill and jokes…though of course,  humour has its place as does skill, so long as we do not rely on these things in the wrong “Christ-hiding-myself-exalting” way.

Can a joke lead to Christ? I am sure it can. Sadly often the jokes were just jokes: the idea of “coming to Jesus” seemed for some ministers to be the biggest joke around, deserving only of their witty and cynical  and scholarly mockery. I even heard the idea of coming to Jesus dismissed in condescending fashion as  the “S.U.” experience; sadly that mockery was common in some ministerial and academic gatherings in my experience, though most certainly not in all such gatherings; other ministerial gatherings were marked by heartfelt love for Christ and prayerful longing that people would come to know Jesus throughout the parishes and communities of Scotland and beyond.

It is a horrific thought: how many “ministers”  may have left their congregations to cry out one day in anguish that as a flock the Shepherd they called to “pastor their souls”  who had preached such interesting sermons and visited so faithfuly and was so well liked by all had not encouraged them towards the “S.U.” experience too: “Minister, Rev, Dr. Rev, Right Rev, Very Rev, Rev Professor, vicar, Bishop, Pastor, why did you not tell me I needed to come to Jesus?  Oh, you made me think it was all about me being a good person and I tried to be that down through the years; you made me think it was all about having wise insights into life or the way the world is.  ‘Wise? Good? Insightful?’ Minister, you blinded me with a lie that such was the company you and  I should aspire to; you even used to talk about meetings you went to with ‘the wise and the good of the land’…why did you not tell me I needed a Saviour who was wounded for my transgressions and bruised for my iniquities; that the  original Jesus, who you told us we could never really get to behind the layers of the bible narrative, was numbered among the transgressors? Why did you play theology with my eternal soul? I can hear a countless throng at a distance singing a never ending song to ‘Him who sits upon the throne and to the lamb’;  to the lamb ‘who has loved them and washed them from sin!’ They sing not just about how He created them and all things, but of how He redeemd them, ransomed them, cleaned them, of how His blood has set them free! Listen to what they are singing, minister! The things you mocked have won the day at the last! They are singing to Jesus who ‘in white robes arrayed us, kings and priests made us.’ They sound as though they could sing that song for eternity and never tire of it or lose their joy!  If only I had one more day to come to Jesus and join them; if only I could embrace what I had been taught by you, by you minister, to mock; if only I could start again….

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.

I feel I want to write a bit more about discernment of spirits.

If you read my blogs regularly you will know that I started to write them because I had to retire from active parish ministry early due to ill health and felt “blogging” was a way of still ministering to God’s people in some way. My problem is my O2 levels due to something called Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis. When my O2 levels fall below 89 or 88 then I can feel somewhat light headed, a biy dizzy, a bit panicky and things begin to swirl around a bit. That happens when I have done too much, stood too long or even spoken too much. It is as though I have hit a wall in terms of the amount of oxygen getting into my blood stream  to feed the various organs of my body etc. Resting, my O2 levels are reasonably OK and probably only a  few notches below what yours may be without HP. When I do push too far it seems to take a lot out of me and leave me very drained of energy. The trouble is I don’t often realise when that wall is approaching…wisdom would dictate I need to stop before that wall, but I don’t like being  being curtailed  and am competitve by nature even against my own lungs!! I should add I am not competitive in my relationship with God or in ministry but I do like pushing against my own limitations in other ways.

Here’s the thing though: when I was a child I loved getting dizzy! I loved to spin round and round and then suddenly stop whereupon everything continued to spin and I continued to stagger. That dizziness caused laughter! It was fun.

The same symptoms can have very different sources. Jesus was aware of that. Sometimes in His ministry He healed people while in other instances when a description of symptoms sounds very similar He knew the source was demonic and cast out an unclean  spirit.

It is really important to know the source of something. I recall someone that I met pastorally who  had symptoms of schizophrenia but the Lord said to me “This is demonic.” That was indeed the case and the person was set free in a lasting way that passed the test of the years. However on another occasion someone came towards me seething and cursing, ripping a bible up and saying he would bite the flesh off my bones. His hair was extremely long and his nails were like talons. Occasionally he would just growl angrily at me rather than speak.  The nurses in the ward were anxious about me speaking to him at all for fear of my safety. Well, I did speak but made sure I was at the door, with one foot in the door for an easy escape had things kicked off. The gift of discernment showed me this was mental illness even though it sounded and looked as though there might have been something demonic going on. This poor man was severely  mentally ill and needed help from people and from God to face up to that fact and to seek to move towards healing. I have no contact with him now and I am not sure whether he has ever accepted the fact that he was indeed very ill rather than demonised. In a sense it seemed to me  that person  almost  wanted me to accept he had a demon, as that would absolve him of having to face up to some very painful human realities from the past. He was annoyed in the extreme that I would not back up his own self-diagnosis. Sometimes I have not been able to help people and they have kept a distance from me , or kept away from church, nursing their anger rather than admitting their true problem. It is quite easy to make “the minister” the scapegoat, or indeed someone else that has tried to help.

This is more than a pedantic distinction. To tell someone they have a demon and minister as though they have when they haven’t may well leave a person not only unhelped but in a worse off state because now they believe they are demonised. To treat a demonised person by medical means alone again will leave that person not as free as they could be through the name of Jesus Christ and the power of His blood.

I recall  reading a story about a young girl who was apparently prophesying accurately. However a mature Christian in the gathering started to feel uneasy. At this point the young person started to look in their direction and shout out, “Rebellion, rebellion in the room.” The mature Christian kept calm and said, “This is not rebellion, I am simply asking what spirit is at work here.” Well, at that point there was demonic manifestation through the girl. Even though “facts” were being prophesied that could only have been supernatrually revealed, the source was demonic rather than the Spirit of God. This of course is what happens in spiritualist meetings through mediums. Demons know things and can quite easily reveal them giving the impression that a loved one has drawn near. It is cruel deception. It’s aim is to divert someone from coming to Christ for eternal life, which only He can give. There is no light in the valley of the shaadow of death save Jesus Christ and personal God given faith in Him. Spiritualist mediums suggest “death is nothing at all.” Christians do not beleive “death is nothing at all” poetic though that may sound. Death is a destructive enemy. It needed to be conquered by Christ.

If you  have been damaged through someone who has not discerned properly the nature of a problem you may be struggling with, I pray this blog might help you to set aside what has been wrongly done to you or said to you and find your way to peace. Don’t carry the weight of faulty mininstry or allow the memory of it to overshadow you for  one moment longer. It may be of course that despite being well intentioned you have damaged someone through ministry that was devoid of proper discernment. Let’s remember there is mercy in Christ for the damaged and the damager; but could it be you need to humble yourself and admit to someone you got it wrong when you tried to help them? Not easy, I know…

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.

(Hi blog readers. Put this on Facebook, but posting it here in WordPress as I know that is how some of you get these blogs. K)

Is our faith based on our favourite speakers, authors etc or on “for the bible tells me so”? Quite often people quote me in my hearing! I apreciate the appreciation, but at times I will have preached utter nonsense, or as one of my church members in Orkney encouragingly said at the door on one occasion, “utter madness.” At times it will be untrustworthy chirping, chaff compared with the wheat of God’s written Word, though hopefully most of the time it was nourishing. I read a verse in Psalm 119 that talks about staying awake in the night to think of God’s laws (and no, I’ll not tell you the verse number; look for it yourself if you want to! The search will be profitable). Sounds good to me. As a preacher, I think I always looked for a response that was something more than an echo of my own voice. How vain that we are fascinated by the echo of our voice so much so that we can miss the sound of a mightier river or wind than any of us have encountered (a thought sparked off by one of Wordsworth’s poems that I read lying in the bath this morning).

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.

When I was well enough to be part of the Christian Conference scene, it was expected that speakers’ talks would last for a minimum of 45 or 50 minutes. When I was well enough to be a minister at Holy Trinity in Wester Hailes, a wonderfully patient congregation allowed me often to preach as long on a Sunday. I was brought up on long sermons and loved them…

….but if Jesus is our model in all things, well, it seems that often, though not always, His teaching talks were apparently quite brief. For some reason, we  almost always assume when we read of Him teaching in the bible that what we are reading must be a summary of what He actualy said at greater length. At times there are statements in the text to tell us that is indeed the case; but what if what we read is more often than not an actual report of all He said on a given  occasion from beginning to end? Well, there’s a thought that will make some of us feel incredibly annoyed and write a hymn “In praise of long sermons”…  but, it is a thought too that reminds us that Jesus understands our humanness, our human capacities, and is a wise teacher..knowing when to stop. He never seemed to need to use my habitual preaching lie: “And finally..”  This was usually followed by another one: “Finally finally…” which was followed by “Sorry, just one more thing right at the end as we close…”Of course there is biblical backing for long sermons: we are actually allowed to preach so long in a stifling room that people fall asleep and fall out a window and claim biblical backing;  admittedly it is more worrying and quite a dent to pride when people fall asleep during a 14 minute sermon.

May God help preachers this weekend…and may He help listeners too!

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.

You will know by now my admiration for Henri Nouwen’s writings. Today, I read one of his letters to a friend. The friendship was obviously very real and deep, strong enough for these words to be said:

“Is it possible to be more Christ centred in your thinking?”

Talk about an iron fist in a velvet glove?!

It is good to know our own story, but not to get so articulate about that at the expense of speaking to ourselves and others of Christ. His story is what matters most. God rescue us from not facing up to things about ourselves, but God rescue us too from narcicissm and self-obsession.

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.

OK, a bit random: I was reading a poem today (time to do more of that these days!) which centred on the word “Otherwise.” I thought about that word for a while. Why don’t you? What are the associations that come with it; good or bad? What is the instinctive tone in which you hear that word before having time to think of it too much? Does it promote fear or trust, anxiety or thankfulness, resentment, joy or something else? It showed me quite a lot about myself, my outlook, my view of God…interesting…

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.

Rejoicing in news from friends of the safe arrival of their baby. So grateful for my grown up children, especially that by God’s grace they know the Lord. I cannot think of any greater joy as a parent. How tragic to only know our loved ones for the years of time alone and not in eternity. Perhaps tonight I have prayed a payer for you that agrees with your own this night and every night: “Father may all our children be taught of the Lord.” Let’s believe for that together…

God Bless

Kenny

I felt today this truth being impressed upon me: there are many beleivers in Christ who are living their lives by a series of distractions.

What do I mean? Well, take Peter:  fresh from his failure, his denial of Christ, after the Resurrection he announces to his fellow disciples, “I’m going fishing.” Maybe he genuinely thought he was permanently sacked from discipleship so there was no alternative but to return to his former way of living and his former liveliehood. However, I don’t think so; I think he was trying the remedy of distraction to deal with his inner fears and turmoils, shames and shadows of defeat. Frequently when I was a pastor it seemed that was the height of advice many people struggling internally were given by the world’s well-meaning wisdom and learning even in the form of Professionals from  one field or another;  go for a walk, clean a room, take up a hobby. There may be some measure of wisdom in the strategy of distraction, but to be honest to tell a person carrying deep trauma or shame to vacuum a room seems a bit like trying to bring down a giant with a pea-shooter, however well intentioned the aim and the advice.

When Jesus appeared on the shore,  Peter jumped into the sea to get to Him before the  other disciples but also to climb his way out of the sinking sand of the mocking powerlessness of his own strategy of distraction. He went to where he feared to go and yet needed to go; to Jesus. What did he find? He found what I can only describe as mercy marked by integrity and hope. Mercy is not pretending something never happened. Far from distracting Peter from what caused him inner pain, Christ in several ways resets the scene of his  failure as the backdrop for much needed mercy and the reawakening of  true hope and a restored sense of Kingdom-of-God living and purpose.

So often when we have kept a distance from the Lord, we can fear going in the one direction we need to go: straight to the Lord of integrity and hope-filled mercy. I know tonight some will read this blog who have been afraid to pick up the one book they need to pick up; the bible. Some who are reading this blog will be afraid to do what you long to do; to start praying again; you may even feel you have forgotten how to pray. May God give you the courage of Peter to pick up the bible; may He give you courage to pray as a child  speaking with their loving father, not as an adult negotiator with a hard to persuade God; may He give you faith in the hope-filled mercy of Christ. Put everything aside right now and come close to Him. Take a step towards him in some way by some gesture or act  and you will find that He was ahead of you making preparations for your arrival just as had been made for Peter that day on the beach. He knew you would be coming before you did and has prepared the meeting and talking place, the place of His extended hospitality.

What’s more, perhaps soon after you read this blog,  you will find the relief of speaking with Him about where you really are. That is where Peter got to on the beach. The English text conceals that a bit. When Jesus asked Peter if he really loved Him more than the others, as he had claimed before , Peter effectively says “Yes/No.” He could no longer keep up the pretence of having as deep a love for Jesus as he had publicly and emotionally and perhaps proudly proclaimed for all to hear; the sort of love  that would sacrifice everything, even life itself, in a completley altruistic way for the sake of the one it loves. Instead, he tells Jesus  repetitively and yet with conviction and  unwavering insistence despite being questioned repeatedly by the One who knows all things, that he can genuinely say and mean this: he wants friendship with Jesus; he knows this and boldly states it; he does not want to lose that friendship. He can no longer promise great things, great sacrifices. He has learned a distrust in himself which he needed to learn. Now he is being honest. Whatever might happen in the future, at this point, all he could say with integrity is that he wanted friendship with Jesus. The wonderful thing is, that Jesus accepted that more limited offering of love. He could build on that foundation,  for it had a ring of humble truthfulness and integrity about it:  and build, He most certainly did.

When you read the bible you see patterns in Peter that you know as the reader are going to be disastrous. However Jesus always saw not just the patterns but the potential. Remember Peter was a Christ originated nickname, a nickname one might give to a champion,  to a prize-fighter: Simon, Son of Jonas, would be Peter Son of Jonas, “Rocky Johnson.” On the beach He called him Simon Johnson again, and from that renewed place of humility and realisation of his own weakness, hand in hand with friendship with Jesus, the march towards the Peter Potential begins. The sequels to “Rocky and The Cockerel” were already planned.

Please, please, please, if you have stayed away too long, or run away too long, run towards Jesus; he will meet you with warmth, with nourishment and invite you for a mutual walk of talking and listening along the path of truthfulness and promise.

Just thought it would be worth updating this blog by adding a few lines from “Celtic Daily Prayer, Book 1, page 356 (Published by William Collins). The commentary on the bible readings for today, 8th February, includes these wonderful words: “…since there is nowhere I can flee from Thee save to Thee, Thou dost stretch out Thine arms to receive me and bend down Thy head to kiss me…” Truly beautiful thought and truth: may the words of this quotation bless you as they blessed me this morning and again this evening.

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.

You wait ages for a bus and then 3 come along… well, here is blog 3 in the last 24 hours! 2 thoughts:

1: Far better to be mocked as naive and to keep the peace of God than to be admired as wise and know not that the Spirit of God has left you….

2: Remember the Spirit of God can be grieved:  pray for help to know when He is grieved in you or even by you. Pray that you will be one upon whom the Spirit of God can rest and remain. Ephesians 4 verse 30 and following are worth reading before preaching or ministering to people in some way in the Name of Christ not to condemn us but to help us be prepared. I don’t think these verses are a full list of all that can grieve the Spirit, but sometimes one senses some of what is mentioned here in pulpits:  a simmering  bitterness (unforgiveness) rage or anger for reasons every Rev. throughout the  nations could well understand; understandable perhaps, but not the best way to make a resting or remaining place for the Dove. When I was aware of such things in me in days of better health and a more active preaching ministry, I found it a powerful prayer to say simply and with straighforward honesty, “Father I confess this is wrong. That is all I can do, God help me. If anything shows I need you, it is this attitude. Without more of you,  I cannot get beyond this confession; I can agree with your Word and Spirit that this is wrong, but I cannot change this. Please help me by your Spirit. Fill me afresh or I will always be like this.”

It is now 3 in the morning UK time. I am fully awake for reasons explained in another blog; didn’t get up until 3.30 yesterday afternoon! Feeling very alert, hence this third blog. Maybe if you are awake at 3 am with me, you could read Ephesians 4 from verse 30 onwards, or even borrow and use my prayer  before Sunday progresses any further if you think it would help…

…If  you are in another time zone, of course you are still allowed to do the same, just send your best ministry gift to…..lol as the cool young texting and  bible app generation say these days. Embarassed to say that it  took me several years of simmering annoyance to work out what they meant by that; and anyway,why could they not just say that; and why does everything need abbreviated… and why do they have to wear jeans ripped at the knees that seem fit only for painting or decorating in, or garden work or scraping limpets and seaweed off the hull of a boat or cleaning rusty things with metholated spirits… or let’s face it jeans that are actually fit only for the bin (of the right colour and put out on the right day of course)…and why does the angle of their hand and  each finger need to be have to be the way it seems to have to be when they raise their hands in worship, angles and shapes that I cannot match, and why do worship leaders sound as though they are in pain, and do they actually want me to make out the words they are singing; must we play  “guess the words” as well as the  “guess  the flipping tune” game that has gone on for years now (I mean, have they never listened to  85 plus year old Tony Bennet for a few lessons in pronunciation and followable rhythm that makes people smile and actually want to sing along: good enough for Lady Gaga…)  and what is wrong witht the old hymns anyway that they are all but outlawed now,  and when will we be allowed to sing an unaccompanied pslam ( don’t they know the psalms are Scottish), and  why do folk need to drink coffee during a church service, and while I am at it I wish people would stop doing that thing, you know what I mean, that thing,  that  thing that is SO annoying… ??!! Drat, wait a minute: “Father, I confess this is wrong. That is all I……………Fill me afresh or I will always be like this.” Still need that prayer; maybe I always will.

God bless you with His help and lead you into His peace. May He give you rest from you.

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.

A wee bit more on a previous blog  from a while back regarding discernment of spirits:

It seems to be the case that one of the uses of that gift is knowing the source from which someone is speaking; are they saying something that comes from God, that comes from themsleves or that comes from the evil one? It is a useful gift to have in any setting, including church meetings, Kirk Session meetings etc.

Let me share an example. Last night we were at a magnificent evening in Holy Trinity Church, Wester Hailes, to mark the moving to a new “job” the Youth minister, Rev. Ollie Clegg. It was a wonderful evening. The fruit of his ministry was so rightly honoured. It will be hard to imagine Holy Trinity without Ollie, who has ministered there for 17 years; it will be equally hard to imagine H.T. without his wonderful wife Laura, who has been part of the congregation since her birth and has contributed so much to its life in many different ways.

Part of the joy of the evening for me was meeting up with the H.T. people again including former members of the ministry team. At one point I was talking to Rev. Mike Dawson the former Associate minister: a humble and true man of God. He was asking me how our house move had gone. I told him that it was really remarkable in that we had had virtually no snagging – in stark contrast to many people’s experience of moving into a new build house, including our own past expereince. Mike said quite simply “That is exactly what Penny and I were praying for.” At that point this gift of discernment of spirits kicked in. I cannot turn it on and I cannot turn it off; it just happens! What do I mean? Well there was a blaze of physically felt anointing of the Spirit of God upon me which I have recognised is God saying to me, “Listen to what you are being told right at this moment; what is being said here is from me, and I am bearing witness to it.” I shared what I had experienced with Mike. I wanted him to know that that freedom from snagging was indeed the result of God in His compassion moving Penny and Mike (and, I know, others as well) to pray for that very issue. It was not just a good and obvious human idea; it was a real God thing: they had heard from Him, obeyed, prayed and God had worked. He intended that to be our experience, espeically given the state of our health: He had given people the joy of being part of that intention through their praying. (Actually I felt the discernment of spirits again as I wrote that sentence!)

Sometimes the gift works in the same but opposite way. At times before someone speaks to me, or within the first few words, I feel the gift beginning to work. A person may be telling me something that has happened to them or something that they are thinking; as they do so the Spirit bears witness that what is being said is not just not God; neither is it just human; it is demonic in its source and is either the cause of someone’s suffering or a lie intended to bring suffering to me and/or others.

I find that most of what people say is simply from people; it is coming from the people themselves. It is the result of them using God given thought processes, reasoning, emotional intelligence, logic, awarness, intuition etc. which may indeed be being aided by the Spirit of God.  As such it is to be honoured as being human beings speaking from how God has made us. It is no to be despised or treated with disinterest or ignored. It may be all of these capacities are not what they could be, because of the fall, but their not being what they could be does not mean we don’t listen to what is the result of these God given and at times Spirit aided human processes. Most bible teaching and preaching falls into this cateogry; that is why sincere and godly people can disagree on an interpretation of a given Scripture; they are using what God has given them along with a trust in the Holy Spirit to understand and proclaim; but it is not a process in which our human falleness and limitations are inert.

In Christian books the same sort of mixture happens. I find most Christian books come in that mixed way, which is not to insult them, but to set them where they belong; only Scripture has the status of God breathed. In many, though not all books, I usually come across a line or two at most where the gift of discernment kicks in to say whether the words I am reading at that moment are “human” “from God” or even “from the evil one.” Actually I consider a book to be worth the money if there is even one such moment! Even in the longest of books , for me it is rare for there to be more than 2 or 3 such moments, though the whole book may be worthwhile. At times I have picked up books which are highly recommended as being prophetic for our day, and have to close them and set them aside because as I have read the first page, or even before I have opened the book at all, the Spirit of God has witnessed to me that this book is less than human; its central theme comes from the evil one, even if the person writing it is called Rev. or Revd. Professor… and no, I will not give you a list; do your own seeking and learning to listen, you lazy so and so!

Some books hailed as being by theologians for our time that today’s church “needs to listen to” deny the divinity of Christ or the saving efficacy of Christ’s death, or his Physical resurrection, or His coming again to judge the living and the dead, or deny the one holy, universal and Apostolic Church.  Leave such books aside; it may be a fascinating intellectual exercise to read them, but try and put that intellectual pride aside. The spirit of Anti-Christ is very real: why step deliberately into Anti-Christ territory? If you get a warning  nudge from the Holy Spirit about a book you are thinking of reading or buying, just leave it aside. In understanding the things of God and the truth of God we are to  grow into being adult men and women. In evil we are to be as tiny babies knowing little; curiosity has killed more than the cat. By the way, the same goes with T.V. programmes. If you get a nudge of warning about a programme you thought of watching, don’t watch it, even if you don’t know fully why you should not watch it and even if God never tells you; that is part of humility; be willing to be thought simplistic or naive. If being thought of as otherwise involves grieving the Spirit, it is not worth it, believe me.  Giving a reason for the hope that is in us is nothing to do with proving the reasonableness of our faith  in an intellectual way, which seems to be a bit of a rising fad at the moment; it is everything to do with bearing witness to a living Christ by word, life and indeed sign and wonder even if as at the start with the fist believers  what we are saying is ridiculed by many and we are regarded with disdain or even sneered at as the scum of the earth.

However, back on track…I pray that you will know when something being said has its source directly in the Living God ,who is the God who speaks. This is what distinguishes Him from idols; according to the Scriptures they have mouths but cannot speak. I pray too that you will begin to discern when something that is being spoken is more than human or  less than human in the other direction; the devil speaks as well; he is the father of lies: you have every right to ignore the lies of the evil one no matter who is speaking them; give what is being said on such occasions no space in your head or heart; you have every right to ignore such things completely.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit seem to be a strange mix of divine sovereignty and earnestness of desire to seek them. If you think this would be a gift that would help you to build up your fellow believers, perhaps you are meant to seek it….earnestly….

Perhaps too, if you are a preacher or teacher, and find yourself regularly seeking to bless God’s people through such a ministry, you could do with seeking this gift. I find that as God blesses my study, my understanding, my prayers with His help to preach or write, there can be moments where I know God is saying very specifically, “This is of me.” At such moments in days when I was preaching more regularly,  I would leave a pause. I may even say something like, “I think God really wants someone to hear that very personally and specifically right now. He brought you here  today to hear that sentence.” Ian, the new senior pastor at Holy Trinity , Wester Hailes, is really good at pausing for such moments when he is preaching or praying. My much-loved former congregation is in wonderful anointed hands!

Sometimes people see speech quickening in pace and getting louder , and sweat requiring to be mopped from the brow as  a sign that something is of the Spirit. I am sure that at times that may be the case – though in Scotland and in Scottish churches, even the most anointed of preachers would at the most feel less chilled to the bone rather than overcome with perspiration unless the chuch is packed out, the pulpit is high, heat rises  and ventilation is poor! I am equally sure of this however: in myself, the witness  and the anointing of the Spirit in the form of discernment often makes me go quieter, and slow down even more so than my normally slow speaking rate: I could almost go to sleep,  (ohters may well have done!) I feel so sure and relaxed in God’s presence and help.  I would have to work up a sweat to increase my word per minute average at such moments. It would be an uphill struggle. Somehow that fits more with my nature or personality.  I know it is “imagination,” but for me rather than speeding up and getting more forceful and insistent in case folk don’t get what I am trying to say, I feel as though my spiritual pulse and heartbeat have slowed down to a very steady beat.  I am just sharing this with you in case you feel that the anointing of the Spirit must look like someone you have perhaps seen in preachers or ministries that you consider anointed and draw the conclusion that is what it is meant to look like for you; my experience is not a law for you nor is anyone’s; we are all different: as someone said to Brennan Manning, “Be yourself, because if you is who you ain’t, you ain’t who you is.”

By the way, just to be sure that you do not get the wrong end of the stick: 98% plus of what I preach or write is the Spirit helping a faulty me. Some folk want me to write a book, (alhtough come to think of it that may be a euphamism and a gentle way of saying, “Your blogs can be very long!”)  but I would have to feel easy about that statistic which I think would be fact for me should I pick up the pen one day. I night never be at ease with it. There is much God aided humanness around in Christian bookshops. Does it really need added to by me? At the moment, I am thinking “no.” Anyway, what I once thought of writing a book about would hold little interest for me now. What interests me now, might not be of interest to anyone else. Whenever you listen to one of my sermons on-line, or read these blogs, you would be wise to sift it; humbly I ask you to  make sure you try and get all the good nourishment out of that 98% that God intends you to be blessed by. There may though be a remaining 1 or 2% which requires more careful discernment as to its  immediate and prime source and therefore also more careful discernment and enquiry as to an appropriate response depending on what spirit (Spirit or spirit) you believe  God has shown you is at work.  I would give the same statistics and the same advice no matter what preacher or writer was under consideration.

As I used to say in preaching, “and finally, finally…;” sometimes the gift of discernment of spirits will operate as you yourself are thinking a thought about yourself, or even speaking a thought out loud to yourself about yourself or your situation. Today was not a good day health wise or energy wise for me. At about 12 o’clock , mid-day, I thought of getting up despite feeling extremely weak. I said to myself, “It is alright to rest.” I felt the gift of discernment operating and didn’t get up until 3.30…. I am much the better for it…. without that rest this particular blog would not have come to be.

…and, finally, finally, finally…. Discernment of spirits, (what  “spirit” is operating here, Lord? The Holy Spirit, the human spirit or an evil spirit? A mixture?) is a useful gift in Charismatic circles. I hate to sound like a “know it all” or an “expert”. I don’t regard myself as either; those who know me know that; those who don’t know me don’t know me. However I have been a believer for over 45 years and charismatic in belief and experience for most though not all of that time (though never as much as some folk think I am nor as much as I want to be).  Embarassing for a Charismatic to say so, I will say it: the statistics mentioned above seem to be about the same when it comes to “prophecy” or testimony to claimed experiences of the Spiritin Charismatic circles.The majority are well meaning, basically Spirit aided human experiences or utterances  and not without genuineness and integrity containing some truth or blessing. It often does not go far beyond that. Don’t be deceived: the more obviously a person shakes or swoons, shouts out in their own language or a language given by the Spirit, cries, wails, roars  or whatever is no indicator that the Spirit of God is more truly at work than if these things are happening in a milder fashion or not happening at all.  We need true jdgement about situations rather than going by what our eyes see or our ears hear even in the atmosphere of a Christian meeting or conference. Christ had and has this and can give the same to us by the Holy Spirit. Discernment of spirits is much needed in every Christian circle, perhpas most of all in those circles that claim to beleive that such a gift is one the Holy Spirit still gives to the church.

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.

OK…very short blog.

I think the Holy Spirit is saying to some who read this blog, “I can give you the courage today to say, ‘I was wrong,’ .”

I guess I would have thought that “humility’ rather than courage is what is needed to admit we are in the wrong, but that was not what seemed to come to me today, rather there was this promise of courage. Perhaps there are some who are reading this who tremble at the idea of saying, “I was wrong.”  For one or more of a thousand possible reasons, some of them associated with deep memories and emotions, the tbought of saying  “I was wrong,” makes you feel terribly vulnerable and exposed. Well, in God, that is not only a safe place to be but a  blessed place  and a place of healing as well. If this is a word for you, I believe that God is promising fresh ripples of spreading joy to you as you take this step.

That’s  it for now…

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.