the journey

You are most likely to be familiar with the saying, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” As a literal undertaking or as a metaphorical notion, the idea of a journey is embedded in what it means to be human. 

Life is a journey. 

Another famous saying connected to this thought emphasises that, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey”. However, that way of thinking does not square with a Christian understanding of our walk through this world. To explore this idea I’d like to dip into a small collection of Psalms that are entitled the “Songs of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134). The ‘ascents’ alluded to here are most likely to be the ones made by Israelites who journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the great annual festivals (see Leviticus 23). Presumably, these songs were sung along the way and marked the progress of the journey and expressed the concerns of the pilgrims as they remembered those at home and anticipated their arrival and experience in Jerusalem.

Eugene Peterson says that this group of Psalms enable us to reflect on two biblical definitions for the people of God that are extremely useful: disciple and pilgrim (from his book, “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction").

Disciple says we are people who spend our lives apprenticed to our master, Jesus Christ. We are in a growing, learning relationship with him, always.

Pilgrim tells us we are people who spend our lives going someplace. We are going to God, and the path for getting there is the Way, Jesus Christ.

So let’s take the first step on this journey. And to help us make it we turn to the first song in the collection, Psalm 120. It is not a beautiful song. It is harsh. It is discordant. But it gets us started.

Psalm 120 doesn’t actually speak of going on a pilgrimage. It does, however, express the feelings of a homesick person who has settled in a strange land. “Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kebar! Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak they are for war” (verses 5-7). The psalmist is in despair about the surroundings he finds himself in and longs to be in a better place. He recognises that the first step is to turn his back on the lifestyle he has chosen up until this point. 

The word the Bible uses for the moment we turn from our foolish ways to God and the life of his kingdom is repentance. 

Before I can follow the way of God and the right paths he has set for me (Psalm 23:3), I must turn from the self-centred course that I have travelled to date. There is therefore genius in making Psalm 120 the opening “song of ascents”. 

The first step on the journey to God begins with a radical “about turn.”

This is set out beautifully in a passage from the Yom Kippur liturgy entitled, “The Gates of Repentance.”

''Now is the time for turning. The leaves are beginning to turn from green to red to orange. The birds are beginning to turn and are heading once more toward the south. The animals are beginning to turn to storing their food for the winter. For leaves, birds and animals, turning comes instinctively. But for us, turning does not come so easily. It takes an act of will for us to make a turn. It means breaking old habits. It means admitting that we have been wrong, and this is never easy. It means losing face. It means starting all over again. And this is always painful. It means saying I am sorry. It means recognising that we have the ability to change. These things are terribly hard to do. But unless we turn, we will be trapped forever in yesterday's ways. 

Lord help us to turn, 

  from callousness to sensitivity, 

    from hostility to love, 

      from pettiness to purpose,

        from envy to contentment, 

          from carelessness to discipline, 

            from fear to faith. 

Turn us around, O Lord, and bring us back toward you. Revive our lives as at the beginning, and turn us toward each other, Lord, for in isolation there is no life.''

(Picture - Rannoch Moor)

a light on my path

 An old worthy in the Brethren Assembly that I attended as a young person would often say of Paul’s letter to the Romans, “He who knows his Romans can go anywhere!” I have pondered that statement occasionally over the years and returned to it the other day in my most recent read through of the letter. There is no question that the truth contained in its pages has had a significant impact on the church across the centuries. Augustine, Luther and John Wesley were all brought to saving faith when confronted with the gospel truths that flow from Paul’s heart through his pen. The riches of its doctrine (chapters 1-8) and its subsequent teaching on how to live a truly Christian life (in private, church and community, chapters 12-15) make the rather quaint statement above come to life with particular relevance. 

Of all that we read in this, the longest of Paul’s letters, chapters 1-3 have most impacted me over the last week or so.

Here is how I have come to understand it…

On a recent holiday to the Isle of Skye we spent a few hours at the foot of the magnificent Cuillin mountains. Anyone who has every ventured up onto those jagged peaks will tell you that a compass will always give faulty readings because of the high iron content in the rock. Therefore, because of that environment it is not possible to plot an accurate route across the Cuillin range with a compass.

In the early pages of his letter Paul delivers a devastating critique on the human race. We have an inner compass that points north to the living God and his truth. However, because of personal sin and the resulting culture we find ourselves in, that inner directive no longer offers an accurate reading (1:18-31). 

Romans 1:18-3:20 is a solemn account of the shipwreck of the human race. In an act of wilful rebellion we have done significant damage to our relationship with God (1:21-25). Floundering on the rocks of foolishness and futility, destruction was inevitable. However, in the fulness of time God sets out a rescue plan outlined in chapter 3:21-31. The rescue was secured through Christ and his atoning sacrifice (3:25). I believe that is why the early sentences of the letter are brimming over with this Good News (1:1-7). It has inherent power and authority (1:16-17), with the ability to turn sinners into saints (1:7). The only action required of us is to place our hand in the hand of Christ for him to pull us from the angry waves (3:22). Once rescued we are reclothed (in Christ and his righteousness) and brought into a safe and spacious place (3:26).

The chapters also give a glimpse into Paul’s heart. He recognises himself as a servant of God (1:1). At the core of Paul’s service is a deep-seated commitment to preaching the Good News.

Regarding this gospel, Paul is…

set apart 

   wholehearted

      prayerful

         obligated

            eager

               unashamed

(1:1, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16)

In other words, Paul is “all in.”

Called by God and equipped with this message, Paul and his companions “turn the world upside-down” (Acts 17:6)

“He who knows his Romans can go anywhere.”

How is that possible?

Perhaps its best summed in the lyric of a modern worship song - “Your truth is a compass that points me back north” 

(‘Captain’ - Hillsong).

reflections on the next chapter

Yesterday morning (June 15) Liz and I became members of Mearns Free Church of Scotland. We have been attending the church since last August and have given a great deal of thought and prayer to this next step in our journey of faith. However, it would also be true to say that from the moment we first stepped through the doors of the church we had a deep sense of “coming home”! 

What brought us to this moment?

Well, shortly after we got married in July 1990, Liz and I embarked on what would be a 35 year tenure in Christian ministry. 

We began ministry in Springbank Evangelical Church, Campbeltown. The fellowship had been in decline for a number of years but still maintained one or two spirited efforts of outreach to the local community. However, as the 1980s came to an end the church was at a very low ebb. For some time it had only been meeting on a monthly basis for a Communion Service and so the decision was made to close the doors. The following week one the elders asked the others to reconsider and call a pastor to see if it was possible to reverse the decline.

To cut a long story short we joined in August 1990. At my first meeting with the senior elder I have given a piece of paper with the names of 13 people who made up the congregation! We immediately started a weekly Communion Service followed by a Family Service. In the months that followed we launched a children’s club and a youth club. I served as a chaplain in the two local primary schools and worked closely with the ministers from the town’s churches. Gradually we began to see the fellowship grow.

After six years I believed I had taken the church as far as I was able with the capacity and gifting that God has given me.

And so in 1996 I took up the position of Pastoral Worker at Aspley Evangelical Church on the outskirts of Nottingham. My role was more clearly defined than in Campbeltown. I was responsible for the general pastoral work of the church and 30% of the preaching. I also dipped my toe in the water of school’s work and this was to prove invaluable in what followed. 

I had a three year contract with the church which I honoured but at the end of that time we made the decision to move back to Scotland. 

Over a period of three months I was interviewed by Cartsbridge Evangelical Church in Clarkston and was appointed as the Youth and Community Worker in November 1999. 

That led to 25 incredible years of ministry with this enterprising fellowship. 

The early years involved ministry to the large number of youth people who attended the church. One of my aims during that season was to strengthen to fellowship among the young people. And from 2001 I organised summer teams made up of Youth Fellowship members. Starting in Kelso in 2001, we then worked for a number of summers with “Open Door Trust” in Drumchapel and the city centre. Eventually in 2010 we began working with GLO in Eastern Europe which led to a wonderful partnership with the Albanian Church. 

In 2004 my role shifted focus as I began to work with local schools. That led to twelve remarkable years as we built up considerable connections with many of our local primary schools for annual Easter initiatives. This would involve 500-600 children visiting the church over a two week period. We expanded this to include an event at Christmas called “Christmas Cracker” and a music project called “Pop Connection”. Included in all of this was the regular assembly programme at Carolside Primary School and Williamwood High School. 

I have deep and lasting memories of many other initiatives at Cartsbridge and have a profound sense of gratitude to have been able to serve God’s people who worship there. 

Liz and I made a decision three years ago that the time was right to step away from full-time church ministry and pursue another path. I therefore finished my role at Cartsbridge last July and in the goodness of God I was given the role of Support Worker with a Govan-based charity called the Preshal Trust. 

The decision to leave Cartsbridge was a difficult one but having giving much prayer to what might follow, we have a settled sense that Mearns Free Church is indeed the next chapter. The teaching, fellowship and vision for outreach to the local community are to a very high standard.

The Free Church of Scotland as a denomination has a vision for a “healthy Gospel Church for every community in Scotland”. It is committed to church planting and the revitalisation of churches across the nation. It is wonderful to be part of this movement of God.

In Sandy Finlayson’s book on Thomas Chalmers, one of the key figures in the founding of the Free Church of Scotland, he comments that Chalmers believed that “if Christianity was going to transform lives, this had to happen through the presence of faithful, worshipping and caring churches in every community”. We believe we have found this at Mearns Free Church of Scotland and we trust we will contribute to its present and future ministry. 

One last thing. The man who prayed for those of us who joined Mearns Free Church yesterday is an elder in Lochgilphead and Tarbert Free Church. When Liz graduated from University she was given a teaching post in Clachan Primary School on the Kintyre peninsula. The church she chose to attend was Tarbert Free Church. Perhaps that connection is further evidence of God’s providential leading in our lives.

“Thus far has the Lord helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12).

my "ecclesiastes moment"!

 During the beautiful weather of the recent past we spent a week on the Isle of Skye. The island was breathtaking in its beauty. And of all that we enjoyed, the boat trip from Elgol over to Loch Crouisk was the highlight. The majestic Cuillin range stretched out before us we sat by that isolated stretch of water.

I scrambled up the side of Sgurr na Stri to gain a more elevated perspective on this vista and sat on the huge stone slabs on the hillside. The aim was to drink in this moment, with these expansive views, until my heart was full. I wanted to freeze frame the picture in my mind and heart to take it with me. However, no amount of sitting before that grand vista brought the fullness that I longed for. Please do not misunderstand me. We had the best holiday in the most remarkable location. However, there was a little pang of disquiet in my heart as I sat on that gabbro rock. 

I thought the other day that it was a kind of ‘Ecclesiastes moment’!

What do I mean? 

Well, tucked away in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament is a small book written by King Solomon called Ecclesiastes. With disarming honesty he describes his quest to find meaning and fulfilment in this world. With wealth beyond most people’s imagining, he denies himself nothing that comes across his path. He sets off on sensual, intellectual and aesthetic adventures to satisfy the cravings within his heart. His favourite phrase centres on exploring all of life “under the sun”. The book is a tract for our times. In my opinion, every 21st century man or woman should read it with serious intent. I’ll leave you to discover what Solomon’s conclusion was to the true purpose of life!

However, I turn to the sentence that has occupied my mind and heart for a couple of weeks now.

In chapter 1:8, Solomon says, “The eye never has enough of seeing…”

Indeed, Solomon will go on to comment, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired…” (Ecclesiastes 2:10). And yet no matter how much he surveyed life in this world he was never fully satisfied.

In essence Solomon will go on to say that if we cannot find ultimate fulfilment in life under the sun, we need to look above it. 

That basic truth caused C.S. Lewis to write, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world” (Mere Christianity).

If Lewis is correct, then the question that follows is how do we bridge the gap? By turning in faith to Jesus. He came with one central message - “Repent, because the Kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 4:17). His teaching focused on bringing the rule and reign of God to humanity. Life in that kingdom begins now as we pray, “your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10). But it does have a “not yet” aspect to it as we wait for the eternal dimension to come to fruition when “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever" (Revelation 11:15).

This is the life that God intended for us at the beginning and this is the world he created us to live in where our greatest desires would find their fulfilment in him. It is captured beautifully in my favourite hymn:

The sands of time are sinking

The dawn of heaven breaks

The summer morn I've sighed for

The fair, sweet morn awakes

Dark, dark hath been the midnight

But dayspring is at hand

And glory, glory dwelleth

In Immanuel's land

Oh, Christ, he is the fountain,

The deep, sweet well of love!

The streams on earth I've tasted,

More deep I'll drink above:

There to an ocean fullness

His mercy doth expand,

And glory glory dwelleth

In Immanuel's land.

praying with a joyful soul

I have always valued and cherished the early morning. I have climbed many of Scotland’s hills at the dawning of a new day. More importantly, I have been greatly blessed in spending time reading God’s Word and praying to him before I step out into the responsibilities of the day.

The last three posts have sought to encourage us to listen to the voice of Scripture as it encourages prayer especially at this time of day. The guiding principles it uses are:

Watch - pray with an alert mind (Psalm 5:1-3)

Wait - pray with a patient heart (Psalm 130)

Worship - pray with a grateful spirit (Lamentations 3:21-23)

Our final watchword in this set of brief meditations will be:

Wonder - pray with a joyful soul

This comes out strongly in the final chapter of Matthew 28 with its account of the resurrection of Jesus. There are no words to describe the momentous events that we encounter in this chapter. 

Humanity’s worst and last was done to Jesus. Jesus, king and Messiah, was dead, buried in a stranger’s tomb.

Jesus’ followers, discouraged and scattered by the horror of the cross, were now at least gathered together again.

Night is passing; dawn is breaking. 

Matthew brings us, in the final sentences of his Gospel, to the greatest day in history.

The transformation of Jesus’ followers is one of the wonders in the truth of his resurrection. Those who put their trust in the risen Jesus experience great change in their lives. 

The two Marys approach the tomb with deep mourning for their dead friend and teacher. They return filled with awe and an indestructible joy to tell others about Jesus, who had both risen from the grave and greeted them. Death could never again claim him. His resurrection was irreversible. It changed everything for them. 

James and John, those ‘sons of thunder’ became apostles of love. 

Simon Peter, that indecisive leader, became the rock-like man on whose fearless witness the early church was built. 

This group of disciples were no longer a frightened gathering, they became, through the Spirit’s empowering, an apostolic task force! 

The same is true of all followers of the risen Jesus down the centuries. Wonder fills their hearts and joy fills their souls as they encounter the risen Christ. 

See what a morning, gloriously bright
With the dawning of hope in Jerusalem;
Folded the grave-clothes
Tomb filled with light,
As the angels announce Christ is risen!
See God’s salvation plan, wrought in love,
Borne in pain, paid in sacrifice,
Fulfilled in Christ, the Man, for He lives,
Christ is risen from the dead!

May you experience the wonder of the risen Christ and may his Spirit cause prayer to rise to the Father from a joyful soul.

(Picture - taken from the Pap of Glencoe, 26/05/25, on a morning walk!)