Letter from the Manse

It’s 150 years since Darwin published “On the Origin of Species” – a book that changed the way countless people view the world. What’s left of Christianity when you adopt Darwin’s scheme?

I returned recently from a 3 week family holiday. One of the great benefits of being away from home is the opportunity to meet with other churches. It’s good to hear other men preach, to share in the life of another congregation, to pray with another church. You can learn a lot by attending the prayer-meeting in another church.

On Sunday evenings we are studying the psalms together. I’m planning to cover the first twenty or so. The psalms were never intended just to be read, either silently or aloud. They’re not merely poems – they are songs. The book of psalms was the hymnbook of ancient Israel. So, if aiming to get the full impact of the psalms, emotionally as well as intellectually, it’s important that we sing them together.

We’ve just reached the end of a long series of sermons on Christian doctrine.

It was in January 2006 that we began the ‘Truths for Today’ series.  For more than three years we’ve been working systematically through the great truths of the Christian faith.  It’s done me good.  I’ve had to grapple with issues I wouldn’t have chosen to tackle.  I’ve had to go back to the Bible and ask myself exactly what I believe and why.  I hope it’s …

Tomorrow is David’s first birthday… We try to make birthdays special for each member of the family… Wise Christians have always tried to use their birthdays as a time for reflection on the past, and preparation for the future.