news

This is the

churches' news-sheet

for June 2010

From the Manse . . . .

'Out of the frying pan into the fire' is a phrase we often hear. It means getting away from one situation, only to be confronted by another. I suppose in some senses that is where I have been during the past fortnight. The last week of June found me at the General Assembly in Edinburgh representing, along with others, our Presbytery and Church's interests. Commitment and endurance is the name of the game, as debates went on and somnolence enticed. A fairly bland affair this year, with perhaps predictable results along with more sombre storm clouds looming over the Kirk's finances and the need to reduce our buildings. The 450th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation was celebrated in words and in song, along with some gruesome historic ways of dealing with early churchmen (into the fire!). Returning home was bitter sweet, in the knowledge that the study, lounge, and stairwell in the manse needed to be re-plastered, with the ensuing chaos of moving books, files and furniture. All this, as 'er-indoors' was wont to remind me, pales into insignificance when one still witnesses homelessness, poverty and destruction in so many parts of the World.

Of course, she is absolutely right! As we face up to these needs, perhaps we need a Nehemiah, who could suggest some of the answers and the direction we need as a Church. For, above all, he would have had the power to renew and rekindle our vision. Is it little wonder then that Jesus himself took a child and standing that child in from to all, said, 'There's your future'?

Please especially pray for, and proactively help our Summer Mission for children:

'The Search'

See below !

Yours aye, Duncan

The Ten Commandments - a Refresher *

3: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. The name of God represents the nature of God. There is much in the Bible which commands us to reverence his name, and in the Lord's Prayer we are taught to pray that his name may be hallowed. His holy name can be profaned by loose language, and most of us could do worse that revise our vocabulary from time to time. But to take God's name in vain is not just a matter of words, but of thoughts and deeds.

Whenever our behaviour is inconsistent with our belief or our practice contradicts our preaching, we take God's name in vain.To call God 'Lord' and disobey him is to take his name in vain. To call God 'Father' and be filled with anxiety and doubts is to deny his name. To take God 's name in vain is to talk one way and act in another. This is hypocrisy.

* Stott, J. (1958) 'The Ten Commandments' in Basic Christianity pp 72-3; Inter-Varsiy Press reprint 2007

Council suspends officer over 'God-talk'

The suspension of a homelessness prevention officer, Duke Amachree, for discussiing his faith with a client is being challenged by the Christian Legal Council(CLC) . Wandsworth Council took action after a complaint from the woman in question, who was due to be moved out of her home, and had been told by doctors that she had an incurable bowel condition. Michael Phillips, a CLC solicitor working on the case, said: 'In general conversation , Mr Amachree asked the lady why she believed her condition was incurable, and, in encouragement, commented that sometimes doctors do not have all the answers. So concerned was he that the lady was in despair and without hope, he suggested that she put her trust in God. The lady, however, explained that she had tried religion and because she did not have any faith was satisfied with what the doctors had told her and was able to move on. She thanked Mr Amachree and left'. Mr Amachree was told in an interview with his employers on 17th March, at which Mr Phillips was present, that it was inappropriate ever to talk about God and that he should not even say 'God bless'. Other reports quote a senior source at Wandsworth Council as saying that the woman had been 'subjected to a half-hour barrage and basically told it was her fault she was so ill because she had not prayed to God.'. Mr Phillips acknowledged on Tuesday that some of the facts were in dispute, but that it would have been impossible for Mr Amachree to have talked for half an hour and to have got everything else in during the original interview with his client. Investigators will present a report to the Council's Human Resources department to see whether there is a case to answer. [Is there no end to this nonsense? No. There's more - Ed. ]

Notes from America - Ron Buford

After eight years with George W Bush as President, a desperate America leapt over centuries of deep cultural racism to elect a black man to the White House - an energetic and highly intelligent leader who is rapidly addressing America's most pressing issues. Not since the Reagan era, and before that the Johnson era, and before that Franklin D Roosevelt, have so many Americans been so challenged by a presidential leadership on so many fronts. Change is a mixed bag, like a statistic about Americans who still believe in hell. They know other people who belong there - but almost no one thinks they themselves deserve to go. People who voted for the change Obama's campaign promised are much the same. Their own ideals are just fine, it's everyone else's that need ot change!

Mini-Bible study with Lawrence Moore

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new. [2 Corinthians 5:17]

I am constantly amazed by how the same people who are so disparaging about virtual reality (the online world of the internet) are quite content to operate with a virtual-only God. They are keen to argue that all resurrection talk in the Bible is purely and only symbolic - a way of expressing a sense of the ongoing presence of Jesus, for example. Any more literal sense of Jesus rising from the dead or of life beyond death is on a par with asking 'Do you believe in the Easter Bunny?' Those questions belong to the category of the miraculous; and we apparently did away with miracles once and for all in the 1960s. Virtual reality is not unreality or non-reality. People meet on the internet and fall in love, have meetings, make decisions, plan policy. Virtual reality brings us 'near' to other people via the internet. It is relating-at-a-distance; what is missing is touch!

The SEARCH 2010 12th - 18th July

As last summer, a team led by Sarah Airlie and supported by our Church is planning a week of activities for young people. There will be a Morning Club (12th to 16th July) for 5 to 12 year olds based on Scripture Union holiday club activities, and evening activities for teenagers. [There are more details on the link in the Main Menu on the left]

HELP! PLEASE.

We need accommodation for the team, a main course or sweet for each weekday, a midday snack, and financial support

Please contact either Ruth on 01343 835 946 or Bob & Moira on 01343 835 021

And lots of prayers for a successful outcome!

Bible Wordsearch

If you are reading this, you can probably find in puzzles at http://biblewordgames.com this month's puzzle on the parable of the returning ruler in Bible Wordsearch no 177

Blythswood

Collections are made from Burghead, outside the Church Hall (but not obstructing the door) between 1.00 and 1.30 pm on the following Tuesdays [May 25, June 22]. Please don't leave bags at other times.