MONTHLY MAGAZINE

“ I came to Christ ( or if you like Christ came to me, consciously) on 4^th January 1970 when I was 16 years of age. From an early age I had been attending a Brethren Sunday School and Bible Class. Looking back, I suppose God’s Word had been ‘speaking’ to me, although I was not consciously aware of God or His influence. In fact, I did not believe in God. I believed in Socialism and unquestioningly accepted Evolutionary Theory.

Certain happenings shook my views: for instance, possibly the most highly qualified teacher at my school was a Christian. I couldn’t fathom how such a clever man could believe the Bible. It made me think again. I was also dimly aware that the Christian people I knew were showing me a quality of love that I did not experience elsewhere.

So, at the end of the Christmas holidays, it came to me , somehow or another, that I had to become a Christian. At the close of the Bible Class and spoke to the leaders and said, ‘I’m not a Christian, I would like to become a Christian’. They said to me that there was nothing easier, I had only to believe that God loved me, that He gave His Son to die on the Cross for me, and that God was offering me, as a free gift, eternal life!

In simple faith I accepted that amazing gift and I confessed that Jesus was my Saviour and my Lord. I didn’t feel any great difference, just a sense of peace, but from that moment I had a new desire, a desire to read the Bible for myself with a view to obeying God’s word as He ‘spoke it ’to me. I wanted to please Him. I was a new person, a new creation. The new life had begun….

May you begin, or begin again , the new life in Christ as this New Year begins; and so may you have truly good New Year.”

The beautiful prose poem Desiderata was for a long time believed to have been found in a Baltimore church and dated 1692. Romantic, but untrue. It was written about 1927 by a lawyer in Indiana USA called Max Ehrmann (1872-1945). It remains sage advice to us all, especially as we enter a New Year.

“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourselves with others, you may become vain or bitter , for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let it not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself.

Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be. And whatever your labours or aspirations, I the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Christmas with our Pathfinders

It’s always a joy to see and hear the young Pathfinders as they perform at our all-age Christmas Service ( held on 21^st December).

This year their contribution was very varied indeed. We enjoyed the sketch featuring ‘The Angry Hotel Man’, an interesting interpretation of the nativity story; Jacob gave us a lovely rendering of ‘Little Donkey’ on his saxophone; and there were of course the Puppets, this time with their little sketch ‘Missing the Point.’, with the conclusion that the real meaning of Christmas lay in Easter. A profound thought indeed.

Congratulations to all who took part, it was a fine effort, and a breath of fresh air in our worship.

Would treasurers of the Church Organisations please ensure that their accounting books and records for 2008 are handed to the auditors as soon as possible this month for checking. The auditors are Dewar Flower, George Gardiner and Sarah Whitton.

THE GUILD

The Guild meets as usual on alternate Wednesday afternoons at 2 p.m. unless otherwise stated. Here is the programme for the next few meetings:-

Jan 21 ‘Resurrecting History’ – Colin Mackie

Feb 4 ‘Another afternoon with Peter and John (Douglas).

This is our guest afternoon.

Feb 18 1 p.m. Annual Lunch

Speaker: Rev John Spiers – ‘Luggage Trouble’.

Do come and join us if you are free. Friends of members and other visitors are always welcome.

Mary Yorston (Secretary)

There will be the usual mix of poetry, music and song, and reflections on the legacy of our national bard – with a traditional supper thrown in.

2009 is a special year, as it marks the 250^th Anniversary of the birth of Burns in Alloway, and our Mens’Association will be adding its own small tribute to the thousands which will be given in countries all over the world.

Admission will be by programme ( cost £4) and these will are available from members of the Association.

Festivities will commence at 6.45p.m. for 7.00p.m., and we hope to be able to welcome friends old and new. We look forward to seeing you.

Twelfth Night : 6^th January

For most people, Twelfth Night on 6^th January is the end of the Christmas season, when the decorations come down, the tree is relegated to the dustbin, the Christmas cards are bundled up, and if there are children, they are readied for school once again.

Twelfth Night is actually Epiphany, a word which means ‘ unveiling or display.’ It commemorates the arrival of the Magi or ‘Wise Men’, whom the Bible tells us visited the infant Jesus with gifts some time after his birth.

No one knows for sure who they were. Matthew it is who calls them Magi, the name of a caste of a priestly kind from Persia. We don’t know how many there were of them – the number three has come to be accepted because of the three gifts they gave to Jesus.

Later Christians came to see the gold as a symbol of wisdom and wealth, incense as a symbol of worship and sacrifice and myrrh as a symbol of healing – or even embalming.

Certainly Jesus later challenged and set right the way the world handled all three of these things. And by including the Magi in his account,

Matthew underlined the fact that the Messiah had come to serve all people, Gentile as well as Jew.

Ronnie McCallum passed me the following extract from a document which he had to interpret during the recent renovations to our church. Would it win the prize for Plain English do you suppose ?

‘part 2 of the Act will apply to all construction contracts – those which are wholly in writing, partly in writing or wholly oral. However, certain provisions of a construction contract, relating to adjudication, must be ‘in writing’ if it is : made in writing; made by an exchange of writing ; made by reference to terms which are in writing; ”evidenced” in writing. Something is “evidenced” in writing where it is recorded by a by a (sic) party to the contract or by a third party with the authority of a party to the contract. Something is “in writing” if it is recorded in any way….’

CLUB 170

On Sunday 14^th December we had a very successful Christmas meal at Club 170 with 50 people attending.
The club opened with the Christmas message from Morag and with some carol singing. Then our Christmas menuof mince pie, fritters and vegetables, followed by trifle, tea, coffee, mints and shortbread, was served. Santa visited the hall and although the only child there was not particularly happy to talk to Santa, she was delighted with the bag of goodies he gave her. Everyone appreciated the gift bags of hats, gloves, socks and toiletries which they were given as they left.

We had a tremendous support of helpers that day and our thanks go to each one who helped to make it such a success and so meaningful to those who came along.

At the beginning of a new year we pray for God’s continued blessing on this work, and for the people for whom there is that need.

Betty Roberts

I once made a remark about hidden books. in the Bible. It was a lulu kept people looking so hard for the facts. For others it was a revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the books were not capitalised. But the truth finally struck home to numbers of our readers. To others, it was a very hard job indeed. But we want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes there will be some really easy ones to spot, but others will need judges to help you. I will freely admit it usually take a minister to find all of them, and there will be loud lamentatations when he succeeds. A little lady says she brews cups of tea so she can concentrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now, for there really were 16 names of books of the Bible hidden in the paragraph.

LIFE AND WORK

January 2009 Anniversaries issue

John Calvin – 500

Harry Reid explodes some of the myths surrounding the great reformer.

Robert Burns – 250

Donald Smith takes a fresh look at Robert Burns. Ron

Ferguson and Jim Simpson assess his attitude to religion.

Scottish Bible Society – 200

Fiona Stewart traces the society’s history. PLUS – Parables for Today, £500 short story competition.

Glasgow Lodging House Mission – 100

Jackie Macadam on the work of the Mission.

The Cross and the Crescent

Jackie Macadam meets Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, a convert from Islam to Christianity and expert in Christian-Islamic relations.

Mercy Mission

A Scottish doctor who works for Mercy Ships.

A New Song

The Moderator looks forward to a new year and reflects on the blessings of the old.

Buildings and belief

John Hume introduces a new series on the Kirk’s historic places of worship.

Plus – Our Presbyteries focuses on Angus, all the regular columnists, news, letters, book reviews and crosswords – all for just £1.60.

(To subscribe, please speak to Barbara Irvine.)

On 16 November local Muslims tore down the foundation stones of a new church building in Sabon Kaura, Bauchi State, in Northern Nigeria. Just two days later, on 18 November, another church only two kilometres away was burnt down, despite the presence of police forces who were sent to the area to prevent any further attacks against the first church.

On 6 October, 33-year-old church leader Sebamalai Gunesh went missing after attending a meeting with other Christians. Two days later his mutilated body was found dumped in the city of Ragama. He leaves behind his wife and their two children, aged 2 and 4.

Both Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are looking to introduce new and harsher laws on religion, restricting freedom of conscience, worship and religion. On 6 November the parliament in Kyrgyzstan unanimously adopted a new religion law. The new law states that any religious organisation needs 200 members to register. This condition, which was included in the law despite assurances to the contrary, will make it virtually impossible for any church or Christian organisation to register and gain legal status.

After a wave of violence hit the Christian community of Mosul in October, during which at least 14 Christians were killed, families started to return to the city when the police presence was increased massively and the government repeatedly assured Christians that it was safe to come back.

However on Wednesday 12 November, two Christian sisters, Lamyaa and Walaa Sabih (both in their forties), were stabbed to death in their house in the Alqahira residential area. Apparently a band of armed youths, who, some sources claim, were linked to al-Qaeda, stormed the family home and began attacking Lamyaa and Walaa and their mother. When police arrived at their house shortly after the attack, a security car was bombed and three policemen were killed in the blast. The Sabih’s family home was also severely damaged. The father and a son were able to escape. Lamyaa and Walaa died on the same day of their injuries, and their mother died a few days later in hospital.

One for all dog-lovers !

“ An old, tired-looking dog wandered into my garden one day. I could tell from his collar and well-fed look that he had a home and was well taken care of. .Calmly, he came over to me and then followed me into my house. Slowly, he walked down the hall, into the sitting room, curled up on the hearthrug and fell asleep.

An hour or so later, he went to the door, and I let him out. Next day he was back, greeted me in the garden, walked by me into the house, and again slept for an hour or so on the hearthrug.

This daily visit with a nap continued off and on for several weeks. Curious, I finally pinned a note to his collar: ‘I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is, and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.’

The next day, he duly arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar: ‘He lives in a home with six children, two under the age of three – he’s trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow ?’

Once again, very many thanks to everyone who donates to the Leprosy Mission. £145.00 was banked on 19^th December 2008. This brought our grand total for the year to £711.00

BEARING WITNESS TO THE FAITH

Spare a thought for the governor of the state of Maharashtra in India. The capital of the state is Mumbai (Bombay), scene of the terrible massacre of hundreds of innocent people a few weeks ago.

James Catford of the Bible Society met the governor, His Excellency Shri Jamir, recently. He assumed office in March 2008. Catford writes :- “ I had dinner with governor Shri Jamir recently. It was on his watch that these terrible events occurred. I found him to be courageous, humble and gracious - even after four attempts on his life during his years of public service. He was also deeply Christian, someone committed to crushing ‘the malevolent communal forces which have caused such mayhem across our ruffled social landscape.’

He went on to say, “Christianity is a peaceful and progressive religion. It’s gains are for the whole world of mankind and not restricted to any group or society , because Jesus Christ died on the Cross of Calvary as atonement for the sins of the entire humanity. And this Good News is ennobling and reassuring for all living beings, and must be propagated and disseminated across the world”.

James Catford comments, “ I can imagine a number of church leaders speaking out in this confident way. But not a leading politician. Now this outspoken follower of Christ finds himself dealing with the challenge of rebuilding a society torn apart by carnage and fear.

Let’s pray for him”.

It could easily happen to you . Identity theft can take many forms, and we must all be constantly on our guard. In 2007 plastic card fraud alone cost £535 million !. There is also an enormous amount of cheque fraud (counterfeit or forged cheques or real cheques which have been altered) and many other ‘scams’.

One would imagine that by now everyone would know that banks never ask customers for their account details over the internet, yet criminals continue to ‘phish’ using fake messages that look very convincing. Any reply will go to some crook in a faraway country.

Illegal copies of genuine debit or credit cards are used, as well as lost or stolen cards. You may be unaware of the fraud until you receive your next bank statement , but many card issuers , thankfully, have sophisticated ways of spotting unusual spending patterns when dodgy purchases are made.

Watch also for ‘card-not-present’ fraud where thieves obtain real card details and make purchases by phone , mail order or the internet. Businesses accepting these card details are not able to check the card’s physical security features.

Properties with communal letter boxes are vulnerable to mail non-recipient fraud (where a card is stolen in transit), although this has declined since chip-and-PIN has come in.

Believe it or not, many people still write down their PIN, and keep it in their handbag, wallet or purse near their card. This is a high risk habit – be warned!

If you think you have been targeted, it’s a good idea to contact a credit reference agency such as Experian and buy (for a small fee) a copy of your credit report.

To protect yourself in advance take a look at the Home Office website ( www. identitytheft.org.uk).

Thank you to all those who help with crèche duty each Sunday morning. If you are unable to take duty on any of the dates below please try to arrange a change with someone else on the list or contact me as soon as you know you cannot manage. This makes it easier to get cover week by week.

How Many Does it Take….. to Change a Light-Bulb ?

Baptists? The whole congregation needs to vote on it!

Atheists? You can ask them to change it as often as you like, but they’ll still remain in darkness!

Anglo-Catholics? None,. They always use candles instead!

Brethren? What, change???

Conservative Anglicans? Three. One to change the bulb, and two to storm out in protest if the person doing the changing is a woman!

Pentecostalists? Only one since his/her hands are raised in the air anyway!

Presbyterians? Presbyterians do not change light bulbs. They simply read out the instructions and hope the light bulb will change by itself!

SECURITY ROTA

INTIMATIONS

1. The Kirk Session will meet on Tuesday 20th January 2009.

2. Team Leaders will meet on Tuesday 6th January 2009.

3. Cases of illness or urgent pastoral need should be intimated without delay to the Minister. If not readily available, contact the Session Clerk, Miss Lexa Boyle

4. Any member moving to a new address and wishing to join another Church should apply to the Session Clerk for a Disjunction Certificate.

5. The next date for handing in material for the Magazine is Sunday 25th January.

While at university in the mid 1950s one of the subjects in my course was economics , or Political Economy as it was called then. We learned about the theories of Adam Smith, of Karl Marx, of David Ricardo, and other economists much more recent times like John Maynard Keynes.

Keynes’ thinking is much back in fashion today as a new trade depression threatens to de-rail the world economy .In the period immediately before World War II he proposed solutions to the Great Depression which influenced statesmen like F D Roosevelt to bring in what he called ‘The New Deal’.- basically increased spending on public works to reduce unemployment in the country.

Someone once described economics as “the Dismal Science”, and as a student I was inclined to agree – and I haven’t had much cause to change my opinion since!..

But the present state of the world economy is remarkable, is it not? What’s a few billion pounds between friends, eh? Never has there been a time when so much taxpayer’s money has been spent in rescuing the very institutions which in the past have been telling US, their customers to live within our means.

But perhaps therein lies the root of the problem because most bank managers these days have become disguised salesmen, whose main interest seems to have been to persuade us all to borrow as much money as possible. The explosion in credit cards is something which it has become impossible to avoid – every day seems to bring another letter on the doormat urging you to move your balance from one card to another to obtain ‘better’ rates. But the day of reckoning has finally arrived!

What are Christians to make of it all? Can we see the hand of God in the financial earthquake?When, if ever, did you look at the Old Testament book of the prophet Haggai? It’s almost as if it had been written for the age in which we live. The whole point of a prophecy like his was that through it God was trying to detonate a bomb under peoples’ complacency. It was always thus in ancient times.

Perhaps, then, today the Church (you and me) are also in need of a good shake? Nothing really changes- Haggai would recognise the same sickness in our society that he railed about in his own.

Have we become just a little too comfortable – so much so that we have neglected our main reason for existing? Our first priority ought to be to serve God in gratitude for what he has done for us through Jesus Christ. Our every waking thought ought to be about how we can serve God and other people. There is certainly a grave danger that as a society – and as a church also – we have neglected this obligation.

Haggai’s prophesy begins with a call to build the house of the Lord. He challenges his contemporaries :

‘Is this a time for you to be living yourselves in your panelled houses when the house of the Lord remains a ruin ?’ (1:4). Then a very uncomfortable phrase crops up twice (1:5 and 1:7): ‘Give careful thought to your ways.’ It’s clear that God’s people in his time were far more focussed on their own creature comforts than on getting on with their God-given mission. Does that ring a bell with us in 2009?.

Haggai warns his listeners that God is saying: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth , the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations…The silver is mine and the gold is mine’ (2:6-8). And God did exactly that, not once but several times in the history of Israel, as he tried to bring his chosen people back to an understanding of their responsibilities.

In 2009 we live in distressing times. The old economic order which has prevailed since the end of World War II is changing. We deluded ourselves into believing that it was immutable and a given fact of life which nothing could change. We were wrong! What seemed impossible to imagine, a return to the economic climate of the 1930s , has become a reality. When Bank of Scotland and even ‘Woolies’ go to the wall , surely anything is possible. Perhaps God telling us that we must change our priorities, just as he did in the time of Haggai?.

The Christian life should be more about mission, and less about accumulation; more about serving than being served ; more about listening to God than just telling him what we want. One thing we can all do; we can pray that God will speak clearly to us through times of turmoil, and that world leaders will listen too. Lip service has been paid for several generations to the need to fight world poverty, to cutting CO2 emissions to combat global warming and to policies to protect the environment. Nothing very much has happened. Now the time has come for action.

It will be a testing time for those like us, who ‘live in panelled houses’ and have forgotten ‘to give careful thought to their ways’. Uncomfortable as the message may be, that means every single one of us. MDM

A Voice from the ‘Forties

During wartime rationing, in many parts of rural Scotland, people found “ways” of getting round the regulations. George Morrison, one-time headmaster of Whitehill School in Glasgow, but Lewisman through and through, wrote for a weekly paper under the pen-name ‘The Breve’ (breitheamh in Gaelic means ‘judge’.) My father loved this little rhyme from that time.

“There’s no wether on the tether where the wether used to be,

There’s joints up in the rafters that Lord Woolton cannot see,

We’ll say it was the weather that the wether couldn’t stand,

Though it died of ‘influenza’, man, the smell of it is grand.”

A ‘wether’ (or ‘wedder’) is a castrated male sheep bred for the meat market. Lord Woolton was Minister for Food in the wartime government, and he was so taken with the piece that he had it framed to hang in his office!. MDM

If the first line of a book tells you something about how good it’s going to be, then forget Grisham or Rowling or the rest, because we’re in for a corker with the book of John: ‘In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.’… John succinctly, memorably, ably sets up his account of the life of Jesus by summarising Jesus’s true nature.

He was probably writing for non-Jew, hence he explains many of the Jewish customs and practices encountered in his narrative ,and shows us how Jesus’s life, words and actions were foretold in the Old Testament scriptures. His Gospel is quite different from those of his writing partners, Matthew, Mark and Luke. Although, like them, he was a ringside observer, he chose to include fewer miracles (only seven) compared to the others. Instead, he ‘unpacks’ those miracles and writes more about the conversations surrounding them, giving us insight into the hidden, or real, meaning of these events. The subtitle to his book could be ‘Jesus unwrapped.’….

…No matter how long you have known Jesus, there’s something wonderful, fresh and beautiful for you to discover here.