Respect

Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honour the king (1 Peter 2:17). One of the things we complain about as we get older is what we perceive as a lack of respect, particularly among the young. We maintain they do not show the same degree of respect to their

Have the Creationists Stolen Genesis?

Those that know me from Facebook will be aware of my frequent frustration and irritation with young Earth creationists (YECs), i.e. usually evangelical Christians that insist the Earth is around 6,000 years old and that evolution is a satanic lie. I am not going to use this blog to discuss the science of geology and

God Our Father

The idea of God as Father is a conspicuous emphasis in the faith and life of Christians. When Jesus taught us to pray, he began “Our Father in heaven”. In this blog I want to examine what it is for God to be our father. Its importance lies in the centrality of the fatherhood of

Of Revolutions and Reductionists

It has been argued that one of the great insights of the Renaissance, and later the Reformation, is that it spawned what we might call the mechanistic universe. The theory is that before the middle of the 16th century, anything we today would recognise as ‘science’ was essentially non-existent, at least in the West. At

Speaking and Listening

This is a slightly expanded version of a sermon I preached for Bellshill East Parish Church of Scotland. I hope it is of interest and is helpful. THEY say sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. It means that while someone might hurt you physically, words and insults are

Why Believe in God

When I started to think about this blog some time ago, I began with the title Why I Am (Still) a Christian. I wanted to begin with standard arguments for God’s existence – essentially the teleological, ontological, cosmological and moral arguments – before moving to other reasons for living the life of a Christian. It

A Very Special Family Guy Freakin’ Christmas

“As we all know, Christmas is that mystical time of the year when the ghost of Jesus rises from the grave to feast on the flesh of the living. So we all sing Christmas carols to lull him back to sleep.” Such is how Peter Griffin, star of Family Guy, understands the message of Christmas.

Suicide and the Christian

There can be few things more devastating than the death of a child, sibling, parent or friend by suicide. The World Health Organisation has published some sobering statistics: In the UK, there were just short of 5,950 suicides in 2021. That’s nearly one per hour. Every hour, the family and friends of a suicide victim

Love and Belonging

This is the text of the sermon I preached at Greyfriars Church of Scotland, Lanark today. It is based on the lectionary readings for the day: Ps 148, Acts 11:1-18, John 13:31-35, Rev 21:1-8. Human life is full of contradictions and ironies. We are steeped in contradictory thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. One place where we

Is He Safe?

This is the text of the morning sermon I preached at Newharthill and Carfin Church of Scotland on 27 February 2022. I have done very little preaching for over twenty years. Set against the background of events in Ukraine, perhaps some will find it of interest. When Russian forces invaded Ukraine last Thursday, the world