Beeke’s Scottish challenge: P…P…P…P…P…P…P…P…P…P
Richard G Buckley
The 31st annual meeting of the Scottish
Reformed Conference has taken place at
Hamilton College.
Dr Joel Beeke from Heritage Reformed
Congregation in Grand Rapids, USA was
the main speaker. He preached on the words
of Psalm 22 that Jesus reiterated at the Cross:
‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken
me?’ In the course of his sermon, Dr Beeke
reflected upon the profound depths of the
real experience of Jesus whilst he prayed
this, both what it does not mean and what
it does mean. But also from the question
‘Why?’ – what was
the purpose of
this
experience and
the
infinite
love of God
and the Lord Jesus Christ expressed in this
cry. In his second address, he pressed upon
Christians the urgent need to reflect upon the agony of Christ when we pass through
sharp and painful experiences in life. He did
so in a unique sermon of ten points each
beginning with the letter ‘P’. In thanks, our
chairman
suggested adding another
three
points likewise beginning with ‘P’, to the
positive pleasure of the people present!
Scottish drug
church cheer
![Nicola Laver](/media/images/Nicola_Laver.2e16d0ba.fill-32x32.format-webp.webp)
Nicola Laver
The Scottish Parliament has heard of the
invaluable work of the Christian community
to help more than 2,300 drug addicts in
Scotland recover from their addiction.
The Evangelical Alliance (EA) and Serve
Scotland presented
a
report
in
June
to
Parliament on the work of Christian churches
and organisations with individuals in addiction.
Scotland and Wales: evangelicals face tough choice
![Nicola Laver](/media/images/Nicola_Laver.2e16d0ba.fill-32x32.format-webp.webp)
Nicola Laver
Evangelicals
in Scotland and Wales are
facing
difficult
decisions
after major
denominations in each country liberalised
their stance on same-sex marriage.
They have expressed dismay at the Church
of Scotland’s decision to allow its clergy to
conduct same-sex marriages, following a vote
of the Members of the General Assembly.
Commissioners voted 274–136
in favour,
but ministers and deacons will not be forced
to compelled to take the ceremonies if they
do not want to.
How evangelicals facilitated Scottish church collapse
During the lengthy period of debates about same-sex marriage and sexuality, the Church of Scotland leadership often spoke of the ‘trajectory’ that the Church was on.
By this they meant a trajectory towards a more ‘progressive’ and ‘liberal’ theology and practice. For over 20 years I have been writing about the Church of Scotland’s ‘trajectory’ – a trajectory which I believed would end up with its demise. I had thought it would be a gradual decline resulting in extinction by 2050. I was wrong. As this year’s Assembly demonstrates, the Church of Scotland has now fallen off a cliff edge and is in a state of terminal decline. It is doubtful whether it will exist in any meaningful form by 2030.