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MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND NOVEMBER 2019 • £2.00

THOSE IN GLASS HOUSES BY THE EDITOR

An 18th-century minister advises on God-honouring disagreement

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n our era of contention, to disagree graciously is a

division they brought — the First Council of Nicaea or the Reformation, for example. But aside from such instances of clarification and return to scripture, church history is littered with disputes which are far from the heart of the gospel but which have caused the church family to rupture. Richard Baxter, a 17th-century English Puritan, wrote ‘Had the ministers of the gospel been men of peace, and of catholic, rather than factious spirits, the Church of Christ had not been in the case it now is.’ Similarly, John Stott has noted that, ‘We fragment over what we regard as issues of principle, but often the real reason is personal... When we’re afraid, we withdraw into our own fellowships and ghettos.’ In the Free Church, we do not need to look far to find examples of such disputes. Our own experience is enough evidence of the damage these have done to our gospel witness, and of the time it takes to repair the damage. Disharmony in the church gives the world grounds to level the charge of hypocrisy and reason to ignore the message of union with Christ which we seek to share. As a result, it is tempting to shy away from disagreement altogether, for the sake of unity and to prevent further embarrassment. But here again, history shows the harm caused by giving in to this temptation. A refusal to challenge or to openly disagree leads very

more powerful witness than winning an argument.

We are experiencing the kind of division in British society and politics that we have not seen since the time of Margaret Thatcher. Opinion polling shows that the country continues to be split down the middle on whether or not we should leave the European Union. The way the political process is being conducted at present is a source of frustration. A recent Ipsos Mori poll found that almost two thirds of Britons believe society is broken, while 70% feel the economy is rigged. Political commentators are concerned that some of the divisions created by the last few years’ public policy debate are both irreconcilable and far-reaching. They speculate that schism with Europe will lead to further schism within the UK, perhaps even that Brexit will lead to further departures from the EU. The debate over Brexit has already resulted in splits within UK political parties. There can be no doubt that the policy decisions taken at the conclusion of the Brexit process will have significant consequences. It seems likely that we will witness Britain’s retreat from cooperation and leadership in Europe; our secession from a partnership of peace; and a recession of our influence on global politics. While the historic peace and democratisation in Europe today is strong enough to hold, the UK’s withdrawal will surely be destabilising.

‘What will it profit a man if he gains his cause and silences his adversary, if at the same time he loses that humble, tender frame of spirit in which the Lord delights?’

©vvetersy at Unsplash

Aside from the policy decisions still to be taken, the tone of the debate itself has been consequential. There have been controversies surrounding the accuracy of claims made during the referendum campaign, legal disputes over the suspension of parliament and ongoing brinksmanship as to the implications of the Benn Act. At the same time, anger has been expressed in parliament and in the press at the prime minister’s use of language, his opposition’s lack of respect and at Jacob Rees-Mogg for not sitting up straight. Given that no-one in government, academia or the media can predict with any confidence what the results of Brexit will be, some reticence and humility might be expected. However, it seems that personal principle and intellectual integrity has been sacrificed to attain the greater goal of being able to claim victory of the argument.

quickly to a watered-down gospel. Paul rebuked the Galatian Christians for their failure to challenge the false teaching of the Judaisers, who were demanding that Gentile Christians follow Jewish traditions (Galatians 1:6-9). Similarly, many in the church through the ages have conformed to the pattern of this world by accepting ideas from the prevailing culture in the name of unity. In the early church, the Gnostics sought agreement with the intellectuals of their day by interpreting Christian doctrine in light of the latest astronomy and psychology. Liberal theologians in the nineteenth century continued this approach, seeking to match their faith to the modern worldview, and their influence continues to be felt in contemporary Christianity. Schleiermacher — the ‘father of modern liberal theology’ — denied that Christ died in our place to atone for sin, instead arguing that redemption is achieved by Jesus sharing his consciousness of God with humankind. So, in setting out to make Christianity relevant, credible and attractive to modern thinking, the refusal to disagree with the prevailing culture has resulted in a denial of core aspects of the gospel. We are in no position to cast stones at our rancorous political culture, but we must be brave enough to challenge ideas which stray from scripture. How, then, >>

DISPUTE IN THE CHURCH Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. There is not much that politicians can teach the church about acrimonious disputes, to our great shame. Here, it is important to separate out the many principled stands the Christian church has taken which have been both necessary and ultimately beneficial, despite the

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FREE CHURCH NEWS MODERATOR-DESIGNATE FOR 2020 ANNOUNCED

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mission and establishing new church planting strategies. In Edinburgh, he was the founding chairman of the East of Scotland Gospel Partnership – a regional coalition for planting gospel churches — and he serves as the Chair of the Steering Committee of Transforming Scotland, a national forum for the re-evangelisation of Scotland. In September 2014, Neil, Louise and other members of St Columba’s Free Church launched Cornerstone Edinburgh, a new church for Morningside and Bruntsfield. From a core group of twelve people, Cornerstone is now a congregation of around 150 adults and children. Neil serves the wider church-planting efforts in Scotland through his leadership of Generation Church Planting. He also serves on the Boards of City to City Europe and City to City UK. Commenting on his acceptance, Neil said, ‘I love the Free Church of Scotland. It’s got a great gospel history and a great gospel future. It will be a joy to serve my colleagues and the wider denomination as Moderator.’•

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moderator-designate of the free church of scotland general assembly for 2020.

Neil MacMillan leads the Cornerstone church plant in Morningside, Edinburgh, and teaches Mission and Evangelism at Edinburgh Theological Seminary. He is a son (and grandson) of the manse and was born in Aberdeen in 1967. He studied politics at the University of Glasgow and went on to train for ministry at the Free Church College, now Edinburgh Theological Seminary. Neil married Louise in 1990 and they have three adult daughters and a teenage son. His life’s passion is to see Scotland return to the gospel. He loves to run, cycle, read books, eat out and be on holiday with his family. In 1993 Neil was appointed to lead the revitalisation of Kirkcaldy & Kinglassie Free Church, a congregation based in the Gallaton area in Kirkcaldy, a highly deprived housing scheme. During his time in Fife, he served as chaplain to Raith Rovers Football Club and several schools. Whilst in Kirkcaldy he also led a church planting initiative in the nearby town of Dunfermline. Neil served for seven years on the Board of Trustees of the Free Church of Scotland and chaired the denominational Strategy Group which led to a renewed denominational focus on mission through the local church. In 2009 Neil returned to Edinburgh where he served as Mission Development Officer for the Free Church of Scotland – equipping ministers and lay leaders for

BIG FREE RALLY

live as a new creation in our day-to-day lives. The talks were followed by times of discussion in groups, and the Big Free Rally 2019 musicians led everyone in some of the songs which had been enjoyed at the Camps in the summer. The world premiere of the 2019 FCYC video was a highlight, cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd of campers and their friends. Ably hosted by the comedy duo Callum-and-Kirsty, the Big Free Rally also featured a giant game of ‘Rock-Paper-Scissors’ and the young people rose to the challenge of trying to find the unicorn

ver 200 young people from all over scotland gathered together on the 28th september for the annual big free rally.

The event was held at Smithton Free Church, Inverness, and buses brought young people from Ullapool, Aultbea, Brora, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The main speaker for the day was Robin Gray, who gave talks on ‘Looking after God’s creation’ and ‘I am a new creation’, explaining how Christians should respond to the current discussions on climate change, what it means to be a ‘new creation’, and how we should

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in the room for ‘Bring Me A...’ Free Church Youth Camps Administrator Kirsten Macdonald said, ‘It was hugely encouraging to have so many young people gathered together, catching up with each other, singing together and discussing God’s Word. ‘We are hugely grateful to all of the adults who came along on the day and helped in numerous ways, and to Smithton Free Church for being so accommodating and welcoming. ‘Most of all we are grateful to God for his faithfulness, and we pray that the Big Free Rally will have made an impact on the lives of everyone who attended.’ •

FREE CHURCH PAISLEY PREACHING STATION BY MATTHEW HUNT

It is the largest town in Scotland, with a population of just over 73,000. We have beautiful buildings: Paisley Abbey, Coats Memorial. On a slightly smaller scale, just round the corner from the Abbey, is Paisley Free Church – sadly the building is not as attractive! We have been in the same place for over 50 years, and if we were to name-drop, Rev. David Meredith and Rev. Iver Martin are previous men who have worshipped with us – we won’t say how long ago!

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We were previously united with Dowanvale Free Church in Glasgow, but with the prospect of services being stopped in the town, a core group petitioned Presbytery and we have been made a preaching station in our own right. We would value your prayers as the Presbytery will make a decision in November regarding our long-term future. We are a small group of committed people aged from four to 93. We meet faithfully each Sunday and Wednesday for regular worship, Bible study and prayer. >>

hat can we tell you about paisley?

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Photo by Heather Zabriskie on Unsplash

THE AGE OF AGES RODDIE RANKIN explores the continuing marvel of time

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Christians are often heard complaining that they don’t have enough time. In Christ, God has given us scope for an endless odyssey in the age of the resurrection and whatever follows.

ime. we all know what it is, until we try to explain

to have passed before Adam’s race entered history. Measurements gauge the earth to be billions of years old. Genesis uses days to frame its poetic description of how we got here. They were not human days, for sure, as we were not around to observe them. There was an Observer who witnessed them. We can’t even guess at how his mind traversed them. Had we been present, would we have witnessed those countless years pass in extreme fast-forward as galaxies swirled into shape, and life grew up with breathless pace?

it!

We take measurements of it constantly, and live by them. As Christians, it regulates our day, year and view of history. Yet it defies easy description and evades captivity. It is an abstraction, an apparition we cannot grasp. Our writers liken it to a wingéd chariot which steals pleasure; a dreary sequence creeping in with petty pace; a highway to travel, if only you have the right machine; an elusive deer in the wood of Hallaig. In classical science it is an essential term to describe process. To Paul it is the now of opportunity. To us it may be a commonplace: we daily wander further into its endless maze, perhaps failing to contemplate its scale and splendour. Time is another of God’s wonders. Let us use a little of it now to explore and admire it, and to praise our God who has welcomed us aboard its thrilling journey. Again we are happy to use modern as well as biblical insights to enlarge our wonder as we observe that...

TIME IS RELATIVE If our little tour of time is starting to unsettle you like the first lurch of the Loch Seaforth as she heads into the Minch in a gale, more challenges lie ahead. The processes of nature occur at vastly different rates. As I plod across my keyboard writing these words I marvel at my son’s super-fast texting. Likewise, the bristlecone pine’s five-thousand-year lifespan contrasts sharply with a mayfly’s few frantic hours. There are still greater extremes. What kind of clock do you need to measure time on the sun? A very slow one! The sun shines by turning hydrogen into helium. It ‘burns’ an unbelievable 600 million tonnes of hydrogen every second. Fortunately it has colossal reserves of hydrogen in the tank — enough to last another four billion years. However, that tank is already half empty, which suggests our star has been blazing for a while. The psalmist ties the length of our Messiah Christ’s reign to the longevity of the sun. ‘May he endure as long as the sun...may his name endure for ever; may it continue as long as the sun’ (Psalm 72:5, 17). So science gives a stunning perspective on the psalm’s poetic analogy. What greater way of saying the reign of Jesus will never end? Compared to the sun’s languid timescale, electrons are truly frantic. In God’s wonderful world of time, they are certainly among those who fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run. In the time it takes you to read this sentence an electron can do its version of the Hokey Cokey a billion billion times. This is why computers, which harness the electron’s fervid pace, run circles round the human brain. Try thinking what an electron can get up to between two beats of your heart. Then try to comprehend the lifetime of the sun. If you get even a hint of either you will probably find yourself clutching the arms of your chair for reassurance, and exclaiming with David, ‘such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain’ (Psalm 139:6). However, God’s knowledge encompasses both the electron’s fleeting >>

PERCEPTIONS OF TIME VARY How hard it is to swat a fly! The reason is simple. Smaller animals with faster metabolisms experience time as passing more slowly than we do. That is, they can see more detail for each second of time: four times more in the case of a housefly. So your lightning-fast rolled-up newspaper kung fu is less impressive seen through a fly’s slow-motion perception. Adults experience a more rapid passage of time than children. Consequently, it has been shown that a person who lives for 80 years will have experienced half their subjective life by their 21st birthday! What a comfortless thought that is for many of us! On the other hand, your loved one with dementia will experience those days which drag for their carers as fleeting, hopefully mitigating their suffering. Recognition of the subjective nature of the flow of time is given in familiar proverbs about watching pots boil, or having fun. Sometimes we shoot the rapids of time, only to be later becalmed in time’s meandering plains. Should we be surprised, then, at the reports of God’s ability to alter his perception of time? ‘With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day’ (2 Peter 3:8). In our relationship with him, this means that there are times when we feel he is moving too quickly (like the disciples struggling to follow where Jesus leads) or too slowly (both revival and Christ’s second coming ‘tarry’). Again, we may balk at the idea that vast aeons appear

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few weeks ago rev. david macpherson, minister of bon accord free church in aberdeen, informed his congregation that he had accepted an invitation to return to peru and work with operacion san andrés.

Having been born in Peru and having served the Lord there, firstly as a volunteer in a house building project for earthquake victims, and then, after studies in the Free Church College, as the minister of a large Presbyterian church in Moyobamba, capital of the San Martin department in north-east Peru, David and his Peruvian wife, Martha, will be returning to a land they know well. The Record has asked David’s father, Rev. John MacPherson, a former missionary in Peru, to interview David and find out more about what is involved in this move. What is OSA and what does it do? Operacion San Andrés (OSA) is a small Christian charity founded back in 2003 by Dr Luis Campos, a Peruvian cardiologist based in Houston. Its history, though, can, intriguingly, be traced back to the early 1960s and the classrooms of Colegio San Andrés and the influence of Sam Will, a missionary teacher of the Free Church of Scotland. Luis was a pupil in San Andrés and an eager participant in mission ventures organised by Sam Will in shanty towns on the outskirts of Lima.

The battle is fought on various fronts with OSA involved in initiatives that tackle malnutrition, poor education, inadequate housing, low income (with micro loans) and a host of social ills including — and perhaps most dramatically — domestic violence that is almost endemic. It’s also worth mentioning that the work of OSA in Collique has spawned the birth of a church — Luz de Esperanza — that provides a spiritual home for those who have come to faith through the ministry of OSA or in other ways. You can try and work out for yourselves the meaning of the name of the fellowship!

Dr. Luis Campos with local children Inside the Light of Hope (Luz de Esperanza) Church

This face-to-face encounter with extreme poverty impacted greatly on Luis and his response was to cry out to God: ‘Give them Hope! Hope in Him who is the maker of the universe but had no place in this world to lay His head. He knows all about poverty…’ The seed planted germinated and, in due course, blossomed into what is today Operacion San Andrés, operating under the banner of its mission statement: ‘As a Christian organisation, we are committed to combat the effects of poverty in the community of Collique in a holistic (spiritual, emotional, and physical) and sustainable manner by demonstrating the love of Christ in practical ways.’ As the mission statement indicates, the battle that OSA wages against poverty takes place in Collique: a sprawling community nestled in the desert hills on the outskirts of Lima. As a rule, the higher up the hill you live, the poorer you are.

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What will be your role in OSA? In addition to OSA in Peru there is also a formally registered charity in Houston that serves as a means of raising support for the work in Peru. The board members in Houston put in a power of work advocating for and supporting the work in Peru and also, thus far, have served as the principal decision-makers. As OSA has grown and developed, Dr Campos and his colleagues in Houston have recognised the need to encourage and cultivate a greater degree of local autonomy and decision-making and — to facilitate that — determined that it was necessary to appoint a local Executive Director who would lead the work in Peru and liaise with supporters in Houston and beyond. That’s where I come in! What does the role involve? I’m not too sure but hope to work that out once I get my feet on the desert slopes of Collique!

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You mentioned Dr Luis Campos and his roots in Colegio San Andrés. What other connection does Dr Campos have with the Free Church of Scotland? After finishing high school in San Andrés, Dr Campos travelled to Scotland for his medical studies in Edinburgh University. In Edinburgh he joined the Buccleuch & Greyfriars congregation and met and married a Free Church lass, Ruth Gilmour. Luis and Ruth maintain a great love for, and connection with, Scotland and the Free Church — something reflected even in the name of the charity. In 2017 the Free Church General Assembly devoted a memorable evening to celebrating the centenary of Colegio San Andrés. Among the participants was Luis Campos, who had travelled all the way from Texas to express his gratitude for the part played by Colegio San Andrés and the Free Church of Scotland in his personal and spiritual development. It’s also worth mentioning that the Women for Mission project this year is supporting the ministry of the Luz de Esperanza congregation in Collique.

and kindness. Our affection for Bon Accord will continue and we look forward to hearing about and celebrating all that God will continue to do in and through his people in Bon Accord.

American volunteers and local workers (Luis & Ruth Campos 4th from right and end right back row.)

You will be employed by OSA. Does that mean you’ll no longer have any connection with the Free Church and its Mission Board? Will you be able to keep the church in Scotland well informed about all you’ll be doing in Peru? I very much see myself as a Free Church minister serving with a partner mission agency, in this case OSA, and have been in touch with the Mission Board indicating that I would like to be viewed in that way. The Mission Board have expressed their desire to maintain a very live connection and we look forward to exploring how that can best be achieved. The second part of your question is more challenging! The simple answer is ‘yes’, I will be able to keep folks informed. The challenge will be to actually do it! There are no excuses with the many channels of communication provided by technology and social media. I guess all I can say is… watch this space!

A view of Collique

Everything you’ve told us about OSA focuses on Collique, but we’ve heard that OSA might extend its work to the city of Moyobamba, where you used to live and where the Free Church has a long history of missionary activities. What can you tell us about that? The vision can be encapsulated with the tag line ‘one charity, two locations’. The idea is to complement the current work in an urban desert location with a new venture in a rural tropical location. One of the advantages of Moyobamba is precisely the longstanding evangelical presence in the city and surroundings that facilitates ministry initiatives of different kinds. One of the big and exciting challenges will be to explore and — hopefully — spearhead ministry partnerships with local Christians and churches in and around Moyobamba aimed at ‘… combating the effects of poverty in a holistic and sustainable manner’.

If folks are interested in finding out more about OSA and your involvement, how can they do that? The place to start would be the OSA website www. operacionsanandres.org and, in addition, folks should feel free to drop me an e-mail (david.duncan.macpherson@ gmail.com) with questions about OSA and queries about how they could be involved in supporting the ministry.• Thank you, David, for providing us with all that information. You can be sure that your friends in Bon Accord and many others throughout the Free Church will be praying for you both as you enter this new sphere of service for the Lord. They’ll be remembering too those you leave behind: John and his fiancée Hilary; Samuel and Mairi; Joseph in Florida; and also an old couple who’ll miss you greatly, but who rejoice in knowing you will be serving the Lord in the place of his choosing.

You’ve served for 11 years as minister of Bon Accord Free Church in Aberdeen. It will be quite a wrench for you and Martha to end this chapter of ministry amongst people that you’ve grown to appreciate and love. How are you feeling about that? It is bittersweet; I’m excited about a new start in a country I know and love but also — together with Martha — apprehensive about leaving a congregation that we have grown to love and that has treated us with great generosity

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